“You were not born Muslim, Christian or Jewish; pro-regime or anti-regime; capitalist or communist - you were born a human being, so stand up for humanity.”
In this message, shared on the “I’ve become one of them, what are you going to do about it?” Facebook page, activists try to battle sectarian sentiments, which have been on the rise lately. The page relies on written satire and impressionist art to tackle issues such as divisions in society between supporters and opposers of the regime. This is one of many examples of the use of art - documentary films, satires and caricatures - in Syrian activists’ battle against sectarianism, which deviates from the origins of the revolution.
Comic4Syria is another group that has channeled art to send messages of anti-sectarianism. “To be honest, our goal was not to focus on sectarianism per se, but to focus on interactions between Syrians of different backgrounds,” one of the group’s artists said to Syria Untold.
One of their comic strips, “Cocktail,” tells the stories of two people from different sects who are very close friends. Another comic, “Travel,” tells the story of an elderly women who aids and protects a young man of a different sectarian background. “Fear” tells the story of a nun whose opinion on the revolution changes to the better after taking the time to learn about it, while “Mourning” relays the message that all Syrian people are casualties of the Assad regime, regardless of background.
“We don’t fear sectarianism greatly, because we know Syrians are not and have never been sectarian,” the artist added. “We are relaying stories that have taken place on the ground. We are not trying to cure sectarianism; we are trying to cure the mistrust and misunderstandings taking place between people.”
As for the role art can play in tackling sectarianism, a Comic4Syria artist said, “It is definitely not enough. The ultimate solution is that Syrians are able to freely communicate with one another, so that they can discover that all the judgments they’ve recently formed of each other are unfounded.” He added that the root of the problem is that, over the last two years, Syrians have come to feel that passing through checkpoints separating different parts of the country is life-threatening, so they have opted to remain in their areas and not interact with others.
All messages are shared on social media platforms, which Syrians have come to rely on to share news of civil disobedience. One of the reasons for this is that international media tend to focus on the military aspect of the uprising, not allowing much room for coverage of nonviolent resistance.
PROMO: Kids With Guns is a short film that tells the story of children being drawn into the conflict and being filled with thirst for revenge. It attempts to overpower the existing military culture by appealing to people’s feelings of nationalism. The film includes clips from nonviolent demonstrations in Syria carrying messages of unity that have often been ignored by the international media.
One of the clips used in the documentary film is of a young man at a protest in Banias who said, “We are the people of freedom: Sunnis and Alawites together. We want freedom, Sunnis and Alawites together. We don’t want sectarianism.” Other footage included in the film comes from a silent protest held in Masakin Hanano, Aleppo, where people created a symbolic human shield against sectarianism. One child at the protest raised a sign that said, “I am Sunni. My parents are Kurds, and my mother is Druze. My uncle is Christian and my other uncle is Shiite, and my neighbor is Alawite. But we are all Syrians.” A girl held a sign that said, “In Syria, there is no room for extremists.”
