I have had a hard week since war started, feeling upset and angry. Most people in Syria are. We have had some demonstrations here, not so big, but thousands out in most Syrian cities: and clashes between police and protestors. Everyone I speak to has an opinion on the subject of war, and as war came closer a growing sense of an anti-war solidarity seemed to stretch beyond the limits of the Arab world. For once we are not alone in protesting against the injustice of American power.
We know about the deep detestation the Iraqi regime instilled in hundreds of thousands of Iraqis through its regime of terror and injustice. It drove people into jail like cattle, and hanged them for trivial reasons. Yet here at least, over the first days of war, people have become more enthusiastic than ever about the Iraqi people and army. Serious resistance from the Iraqi side reminds us what an uphill task this war could be for American and British forces. One of my neighbours, Mohammed Harb, a man who not so long ago used to hate Saddam, supports him now and prays that he will win.
We are impressed by examples of the Iraqis psychological readiness: did you hear about the old peasant defeating a modern well-equipped helicopter with an old-fashioned rifle? Or the Iraqi girl who killed three soldiers? Mohammed has been telling me stories about Saddams iron grip over both his people and the army. He added: Saddam has a huge ego. He is a selfish man, consumed with pride. On the other hand, Bush is arrogant and aggressive. It feels as if some personal revenge scenario is being played out between these two. Unfortunately they give the orders, and will stay out of harms way. Innocents will be their victims.
Some of my compatriots have been so deeply moved by the killings they saw on TV channels that they have signed up to go and fight alongside the Iraqis. Mousood, 27-year-old father of three told me: I cannot see those Muslims being attacked without doing anything. He went to Iraq with four friends, two days ago, his wife and his whole family crying and urging him not to go.
It is only just beginning.
Demonstrations
In the capital of Syria, Damascus, there has been at least one demonstration every day since the war started. These are organised by the Human Rights Commission, the Syrian Communist Party and the National Student Union. University students gather in front of the European Delegation together with demonstrators from the suburbs, later making their way to the American Embassy in Abo-Rumaneh street. When police blocked this route, my friend Khaled told me that American Embassies have been attacked in a number of the countries in the world, but theyre always very highly protected in the Arab countries. There has also been a one-day solidarity sit-in jointly organised by lawyers, workers and teachers.
The biggest demonstrations everywhere were on 25 March. Schools closed down and everyone went. They were joined by the whole of the public sector. Most establishment sectors have organised sit-ins condemning the war.
Protestors carry signs chanting: No war against Iraq; We sacrifice our blood and spirits for Iraq; We need peace; Rescue the innocent children of Iraq; The curse of the peoples of the world is on you, George Bush, the terrorist; With tanks, the Americans are bringing democracy to Iraq; No blood for war; Stop the oil war. They burn American and British flags, and there was some rioting when guys threw stones at police who were chasing them.
So yes, Syrians, like most people in the world, are against this war. Here talk is about little else, condemning the Americans for waging war on the people of Iraq. However despotic and tyrannical Saddam Hussein is, we cannot consider the US and UK their saviours.
This is for many reasons. First of all, many innocent people have already been killed during the extensive bombing attacks and clashes between Iraqi and American and British troops. We know, from what happened with depleted uranium after the first Gulf war, that the pernicious effects of these weapons will last long after they have killed their intended victims. Meanwhile, the bombing of water and electricity installations, in Basra for example, forcing Iraqis to use fetid water from the Gulf bay has appalled my friends. This is Rima: I saw the terrible pictures on TV of children, men, and women being killed. I started to shiver. It just feels as if we are next with these horrible scenes, destined to live in the state of war.
By occupying Iraq, or installing a pro-American government, people here believe that the US wishes to threaten the rest of the region including countries like Syria, once they have lured Jordan and other Gulf countries on to their side. Samer asked: During the first Gulf war, the Americans made a big show of rescuing Kuwait. But they used the Iraqi invasion only as a pretext to enter the area and set up their own military bases, in order to control the oil and provide better protection for Israel. If they are so eager to act as protector, why didnt they rush to rescue Lebanon when Israel assaulted Beirut in 1982?
Bushs stated aim in lashing out against Iraq sounds funny to our ears. Miriam commented: If the main reason, as the Americans claim, is to get rid of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and the threat Saddam poses both to his people and neighbours, isnt it equally the case that Israel is a threat to its neighbours and has nuclear weapons? When people say this, they are not seeking to justify Saddams rule, but they question the double standards in American excuses. Moreover, if it is Bushs intention to spread democracy and freedom in Iraq, who can explain their planting the American instead of the Iraqi flag in Umm Qasr when the war started? People are wondering about this democracy that comes by rallying troops to the area and bombing civilians. But even this arrogance surely reached a new peak when Americans demanded the Iraqis to treat their prisoners according to the Geneva Conventions. How about the Iraqi prisoners with covered faces and tied to each other taken to Guantanamo Bay?
But people here feel deeply the psychological effects of a long history of defeat. European occupation in the first half of the twentieth century, followed by the establishment of Israel in Palestine with the support of the western countries, has convinced people that the western countries are their enemies.
Until recently, this suspicion used to be directed without distinction both at the government of these countries and its peoples. However, I sense that this is changing now. Having seen people demonstrating every day in Europe and the United States, everybody I come across seems really happy when they talk about these protests. It has taken a weight off our shoulders.
At the same time, we cant help asking questions about democracy in these first world countries, when governments pay such little attention to their own peoples demands to stop the war. Increasingly, this great democracy the Americans want to export looks like a rather poisoned chalice.
