Iraqi-Moroccan Singer Sparks Controversy Over National Identity Comments

"An indescribable feeling and joy as soon as I felt the scent of my country. How I missed you, oh Baghdad, as if it had been years since I came, you remain beautiful and the most beautiful in the world," Hassoun wrote in a post on her social media, triggering a flood of comments from her Moroccan audience who accuse her of having renounced her Moroccan origins.

Reacting to the comment of one of them who called her a "denier of benefits", Hassoun declared: "I am honored by my Moroccanness as much as by my Iraqiness, for they are my dear parents and is there anything more precious than parents? We love them in the same way and with the same love. May God protect our fathers and mothers and our countries. Stop the hatred."

Born to an Iraqi father and a Moroccan mother, Shada Hassoun was born and raised in Morocco. The singer, little known in Iraq, revealed her love for her father’s country after participating in the "Star Academy" TV show.