Alia Khalaf al-Jabouri, Iraqi widow, becomes symbol of self-sacrifice

(The Christian Science Monitor) Alia Khalaf al-Jabouri, a poor Iraqi widow, has become a symbol of self-sacrifice and transcendence of Sunni-Shi’a conflict.

In 2014 her son, Khalid Ismael, got a desperate call from an army friend saying militants had surrounded him and five other soldiers.

“I told Khalid, ‘You have to go—Iraq needs its sons,’” said al-Jabouri, known as Um Qusay, whose husband and oldest son were killed by the extremists known as the Islamic State.