Affairs: Reportage / Syria
Forbidden cities
In Damascus, there are places that appear untouched by Syria’s civil war. But in cities such as Aleppo and Homs, the destruction is overwhelming. Among the rubble, people try to patch up homes and lives – and long for a return to normality.
Propaganda in Aleppo showing Vladimir Putin (on left) and Bashar al-Assad
It’s a bumpy ride over Mount Lebanon to the Masnaa crossing, the gateway to Syria. The strip-lit border office is a rather mundane-looking entry point to a country that holds such mystique. Waiting for the guard to return from a cigarette break, an eastern European tourist pulls my sleeve and says, “He really is everywhere, isn’t he?” While hagiographic leader portraits are commonplace in authoritarian countries, beady-eyed Bashar al-Assad seems to stare down from every wall…
