Peace only in words

The SYRIAN CIVIL WAR is part of the so-called “Arab Springs”. The Syrian regime is a secular political system that originates from the Arab Baathist socialism of the twentieth century, but the high rate of unemployment, widespread corruption and lack of political freedom reveal its weakness and cause a protest against the government that responds to the demonstrations with armed repression. The revolt soon degenerates into a civil war with unpredictable outcomes and characterized by a progressive involvement of foreign powers that aim to take control of one of the most important strategic areas of the Middle East. Putin's Russia, the Ayatollahs' Iran are among the government's supporters, while Turkey, the Western powers and several Arab Gulf states side with the opposition during the course of the conflict. Jihadist extremism (2014) has forcefully entered this war, with the Islamic State group (ISIS) and al-Qaeda, which, by entering the conflict and recruiting militants from every Islamic country, are trying to establish the caliphate. To complicate the geopolitical picture, it is necessary to remember the Kurdish question.
The Kurds of Syria (like those in Iraq and Turkey) want self-determination and independence and have fought hard against ISIS, but in turn they have been (and are) opposed by Turkey. After the defeat of the Islamic State (2017), the Syrian government has reconquered the most important cities, but a large part of the territory, located in the north-east of Syria, is under the control of Kurdish forces.
 

"I come from Syria, from the city of Homs, I'm 32 years old and I've been in Italy for about a year and a half.
I was 17 when the war began in my country". This is how the story of Marina, a young Syrian woman who fled the war, begins. A civil war that broke out in March 2011 as a revolt against the regime of Bashar al Assad. After thirteen years, the divisions are not over, nor is the suffering of the Syrian people forced to mourn their victims, subject to frequent displacement and forced to live with deprivation and poverty for years. Just like what happened to Marina.

"I am a Christian: before the war we were about 20% of the population, now we are very few. In my family there are five of us between brothers and sisters, only one of us, together with my parents, remained in Syria. In 2015 I graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Damascus. Since 2016, my humanitarian commitment towards the weakest people, especially women and children victims of violence, began. What I have experienced in these years of war has been a pain that has affected me deeply. Like Marina, many other Syrians: "It is impossible to forget, it is not a horror film but it is a continuous adaptation to living with bombs, with the neighbor who dies, with houses that collapse, waking up at night and running away in the dark without knowing where to go. War is an experience full of pain, but in which even suffering can become a wealth if it is shared with others." In 2018, I and other young people from Homs needed a space for ourselves. I remember that we went to a bar every day to share our stories and our dreams. It was a space of normality for us.

In one of these meetings we met the members of a Swiss association that helps young people carry out small projects to continue living despite the war. We asked and they helped us: we found a house that had been bombed and abandoned in the old part of Homs.
At the beginning we were only two people carrying out this project that we called Harmony, then we became 15 friends. When we started, we decided to leave the door open to let in anyone, young or old, who wanted to feel safe.
A place where you can get to know each other and tell your story». Today Harmony is a volunteer association that brings together Syrians who want to build peace through art, culture and sharing.
«These are bricks to rebuild a new society, but the soul also needs to eat. Harmony grew slowly through art, we talked about the suffering we were experiencing and the dreams of peace and harmony. To date Harmony has involved over a thousand people with its projects that have ranged from the visual arts to theater and music, to literature».

Despite all of Marina's energy and dreams, the war continued, there was no electricity, water, heating.
«I worked a lot and could only afford food to feed myself. As much as I wanted to be strong in the face of these difficulties, I realized that I could no longer stay in Syria. I realized that I also needed help. I didn't want to leave my home, but I couldn't stay any longer. In 2022, I had the opportunity to attend an international master's degree in English on the conservation of cultural heritage in countries in crisis in Turin, Italy. I didn't have a scholarship and for me, who had come from many years of civil war, it was impossible to have the money to pay for my studies. My father asked me: "Where will you live? How will you manage?" and I replied that God leaves no one behind. I started asking around: for three months I only received noes, until a yes arrived. Sermig welcomed me, for me it became a family.
I live in a house in Sermig, the "Rifugio di Maria". After my master's degree, I attended the Italian language school in the Arsenale and the school for artisans and restorers. I want to stay in Italy and find a job.
My life has changed completely here: a new family and my life has found a new meaning. I thank Sermig for the new family you gave me, for a love that cannot be forgotten".

But for many Syrians, the present is still difficult. Thirteen years of war have devastated civilian infrastructure, with serious consequences on access to healthcare, electricity, education, public transport, water and hygiene. It is difficult to make estimates, but it is possible to think of about half a million victims (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights).
14 million people have had to abandon their homes: about 7.2 million are internally displaced, another 6 million are refugees or asylum seekers abroad.

In 2023, the UN declared that over 15 million people in Syria were in need of humanitarian assistance. Without forgetting that, in February 2023, a terrible earthquake hit the northwest of the country and Turkey, greatly worsening the already precarious humanitarian situation in the area.
The future prospects of Syria are very fragile, but Marina's story shows that the hope of starting over does not die with conflicts as long as civil society - and not just politics - gives its contribution.

Renato Bonomo
Focus
NP October 2024

Foto Harmony