Reports | 25 05 2020
Maha, an Aleppan refugee, did not agree to her boyfriend Salim's proposed plan to elope outside Syria, after her parents refused to consent to their marriage, because he is an Alawite—i.e. of the same sect of the regime—as they view it. Maha never paid much attention to politics previously, neither did Salim. Yet it was their chance meeting at a sewing workshop in the city of Tartous that started their relation, with Salim offering the Aleppan refugee assistance and more, and finally, his heart.
Tartus and Aleppo
The young woman left behind her all she had been told about the differences between sects and denominations, the old hatreds, the new wars ranging between warlords, as she puts it. She was unable to consent to her boyfriend's planned escape; yet she did not give in to her parents' wish for her to break up with Salim. Now she contents herself with only a few stolen glances.
Salim says: "I was not the least surprised by her parents' reaction, which had not been much different from that of my parents' position either; but we have no fault in what is happening in Syria." Saleem says that the parents did not explicitly declare his "Alawiness" as the reason for their disapproval, rather invoking other reasons; such as postponing the issue until they return to their home which they abandoned in Aleppo. He adds telling Rozana: "Love is a transient state, cross-sectarian and cross-wars; yet both our families chose not to find anything cross-sectarian, except their decision to deprive us of the opportunity to live with one another."
Salim shows no intention of surrendering. He pronounces to all that his love is as deep as Tartus' sea, and as beautiful as Aleppo's citadel.
Tartous and Homs!
In another side of Tartous, college student Nagham is unable torefute her father's rejection of her Homsi colleague offer to wed; despite his well-to-do financial situation. Her father, rather, used "hypocritical phrases" as Nagham puts it. Her father's rejection was wrapped in a request to postpone discussing the idea until after she graduated from college. Nagham protests: "What does my being an Alawite or his being a Sunni, even mean!"
Nagham is urging him to get married—even without the consent of her parents. Many others had done so before. But it is the young man who is extremely hesitant in this case: Eloping is not an easy option, andhaving to break parental consent is a burden that will weigh him down throughout his lifetime.
Misyaf and Hula
Rama, from the Misyaf countryside, became involved with a lawyer from the beleaguered city of Hula. One month before the Revolution, he proposed to her. Rama says that her parents are open to others, and not sectarian: "they did not reject his request." But the incidents that took place in Hula and its environs have delayed the consummation of their relation. Following the siege of Hula, the lovers could no longer meet, as the Hula native became trapped in his city not daring to leave his town; and the daughter of the Alawite family awaiting an opportunity to realize her dream.
Both lovers still maintain their relation online. Rama insists that neither of them was "contaimnated" neither by the violence of the regime, nor by the radicalism of the opposition. Her lover tells her how he defends the Alawite sect, for her sake.
Rama says: "All I ask for is an hour's truce... One hour for him to come out of Hula, that may change the course of both our lives." Rama laments the fate of the lovers from different sects, and considers the failings of the parents' generation as the major obstacle to their children's happiness. Sadness, however, remains her companion despite her parents' consent. Fate has continued to deprive her of her loved one.