A collection that makes me smile
Finally I got around to posting the collection from my recent trip to Syria between 2008 and 2009. This is a fuller then normal series that shows Syria as I see it. There is a sense of both chaos and calm over each image, like Syria in general is. All have been captures from the passenger side of our Volvo, as we rode Syria thin from downtown Damascus to the suburban areas and out in the countryside.
Please go to the dedicated page for this collection –> Riding shotgun in Syria
Focusing on myself
Anti Gaza demo with mixed feelings
Last week I went to an Anti Gaza demonstration in the center of Copenhagen. I must say I have mixed feelings towards how everything turned out.
The first part was an unannounced demonstration that was to meet up with the main one on the main square of Copenhagen. As always the police stopped the demo, to turn it into an official one so they could walk on the streets. No big deal. People from abroad always seam to find this funny but this is how it works here. In the struggle to always be against the Man, the left wing do a lot of unannounced demonstration and then either get shut down, or convert it into a official on the spot.
The main gathering was good. lights, candles, and some politicians who gave speeches etc. Like in most of the world when our politicians talk about the Middle East they always insert a “But we are a true friends of Israel” in every other sentence. Again and again they feel the need to stress that Denmark is an Ally of Israel. When ever they give negative points to Israel they are very fast to also give negative points to, in this case, Hamas. I am a strong believer in equality, especially when it comes to politics. Each side should be listened to, and weighed. But this was just too much.
There was a lot of Palestinians gather too, and they were cheering at most of the words like “ceasefire“ and “peace“. One thing that made me laugh and made the Palestinians cheer a little less was when one of our Politicians, Margrethe Vestager, following a demand to shut down Israels war on Gaza, that made the growd cheer, said that the Hamas also needed to be Shut down. I think that she for a second forgot who she was speaking to.
It would turn out that the police had to close down the party afterwards. When the last one had spoken and the people who had arranged the demonstration told everyone goodnight, 3 very very large firecrackers were thrown in the middle of a squad of policemen. I was standing about 30 meters from one of them and it gave a very big pressure on my chest. It must have been some serious stuff. After the third the police drove in with police trucks and arrested everyone in the pack of troublemakers. It’s not that it gets me scared, I’m mostly calm when it comes to it. But actually feeling the pressure made me go in instant serious mode. I wouldn’t want one of them exploding near me.
While the troublemakers were down and handcuffed, others were shouting at the police. Telling them that they were no better then the Israeli army in that they were arresting children and being un-democratic. The mixed feeling I have is largely due to the last bit. Why show your anger in this way? When I watch the pictures on Al Jazeera, I too become frustrated and overwhelmed by the feeling of powerlessness. I want to break something, do something. Shout…. I will admit that tears have run down my cheeks after overloading myself with the horror that Israel have brought down upon the Gaza strip in the last weeks. Despite of the will inside of me to manifested my anger, throwing a small bomb at a squad of policemen in the heart of Copenhagen would not even make the top 100 on my list.
I have been thinking about why my pictures from that night were so bad. Why everything was happening in front of me with my camera hanging over my shoulder. I have come to the conclusion that I was too caught up in what was happening. My strong feelings got the better of me and I was unable to take a step back and let the things play out. This is something that I will have to work with. I need to focus despite of the theme.
The picture above is a “train” on arrested troublemakers that made the police shut down the demonstration by throwing large firecrackers at a squad of policemen.
Anti Gaza war rally
Yesterday I attended an anti Gaza War rally. Unfortunately I cant speak Arabic so I missed out on most of the content. The pictures got on akhbar.dk its an Arabic on line newspaper.
Money was funded and later on music, all together a good night. Today there is a huge demonstration downtown that I’ll also be attending. Nice to see there is a Strong awareness here in Copenhagen.
The TV are fixed on Gaza at all the wake hours of the day.
The reactions here on the recent escalations in Gaza is as anyone would expect rage and sorrow. Where ever you go there is a TV tuned into Al Jazeera. My local barber, that I usually go to when my beard gets to full who usually watches soaps, have also tuned in. At my aunts house the TV are fixed on Gaza at all the wake hours of the day. All the radio stations talk about Gaza, or Gazzah’ as they say here, the music stations resort to fund raising through jingles in every commercial break.
I myself have been watching a lot of Al Jazeera English. Being the only news channel on the spot it leaves no other options. The uncensored pictures they send out leaves little doubt in my mind that Israel once again have over engaged a weak community of civilians.
Gaza is one of the worlds most populated place on the earth. The high density of people will give any shell that is fired into the city a very little chance of not hitting civilians. So how is Israel going to go through the mission, removing Hamas while not killing civilians? That is purely up to Israel. If they engage, they must carry the responsibility as well. Leaflets dropped from planes tells the people of Gaza to flee from possible targets. So if a person living in Gaza reads a leaflet does that give the opposing army a carte blanche to bombard the area? The whole situation is a mess. And while the EU decides what to do, the pictures on Al Jazeera keeps rolling.
The picture above show a silent protest down town Damascus.
War in Gaza cancels new years eve, but not all of it…
For new years we went to a restaurant close to our house. As so many other places they had booked live music for the night. As soon as the war broke out in Gaza a wave of cancellations rolled over the Arab world. It’s nice to see how this part of the world, though how chaotic it can seam at times, can find pillars to stand together by.
The dinner did happen, but instead of the live music they held an auction in favor of the people in Gaza. One gentleman won a bid of 20.000 Syrian Pounds (about 300 Euros) on a water pipe.
The live music was canceled but that didn’t mean they couldn’t book a DJ for the night. At first I was in the notion that the restaurants had been a part of the decision to tone down the party activates throughout the whole region, but it seemed I was wrong. In some countries it had been decided at a governmental level but in Syria it was the community of musicians that was the decider. Not that it matters a whole lot, but I must say it fell apart when they just played loud music anyway.
In a time of war, business will be business. Above is a couple letting loose to an Arabic classic.
The weeding
So it was the big day for the newly weds. I must say it was impressive. It was held at The Four Seasons hotel, and previously I have only had coffee there and some years ago I spend the new years.
The grooms farther is a high level manager at the hotel so they didn’t hold back in showing how you party here in the Middle East. It happens rarely that you get your food served on plates. Usually they set out a buffet were you can eat until you burst. At this formal event we got three courses and then a dessert buffet so they had the best of two worlds. The amount of dessert that you end up eating equals the actual 3 course dinner. It’s lovely.
The music spanned from soft chamber music preformed by 3 musicians in the center of the room, to some dance remixes of different dance classics from the 90’s and early 2000’s. The other guests seamed to enjoy them selves and so did we.
Any type of formal event here in this part of the world is used for networking, not only business but also social networking. Meaning that if you have a son or a daughter who is just about the right age for marriage then you would also be looking for interesting prospects. Everyone plays along, they dress to kill and make sure to be on there toes throughout the whole night. I’m used to being asked by friends in regards to my interest in the different females that would be at the same parties as us, “What do you think about her? Ohh she looks nice!” When it comes from an aunt or a uncle it seems different. As I have said before there is only one way of dealing with this, and its to take a huge spoon and east it up! The selection for this post had to be the wedding cake just about the tip over. Too many chefs actually do spoil the food.
Pre-wedding
Yesterday I went to a pre-wedding. As a lot of things down here the way of doing things are so different from back home that you just want to take a big spoon and eat everything without questioning it. Well some questions cant go unanswered…
It was held at a big function hall in central Damascus, that was made in a French colonial style. Very impressive. Only men attend this formal event. You enter one by one saying hello to the groom, his farther, her farther and the close family. Then you find a chair preferably together with either your own family or friends. The invited are either the family or close friends so your bound to bump into some one you know.
The reason that I chose the picture above for this post is that it was more or less the main attraction together with a very delicious buffet afterwards. 7 Imams were sitting on a small stage, singing and chanting verse form the Koran while the guests sat and listen. The reason for this is to “seal the deal” said in plain. They bless the new couple and pray for a happy future for them. A member of the brides family is also an Imam so half way through he borrowed the microphone to say a few words while the on stage imams could rest a bit.
All around the hall there were white statues that I’m guessing were naked. Due to the religious nature of the party they were covered by a white cloth.
Today I’m attending the actual wedding that is going to be held at the Four Seasons hotel. I’m sure it will be impressive.
Tea and talk with Haitham Maleh
Today I stopped by Haitham Maleh for a drink of green tea. Amongst all the people I have around me he is the one that keeps impressing me the most with his constant fight for his fellow mans rights, that we in the west take for granted. He is always harsh in his word selection when it comes to his views on governmental suppression. With the several books he has written, essays, TV interviews, etc. not to mention the Seven years he spend in a prison for speaking his mind, I think its safe to say that he is a veteran.
The seven years of prison and constant harassment from the government has fueled his fight, and with a massive support from all over the world there is no stopping him. He has been denied the rights to leave Syria so unfortunately he can’t visit us anymore.
Food, presents and lots of guests…
Well, all of the above, but just done in another way.
First off the food was not as it used to be, but great never the less. We were not able to catch a bird, so we had calf. And instead of the traditional rice pudding we had some of my mothers homemade coffee ice cream. A small tree in our living room from china, no real trees were available in Damascus. We only had 2 presents under it so the relative smaller size of it was actually OK.
This year we only got presents for my brothers daughter who is 4 years old. So in all fairness she was the only one we received gifts from. If you look pass the fact that she has no economy to support the gifts there is a pure joy in getting something that comes so close from the heart. Just like last time I got something from her, I’m guessing that she also this time picked it out herself.
I know of some people who calculate the price of the gifts they are getting, and then go out and get something that costs the same. This is economically speaking a fair trade, but has nothing to do with the act of giving a gift. One gift I got from her was a hood, that she picked out in a cloth store I usually get my cloth from. The reason being that she never saw me with one on, and it was getting cold outside. I must say that I don’t remember having that thought process when I was that age.
To get back to my point, a lot of people need to fall back down to thinking if the people we are giving the gift to actually needs it, rather then going out with an amount of money that we need to use on a gift. The easy way of doing this is getting a prioritized list and just getting the one on the very top. What did I get from her this year? A new bracelet. Not that I’m a collector, this will be my second one. The first one I got and still use is one that she made for me last time I went to Syria to keep me safe. It was made from pearl and string that I got her for last Christmas. What did I get her? A dress like shirt, with tights that was on the top of her list.
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