There is a common feeling that is generally discussed in Syria, well, at least in Damascus where I live. It has to do with the question “what can I do more for the revolution?”.
Most of the people around me have this feeling of guilt. They feel that they can do much more, but there are bigger obstacles, and I guess we’ve found out later that we’re all busy with what we’re doing at the moment, and we face the bitter conclusion that’s best to finish one thing at a time.
Multi-tasking is both dangerous and energy consuming, and one thing we learned from this revolution is that energy is gold that needs to be cherished and saved for worse times.
This feeling of guilt hovers around the detainee inside her/his prison cell, hovers around the many activists in-hiding or forced to leave the country for being wanted by many security branches, it hovers around the ones who sleep 4 hours every night (I personally know a female activists like this). It practically hovers around us all.
This feeling of guilt never leaves our souls, no matter what we do, no matter how many times we get detained, we still feel we could do much more.
What can I do more? and what are these obstacles that are preventing me from doing more?
I can write about those amazing revolutionaries who left their families and children and living solely for this revolution, you see them making jokes and smiling at demonstrations, some were detained and tortured, you stand listening to them speak about their experience with detention, and you know that what you witnessed from detention is nothing compared to theirs, those unknown activists, the unprivileged, who don’t have facebook nor twitter, but they are the very ones who inspire you and make you truly believe, that there is hope.
The three young men from left to right are: Joan Farso, Bassam Al-Ahmad and Ayham Ghazzoul, my colleagues at the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, detained on 16-2-2012 at Air Force Intelligence then at Fourth Band that’s headed by Maher Al-Assad. Released on 12-5-2012. Family celebrating their release in this photo.
Exiled Razan رزان في المنفى 