Move past the shock, the tears and the jarring reality of a
lifetime entirely erased, and you find where Syrians now stand. They’ve moved
beyond what we would consider endurable as humans. The simple thought, not even
the experience of the degree of
tragedy they have faced chokes my ability to breathe, to think, to dare to
consider their future. I sit and cry, thousands of miles away, filled with fear
and dread for their fate. I, with
the inability to fathom the depth of pain, cannot see hope, but the people of
Syria have transcended their circumstances when I am caught staring at the UN
report of 70,000 dead. This Civil War has fostered something deep within them--
an unshakable steadiness that stirs a sense of awe in my own heart.
“But amid the violence,
there is a great sense of hope. Among civilians, there is an unprecedented
sense of solidarity.
People are sharing
homes, clothes and food - notably with the hundreds of thousands displaced by
the fighting.” [1]
"In the old
Syria, there were no freedoms, no rights. One faction had a monopoly over
power," he said. "We want a new Syria based on freedom and
dignity." [2]
And yet, I wonder if solidarity will be able to
remedy the degree of personal pain.
When faced with losing a brother, sister, mother, father, daughter, son,
other realities manifest themselves. An unshakeable hatred and frustration that
threaten to swallow Syria whole. The tension is overwhelming. A people
uncertain how to feel in a myriad of experiences: the fear to hope only to face
disappointment, the bitterness created when only dwelling in loss, the chance
that they might overcome, the desire to avenge, the dream of a future. The
country is a patchwork of humanity-- of hope and hate and pain.
"So much bloodshed. Is it worth it? Honestly, I ask myself that
question every day when the bodies arrive for me to bury in this cemetery. I
still don't have an answer.”[3]
“The country has forever
changed. There’s too much hate. People have changed.” [4]
I wonder if we see it? From where we sit, politics and
complexities and fear trump the reality. The reality of 70,000 civilians
massacred. Homes eradicated, neighborhoods silenced, futures erased. Fears of
future extremism, of another Afghanistan cast a shadow of doubt and uncertainty
in how to approach this abyss of death and destruction. Have we noticed that
there is something beautiful, a hope that has defied all odds, refuses to be extinguished?
The cry of heart wrenching pain, the hate that masks loss, the anger that
emerges from hopelessness. I hope we see it and that moves us beyond the
complexities, the fear, and the uncertainty. I hope we see the humanity in
Syria.
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