The missing link regarding the events in Syria

Other facts and events about Syria might seem more urgent, but  these paintings remain very interesting and relevant nonetheless. Besides crediting itself for providing 'economic security' for the  lower classes of the Syrian population, the regime in Syria has primarily used the open -- and mostly latent --   struggle with Israel to claim legitimacy. The October 1973 War was the only event which has brought Syria into real confrontation with Israel since President Hafez al-Assad led the Corrective Movement, a political manoeuvre which  established the latter's rule in 1970. However, the War  has nurtured a long and  imagined narrative which was used to legitimise a one-party system.
The socialist realist style  in these paintings is really striking. They are displayed in  the October (1973) War Panorama, and they depict the late Syrian president Hafez al Assad.  According to the lonely planet guide on Syria, the memorial was built with North Korean assistant. This artistic inspiration may explain a great deal of what is going on at the moment!

Belfast: A Short Story - Part II

Learning about the ‘Troubles’ and ‘keeping my eyes open’ 

After leaving my backpack at the hostel, I headed for the Ulster Museum in the South of the city. Among the different sections about Irish history and the history of the city in particular, there was a slide show and wall-sized photos of the ‘Troubles’. The exhibition described in details the key events in the sectarian violence which erupted in the late 1960's, as a reaction to catholic-nationalist activism. I found this very brave and worthy of respect, especially considering how we describe the civil war in Lebanon as the 'war of others on our soil'.

          After the touring the museum, I went back to the city centre and walked into an old pub. I fed myself with a delicious meal of roasted ham, chump (mash potatoes with butter and caramelised onions) and boiled cabbage -- I'm a big proponent of British and Irish food! And to improve digestion, I watered them down with two pints of Carlsberg, by default of locally produced farm cider or ale. I finished my beer and food while reading a few pages of Geronimo's biography, while everyone else was engaged in either an after-work conversation, or watching the horse race on television to make sure their money was safe. I walked out to find the waiter on a cigarette break -- a jovial man in his early thirties. He asked me from where I come from and why I was visiting, after modestly agreeing that their pub food was good, ‘Yeah, it's alright’. Then he agreed of my perception of the city centre. I said: ‘All of this has been made up to look touristy, right?’ He nodded his head, and then added: ‘Take a taxi or a bus and head west. I'm from the West. Go on a pub tour. You'll get a different feeling; it’ll keep your eyes open’.

I did take the bus, but to head south again to locate a Unionist mural which I had spotted on my way to the Museum. I walked around for ages, but couldn't find it. I found a mural outside a pub in which a man in his seventies was playing the violin. Upon a closer look, there was another interesting painting in the background, made to look like a painting on the wall behind the old violinist: The portrait of a sad old man with an Arabic koufiah on his head and an immense number of tents behind him. The writing said: 'Palestine, 60 years of occupation'. I remembered a photo of a mural that dates back from the 1980’s, which depicted an IRA fighter holding hands in the air with a PLO fighter, with a slogan saying that the two organisations were joined in the same fight.

To the right of the mural, there were inscriptions in many languages, including Arabic and Farsi, which said 'Welcome'. The inscriptions were a copy of the ones I had seen saw at the reception of the Ulster Museum. However, the Arabic ahlan wa sahlan lacked the letter alef at the end. Anyways, it was the 'new' and 'friendly' Belfast they wanted to advertise. Let it be then! I took on the extra challenge of finding traces of the conflict. 

            By then it was too late, and I was too tired. I headed back to the hostel. It is a strange feeling which one gets by sleeping surrounded by people one didn't know, or whose faces couldn't see in the dark. I was so wary that I hid my 'valuables' in my shoe -- I tried hard to erase that memory from my mind the next day, but kept being reminded of it every time I had to reach for my phone or my wallet.  The stink of the place certainly didn't make it more welcoming, but I reminded myself that it was only 6.50 pounds a night and I was too tired not to fall asleep quickly. But before going to bed, I  had planned my tour for the next day, and finding political murals was a top priority.

Belfast: A Short Story - Part I

The (unfortunate) task of planning a cheap trip




Counting both, the number of days in the UK, and how much money I had left, I decided I could only afford one 'big' trip outside of Exeter. I didn't hesitate to choose my destination: Belfast!


More than one reason converged to make a curiosity of the place: I grew up learning about Northern Ireland from the news, and it was hard not to associate the sectarian strife that in there with the civil war in Lebanon. It was also interesting to examine a 'primordial' conflict in Western Europe, the part of the world which credited itself with propagating ‘modernity’ and ‘rationality’.


The preparations for the trip were not particularly difficult : A bus ticket from Exeter to Stansted Airport in London, a cheap flight to Belfast International Airport ( which cost half as much as the bus ticket did !), and a booking for dormitory bed for 6.50 pounds, in a old linen factory turned into a hostel.


However, there was only one problem: I had no camera. It was one of these things which cost I always thought could finance far more useful commodities -- beer is not the least of them. I tried to get a cheap bargain on eBay, but the seller turned out to be a fraud, and I never received the camera. I bought another one online, but they could not deliver it on time for my flight. I had to contend with using the tiny 2.0 megapixel-camera in my phone, for which I still do not have the right software or cable to transfer the photos to my computer.


Chairs are more than pieces of furniture!


Once in the city, I stepped off the airport shuttle some 300 metres away from the City Hall, which rose to block Royal Avenue. The Avenue is the commercial district of the city centre where shopping malls, superstores and American fast food venues make Belfast look no different than Paris, London, Rome or even the posh parts of Beirut.


I strolled down the Avenue and then into the City Hall. I was just in time for a free tour whose audience was mainly a group of Canadian senior citizens. Ireland seems to be favourite destination for North Americans and Australians, many of whom make it their purpose to visit the Public Record Office to retrace their Irish lineage.


The City Hall was a majestic shrine to honour British tradition. The gallery features the charter by Queen Victoria, written in 1888 to elevate the status of Belfast from 'town' to 'city', and hence came the building of the City Hall which was completed in 1906.The chamber where the council convenes has almost the exact same layout as the British House of Commons. Every item was preserved and displayed to commemorate the tradition held at the City Council. The guide was pointing at each piece of furniture to tell us when and where it was built and the names of royalties who sat on it upon visiting Belfast. I left the City Hall feeling even more attached to the royal family (!).