SYRIA - HOW DO YOU MEND A BROKEN SOCIETY
Early in 2103 I wrote this blog about a country I loved and the tragedy of what is happening with Syria. Since writing this piece we have seen the rise of ISIS and their appalling ideology and violent actions that have horrified the world. However, despite the monster that has arisen from the ashes of this civil war, I still believe that we have to find hope that we can eventually find a path to peace.
I was fortunate to visit Syria on a number of occasions when we presented the first western style pop concert with Enrique Iglesias in Damascus at the Old Fairground on July 4th 2007. The concert was a wonderful success and around 10,000 excited kids (and parents) enjoyed a great evening of music and fun. Hijab mixed on a very friendly basis with mini-skirted youngsters and designer jeans - the event was enjoyed by all and the atmosphere was friendly, enjoyable and everyone certainly appeared to want this evening to be a night to remember.
Our hosts welcomed and treated us with incredible kindness and I felt a camaraderie, amazing warmth and friendship from everyone we met - from the ticket sellers, street traders, the audience who attended the show (aged between 8 and 80!) the taxi drivers, hotel staff, restaurants, stage hands, the media as well as the VIP's that attend these events. I can say hand on heart that my visits to Syria were deeply memorable and an unforgettable experience.
We were planning more concerts and a cultural festival not only in Damascus but in other major cities and then of course, all plans came to a horrendous halt.
I am not naive enough to think that everything in Syria was wonderland with no underlying problems. Although I am a Brit, I have spent a large part of my life in the Middle East and indeed other countries including Russia and the United States and like to think that my passion for culture, literature, music, theatre, history, travel and meeting people from all walks of life, cultures, religions, political and varying social backgrounds has lead me to have at least a reasonably well informed understanding of the currents of change swelling and now raging throughout Syria and indeed many other countries.
It will take more than a well intentioned blog to resolve the nightmare that is Syria today A country and society that is broken, bleeding, suffering and experiencing the hell and misery of a civil war. How does a country devastated and burying its dead, with refugees pouring (or trying to pour) into the neighbouring countries - homes destroyed, families torn apart, medical aid hopelessly struggling to cope, where refugee camps abound, hatreds compounded and growing day in and day out - rebuild itself - is there any hope?
With international interests interfering (guns, weapons, oil, gas etc all mean big money) - there is undoubtedly a superpower clash of interests - Russia no doubt wanting to show its international muscle, wanting to clamp down and crush any Islamist uprising near or within its borders - The US, UK and other western powers want to counter Russia's power in the Middle East by giving arms to the rebels, which has created its own monster ISIS - Iran supporting the Assad and mainly Alawhite regime - the Sunni crescent of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Abu Dhabi, Egypt no doubt supporting ISIS, therefore the international meddling and power grabbing continues unabated, whilst the people die and suffer. The influence of Hezbollah in this war is also helping Assad and the Alawite power base and so the suffering goes on and on. Aren't there awful similarities to the Bosnian/Balkans situation? With Saudi about to attack the Iran backed insurgents in Yemen - the Middle East powder keg is looking desperately fragile.
However, the purpose of this blog is not to disseminate or try to give any kind of serious political overview of this tragedy, but to see where the hope for the future lies. Can there be hope, when death, destruction, rape, alleged chemical weapons being used, mass killings and hatreds abound? The answer has to be "yes" because if there is no hope then the human race will ultimately decline and destroy itself in a morass of misery, death and collapse of all moral and human values. We all pray that this will not be the demise of everything that people value and hope for - the right to live peacefully with compassion, care and love. These words must seem an impossibly long way away for the people of Homs, Aleppo, Damascus, Hama, Latakia, Ar-Raqqah and throughout this sad, war torn country. The press photos of the destruction of the cities and villages is truly appalling - the news reports coming out are heartbreaking but we have to hold on to the belief that the human race is capable of healing the wounds of war.
The youngsters some of whom danced and sang to Enrique Iglesias six or so years ago have to be the hope for the future to somehow, with Herculean strength and dedication, rebuild their country from the rubble, dust and destruction that surrounds them today. I will no doubt be labelled a hopeless dreamer and living in cloud cuckoo land if I think that these hatreds and wounds from this devastating civil war can ever be healed - but surely we have to hold onto the belief that out of this maelstrom of disaster and misery the human spirit can and will prevail. To rebuild and find the strength to rediscover the values of love, family, compassion, caring and all those things that matter to all of us - more important than any religious and political indoctrination - more important than political, tribal or cultural loyalties - what can be more important than the life of a person (or for that matter the life of any living creature)?
Unless the human race gets into its incredibly stupid minds that LOVE, COMPASSION, CARING, CONSIDERATION, RESPECT FOR ONE ANOTHER and HEALING bring happiness and are the only solutions to this situation - then the spiral of suffering will continue unabated and even get worse if that is possible. You will no doubt say that I am again being hopelessly naive - but surely we have to stand up and be counted - we are all responsible for one another and my appeal to those in power, if they have the ears to listen - is to take very urgent look at this dark cloud of misery and bring the human race back to sanity and peace. There must be a way for wise and intelligent people to get together to find a path to peace - we humans owe it to ourselves to find that path - indeed its essential - there's no other option!
I will come back to this subject again soon - no blog can ever come up with any definitive answers to these horrendous problems - but we have to try - we have to somehow believe the the human spirit of love, caring, decency, compassion can and will triumph over the hatred, suffering and devastation.
I have enormous belief in the kindness and decency of the human race - meditation has been proven to bring peace and happiness to people and transform the way we think. It is this transformation that we have to promote and such for - we can all change - from King, Queen, Sheikh, President, Prime Minister, Captains of industry to the poorest worker - we all have a responsibility to help one another - and out of this compassion can come the healing that the world needs NOW.
I ask all of you to pray for all those who are suffering, are in pain and trying to cope with loss of family, friends and homes - and for all of you to begin the process of healing the world we live on - thank you for reading this blog
Peter
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