Enab Baladi – Hussam al-Mahmoud

“Damascus is the paradise of the earth, unique to the Levant, a source of virtue, a refuge for knowledge, a gathering of jurists, a stopping point for Arabs and a park for non-Arabs, and in the land, it is like a ruby in a ring,” this is how Yaqut al-Hamawi described it in his “The Dictionary of Countries” book, before centuries passed over the city, and a political regime that weighed heavily on the Syrians for 54 years ruled the country, altering the features of Syria in general, and Damascus in particular.

29 years under Hafez al-Assad and 24 years under his son Bashar were sufficient to change the country’s features, both aesthetically and architecturally, and to alter its image in the eyes of onlookers. Both father and son have a recorded history of negative dealings with the cities and regions of Syria, at least in terms of urban and civilizational aspects. During the father’s era, entire neighborhoods of Hama were destroyed, and the son later destroyed other cities and places across vast areas of Syria.

What escaped the destruction and barrel bombs during Bashar al-Assad’s rule faced another type of devastation, neglect. The late Palestinian-Syrian writer Hassan Sami Youssef considered that “cities do not age with the passing of eras but with the accumulation of neglect.” This is precisely what the Syrian capital has experienced, as it has failed to compete with the advancement and development of neighboring Arab capitals, and its heritage and aesthetic identity were not safe from neglect.

After the fall of the ousted Bashar al-Assad regime, local organizations quickly initiated individual initiatives at the level of a single organization and collective initiatives among a group of organizations, alongside community efforts to beautify and clean the streets and cities, attempting to regain a spark of the luster that was extinguished by the previous regime’s treatment of the capital.

Many initiatives have followed since the fall of the regime, focusing on the cultural facilities of Damascus and other cities, recently taking their shape through both formal and informal channels. Among the latest projects is the restoration of the Damascus sword monument, a cultural landmark that poets have sung praises of, located in Umayyad Square, in front of the Opera House, near the building of the General Organization for Radio and Television.

This initiative, which was undertaken last February by the Damascus Maintenance Directorate, involved installing colored glass panels and painting the sword’s exterior, concluding with the addition of lighting around the monument that gave the place a vibrant and modern character, at a time when the country still partially sinks into darkness despite recent improvements in the electrical supply situation.

To the north, in Aleppo governorate, the restoration of Saadallah al-Jabri Square in recent days has sparked controversy due to the removal of the Martyrs statue designed by Syrian sculptor Abd al-Rahman Mowakket.

The campaign launched by Aleppo governorate under the title “Aleppo Will Come Back More Beautiful” in collaboration with the Syrian-Turkish Holding Company aims to beautify the square and improve its lighting and public gardens, but it faced criticism regarding the distortion or alteration of the historical city’s characteristics.

Among these initiatives is the “We Have Returned, O Sham” campaign, launched by the Syria Civil Defence on January 18 of last year, in collaboration with 36 Syrian institutions and organizations along with a volunteer team and a local economic and activist event. The campaign aims to revive the spirit of the city of Damascus through service and beautification works, reinforcing the spirit of cooperation, initiative, and volunteer work in Syrian communities, showcasing the ability of civil society to bring about positive change, and sending a message of love with hopes of rebuilding Syria anew, as stated in the campaign’s announcement.

The campaign included several locations in the capital linked to its civilizational, cultural, and aesthetic identity, including the Opera House, al-Marjeh Square, which has historical significance in Syria, the al-Jahez Park, the outer square of the Umayyad Mosque, and the course of the Barada River, which iconic Lebanese singer Fairuz sang about and poets have written praises for.

The organizers of the campaign stated in their announcement, “The years of war have left catastrophic effects on the Syrians and on the infrastructure, in addition to serious implications for Syrian society. In light of the difficult conditions facing Syria, service and volunteer initiatives and activities emerge as one of the most important means of bringing about positive change and assisting communities in improving service realities and beautifying and cleaning cities and neighborhoods.”

No beauty without light

Karmen al-Khoury, a young Syrian residing in Damascus, described the situation in the city as being like a person trapped in a colorful room vibrant with art and paintings, but dark, where its beauty cannot be seen without light, referring to the extent of the destruction and the disruption of services in the capital, which makes these initiatives, despite their quality, necessity, and positivity, have an imperceptible impact.

The young woman explained to Enab Baladi that these details and efforts dedicated to beautifying the capital need a complete environment and conditions, without negating the current reality and its intended meaning and goal, despite the limited resources available.

Al-Khoury said, “I cannot say the popular proverb (a stone supports a jar), because the jar is missing in the first place.”

For her part, Hasna al-Ghiz sees that the events occurring, whether individually or through organized initiatives, give a sense of optimism and hope that the people have begun to become aware of their responsibility toward their country.

In her opinion, these initiatives will positively reflect on the psychological and social state, as positive things are contagious, which means the necessity of working on educating people so that these initiatives become behaviors and habits that eventually benefit the community and the country and help its development and advancement.

“Syria in the past was characterized by chaos and negligence, and it is essential to have something that organizes people’s lives in every detail,” al-Ghiz added.

Killing the city

Despite the diversity of the initiatives and their spread over vast spaces, covering Aleppo, Hama, and Homs, and cleaning their public squares and famous facilities, the public and official focus in Syria remains on calls to lift sanctions on the country as a gateway to reconstruction, in light of the existence of thousands of buildings entirely destroyed across various governorates, including Deir Ezzor, Homs, rural Damascus, rural Hama, and areas in Idlib and others in Aleppo, killing all aspects of life in extensive spaces, with barely any buildings remaining that are suitable for restoration or rehabilitation.

Engineer Mohamad Mazhar Sharbaji, responsible for governance and capacity building in the Local Councils Unit in Syria, clarified to Enab Baladi that any community or grassroots initiative is welcome, but it cannot happen without institutional and regulatory references. It is essential to have a review and approval of volunteer work based on principles and standards specified by the authorities responsible for the structure or location.

Additionally, volunteer work without reference to the basic premises of this project is futile and speculative, for example, when going to restore the Damascus sword, there are decision-making entities for the project and its shape, whether from technical, artistic, or historical perspectives, or concerning existing heritage. Their opinions must be obtained, and proper approval must be secured.

Regarding initiatives related to heritage, whether tangible, architectural, or historical, each entity has reference standards that define the tools and mechanisms of restoration, considering that these sites are not individual properties, but national ones, and restoration cannot occur without returning to institutional and regulatory references.

There are references that must be consulted to obtain written approvals for which the granting authority is responsible, whether the Damascus governorate or the Directorate of Antiquities or the cultural center, etc., to avoid chaos and distortion of architectural and heritage identity and thought, according to the engineer.

Sharbaji pointed out that some organizations propose ideas from a humanitarian perspective, but result in a lack of coordination with the responsible entities, clarifying that a decision-maker in this context is not one who has the money, but one who possesses the identity of that place and its reference, and initiatives should be based on a participatory basis, even in cleaning the streets, through coordination with the municipality and the governorate.