My Sectarian Heart

During my time in Syria, sadly there was a great deal of bitterness evident towards Shi'ites (interestingly the word "Shia" came first to people's lips before "Alawites" did). I think this can be partially put down to the fact that there are few Alawite communities in the countryside of Aleppo or Idlib, unlike that of Hama or Homs, where they are much more numerous.

The towns of Fua and Kfarya, in Idlib, and Zahra and Nibol in Aleppo are majority twelve Shi'ite towns which currently act as regime strongholds in these areas. Many people I spoke to mentioned these places by name and the anger and bitterness was all too evident, the bitterness of betrayal. I heard, over and over again, how before the revolution there were no differences between them, and how they'd happily visit each others' towns without incident, and also on how Syrians opened their doors for Iraqi and Lebanese refugees, only for Hizbullah and the Iraqi government to actively aid Assad as he destroys the country.

I remember sitting with a group, and one of them made a flippant remark on Shi'ites, at which I point I mentioned how I knew many Iraqi Shi'ites back in London, all of whom supported the Syrian revolution (although I had not spoken to them for a long while, and who knows? they may well have changed their minds - one good friend told me he could no longer support the armed rebellion in view of Al-Qaeda now being present and qualms about rebel crimes, mentioning Abu Saqqar). He didn't seem very convinced.

But who am I to criticise? I, who did not have a particularly religious upbringing, by a mother completely and utterly against sectarianism in all its forms, am no better. At times over the last few years, I won't deny being consumed with sectarian anger, towards brainwashed Shi'ite sheep firmly lodged in the rectum of their clergy, murderous Alawites happy to butcher children with knives and fence-sitting Christians too cowardly to follow the example of Christ. If Syrians of all stripes had stood together, maybe this terrible juncture would never have been reached, and ISIS would have no place now in Syria.

It all sounds so primitive and irrational, and it is. Yet try as I might, I could not reason my way out of it. And I am sitting in comfort and ease thousands of miles away, thankfully with none of my close family having been harmed the last three years. So imagine what people inside, suffering terribly, are thinking. I'm sure that many, many young Syrian children are now brimming with burning hatred to Shi'ites and Alawites, and will grow up and pass this on to their children. I've come to wonder that such sectarian and chauvinist sentiment is inescapable, and may even be necessary, acting at times as a protective mechanism for the "group".

I have always despised the Saudi regime and the Gulf's treatment of Shi'ites. No-one was happier than me after 2006 where Hizbullah managed to hold their ground against Israel. I would watch Nasrallah's speeches to improve my Arabic and trawl through the net for material on the Party of God. I would say to myself that I would be the last person to abandon support for Hizbullah, and now I find myself  hoping that their soldiers get killed in Syria.

I have never lived in Syria, but I do not think that the ridiculous sectarianism which is de riguer in the Gulf was an issue in Syria before the revolution. It is now, and will continue to be so for decades at least. The idiotic Shi'ite political powers in the region have now ensured its place, giving the Saudi royal family the best gift they could possibly wish for.

Obviously many, many of the beloved "Sunnis" are just as capable, probably even more so, but now the perception is there that Assad's supporters from minorities do so out of sectarian tribal sentiment. It is dangerous to indulge such generalisations with all their flaws and limitations, but let us not lie to ourselves either.

So what is the way out? how to cleanse Syrian hearts from entirely understandable and expected hatred?

Even the most disgusting vile shabih may have tiny, innocent children who have done no wrong, and do not deserve to partake in their father's entirely justified punishment and excoriation. The Alawites of Syria need this revolution more than anybody else, far more than the "Sunnah" - the Assads have ensured that Alawi identity is firmly tied to them, with the expectation that they will have a shared fate.

Jeel Al-Huriyeh (The freedom generation) is coming - are they to be brought up as free men and women, able to speak their mind and living in peace with Syrians of all stripes, or are we to start yet another cycle of hatred? (I do not like it when famous brigade commanders refer to Alawites as Nusairis, almost as if reminding them of a time when they were firmly in this shit and under the boot of the majority, for centuries.)

I cannot deny that I have precious little love for those Syrians who did nothing as their countrymen got slaughtered or even actively participated for it, but I refuse to transfer this to the next generation. To paraphrase Bobby Sands, our revenge will be the laughter of our children. All our children.

Lest you think what irrational nonsense this is, you are no better - come and live in Syrian shoes - I am trying, desperately hard, not to cave in to anger and bitterness, because then I would be no better than the thug from the coast who has been incubating that selfsame bitterness for far too long.