Inside Syria

For now it's safe, but the Hariri assassination looms

by Joel Hanson

Editor's note: Joel Hanson, a longtime contributor to the Washington Free Press, is currently teaching English Language in a US-sponsored language program in Syria, from where he sent us this article.

My roommate Romain and I were grocery shopping when we heard the news of the latest suicide bombings. The blaring volume of an Arabic news report drew our attention up to the fuzzy screen of a TV perched like a gargoyle in a corner of the tiny cement-walled store. "Three simultaneous hotel bombings in Amman, Jordan," Romain read the Arabic ticker tape off the screen and then translated into English. "At least 18 people dead, and 120 injured"--numbers that would increase as more bodies were unearthed from the rubble later that evening.

We left the store--and the chaotic images of Amman--behind and climbed four blocks of steep cobblestone streets back to our apartment, silenced by the effort. At 11pm, the streets were beginning to empty and most shops were already closed for the evening. We ascended the sidewalk stairs in darkness interrupted periodically by the headlights of a passing car or the occasional squares of fluorescent light cast onto the dusty road from small stores all peddling identical products.

"Amman is a three-hour drive from Damascus," Romain reminded me as we sat in our apartment minutes later, tuned to EuroNews for additional information. But we both agreed the proximity of the attack in no way compromises our relative safety in nearby Damascus--even if it will cause our families and friends needless worry.

The motive for the bombings, we also agreed, was relatively simple: Jordan is merely the latest target from a long list of countries (Indonesia, Morocco, Spain, Turkey, Egypt, the UK) who have--often against the will of their own people--reluctantly supported the United States in its mendacious "war on terrorism". In addition, Jordan is the only Muslim country to have signed a peace accord with Israel which has further inflamed the more radical Islamic factions in the area.

The Jordanian target--three hotels frequented by foreign diplomats and tourists--was also carefully calculated to maximize foreign casualties and send an obvious message to the American government: all countries who collaborate in your illegal war will be punished by attacks. But that message, as all of the others, will be misinterpreted--or lost--in the mainstream US media and serve as additional ammunition for George Bush to perpetuate his own military-sponsored acts of terror.

Syria has thus far shielded itself from terrorist attacks because of its ongoing defiance of American interests in the region. But now it faces potential UN sanctions or American military strikes for its role in the February 14 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

"It's ironic," I announce to Romain at the end of the short EuroNews report.

A political rally in Damascus. Some attendees report being unwillingly bussed to rallies while on the their way to work. Photo by Romain Pingannaud.

"Unless there's an American attack, which is unlikely, Syria is probably one of the safest places for us to be right now."

That situation, of course, is about to change because of German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis' UN report charging high-ranking Syrian officials in Hariri's assassination. The report has dominated the news in Syria and has generated a handful of well-attended, government-sponsored protests in the center of town. There is some dispute about whether the demonstrations are spontaneous or coerced. It really depends on whom you ask.

But another Syrian friend testified to being "kidnapped" two days ago while on his way to work for telcom giant Syriatel. He was riding his company bus to work as usual when the driver made an unannounced detour and drove instead to Damascus University for a planned presidential speech. "Where are we going?" he recalled asking the driver. "We're going to Damascus University to support the president's speech," the driver responded. But what if I don't want to go?" he silently mumbled to himself before another, more important question formed in his head: "Don't we need to hear what the president has to say first before we can decide whether or not to support it?"

Assad's speech in front of enthusiastic students echoed Syria's unchanging response to political pressure from the UN: the president pledged to comply with the Mehlis report as long as it didn't compromise the country's "sovereignty." He also dismissed American accusations that Syria is improperly policing its boarder with Iraq and asserted that Syria is now paying a political price for its opposition to war in Iraq.

But my friend didn't remain long enough to hear more. Dressed in a t-shirt and carrying a laptop on his shoulder, he walked off the bus into the chilly morning air, slipped through the gathering crowd, and headed back to his office.

Two weeks earlier, the SPRA (Syrian Public Relations Association) opted for a more permanent anti-American presence by erecting a large red tent in a small park facing the American Language Center (ALC) and US Embassy less than 250 feet away. They covered its interior and exterior with posters and literature denouncing Mehlis and the imperialist American government. Each day, they recruit young, attractive students to wave Syrian flags in solidarity with the government and skillfully choose camera angles to exaggerate the number of protesters in the daily newspapers.

When the crowds and collective enthusiasm wane, political speeches and patriotic music flood into our classrooms from the tent's loudspeakers. Even if I draw different political conclusions about the Mehlis report, some of the anti-American artwork is not without merit and political relevance. The most ingenuous work, from my perspective, is a drawing of an American bowling ball rolling over a single Syrian pin.

As always, America appears to have all of the political leverage at the UN, even after Kofi Annan had the temerity to remind the international community that the US invasion of Iraq was a gross violation of international law. And Israel remains unpunished for its own violations of UN resolutions in its war against the Palestinians.

My own feeling is that the US government couldn't care less about who killed Hariri but is using the Mehlis report as political leverage to force Assad into what Condoleezza Rice calls "behavioral change": mainly increased vigilance on its border with Iraq and prosecution of those who attempt to cross it to battle American forces. Syria could also appease the American government by ending its alliances with Hizbullah and its support for radical Palestinian groups.

But the Mehlis report poses an unsavory dilemma for Assad: if he refuses to cooperate, mainly by refusing to let Mehlis question key suspects (like military intelligence head Asef Shawkat), Syria faces further regional isolation, economic sanctions, and potential American military action. If Assad gives up a suspect or two, admits culpability, and cooperates with the US, Syria will become an appetizing target for future suicide bombers.

There is a third option, as an acquaintance named Benoit pointed out the day after the Jordan bombings: Syria could go on a diplomatic offensive, agreeing to fully comply with the UN Security Council resolution 1636 (which calls for the Syrian government to detain, restrict travel, and freeze all of the assets of any suspects in the Hariri assassination) in exchange for Israel's agreement to comply with an earlier UN resolution calling for it to withdraw from the Golan Heights.

But thus far, the Syrian press has spent all of its energy discrediting the messenger (repeatedly claiming that Mehlis is an instrument of the US and Israeli governments, his report "politicized" and "contradictory," and all testimony stemming from Lebanese sources is unreliable) instead of responding to his charges.

They've also tapped Ghada Murad to lead their own Hariri murder probe which is as likely to turn up new suspects as OJ Simpson's ongoing murder investigation in California: zero.

Despite the American-led political pressure, the ongoing anti-American vigil in front of my school, and an occasionally vocal student-led protest in the center of town, life in Damascus has changed little since my arrival. I walk the streets with Romain in peace even if the locals sometimes pause to stare at us longer than usual. Romain establishes instant friendships whenever he responds to greetings with his near-fluent Egyptian Arabic.

Generally, the Syrian people have been friendly and welcoming, even if they, like almost everyone else in the world, foster a deep hatred for Bush and the American government.

Most often, the Syrians I meet try to reconcile how the nice American people they meet at the ALC can elect such awful leadership. "We didn't," I tell them in class whenever the subject wanders away from the assigned material.

It's unclear how the political situation in Damascus will change. Assad might defuse the situation by allowing some government official to stand trial, while hoping the whole affair will be soon be forgotten. But will that be sufficient to assuage the American appetite for punishment and political unrest in Syria? We'll all find out soon enough.

Joel Hanson is a former Seattle resident. In recent years, he has also taught English Language in Japan, China, and Morocco.