To affix to the previous post about a year in the life of a Syrian revolutionary, I found this video fitting to showcase the struggle of the Syrian people – politics aside.
Your stance regarding the Syrian matter cannot be how it reflects on your country. It should be a reflection of your humanity because you cannot see such a video and not be shaken to your core.
And if you still feel like nothing’s wrong in Syria, then you are simply blinded and lack basic human compassion.
Foreword:
This is a guest post by a Syrian friend who wishes to remain anonymous. The purpose of such a post is to showcase the side of the Syrian revolution that none of us stop to think about. We all go into the political rhetoric of what the Syrian revolution means to us. We never stop at what the revolution means to its people.
This is a story of one of them.
I opened my room’s window today, just like every other day.
But today had a different taste, a different vision, even a different sound.
I sat and tried to write something. I couldn’t. I wrote and wrote but was never convinced in what came up on paper. So I left the writing process simmer as usual. I had no idea what I could say after 366 days.
It’s been a year on the revolution of a people, a revolution on tyranny, on underdevelopment and poverty. It is a revolution on a barren life, with all the intricacies entailed. We’re sick of dryness – the land has to breathe. The bodies of our sons will open up like the most beautiful of flowers and glow in sublime colors under the sun.
It’s been a year and I still hear of cities and villages I had no idea existed on a map. It’s been a year and we’ve started to know Syria anew, as if we were newly born. Throughout this year, we were surprised by some regions that we always considered irrelevant such as the Syrian countryside, which we always considered beneath us, which we always misjudged along with its people. The revolution started and grew out from the countryside and spread to all the regions of my country, leading to beautiful protests with their fiery slogans and chants.
We are revolting on misconceptions and false convictions. It is a revolution to correct our sight – to remove the film that has blinded our eyes and hearts.
Syria needs compassion… before freedom.
If we were not compassionate towards each other, the purpose of the revolution becomes null. But that isn’t possible. After all that I’ve lived through for the past weeks, when my hometown became a home for all the families leaving their homes seeking fragile safety, I touched compassion in the eyes of everyone I saw. My grandma’s house, which always welcomed people in happy occasions, now fits entire families seeking shelter. I felt that compassion has been reawakened after a long sleep and I’ve lived the diversity that people have carried from their various regions: different cultures, different opinions, different dialect.
But what surprised me the most was their resiliency and how fast they got accustomed to their new situation – not only because we helped them but because they wanted to.
Syria – that painting that had dust settle on its stones, so meticulously built one top of the other, for years is now dusting it off… finally.
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The original arabic version is as follows:
..فتحتُ نافِذةَ غُرفَتي اليومَ .. كَما كُلِّ يَوم
..وَلكن لِليومِ شيءٌ , طَعمٌ , رُؤيَةٌ , و حتى صَوتٌ مُختَلِف
جَلَستُ لِكِتابَةِ شيءٍ ما .. لَم أَستطع .. كَتبت وَ حَذَفت .. وَ تَركتُ مُشيرَةَ الكِتابَةِ تَنتَظِر وَتَنتَظر كَعادَتِها .. لا أَدرِ مَا الذي يُمكِنُني كِتابَتُهُ بَعدَ 366 يَوم ..؟!
.. مَضى عَامُ عَلى ثَورَةِ الشّعب .. ثَورَةُ عَلى الظُلمِ .. عَلى التَخَلُف وَ الفَقر إنَّها ثَورَةُ عَلى الحَياةِ القَاحِلة .. بِكُلِ مَا تَحمِلُهُ فِي تَفاصِيلِها .. لَقَد سَئِمنا القَحطَ وَالجَفاف .. وَ آنَ لِلأرِضِ أَن تَرتَوي .. سَتَتَفَتَحُ أَجسادُ أَبناءِنا شَقائِقَ نُعمانٍ شَديدَةِ الحُمرة ..
َعام مضى وَ أنا مازِلتُ أَسمَعُ بِأسماءِ مُدُنٍ وَ قُرى جَديدَةٍ .. لَم أَكن أَعرِفُ أَنّها مَوجودَةٌ عَلى الخارِطة .. عَامٌ مَضى وَ بَدأنا نَتَعَرَفُ عَلى سُورية مِن جَديد وَ كَأنّنا ولِدنا تَوّاً ..
خِلالَ هَذا العام تَفاجَئنا بِتلكَ المَناطِقِ التي لَطالما اعتَبرناها مُتَخَلِفة .. كَالأريافِ السورية .. وَ التي لَطالَما ظَلمناها وَ ظَلمنا أَهلَها .. لأنَّ الثورة انطَلَقت وَ نَشَطت فِي الريف .. وَأَبدَعَت مَناطِقُهُ المُختَلِفة الممتَدة عَلى رُقعَةِ هذا الوَطن .. فِي هُتافاتِ المُظاهَراتِ وَ لافِتاتِها ..
ثَورَتُنا هِي ثَورَةُ عَلى المَفاهيم وَ المُسَلَمات وَ المُعتَقَداتِ الخاطِئة التي تُطلَقُ جُزافاً ..هِي ثَورَةٌ شَامِلة لِتصحيحِ البَصر .. وَ إزالَةٍ لِتكَ الغَشاوةِ التي أَعمَت لَيس فَقط أعيُنَنَا بَل قَلبَنا ..!
.. سُـــورية بَدها حِنيّة .. قَبلَ الحُريّة
إذا لَم نَكن نَملِكُ مِنَ الحَنانِ ما يَكفي عَلى بَعضِنا .. فَإنَّ الغايَةَ مِنَ الثورة تُساوي صِفر .. وَلكن هذا لَيس مُمكِناً وَ ذلك لما لَمَستُهُ فِي الأسابيعِ المَاضية فِي مَدينَتي التي استَضافَ أَهلُها كَباقي المَناطِقِ الهادِئة عَائِلاتٍ مِن المَناطِقِ الساخِنة .. فِي بَيتِ جَدّتي الذي لَطالَما اتسَعَ لِلكَثير مِنَ النّاس فِي المُناسَباتِ الفَرِحَة .. اتسعَ الآن لِعائِلاتٍ لا أَدري كَم .. عَدَدُ أَفرادِها .. أَحسَستُ أنّ المَحَبّة استَفاقَت مِن جَديدٍ بَعدَ نَومٍ دَامَ طَويلاً .. وَعِشتُ التنوّعَ الذي يَحمِلُهُ الأشخاصُ مَعَهم مِن بيئاتِهم المُختَلِفة .. الثّقافَةِ المُختَلِفة وَ الرأي المُختَلِف وَ اللّهجَةَ المُختَلِفة ..لَكن الذي أَدهَشَني كَيفَ استَطاعوا التأقلُمَ مَع هذا الوَضعِ الجَديد ..! لَيس فَقط لأنّنا ساعَدناهُم وَ هذا مَا تَوّجَبَ عَلينا .. وَ لَكن لأنّهُم أَرَادوا ذَلك
سُــــ ــورية .. تِلكَ اللّوحَة التي تََكَدَسَ الغُبارُ فَوقَ أَحجارِها المُلَوّنةِ المَرصوفَةِ بِعنايةٍ فَائقة .. نَفَضتِ الغُبارَ عَن أَكتافِها .. أَخيراً ..
A French photojournalist named Mani was brave enough to take footage from inside the battles currently taking place in the Syrian city of Homs, called by many as the capitol of the revolution.
The video features scenes from gunfights, funerals, wounded & dead people…. It is possibly the first time such a report has been made of what’s going on inside Syria with almost every other footage from inside the city was being transmitted via mobile phones.
You might want to check out an earlier post as well: What Is Going On In Syria?
For now, I leave you with the video:
Thanks Beirutspring for the tip.
In case you don’t know what’s happening in Syria, this is for you.
In case you don’t think anything is happening in Syria, this is for you, too.
“Be brave. Don’t give up. The history is on your side. Every dictator… every bad person out there throughout history has gone down in flames. They all go sooner or later – no matter how bad or evil they are. History advances, and the human race progresses. And that’s what’s happening now in Syria. I’m so proud of you” – Michael Moore.
I may not like Moore but his words resonate true – especially with all the atrocities happening in Syria. Award-winning journalist Marie Colvin was killed in Syria today. Anthony Shahid, a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist of Lebanese origins, died a few days ago.
When I heard the news that Lebanese security forces thwarted an assassination attempt directed at Kataeb MP Samy Gemayel, I was shocked on two accounts.
1) Our security forces actually managed to do something and that, by itself, is something to make your jaw drop in shock. How about that something being thwarting an assassination attempt? Do we applaud them for a great effort or do we simply shrug it off as them doing their job for once? It’s up to you.
2) I thought the whole assassinations in the country were, at least for the time being, behind us. If you thought about it, the Syrian regime is too preoccupied with killing its own people to stage assassinations in Lebanon but still remain politically influential. The politicians in Lebanon who are prone to getting assassinated, such as Samy Gemayel, have almost no political say in the country. The government is not with them, the parliament majority is not with them – and even if they had both parliament and government, it’s not like they were going to do much with all the hurdles thrown at them primarily by FPM’s Michel Aoun and Hezbollah in the background as the master puppeteer.
So why was there an assassination targeting Samy Gemayel?
The answer goes back to Syria. It looks like, even though they’ve got their hands full, their feet are still stretching across the border and still able to play. An assassination of a political figure with a lot of promise, like Samy Gemayel, would instill disappointment in many people who believe Gemayel has the potential to be a major player on the political scene. It will also instill fear in those who believe the Syrian regime’s reach is decreasing. There will also an unsurmountable amount of rage amid Gemayel’s supporters.
Couple a Samy Gemayel assassination with the current mess the Lebanese government is finding itself in, and you’re set for true chaos in the country. In fact, one can look at the recent crisis amid Lebanon’s one-sided government as either a play between allies for power or it could be a last hope attempt by the Syrian regime to bring Lebanon down with it. I’d go with the latter because if Syria wanted to calm things down amid yesterday’s friends, who also happen to be its allies in Lebanon, it would have taken a simple phone call from Damascus to tone it down. But that’s not happening anytime soon because the Assad mentality, as he loses the diplomatic and tactical wars, is fast becoming that of a suicide bomber. “Bring down with me as much as I can.”
The whole situation can be summed up in simple terms: if the current government crisis is the bomb Syria is using to make Lebanon explode, the Samy Gemayel assassination would be the lit-fuse.
At least the lit-fuse was turned out. I’m sure Syria will find another way to light the Lebanese scene though and for that, I truly hope our politicians who are currently in power rise above their pride and think about the mess we will be in if they don’t.
A Separate State of Mind | A Blog by Elie Fares 