March 27, 2006

When I travel in the Middle East, especially in Syria, I get inspired to write dozens of pieces about seemingly banal events, but I always get too busy and decide to save it for "later" - and the same goes for blogging, unfortunately. So in lieu of real news, here's a short update from Damascus.

People here are fed up; prices are high, business is slow, and all other things are remaining equal or getting worse. Yes, you can find almost anything in the shops, but disposable income has become more limited than ever for most Syrian families. This has been the real subject of conversation: the price of things, particularly basic commodities like oil. Even people of comfortable means can't help but notice the burden on others of lesser means, and can't help but notice that for all the talk of improving conditions, things are sluggish.

The public sphere is as frustrating as ever. Omayad Square is even more messed up than I had described it here last year. It really should be officially renamed Regime Square (or possibly Baath Square), because nothing of the Omayads' competence and magnificence is represented in this central Damascene spot. I must remember to take a photo of its current, indescribable status; not a single traffic light coming into the square works, and it's a huge mess.

Interestingly, other traffic lights around the city work fine, and many have sprung rather useless attachments: a seconds counter, so that Damascene drivers (always in an incredible hurry) may be persuaded to hold off the honking, in the illusion that the government is concerned about the general public well-being.

Still, we’re supposed to get all excited because of the opening of a new hotel - a hotel, for crying out loud, which took nearly 5 years to complete! Quite an ugly, bulky structure which has become the most expensive place in the city and the talk of official media. In what other country in the world is the inauguration of a hotel, even a 5-star one, such an event? Where else would such an unexciting affair be taken as a barometer of development in a given economy? The Syrian regime would have us believe that this is a sign that investments are flowing into the country and the people are swimming in bullish expectation, but nothing is further from the truth. Clearly, the regime is chuffed that a Saudi investor of that magnitude, who has made SANA even more excited - and thus even more mediocre - than usual should be inviting others to take advantage of opportunities, whatever these are.

The regime would also like us to believe we're awfully cool because we now have a female vice president in Syria. Like that's really going to change things for women, or for anyone else. I have yet to hear one person here describe this as a positive development - or even a development, come to think of it. Are we supposed to feel happy because she's not a Baath party member (at least not officially)? The regime will have to do a bit better than that to even remotely convince anyone that something is changing - and you should hear the sarcastic comments people are making about this.

Like all the other moves the regime pretends to make, Attar's appointment is nothing to write home about. All Syrians are familiar with her "credentials" as regime crony for years on end, during which time culture (technically her portfolio) all but disappeared from the national agenda, and films and books were banned for no comprehensible reason. Remember that culture ("thaqafa") has become a dirty word for the regime, which often calls activists "muthaqafin" (literally, people with culture).

Nor are the repeated arrests of human rights activists like Ali Abdullah or Samir Nashar news or a development either, as it is something that has unfortunately become quite common here. I can confirm that the harassment of every civil society activist, newly-released Damascus Springers included, has gone even beyond our expectations. The regime continues to intimidate family (even relatively elderly parents and younger children of the activists), neighbors and friends, in the hope that any surviving spirit will be broken and that people will simply give up, sooner or later. A couple of the people I know have sadly succumbed to harassment fatigue, but most aren't giving up.

Practically every Syrian I have met is tired of the regime, weary of new alliances (namely that of Khaddam with the Muslim Brothers) and conscious that the "acceptable" opposition has practically no chance of doing anything worthwhile. But when the latter are accused of not having an agenda or plans (should they ever come to power), most people readily reply that this actually applies to the regime. Indeed.

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