Syria conclusions: Sanctions and Silk

“It is difficult to bear the brunt of 40 years of frustration,” Jared explained, after our professors asked our thoughts about a meeting with the Syrian Minister of Information. He is right; I think we all felt we were representing the US in Syria, which can be good or bad, depending on the subject. While we were in Syria, I think people were just really looking for us to say we messed up, and we will fix things. Or, more specifically, they wanted to hear that we hated the Bush administration, agreed on the blunders in Iraq, and that we wanted Obama to help create a viable solution in the Middle East peace process by ending unconditional support for Israel.

For me personally, none of this was hard to say since I agree. I know some of my colleagues had some trepidation in Syria as far as expressing themselves. And I did self-censure my blog posts to a certain extent. It was obvious we were followed and watched, and I just wanted to be sure to be careful while under the gaze of the Syrian government.
What I am happy to say now about Syria is that it is a beautiful, extremely diverse country. Self-titled the ‘cradle of civilizations’, the sheer amount of cultures and civilizations that have passed through the region does make it truly unique.
As far as the government is concerned, the people are seemingly obsessed with their leader Basher Al-Assad. His picture is absolutely everywhere. All over. In every room and hallway of every governmental building, his portrait was even in the copy room. Everyone I asked, even if no one was around, said they absolutely loved him. “He is doing so much to lead Syria to the future, for education”, a student told me. Alright, I thought, I mean some of our country is kind of obsessed with Obama. I get that. But what happens in Syria if they don’t like their next leader? Do the Syrian people have the means or ability to seriously react to a poor leader? For example, with regime change, like we finally did by overthrowing Bush? I am nervous for the future of Syria in that sense.

While touring the Golan Heights, already overcome with emotion, a very inquisitive Syrian student asked me a bunch of questions about the US. He very politely told me that in the US we think we are free, but we are only free to follow one specific track. It was an astute observation, if it was true. I replied that we do in fact have freedom of choice and that we can and do jump the track all the time. Besides being involved in national decisions, I explained how local politics work. I was a delegate to the Massachusetts State Convention which voted for Governor Deval Patrick, and every citizen can vote for or against proposed motions on ballots.
He was also very curious about gay marriage, something I am adamantly for. I told him I knew it would be difficult for him to understand, and maybe hard to hear since homosexuality is such a forbidden subject in many countries. Surprisingly, he had an extremely enlightened view about it, agreeing that people should be able to love who they want, and even proposed his belief that being homosexual is something people cannot control and even something that might be predetermined.

The people we met with Syria were all really concerned about the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act (SAA) of 2003, recently and surprisingly renewed by President Obama. The act affects a variety of things which I explained in an article I wrote for the main page (www.northeasternjournalisminthemiddleeast.wordpress.com). After reading the entire act through twice, I was startled by a couple of things. It is extremely outdated first of all, the US complains about Syria selling its oil to Iraq under the Saddam Hussein regime. As far as punishments, or sanctions, it calls for restricted travel of diplomats at the UN in NYC and in Washington DC to no more than a 25 mile radius from those two cities. It also says to “Reduce United States diplomatic contacts with Syria”. This is something I will never understand. At what point do less dialogue, conversations, and argumentations help foster agreement and understanding? It is a stupid policy. After some research on the act, I think that Obama renewed it solely for political leverage as he moves forward in the peace process. It was probably a smart move, to have something to reward Syria with if it makes sacrifices in one way or another.

A few of us were fortunate to meet Muhammed, the owner of a wonderful boutique in the Damascus hotel. He gave us tea and gifts, and even dressed me up in a traditional silk woven hand made Syrian bedouin outfit! It was worth thousands of dollars.

Honor and I outside the Ummayad Mosque, wearing my Godmother's beautiful silk scarf!

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