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In 1982, in the Syrian city of Hama in particular, bloody events, known as the "Hama massacre", broke out, which severed the modern Syrian society and left serious wounds and scars in the fabric of society to this day. Besides dozens of people who were buried in mass graves, entire neighborhoods were buried, many families were killed, some of their children were killed, others were arrested, others disappeared, and the most fortunate managed to flee outside the country, starting a new chapter of homelessness and alienation. Less torment and pain than what they fled to escape. The two poles of these events are the Syrian regime and the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood.
Although the first generation of the group suffered the most from displacement, liquidation, torture and detention, the second and third generation also did not survive the historical consequences, but they suffered their share in the Diaspora. According to the complex autocratic context of generations of “opposition groups” of all strata, the most affected of these layers of tyranny are the Muslim Brotherhood girls, or girls who came to the world and found their parents or family members joined or joined the Muslim Brotherhood. This resulted in accusations, and would be, in the midst of a political conflict in which it was brought back to the bloody events of the 1980s that took place in Syria, and whose effects are still in effect, so that every Syrian boy who comes to life in that category will find themselves and be listed in their names, without crime or crime. A misdemeanor they did, in the Syrian regime's blacklist.
According to the famous law no. 49 issued by the Syrian regime in 1980 [1], the mere visit to these listed individuals means their arrest and execution, which is the same for males and females. As for the girls, they may be more fortunate if they are kidnapped and released for ransom, which in no way means ensuring that they return safely from any torture, abuse or sexual abuse. [2]
Many of these girls may not have witnessed the events of the 1980s, they have not seen them in public, nor have they been subjected to security prosecution, but according to a number of live interviews we conducted in Meydan , the echo of these events is still overshadowed by their heavy shadows and their stories are remembered. The scenes pass through the eye, and a symbol, either through the gaze of her parents and her family and the scars of the scars that are still present and already, or through the behavior of constant caution that constitutes her personality, and distrust that weighs heavily on her feelings.
Here we tell four stories, heroes of which are five girls; Maha, Samah, Hala, and Sarah, who are not officially members of the Syrian Brotherhood, unlike those who were involved in relief work after the Syrian revolution, and a number of them were appointed to the Brotherhood's Shura Council recently [3] They have no political activity and do not remember from Syria other than a distorted picture, chasing them as much as they escape.
Maha .. Lieutenant fear does not go away with time
"I never felt that I was a Syrian. I could not get full personal documents until I got married to a Jordanian. I was born in Jordan, studied and married. I feel Jordanian and I love Jordan and the people of Jordan."
She was born in Jordan and lived there. Still, she was disappointed when she could not obtain her official documents as a Syrian citizen. She is banned from traveling after being deported. Her family is forcibly, and they are all afraid of being arrested and tortured if they travel to her, as well as being completely cut off from relatives inside Syria.
Maha recounts her early upbringing, which was filled with constant fear and anxiety, after she had been “infected” by the fear of being pursued by her father and family members. Her father warned her not to disclose his work, as an activist in the Muslim Brotherhood, whose members are strictly confidential and fearful of being pursued by the Syrian regime, which was beyond her comprehension.
Maha had seven uncles, one of whom was arrested because her father was wanted by the Syrian regime, and was seized by ISIS immediately after his release from prison, then managed to escape to Turkey.Although the situation changed after the Syrian revolution, they dare not communicate, which would endanger the lives of relatives Targeting by the Syrian regime, despite the complete interruption in communication, Maha's relatives were summoned for interrogation and access to her and her family's news.
Since her parents were married outside Syria, the marriage has not been officially confirmed, which means that the Syrian government does not recognize her parents' marriage, presence and siblings. “No one felt it was strange in Jordan from birth and during her studies,” she said. “Jordanians welcomed Syrians and other Arab brothers.” Despite the apparent coherence of the beginning of the conversation, the momentum of the feelings she experienced in her childhood returned and invaded her features and overflowing the distress and fear that she had long worked to hide from her eyes a long time, and she remembers her father's and the Syrian's keen concern in those days and their fear of chasing the regime in them. Diaspora and the harm of their children.
Maha continues to suffer after she got her high school diploma, where her sense of alienation and non-affiliation began to grow, and she had no choice but to wait until the sons of the country were accepted in the university disciplines of their choice and suit their rates, to be accepted in one of the disciplines. There was no turnout at a university with vacant seats, which are often far away, but Maha expressed her gratitude to the government, which gave Syrians a chance to compete with each other to improve their chances of being admitted to universities.
After graduating with a bachelor's degree in Arabic, Maha started a new chapter in her search for work.After a long period of suffering and research, she worked as an alternative teacher, a temporary teacher, in a private school, a temporary job that does not guarantee her a steady income and a decent living. Then, she modified her session and returned to her cheeks, some of the roses, and relaxed her parts, and loose her eyes, adding that a new phase of her life began:
"When I was associated with my Jordanian husband, I was displaced, and I had complete official documents. I became a sense of a country where I was recognized and lived in safety. I became easily traveled and my living conditions improved a lot. My husband is working and has health insurance.
Sisters Samah and Hala .. Shock visit home
Samah and Hala are two sisters, whose experience is very similar to Maha's. They are Syrian born in Jordan and still reside in Jordan. And youth.
But unlike Maha, who did not really feel her fractal appreciation in her childhood, Samah and Hala say they were pretending to speak in the Shami dialect with their school friends and teachers, often meeting the request of a friend or teacher to speak to her, and interpreting some of the Syrian phrases frequently mentioned in the series. Syrian government, which did not hesitate one Jordanian house to follow. They were also happy to participate in school activities with Syrian dishes made by their mother, and hear the words of praise and admiration for the unparalleled skills of "Set El Beit".
About her childhood in Jordan, Hala told Maidan :
"I always felt proud that I was Syrian and I felt privileged. My schoolmates loved me so much and they spread my story on the Syrian."
Her sister, Samah, commented:
"We drank from the water of Jordan and we ate it and we lived with its people and we did not live in Syria."
It is fate that Samah and Hala will visit Syria briefly with her mother and get to know their hometowns in Homs and Jisr al-Shughour. Samah says she was very excited when she visited the city where her mother grew up, and she hears everyone speaking the Homsi dialect, as if it were finally a dream come true, and how excited she was when her country was aired and saw with her eyes where her parents and parents grew up.
Samah and Hala formed a dual identity, one of which fits in with the Jordanian society that grew up and lived in it, and the other converged with the smaller Syrian society.
Although they were very welcome and delighted to visit Syria, a safe haven and home that they have always dreamed of visiting, they were very disappointed. Throughout this visit, fear remained their companion until they reached the Jordanian border and breathed a sigh of relief, and their breasts were saturated with the fresh air of Jordan and received by Jordanian security men with their generous faces, wide hearts and welcoming words. In you a Hurray. "
Through the talk of Samah and Hala, it is clear that they formed a dual identity, one of which is in harmony with the Jordanian society, which grew up and lived in his hands, and the other converges with the miniature Syrian society. The sisters frequent regular meetings with other Syrian girls, including educational and religious lectures, panel discussions of religious and intellectual books, recreational activities and excursions, an experience that feels a sense of belonging to the body of Syrians undergoing the same circumstances and helps alleviate their sense of alienation.
Fatima .. Is work becomes an alternative home?
"I do not remember anything from Syria, where I was born and lived for six years and then we moved to Jordan. I lived, studied and worked in Jordan, Yemen and Turkey, and they became my country and my country."
Speaking of the homeland, Fatima tells Meydan that the homeland can complete her education and research interest, find academic work that suits her, achieve her ambition and cover her and her mother's. Fatima finds no need for social support Ksara, Maha and Samah.For some reason, she never felt part of Syrian Diaspora communities, did not feel affiliated with her, or had any connection with her, and found in the study and work all the consolation. Fatima has only known foggy memories of Syria's six years of life.Here are some shots of the streets of my neighborhood, the children she was playing with, and the features of the family home.Jordan was the home she embraced in her childhood and her family until she completed high school. Her family made a trip to Yemen.
Fatima's wish to obtain Turkish citizenship to get rid of the suffering that accompanies the holders of the Syrian passport, which closes in front of the holder of the doors of most countries of the world and deprived of the most basic
Fatima worked in schools and then universities, completed her graduate studies at little cost, and felt that she had an independent entity and an active role in the Diaspora, but did not give her much time. Once her doctoral thesis was adopted in Yemen, she was forced to go to Jordan after the revolution. Yemeni, she says:
"It was a very difficult period for me. It is true that the title of the letter and the plan were adopted, but I was concerned that the message would be facilitated with the turmoil in Yemen and the Houthis' control of the university and our sudden transfer to Jordan."
Four years have passed on Fatima in Jordan, where Fatima was forced to venture and travel to Yemen during the unrest to discuss her doctoral thesis and return to Jordan. Fatima finally began to take her breath after finally landing in Turkey, where she now works as an Arabic lecturer for university students in Turkey. Turkey, for Fatima, a safe haven that has embraced her after long suffering, granted her a job and welcomes her to her children, and now her wish to obtain Turkish citizenship to get rid of the heavy burden and suffering that accompanies the holders of the Syrian passport, the passport that closes in front of the holder of most countries of the world and deprives him of his most basic rights.
Sarah .. a funny spirit fleeing from the hell of wars
Sarah remembers, laughing and straying:
"Every country I was in was a war or a revolution, I was born in Iraq and there was a war, I lived in Yemen and Libya and there was war!"
Between the blockade of Iraq and the revolutions in Libya and Yemen, Sarah suffered both things as a Syrian word for her country and unable to contain the other countries. In Iraq, she grew up, completed her university studies and got married.Iraq was a pleasant homeland, although she did not have his nationality.He lived in good living conditions and studied at little cost.Her husband worked in a public university that offered him all the privileges of an Iraqi employee.
The girls of Syrian families who have close or distant connections to the mainstream of political Islam are experiencing a real existential crisis
But the announcement of the war in Iraq in 2007 announced the start of a new chapter in the alienation of Sarah, to live years in Yemen and then Libya and have to travel until settled in Turkey. Though grateful to Libya and Yemen, she was very alienated. They lived under the threat of dismissal of her husband if he could not renew his Syrian passport, and because he was a foreign employee, he would not be surprised if his contract was not renewed at the end of the year. Sarah lives today as a refugee in Turkey, and life in Turkey is not as easy as Sarah explains, but she feels safe and says that there are good opportunities for everyone who is trying hard.
A sense of belonging to a small Syrian society
Displaced people are often small communities, united by painful memories and suffering in alienation. [4] These communities become a barrier to the various challenges that the displaced face in their alienation. They arrive in countries where they know nothing and have no relatives.They leave the country, leaving behind their homes, money and property.They no longer have anything to wear, and have received no material support from international or local relief institutions, without some individual assistance from some individuals. As well as the psychological pain suffered by the displaced Syrian families after the arrest and prosecution suffered since the eighties, and witnessed the crimes of slaughter, rape and field execution, they were in interdependent groups bandaged and a balm for bleeding wounds and congested [5].
This is what brought the families of the Syrian Brotherhood together.All members are cut off from their relatives inside Syria and face the same difficulties in alienation.All of them were affected in the 1980s, directly or indirectly.The suffering of girls is part of a thick black cloud of the suffering of the Syrian people. So, she told Meydan that she found solace with other Syrian families who have experienced similar experiences, and that they have more blood ties that give them a sense of security, attend regular religious meetings in the faith, the Quran, the Hadith and the testimony, and train them to give lessons in the Koran to children. And Syrian adolescents, as well as volunteer work in relief for Syrian refugees after the outbreak of the Syrian revolution.
One homeland and different definitions
Although many Syrians suffer from alienation and poverty, the girls of Syrian families who have close or long-term connections to political Islam are experiencing a real existential crisis from birth to this moment. Their suffering stems from the attraction of hobbies for many worlds and aspects, between a place that no longer welcomes one of them, between the birthplace of parents that some of them have not seen, between a country that opened the girl to his arms and provided her with food, drink, work and study, and between another country that does not recognize her and does not grant her the minimum rights but brings her With her loved ones and those who experience her own experience and protects her from the oppression and certain destruction committed by those who have control over her motherland.
In spite of this reality, and the suffering, which is exacerbated by the ongoing political unrest, girls have no interest in politics, and may have preferred to stay away from reading and practice altogether, in search of some comfort and to cope with the difficult conditions imposed on them in the diaspora. However, is it possible to separate the human suffering in the Arab world in general and in Syria in particular without addressing politics and the associated conflicts, alliances and equations? Does the retirement of Syrian Islamic women politicians mean that politics will leave them at peace? Or, as Greek politician Persilus said, "Don't you think that retiring from politics will comfort you and that politics will leave you alone."
It could be a home where you work and study, a country where a girl marries and you can settle down with another nationality, a place where you can meet her family and friends from another micro-expatriate community, or simply a safe and stable haven where the girl feels no risk of being kidnapped But the homeland may remain as Ghassan Kanafani once said: "The homeland will not all happen!"
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Margins:
- Pseudonyms were placed to protect the privacy of the girls interviewed.