Samar Yazbek, a Syrian Alawite from Jableh, chronicles the experiences that she and many of her activist acquaintances faced during the first 100 days of the Syrian Revolution.
This book focuses on a very early stage of the crisis in Syria, from the 25th March - 9th July 2011; however, although it might at first appear a little outdated, it is nonetheless an important read. With Syria featuring increasingly in the news, and more often than not for the wrong reasons, this book provides a thorough chronicling of the events that caused the people of Syria to rise up against their government, which sadly most of us have forgotten.
Although presented as a diary, this book focused more on collecting eye-witness testimonies from other activists on the ground. We are given only brief snippets into Yazbek's life: the fear that she feels over the safety of her daughter; her pursuit by the Syrian security forces; the ostracisation she receives from her community; the abuse and threats she faced when she was kidnapped 3 times. Branded as a traitor by her community, we follow her (sometimes recklessly suicidal) pursuits to find the truth behind the government's purported narrative. What lacks, however, is a continuum of events. We are not taken through a journey with Yazbek; rather, we are provided with documented evidence from an array of people.
While reading the accounts listed in the book, you might think that you have stepped into the realm of Orwell's 1984:
-Civilians and potential dissidents are monitored and followed about by security forces; to avoid risk of surveillance, people are so paranoid that they started keeping their cell phones 10 metres away from themselves.
-Absolute and total control. "Either us or we [burn the country]."
-The truth is twisted so that only the regime narrative exists; a testimony is revealed regarding a man who was shot by security forces and was taken to a military hospital. They tried to force him to say that "the armed gangs shot [him]." When he refused, insisting that "it was the security who shot me.", he was shot at point-blanc in the head.
-Orchestrated propaganda ploys by the government, e.g. when they agreed to meet with some activists and hear their demands, only to reopen fire on those demonstrating, or when they tried to force demonstrators into admitting that they had been holding placards in support of Israel and inciting sectarian hatred.
-The ostracisation of the opposition. Anyone found to be demonstrating was in league with the "Islamists", even if they were Christian, Alawite, secular or athiest. The terms "salafi" and "islamist" are thrown about far too liberally in order to create a stigmatisation of the opposition and provide the government with a cover for its acts of atrocities.
-Summary executions of civilians, with many bodies found with marks evidencing torture. Rape was also (and continues to be) a tactic used. Doctors found to be treating wounded demonstrators were arrested and tortured.
-Infiltrating protests in attempts to incite violence and creating sectarian strife where none was present, all in a ploy to wreak havoc in the country. The regime is described as "an assortment of gangs intertwined with the ruling family, who benefit from corruption and... wants to ignite a sectarian war and will soon turn the Alawite community into its very own human shield."
-Fear of reprisal for giving testimonies; many of those who gave interviews to Yazbek disappeared a few weeks later.
I will stop here, although the book is brimming with other examples of a similar nature.
Amid the distribution of testimonies, Yazbek intersperses powerful poetic language, although I feel that some of the meanings were lost in translation. For example, the translation of the lyrics to Ibrahim Qashoush's now renown revolutionary song simply do not convey the same power that they hold in their original Arabic.
This book reinstigated the fervour I once had over Syria, and it also served as a bittersweet reminder of the days when half a million people would come out in unison to demonstrate. This chronicles the days when ISIS did not exist in Syria, when people could still keep track with the number of deaths, when there was still a good amount of hope.
If you approach this book with little prior background on Syria, you might find some of the references difficult to follow. Nonetheless, I would consider this as an essential read on Syria because it is important to remember the root cause. What started this all, and how could anyone kill their own people?