How despicable are those dancing on Syria's ruins!

I strongly believe that the Syrian people will go down in history or in the Guinness Book of World Records for the number of disasters and catastrophes that are taking place in their homeland; however, this acknowledgement will not be due to the sheer number of disasters but for the fact that a portion of the Syrian people have been seen dancing the dabke (a Levantine folk dance) and singing atop the ruins of their country. Tell me, what nation of people would dance and celebrate the destruction of their homeland in the same way that some of these idiots in Syria have danced?

A few days ago, a group of Syrians loyal to the regime spent a few million dollars worth of bullets to celebrate Bashar Al-Assad’s presidential victory for a third term. Some commentators have guessed that the celebration resulted out of the hope that Al-Assad’s victory would serve as the catalyst to rebuild the schools and hospitals that have been destroyed. Yet, what is even stranger is that many people were randomly killed, wounded and hit by the bullets that were shot in a crazy way and in all directions during the celebration.

Evening celebrations have been taking place on a regular basis in the areas that are controlled by the regime. Moreover, if one were to watch the local news broadcasts, especially on the regime’s preferred channels, you would think that Syria had overthrown America and now sits on the world’s throne as opposed to a demolished and destroyed country.

Perhaps we can forgive some of the Syrians who filled the street with celebratory noise in the past few days because we interpret what they have done not as a celebration per se, but an expression of the sense of fear and worry that has overtaken many of the regime’s supporters. In this way, the celebrations become much more than a cover for their sense of anxiety. One can compare the dancing and crazy celebrations that took place among the regime’s supporters in the streets to the psychological state of a person alone in the dark who then panics and sings out loud to dispel the sense of fear that has overcome him. A traumatised person may sing loudly to shake off a sense of fear that could otherwise harm him.

We cannot, in any way, interpret the type of crazy behaviour that has overcome the Syrian people in the past few days as anything other than a blatantly visible mental illness. The reason I say this is because there is nothing happening in Syria that could warrant any type of celebration, whether on the side of the regime’s supporters or the opposition. The events in Syria are among the most severe of social deviations that the world has ever seen. It is a known practice in our society that one stands with their neighbour even if they disagree with them and one example of this is how a wedding can be postponed in a matter of minutes should a neighbour or a neighbour’s relative unexpectedly pass away. This is done cautiously and out of respect for a neighbours feelings and emotions; however, those who celebrated following the results of the election a few days ago did not bat an eyelid as they danced on top of the rubble of their homes and their compatriots’ distress.

How can the regime’s supporters celebrate in a country where more than eight million people were forced out of their homes and have now become a burden on other cities and villages? How is it possible that anyone can celebrate when the people cannot secure a loaf of bread, let alone medicine? Do they not see anything wrong with the fact that five million Syrian refugees are now sleeping on the streets and sidewalks of countries like Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Egypt among other Arab countries? How can one celebrate when the Syrian people are homeless and beg for a morsel of bread? How can we celebrate when Syria has lost its infrastructure completely? How could they possibly celebrate when most of Syria’s cities and villages have been converted to nothing but ruins that rest on top of millions of bodies, the fate of which no one knows? How could they forget that Syria lost the majority of its factories and economic sources of profit? How could they forget that the majority of its agricultural lands are now burnt and useless? How can they celebrate when they see their country being converted into an arena of conflicts, one that is being fought over by every corner of the world? The only explanation could be that these manifestations of joy are nothing more than the peak of a mental illness where one rejoices when suffering.

What is worse is that those who are celebrating and their supporters are trying to paint a picture of themselves as the victors. They do not know that anyone who speaks of victory, whether on the side of the regime or the opposition is laughing about it or is entertaining himself with imaginary stories. For as long as the regime remains in Damascus, they will remain victorious and the opposition will be defeated. However, as long as the opposition maintains its control of liberated areas, then this also constitutes a major defeat for the regime. The regime will not be able to declare a full victory until it regains control of cities such as Aleppo, Idlib, Dar Ez-Zor, Raqqa, Hasaka, Qamishli as well as the outskirts of Lattakia. Not to mention cities such as Homs and Hama and the surrounding areas of Damascus and Daraa. Syria’s situation is like the devil’s dream in paradise and it will remain this way for the foreseeable future. It is ironic that the regime’s supporters are dancing in celebration when the majority of Syria’s cities are outside of the regime’s control.

On the other hand, the opposition cannot talk about being victorious either, so long as the regime maintains its control of the capital. The situation in Syria has now become a question of dividing influence and power and this is something that must be understood by these celebratory idiots. The former United Nations Special Envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi warned that Syria is open to a dangerous and severe form of “Somalisation” although he knew full well that Somalisation in Syria occurred the moment that many areas under the oppositions control fell and were subsequently converted into emirates or smaller provinces.

Often people celebrate the liberation of a land, not its fall into enemy hands, as the regime’s supporters did. In any event, no one in Syria, whether regime or opposition, has the right to celebrate in Syria after all the destruction, ruin and loss that have occurred. How can anyone celebrate when the Untied Nations recently deemed Syria “the tragedy of the century”?

Those who are dancing on Syria’s ruins are truly despicable!

Translated from Al-Sharq newspaper, June15, 2014

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.