Today was Martyrs’ Day here. That is not a new name but an old one, held both here and in Lebanon to remember the execution on May 6, 1916 in Marjeh Square (here) and in Beirut of Arab nationalists by Jamal Pasha, the Ottoman governor.
In those days, the Committee of Union and Progress – better known as the Young Turks – was ruling the Ottoman Empire and had dragged us into an increasingly unpopular war. Their policies had been to promote Turkish nationalist interests over those of the rest of the population, forcing Turcification of Arabs and, of course, instigating the massacres of Christians in Anatolia. The war meanwhile was dragging on and the war economy meant widespread famine here. Revolt and ideas of an independent Arab state were increasingly in the air.
The Turkish military junta got wind of the growth of Arab nationalism and ordered the arrest of Arab leaders, demanding that they renounce their nationalist ideals of a democratic and independent Syria. They refused and, so, on May 6, 1916, all of them were executed by hanging in Damascus and Beirut. The nationalists executed were Shukri al-Assali, Omar al-Jazairi, Rushdi al-Shamaa, Abdelhamid al-Zahrawi, Shafiq al-Muayyad, and. Abdel Wahab al-Englizi.
Today, Assad went and visited the war memorial and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. There, five paintings depict battles fought by the Arab nations: Yarmouk, Sultan Yacoub, Jebel Shaikh, Maysaloun, and Hattin.
In past years, I remember going there or to the tomb of Saladin in a somber mode, laying flowers and so on. This year though was different. Martyrs’ Day fell on a Friday and came after a great many new martyrs’ had died for the cause of freedom in Syria. The masscres and suppression of Dera’a has had us all on edge and more has been expected.
The regime has been rounding up dissidents across the country. They claim in public that the opposition is led by ‘salafis’, Islamic extremists from outside. But that’s not who they are arresting: they are arresting liberal advocates of a civil society, lawyers, journalists, lesbians … well, at least they’re looking for me!
And yes, they are arresting some ‘Islamic activists’, people like Muaz al-Khatib. He’s a preacher here who might be best known for, in recent times, repeatedly calling not for an Islamic republic or an extremist, intolerant Islam, but for the opposite. Last month, he stood shoulder to shoulder beside Araf Dalila, an Alawi, and Michel Kilo, a Christian, as they called for “freedom for every person. For every Sunni, Alawite, Ismaili and Christian, whether Arab or a member of the great Kurdish nation.” He’s preached and taught that, when the dictatorship goes, the new Syria will not replace the dictatorship of laicite with one variety of Islam but have true freedom of religion. He’s fought against sectarianism. And he’s one of those ‘enemies’ the regime must round up. So they took him in last night; otherwise, they fear, people might see through how they are trying to fuel sectarianism as a tool to hold on to power.
That’s the sort of enemy that we face here: one who lies and kills and wants sectarian strife to justify its grip on power. And we knew that all week as we organized and built for today. We knew that sooner or later the crack will come; the protests keep growing and, in my opinion, we now have the numerical majority of the population with us. Here, in Damascus, the mosques are now preaching the uprising; there are now three groups here – those on the regime’s payroll, those already in the uprising and those who support the uprising but are still afraid of being out in the street. I hear this is true through much of the country.
Today, I went into the streets; on every corner, there were security forces, party militiamen, all the thugs of the regime. Someone near me wondered if there were any apes left in the Nusayri hills. I headed to a mosque near where I have been staying for Friday prayers. (For those who care, I’ve taken to dressing rather differently than ‘myself’) The sermon was about resistance to oppression and, after wards, we issued into the streets.
“B’roh, b’dam, nifdeek ya Dera’a!” we chanted, “Our souls, our blood, we pledge to you Dera’a!”
“One One One, The People of Syria are one!”
“Freedom!”
“A million martyrs strong, we march to heaven!”
“The people want the overthrow of the regime!”
The forces of the regime met us in the street; we were maybe a thousand only and we had intention of marching towards Marjeh Square. Maybe we’d meet other groups. They shot over our heads; then they teargassed us. They grabbed people from the crowd; I guessed that they knew who they were looking for … I scattered, ending up in an alley with a complete stranger; for a few minutes as we caught our breath and recovered from teargassing together, he and I became best friends. And the weird thing was that here was I, a single woman (who, if it doesn’t sound vain, is at least average looking) and a strange man were all alone in an alley and we laughed and chatted about life without any inapprorpriate overtones … well, I would have thought it weird not that long ago here but, in this revolution, we are all getting over our hangups.
He and I ended up in a café nowhere near where we had started; we gathered news as best we could, a brief bit online, radio, gossip, everything … there were big demonstrations all over the country: Qamishli, Raqqa, Aleppo, Banyas, Zabadani … all around Dera’a … in the neighborhoods and suburbs of Damascus, there were thousands in Daraya, Saqaba … on and on …
And maybe, we wondered, the civil war has begun: in Homs, there was heavy fighting in the city … gun fire over a crowd that numbered in the tens of thousands … and at least one group of the regular army joined the protesters and fought the regime. The state media claims that ‘an armed gang’ was there, in Bab Amr, and killed 5 of the security forces but we know otherwise. Meanwhile, they killed 8 of ours. Has civil warr been declared? Maybe … or we just move closer to it …
More were killed in Hama …
As the sun set, my new friend and I parted … maybe he’s reading this now and we’ll be back tomorrow, fighting the power, ya jamal? Damascus gay girl will be there!
33 comments:
Thank you so much for sharing this!! Stay safe!
I would love to visit the tomb of Saladin. As an historian he is one of my heroes even if I am not Islamic.
On more important matters, I am very impressed you are contunuing to take the risk to participate in every protest and I am glad you got through tonight.
The worst of it is that here in the UK the initial interest in the "Arab Uprising" seems to have waned and pushed off the agenda because of the Royal wedding, local elections and the assassination of Osama bin Laden.
Were I to turn up outside the Syrian embassy tomorrow in London to protest would I be alone?
So glad you are still safe Amina, people all around the world are praying for you and for a free Syria, you give hope to everyone who lives under an oppressive regime, you are an example to us all!
I bet they know who they're looking for.
Beware, Amina yet writes.
(Shackson: go anyway. Have a fun Saturday talking to strangers with a thermos of tomato soup and a flag. You won't be shot, so WHY THE FUCK NOT?)
Amina,
You stopped covering yourself but I beg you to uncover Islam. Please read the salient points of Sharia Law:
1- Jihad defined as “to war against non-Muslims to establish the religion” is the duty of every Muslim and Muslim head of state (Caliph). Muslim Caliphs who refuse jihad are in violation of Sharia and unfit to rule.
2- A Caliph can hold office through seizure of power meaning through force.
3- A Caliph is exempt from being charged with serious crimes such as murder, adultery, robbery, theft, drinking and in some cases of rape.
4- A percentage of Zakat (alms) must go towards jihad.
5- It is obligatory to obey the commands of the Caliph, even if he is unjust.
6- A caliph must be a Muslim, a non-slave and a male.
7- The Muslim public must remove the Caliph in one case, if he rejects Islam.
8- A Muslim who leaves Islam must be killed immediately.
9- A Muslim will be forgiven for murder of : 1) an apostasy 2) an adulterer 3) a highway robber. Making vigilante street justice and honor killing acceptable.
10- A Muslim will not get the death penalty if he kills a non-Muslim.
11- Sharia never abolished slavery and sexual slavery and highly regulates it. A master will not be punished for killing his slave.
12- Sharia dictates death by stoning, beheading, amputation of limbs, flogging and other forms of cruel and unusual punishments even for crimes of sin such as adultery.
13- Non-Muslims are not equal to Muslims and must comply to Sharia if they are to remain safe. They are forbidden to marry Muslim women, publicly display wine or pork, recite their scriptures or openly celebrate their religious holidays or funerals. They are forbidden from building new churches or building them higher than mosques. They may not enter a mosque without permission. A non-Muslim is no longer protected if he commits adultery with a Muslim woman or if he leads a Muslim away from Islam.
14- It is a crime for a non-Muslim to sell weapons to someone who will use them against Muslims. Non-Muslims cannot curse a Muslim, say anything derogatory about Allah, the Prophet, or Islam, or expose the weak points of Muslims. However, the opposite is not true for Muslims.
15- A non-Muslim cannot inherit from a Muslim.
continued...
16- Banks must be Sharia compliant and interest is not allowed.
17- No testimony in court is acceptable from people of low-level jobs, such as street sweepers or a bathhouse attendant. Women in such low level jobs such as professional funeral mourners cannot keep custody of their children in case of divorce.
18- A non-Muslim cannot rule even over a non-Muslims minority.
19- Homosexuality is punishable by death.
20- There is no age limit for marriage of girls under Sharia. The marriage contract can take place anytime after birth and consummated at age 8 or 9.
21- Rebelliousness on the part of the wife nullifies the husband’s obligation to support her, gives him permission to beat her and keep her from leaving the home.
22- Divorce is only in the hands of the husband and is as easy as saying: “I divorce you” and becomes effective even if the husband did not intend it.
23- There is no common property between husband and wife and the husband’s property does not automatically go to the wife after his death.
24- A woman inherits half what a man inherits.
25- A man has the right to have up to 4 wives and she has no right to divorce him even if he is polygamous.
26- The dowry is given in exchange for the woman’s sexual organs.
27- A man is allowed to have sex with slave women and women captured in battle, and if the enslaved woman is married her marriage is annulled.
28- The testimony of a woman in court is half the value of a man.
29- A woman looses custody if she remarries.
30- To prove rape, a woman must have 4 male witnesses.
31- A rapist may only be required to pay the bride-money (dowry) without marrying the rape victim.
32- A Muslim woman must cover every inch of her body which is considered “Awrah,” a sexual organ. Some schools of Sharia allow the face and some don’t.
33- A Muslim man is forgiven if he kills his wife caught in the act of adultery. However, the opposite is not true for women since he “could be married to the woman he was caught with.”
If you like more please visit
FaithFreedom.org for the peaceful islam demos.
Thanks
Sugath
Amina, I wish you a free regime, a free country and a free future, but most of all, in this very moment I wish you safety and success in your uprising. I will continue following and praying for you.
Be Safe, Be Free.
Amina, very glad you are still free. Please try to stay out of the way of those who seek you. Bright Blessings.
Philip
You make a good point.
I may be a world away from this... I may not completely understand it but you and everyone in the world deserves freedom. Thank you for being courageous and sharing your story. Stay safe.
Sugath
"19- Homosexuality is punishable by death."
Yet Allah has created homosexuals so has Allah made a mistake!
Yeah I know I shouldn't even bother with an ignorant backward individual like this but I refuse to let our host be insulted by a twat.
Amina, please feel free to delete this response when you delete Sugath's offensive ramblings.
How stupid am I.
Re-read Sugath and realised he was having a go at Islam in a critical manner (at least I think he is.)
To be fair , pull apart the Bible and the New Testament and take it literally and the laws are similarly mysoginist, encouraging slavery, etc.
Please delete this and all esle on this topic.
In the end I just hope you are safe.
Just discovered your blog, thanks to a co-worker, and am really grateful for it. Your Scorecard of a day or so ago is especially useful. I hope you stay safe and I hope you win.
The Western media hasn't yet reported about Army forces supporting the protesters in Homs; I hope that turns out to be true.
Amina, I hope this finds you well, and you may already know about it, but EFF has just released some research on the dangers of using facebook without Tor or another proxy. If you receive a certificate error on facebook, do not continue. The full article is here: http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/05/syrian-man-middle-against-facebook
Thank you Amina for this informative entry. It is always a pleasure reading you.
I check your blog often and pray that you stay safe and most importantly, free! [Well as free as you can be under the current conditions in Syria].
Beowabbit: check Aljeezera English, they have news earlier then the western media about happenings in the middle east.
Shackson: I saw tomb of Saladin in September 2010 as I visited the Umayed Mosque. I'm not Muslim either, but *really* enjoyed my visit.
My husband has been to protest at the Syrian Embassy in Montreal with several friends, I'm sure if you go in London there will be people too.
Sugath: You do realize that Syria is a secular country right?
Hi Amina,
Not too sure if you will have seen this: http://jilliancyork.com/2011/05/06/what-syrias-unblocking-of-facebook-was-really-about/
It may be worthwhile spreading around your network.
As always, stay safe :-)
Hi Amina
Respect and Support from Italy
ciao
Adriano
go amina go , a coward die thousand times in his life and courageous person dies only once in life.
with love and prayers from India
You are incredibly brave! Reading your blog makes such a big difference with listening to the news on Syria. Please be safe and know that you have friends all over the world. I imagine this sounds very silly, but nevertheless: if there is anything we can do for you, just shout! Love from Belgium - Ine
I worry about you. There are times when we must do what we must do. Sometimes we live through it.
Several years ago I had the privilege of visiting Saladin's tomb. Your country deserves better than it gets from mine (also partly yours).
This is al fine and well but when will we see some Lesbian Action?
I've just come across your blog after reading an artical online. I have never lived in Syria, but both my parents are Syrian and the majority of my relatives live there. I am trying my best to stay updated and to get the truth of the situation over there, but as you will know - it is not an easy task.
The phone lines have been cut off for days in Banias, we can not get through. We know there are food shortages, we know they are coming after people, we know they are killing them. It's devestating. There is fuck all I can do but wait and worry.
I am worried about the time and the lives it will take before the regime is crushed, and before others decide to intervene.
What I am not worried about is that all of this will have been in vain. I do not believe that people like you are going to back down, just go back home and pretend none of this happened. No way. There's no way out for that donkey and his cronies.
I would like to thank you, as a syrian without a voice, for allowing me to believe that this is going to happen - that syrians, one day, will be free of the Assads.
I just hope that you, and the families of the hundreds of thousands that have been killed in the past are alive to witness it.
Hello Amina, I'm a journalist and I would love to hear your story. If you're interested please contact me at email (at) naomioleary (dot) com . Thanks and best of luck!
Amina,
You continue to inspire me and so many others. I was pleasantly surprised to see this in today's Guardian newspaper - your words are becoming more and more powerful.
Continue to stay safe
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/06/gay-girl-damascus-syria-blog?intcmp=239
Keep up the goodwork, be safe
Amina,
the Women in Black network has informed us of your blog. I send you love, mujer valiente!
-leah
Bravo Amina! from the UK. Be safe.
Good luck from the UK and, I hope and trust, the whole world!
Blessings from a gay Christian man in Seattle, Washington, US! You and all the Syrian people are in my prayers!
You are truly inspiring.
I would write you a letter but i have no idea how to even get in contact with you other than here, so here is an attempt at reaching out...
My name is Ashton, I live in New York City. I am producing a documnetary film for american television about LGBTQ youth in in the Middle East & we are coming to Syria in June before pride in Tel Aviv. I don't see how our project would be complete without you. if your interested in being a part of it please let me know, your contribution would be invaluable.
ablountster@gmail.com
stay safe, hope to see you soon.
-Ashton
Good luck.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men and women are created equal before the Law, that they are endowed with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Due Process, Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Freedom to practice or leave your Religion. Freedom of Press, Speech and Assembly. Freedom from indefinite detention or discrimination based on gender, race, sexual preference. Freedom to marry who you want to marry.
Amina,
Best Wishes and good luck from Canada! Please be safe, and yet persevere in your quest for Freedom. Around the world we are all at risk of losing this precious gift.
Cheers,
Bosco
Post a Comment