Happy New Year

The video is from Dael, where the FSA are chanting for Basr al-Hareer in Daraa province. 

Boom Boom Bam!

Watar, Al Sayyed Darwish and Bu Kolthoum are the three members of the Hip Hop group,
'LaTLaTeh' that was formed this year. They're Syrians talking about the current revolution whilst living within Syria. The following video is of a song 'Boom Boom Bam!' which is about a car bomb that exploded in one of Damascus’s streets. Two young men begin to speak of their after-death experience as their souls roam the street after the explosion. It begins with a young man laying on the ground, wondering about his surroundings till he realizes he is dead, so he sits and waits till others join the death train. The next verse, sung by Watar, explains how he went out to bring some bread and a pack of cigarettes but never made it back home in one piece.

The nights of Sham, we do not sleep, we do not sleep. 

Wasn't our neighbour’s building here yesterday?  

I lay on the ground wondering, 

has anyone seen my Adam’s apple? 

On the side of the road lies half of my intestines outside my stomach, 

and beside me writes a banner, “beware, martyr.” 

I lay on the ground wondering, 

The black car thrown behind me, I remember it was blue, 

Is there a microwave big enough to fit it? 

The narrative remains and I remain with it 

I stand on my feet feeling lightness, 

I see my remains in front me and as it turns out I left my body, 

and here is my neighbor thrown in the middle, 

every piece of him is thrown over the hallowed street 

My wife lays next to him, she did not follow me yet, she is struggling, 

I sat and waited till the remaining of this street’s occupants followed me. 

The song ends to the sound of gunshots and explosions and an announcement by a narrator that the three band members died in an “explosion that shook the middle of the capital, may God bless them.”

A protest video from Daraa

I wanted to share the following video taken from a protest from Daraa on 14th December 2012.

I love watching these protest videos. Syrians remain united and defiant against the regime as well as showing solidarity with their fellow countrymen. I love seeing the humour come out of protests as well as seeing the acts of bravery and courage. Despite months of brutality at the hands of the regime, these awesome people can show such amazing strength, courage, unity, humour and are admirable in so many ways. They survive and continue to resist the regime with such determination, it's beyond amazing. Every time I watch the protests with the numbers who attend are in the tens, hundreds or thousands, I watch with awe and fascination and hope that the future that we build will make them proud. 

Whenever I feel pessimistic about the future, I return to watching these videos, because each time they remind me that we must stay strong, hopeful and united...we must keep working together, must keep providing support until the regime is over...if amongst all the shelling, the arrests, the deaths, the sadness, they can show such amazing character and remain defiant and hopeful, then we all can. 

The beauty of Damascus

Taken from the following Facebook pages: Lens young Dimashqi (عدسة شاب دمشقي), Lens Young Yabroudi (عدسة شاب يبرودي), Lens Young Tali (عدسة شاب تلي), Lens Young Of Ruken Al Din (عدسة شاب من ركن الدين), Lens Young Mohajreeni (عدسة شاب مهاجريني), Lens young Domi (عدسة شاب دومي), Lens young Harstany (عدسة شاب حرستاني), Lens Young Zabadani (عدسة شاب زبداني), Lens young Mazzawi (عدسة شاب مزاوي), Lens young Midani (عدسة شاب ميداني).