A LETTER FROM A FRIEND IN SYRIA...

“We meet the fighters of the Free Syrian Army. Of course we meet them. They sit at the sides of the road and come to greet us on our ways. They are grandfathers, fathers and sons. They are cousins and uncles. They too are students, or workers, or shop owners, or teachers or engineers. At least within this city. They are the ordinary citizens of Maarat.

They too are very upset about the image of them being some sort of Al Qaida. “Where is Al Qaida?” they ask. Joking they add that maybe Al Qaida could actually help them out with the fight at the front only two kilometers away.

  

They, just as people before grab us by the shoulders and intensely demand us hearing that they are not fighting an ethnic or religious war. “We have Alewites with us! No Problem! Christians, Sunni, Shia! We were neighbors, friends and sometimes mixed within one family. Jews! We have Jews in Syria, there is no problem, no problem. Al Nizar (-the gouvernments) that’s the problems. Assad, Iran, U.S.A., Israel, that’s the problem. No problem Alewites or Jewish. No problem people.” ”