Bab el-Hara : Season 6 in the making
During the month of Ramadan in 2010, season five of the Syrian epic soap opera Bab el-Hara was broadcast.At that time, viewers were constantly wondering about what would happen next : 'Will Abu Issam make a reappearance? Will the real identity of the French intelligence agent Lieutenant Nimr disguised as Ma’mun Bek be revealed?' However, the most pressing question was the following: 'Will season five be the last?!'. Well, I’m happy to announce that season six is being made and broadcast one episode at a time!
In season six, the people of a neighbouring Damascene Hara-or traditional quarter- are rebelling against their Zai’im- or local official . The Zai’im deserves to be ousted because he has been corrupt, he has ignored the voice of his people for thirty years and most importantly he has been collaborating with the French mandate authorities.
The benign Zai’im of Haret al Dabe’ ,the Hara where the courageous men fighting the French live, has been encouraging the revolt of the neighbouring Hara, and everyday he has his assistants make a declaration about how nationalistic this revolt is. However, some of his own subjects have this absurd idea that despite what their own Zai’im has proclaimed as a nationalist program to fight the French, he has committed the same kind of transgressions as the other Zai’im : the men of the Hara could be insulted at any time by their local municipal police, the same police seems to be corrupt by taking bribes and favouring the Zai’im’s protégés, and above all even though the Zai’im himself is relatively young compared to the other which is about to be ousted, he has inherited his post from his father who himself had stayed in that position for no less than thirty years.
Then the fledglings of the Hara, who of course are too rash to know their own good, decide to call for protests similar to the ones taking place in the neighbouring Hara. However, the fate of these demonstrations is very different. The sincere and loyal people of Harat al_Dabe’ all ride their chariots and the their horses while they chant slogans asking God to safeguard their Zai’im.
The parents of these mislead youngsters are then advised not to let their children be used by the evil French authorities whom the Zai’im has dedicated all his energy to resist. The voices of the young demonstrators are silenced, waiting for the next episode of Baba el-Hara.
The Zaim of the neighboring hara was not only abusing his people and collaborating with the french, one essential reason for the revolt against him was socioeconomic. The neighboring hara's poverty and unemployment has only been increasing and living standards radically dropping. In haret el dabe' despite the shitty conditions when it comes to freedom of expression and political action, living standards since the new zaim took over have been steadily ameliorating. and the hara which did not submit to neoliberal world bank (i couldn't find a metaphor for the world bank sorry) policies and kept its market controlled as opposed to the other hara which adopted a policy of "infita7" (in both senses of the word) - managed to provide some gradual economic development that is both visible and felt.
ReplyDeleteAnother difference that would stifle any uprising - or prevent it from being a sweeping popular demand of regime change - is that haret el dabe3 has another neighbor - haret al saddam - where the zaim was removed and chaos broke and now many many people from haret el saddam live in haret el dabe3.
In short, i think haret el dabe3 will require much more motivation for a revolt to take place against its zaim. until this motivation is a sweeping popular demand, any half attempt will not even get the chance to be crushed because the people who would think about it would be already having a cup of coffee in the dabe3 police station.
There's a definitely a safety net that has prevented the economic collapse of the lower classes.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the people in Haret el-dabe' could not stop themselves noticing that some are getting increalsy "more equal than others" to use George Orwell's words.
The crucial element in preserving the rule of the Zai'im of Haret el-dabe' is the cup of coffee as you have pointed out.
so when is bab al hara 6 is coming out
ReplyDelete