Being an American in Syria can be hard, but not the way you’re thinking (part 1)

People often ask me what it’s like being an American in Syria. “Do you feel safe? Aren’t you worried about being kidnapped?” One person I met earlier this year, a middle-aged man from the US south who appeared educated and successful, was so brash as to say, “Have fun dodging bombs over there.” Even younger folk of my own generation have given me advice such as, “Don’t trust them. I was there and they’ll ask you questions about surface to air missiles and the weapons and try to be your friend and you just can’t believe what they say!” That nonsensical nugget was volunteered to me by a solider who had recently returned from Iraq. Okay…

And thus we have the two extremes of American culture that are most visible here in Syria, in the Middle East as a whole, and probably many other places in the world. On the one hand, you have glossy Hollywood America, the place where everything is fun and games, and where, incidentally, the bad guys always seem to be Arab men. Of course, American movies often echo contemporary politics: bad guys used to be Russian, and, before that, German — but try explaining that to a Syrian 17-year-old who has never even seen Die Hard. I tried; I don’t think it stuck. On the other hand, you have Military America, represented by the killer green-clad storm troopers in armed vehicles who seem to destroy everything they touch. Then you have me.

For many Syrians, I’m the first American they’ve ever met. Their eyes light up when they realize that they’re actually talking to someone who was born and raised in the United Sates, and who isn’t a Hollywood star or killer soldier. I am given enthusiastic hand shakes and high fives — a Syrian-style high five is actually a low five, followed by placing your own hand over your heart or on your own lips for a little kiss — and peppered with questions about life in American and why in the world I’d want to leave to come the Syria. I say I’ve studied the region for years and I’m here to learn the language, to learn how to communicate with Arabs in their own language. Yes, I’m interested in their politics, but I also like their food, their music, their design, their culture. And yet, many Syrians I’ve met just can’t understand this. These are well educated young people saying things that really make you scratch your head in disbelief. Things like, Syria has no culture, we are all backward here, we have nothing, so there’s no way you’d visit here for the culture. They see the USA culturally as the best place on Earth, a land of plenty, where you can have anything you want — so why leave? I try explaining that America has social and economic problems just like anywhere else, that what you see in the movies is not real life. Again, wonder and disbelief.

The fact is, I feel a lot safer here in Damascus than I did in London. Violent crime and petty theft are virtually nonexistent in Damascus. In a way it’s like being back home in Athens, GA, where you can leave your bag on the table while you take a bathroom break, fully confident that nobody is going to mess with your stuff. Judging by the insane traffic on the roads, I’d expect traffic accidents are the number one cause of personal harm. But no foreigner of any nationality has ever been kidnapped or harmed in any way by members of the Syrian public or by the Syrian government or police. (Update — see comments below: one foreigner, a Canadian woman, disappeared in 2007 while traveling alone through Syria.) I do know property has been damaged in recent political acts — in 2006 the Danish and Norwegian embassies were burned following an outcry over cartoon depictions of the Muslim prophet Muhammad, but I don’t think anyone was hurt; also in 2006 the US Embassy was attacked, but only one Syrian guard was killed — but individual foreign nationals have never been the target of violence. Other places, including Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan, are more dangerous in this regard.

All this sounds nice and rosy, right? Not really. Actually I have had some problems being an American in Syria — but not because of any of the locals. All the problems I’ve had so far can be directly blamed on my own government. Hence this series of blog posts where I will share stories about the difficulties I, as an American citizen traveling to and living in Syria, have had with the US government.

It’s well known that for political reasons the US government has tried to discourage travel to Syria. State Department travel advisories contain legitimate facts, but the facts are spun to convey a message rife with paranoia. It’s pure scaremongering, like watching Fox News. For example, the State Department says:

On multiple occasions throughout January 2009, thousands of Syrians protested in mostly government-orchestrated rallies against Israeli military actions in the Gaza Strip.  While these events were largely peaceful, in one instance a few hundred protesters challenged police lines outside the Egyptian Embassy in downtown Damascus and were dispersed by means of non-lethal force.  At least seven smaller-scale and non-violent demonstrations have occurred in central Damascus and other urban centers.

Identical events happened in London at the exact same time. I don’t understand what the term “government-orchestrated” is supposed to imply with respect to the Syria demonstrations, but the London demonstrations were fully registered with and sanctioned by the British government and kept in order by the London police force. Note that is it the same London police force which, during the G20 demonstrations in April, killed an innocent man.

My point is that as long as crimes are committed in the world, from Israel and Iraq to Sri Lanka and China, people will march in protest in support of the repressed. There’s definitely an increased chance of something going wrong when many people gather in a confined space — tempers can fly on the part of both protesters and the authorities. It’s up to the individual to assess the risks and choose whether or not to participate in such protests publicly.

Anyway, the first problem I faced in this Syrian adventure was in getting the entrance visa. I assumed could simply go to the Syrian Embassy in London with my passport, a few photos and some cash, and, like persons of other nationalities, get my entrance visa sorted out in a matter of days. That’s what it says to do on the Syrian Embassy’s website, after all. I soon found out I wasn’t allowed to apply for a Syrian visa in any other embassy than the one in Washington, D.C., a fact that was not made clear on any website or documentation I had seen anywhere in my months of research into the application process. It was never made clear to me exactly why I couldn’t get the visa from the Syrian embassy in London, except that it had something to do with increased background checks needed for American citizens. I eventually got the thing a few weeks before leaving for Damascus.

Worse problems were to come…