Hope and horror marching hand in hand ..

Before you start reading I have to mention that this text contains descriptions of very graphic events. Continue to read only if you're emotionally strong enough and old enough to sustain it.

After a tremendous Saturday joining the Syrian community here in Munich to protest against the cruelties and the lost legitimation of the Assad regime I switched on my Twitter account Sunday noon, still in a deeply emphatized mood. The last news I had in my memory were about Deir Ezzor and the defected soldiers protecting the bastion of the Syrian Kurds. My concerns about a possible act of violence from the regime side were still there but I had somehow that strong feeling the Assad government wouldn't react at all because of the growing awareness outside the country.

I'd never expected an incident like the one taking place.

The first word I read in the timeline was the hash tag 'Hamamassacre'. For a moment I thought about the 1982 genocide the Hama had to sustain. But further tweets seemed to confirm a new regime assault on the city famous for his watermills. One day before the beginning of Ramadan a nightmare became true. First videos were circulating, showing smoke upon the roofs. Counted killings varied between 50 and 100, the estimated number of unreported cases might be much more higher. Snipers had taken place on the rooftops shooting on everyone in the streets and houses. Bodies were lying around, it was nearly impossible to recover them without being shot.

A bloody Sunday took its course ..

The tweeps were very careful spreading the mobile phone videos, nearly all showing bleeding or dead people were labeled 'graphic'. Here I have to admit that I can bear some of them without becoming nightmares or else, means not that I am hard-boiled as well but I've seen so many of those footages during the last months that I could be no more shocked. I'm admiring the really courageous people thinking in the first moment they realize a strong bleeding human being to help him immediately. Should be normal, unfortunately isn't. One tweet made me curious: reading the question 'what kind of ammunition caused this?' I clicked on the link and became something to see I've never seen before in my life ..

People were running to a body lying on the street who had no head anymore. Only a fragment of his face remained hanging on the neck. They covered him and brought him away, running in fear being themselves hidden by a bullet.

Without doubt a new peak of extraordinary violence. The shootings came from a far distance which meant the regime killers used a special caliber this time to damage the body biggest possible. I was wondering if it could be international outlawed ammunition what would have been another topic for the bill of indictment against Assad and his followers. Later on further tweets were mentioning more bodies without heads or giant wounds in their torsos. The regime language here spoken reminded me on Maher Assad, a cold-blooded angel of death whom I first saw in a leaked video from last year's crackdown of a prisoners' uprising. Without any emotion he walked through the ruins and took photos of the spread body parts with his mobile phone. Another short movie showing a man whose leg was rolled over by a tank and different reports about nail bombs thrown at the protesters seemed to confirm my theory: explicit sadism by the security forces, Maher's handwriting.

The first article in an online newspaper mentioning exactly the same disturbing footage I saw today was from Jeffrey Goldberg in the Atlanic. Short and precise he described the final decline of 'Vogue man-of-the-year' Bashar al-Assad (what he supposedly wasn't, his wife Asma being always in the focus of the international glamour press):

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/07/the-ramadan-massacre-in-syria/242844/

In the meantime the Syrian tweep community complained in their grief and frustration about the lack of concrete actions of the world's leading governments. Comprehensible. I began to surf through the sites of our German news agencies. To my great surprise I found on nearly everyone the headline about the today's Hama tragedy, commented with disgrace, tagged with pictures and mobile phone videos and - in my eyes most important of all - related to the 1982 massacre which was more or less silenced for nearly 30 years. A small victory in the informational war. Bashar al-Assad wanted to crackdown the continuing protests against him making an example of but all he reached was the growing international awareness digging out the mass murdering his father was responsible for. A look in the online editions of foreign newspapers confirmed the tendency which could possibly lead to necessary clear sanctions against the Syrian regime and fasten the leaving of the most hated dynasty in the Middle East.

Nobody can predict what the regime will be capable of committing against their own people. That is the horrible aspect of the ongoing. But the attention is slowly rising up to irreversible dimensions. And that is the more than hopeful aspect.

Discovering Dignity

The hot summer breeze was flowing through the city. Relaxed looking people crowded the streets, only a few free places in the local bars and cafeterias outside left. I was on the road to the second rally this year Syrians in Bavaria living organized to show their support to their fellows in Syria and to condemn the regime's brutal crackdown. 

Short before I entered the area where it took place I saw the huge Syrian flags waving through the air. The organizers were still busy solving technical duties; speakers were built up, shirts handed out, banners arranged. I recognized one of the students from the last event, he gave me a warm welcome and handed me a bottle of water which I took grateful due to the heat of the day. I took a sip and looked around. 

All kind of characters were present: women traditionally as well as modern dressed, young men with sunglasses, older generations discussing while kids rollicking around them. It was a detail of normality which is taking place everywhere in this world. No signs of radicalism or sectarianism the Syrian regime's always declaiming. People like you and me. Kind, communicative and likable. The event started with chants and slogans while some of the organizers were pretty busy in the background fixing some technical problems with the loudspeaker system. 

From time to time passengers stopped and watched the happening, most of them might have seen for the first time the presence of so much Syrians in a city like Munich. The confusion in their look had mainly to do with the two different flags waving: the red-white-black banner with the two green stars and the green-white-black one with the three red stars. Both are flags of Syria, similar to the Libyans who have (yet) two banners (the monochrome green one Gaddafi invented will soon disappear forever). 

After half an hour the loudspeaker problems were fixed and the statements started. They invited me to join their circle and I listened carefully to the speeches in German, English and Arab. Even though my knowledge of the Arab language is still rudimentary, I understood well terms like freedom, peace, justice. It is a good omen first to learn the positive words of a language I thought myself. The speakers mentioned again and again the names of the Syrian cities, a sign of national solidarity and unity. As a tribute to the great poet Ibrahim Qashqush the crowd chanted his famous anti-regime song 'Yalla Irhal Ya Bashar' (Get immediately out Bashar). I'm certain this song will survive many generations from now on remembering the times 'when it all began'. 

Then the guest speaker, a lady of the Munich Refugee's Council entered the stage declaring in clear words her detestation for the inhumanity Bashar al-Assad and his ones are doing to the civil population followed by a poem for the victims demanding a better world. After a speech in English a young student performed another poem was recited by an artist in Arab. My neighbor was so kind and translated me simultaneously the meaning of his words: accusing the regime for the crimes committed and appealing on the reason of the party responsible. Strong and empathic. I'm still getting goosebumps thinking of it. 

Doughnuts were reached and I felt not only invited and accepted but being a part of the community. While the chants started again I had a passionate discussion with the young student who spokes earlier about faith followed by another smalltalk with a student of the arts about the common development in the Arab countries. The rally event ended after three hours and we bid farewell to each other. Finally they handed me one of the Syrian flags as present which is now draped over the chair in my living room. 

Now I have a serious question to all those reading my post until here: are the people I described 'dangerous elements' or 'terrorists'? Is their behavior 'questionable'? Do they have 'dubious purposes? 

I say definitely not. But that is exactly the lie Assad's regime tries to sell the rest of the world to legitimate the terrible violence against everyone who doesn't follow blind the Baath Party. In the name of humanity we must resist those lies and stand by the side of the Syrian people who deserve the values our world has already implemented: peace and freedom.

Arts and creativity in Times of Rebellion - Libya

The creative potential of a society is always endangered in restrictive regimes. Freedom of expression is regarded as possible threat. Even those who hide their criticism in a subtle manner risk their life in a dictatorship. But a culture without free artists is a dead culture. Since nearly five months the freedom seeking Libyans try to end the more than four decades during mastery of the self-proclaimed leader. The news are full of pictures showing battles, front lines, destruction. With the help of a few examples I like to explain why it is worth inter alia to risk one's life as the Libyans do - like some others - to topple the tyrant.

Lets start our visual voyage with the caricaturist Alsature who draws against the Gaddafi regime from UK exile. He had left his country in the same year Reza Pahlawi's power ended in Iran. Using both classic and new media tools the Benghazi born fences with his graphics the dictator in a unique subtle manner.

http://english.libya.tv/2011/05/22/“i-fight-gaddafi-with-art”/

Benghazi, the first of all freed Libyan cities and home-base of the Transitional National Council is flourishing again with exhibitions popping up all over. Galleries presenting paintings reflect the process of turning back to desired normality. The basic requirements are given: Maghreb culture meets Mediterranean life-style. An insiders' tip for common tourist generations.

http://alive.in/libya/2011/06/08/the-painter-sisters/ 

Similar as in the Egyptian cities street art exploded and everybody armed with an aerosol can is releasing his pressure. Logically the most portrayed is the unloved eccentric ruler. Almost all Libyans suffered life time his displayed presence, they know his features, grew with his face up. And compensating the mainly life-time anger and frustration about the permanent risk of life expressing oneself is another manner to overcome the trauma of censorship.

The motive, or should I say the brand Gaddafi inspired not only Libyan natives. A bizarre expression from 'Oczident meets Orient' presented at:

http://www.saatchionline.com/art/view/artist/28387/art/1237600

Another element is the traditional Libyan flag Gaddafi had banned after his coup d'état in 1969 replacing it through a monochrome green one. Different to the other uprising countries both battling parties can be easier kept apart. At least for a stranger. An impressive video combined of photography - tributes at this point to talented tweet pal @SaraLataiwesh - and movie shots catches the renaissance of the red-black-green banner.

The last example confronts us with resistance-based performance art. Some may hold that this hasn't to do with the definition of art. In my opinion this has very much to do with it. From Picasso's 'Guernica' to sprayer icon Bansky criticism is source and intention. And both named are well presented in worldwide art magazines. Tripoli iconic movement FGM, a creative consortium performing resistance in the still stronghold capital, are disturbing smart and 'radical chic' Gaddafi's peace. After this performance all banners in the area showing the leader's image disappeared.

What I describe and present is a small lava stream of an exploding volcano. One big winner of the Libyan revolution is the creative community, continuous growing under the conditions of freedom and peace and being one of the central pillars of a modern traditional civil society. The world is becoming aware of a Mediterranean art scene, thought-provoking, fresh and vivid.

Revolutionary Songs: The Sound Of The Uprise

It is not easy to reach the people only with the power of your words, especially if you confront them with topics which are behind their interests, their attention or their imagination. In the last case you can help them at least with the support of music. From the early beginnings until now, from Bob Dylan to Ben Harper, the genre or protest songs brought us the message behind the notes a bit nearer, even if we possibly do not agree with. With the help of a few selected songs I like to explain the movement of the last months which still turns the world into a new direction.

First it began in Tunisia. Before the people entered the streets of the small, generally for his tourism known country a young rapper who named himself El Général expressed his outrage about the social and economic circumstances loud and clear criticizing the policy of the meanwhile former President Ben Ali's regime:

As the spark of freedom flew over to Egypt and we all witnessed the hundreds of thousands crowded at the Tahrir Square in Cairo it took not long until one of the meanwhile most popular revolution songs found its way to the public: 'Sout Al Horeya' (Voice Of Freedom), performed by Hany Adel, Amir Eid Hawary and Sherif Mostafa, describes the motives, demands and feelings of the Egyptians freeing themselves from the Mubarak regime:

More traditional is the musical dedication of Ramy Essam, famous for his live appearances at Tahrir and the setting of the most popular slogan in the Arab world, 'al-shaab yourid isqat al-nizam' (people demand the removal of the regime). In this video the first time footage of the rallies including hurt protesters is to be seen:

Using the ghost thread of Al Qaeda most people associate besides Afghanistan and Pakistan the poorhouse of the Arabian Peninsula, Yemen. A prejudice which adumbrates an age-old culture full of magic and mystery as well as the recent democratic movement led mostly by the younger and the women. For us in the western affluent society it is nearly to impossible to imagine the suffering of the Yemeni population: pent-up between the militant fractions and the more or less selfish interests of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States they live a life sustaining power cuts, fuel rationing and a high unemployment rate. But their will and their resilience is more than admirable. I've chosen one song I received per tweet just yesterday from the awesome blogger Noon and whose music expresses in combination with the images exactly that what's going on there:

While the hide-and-seek between the Gaddafis and the NATO-supported Freedom Fighters in Libya continues, musical contributions for the Benghazi-headed liberation movement are made not only inside the country. Khaled M, an American Rapper with Libyan roots wrote the song 'Can't Take Our Freedom' performing together with his colleague Lowkey, dedicated to the resistance against the self-declared brilliant leader:

Setting of the slogan 'Zanga Zanga Dar Dar', which means 'on the streets and in the houses' and was an original quote from Muamar Gaddafi in one of his (in)famous speeches:

Another musical tribute is Salah Al Ghaly's song 'Shedy Al Azem Ya Mesrata', a coastal city still suffering from the pro Gaddafi forces and partially heavy destroyed:

The Syrian uprise reached last Friday a new climax when estimated 300,000 protesters in Hama and some more hundreds of thousands in the whole land declared the Assad regime for finished chanting 'Irhal!' (Out!). Armed with a wide-ranged creative potential the Syrians show their rulers that they have meanwhile enough from terror and repression. They're supported by local musicians like Hossam Miller who wrote and performed together with the band Huda International the following, especially Aleppo dedicated traditional-style song:

Under the name 'The Strong Heroes Of Moscow' we discover one of the most unusual anthems of the Syrian Revolution. Electro and Industrial influenced  rap-style music in straight black, white and red optic. But careful - the last 40 seconds show the torture of an old man through regime guards - nothing for sensible characters:

Finally a real nice peace, the two years old song 'Kooche' from Zedbasi combined with visual impressions of today's Iran:

Lots of musical contributions exist meanwhile in the net. From classic political protest song to digital sample cuts a wide range confirms the renaissance of intoned assailing messages.