[This is the third installment of Amal Hanano`s account of her trip back to Aleppo. You can read the first two here and here]
In the universe of Revolution 2.0, Facebook is the reigning capital, and The Syrian Revolution 2011 page (with over 218,000 “official” followers) is considered prime real estate. Earlier this week, the page boldly dedicated Thursday, June 30th to the “Aleppo Volcano,” but disappointment and low expectations began to appear days before, as the fiery graphic shrunk slowly, from proudly occupying the entire profile picture to sharing half the space with “Burn your Bills Wednesday,” and downgraded to a scant third after declaring the weekly national demonstration on July 1st as “Leave! Friday.”
Still, on the morning of the eruption, we woke up not knowing what to expect. Though the call for Aleppo’s supposed uprising had become a Facebook footnote, people were tense, carefully arranging their day to avoid “tripping” by accident into a demonstration. Pool parties and evening outings were postponed as everyone waited for the news.
At noon, there was still no sign of lava anywhere. I had stayed home all morning, too nervous to drive. My friends called, complaining about the unjust media pressuring the city to join the revolution. They told me the circulating Facebook jokes about crude ways the men of Aleppo imagined putting out the flames of the volcano. We heard that the opposition had called on nearby villages to “march” into the city. All major roads entering Aleppo were shut down and blocked by security forces the night before with large trucks and sand bags. Every car entering the city was searched. Aleppo is being protected by the army from the rest of Syria. For obvious yet delusional reasons, this makes the loyalists proud.
This article is now featured in Jadaliyya`s edited volume entitled Dawn of the Arab Uprisings: End of An Old Order? (Pluto Press, 2012). The volume documents the first six months of the Arab uprisings, explaining the backgrounds and trajectories of these popular movements. It also archives the range of responses that emanated from activists, scholars, and analysts as they sought to make sense of the rapidly unfolding events. Click here to access the full article by ordering your copy of Dawn of the Arab Uprisings from Amazon, or use the link below to purchase from the publisher.
