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“Esilio dalla Siria” it is an extremely true, human and profound book that will be able to give us more tools to understand what is happening in the country of Damascus, showing us both the local history and the condition of exile with extreme force and impact.

Esilio dalla Siria

What happened to Syria, its revolution and the Syrian people? Shady Hamadi returns to tell a land that she often talks about in a superficial way, while she continues her arduous path of pacification. Through his personal exile and the story of the suffering of a people who are waging a daily struggle against indifference, Hamadi addresses fundamental issues such as identity, fundamentalism, the relationship between religions, freedom and the fight against dictatorship.

Memories, meetings, reflections on Syrian society alternate in this volume which “aims to be an ambassador capable of reaching all those who are confused by the so much noise that is made when it comes to terrorism and the Arab world”. The death of Mustafa, swallowed up in the prisons of the Syrian regime; Samer’s journey, a purse for luggage and a lot of determination; the boy from the Tripoli hospital ready to go out to fight with one arm; the confrontation with civil society activists and with everyday people, underpin a narrative that gives face and dignity to Syria and to a people who want emancipation from dictatorship and fundamentalism, under the disinterested (or perhaps too interested and therefore mute) of the West.

The condition of the one who is exiled

“I have never lived a day under bombs, I don’t know the buzz they make before striking, killing. I have not suffered from hunger, thirst, nor have I ever lived in a refugee camp tent. But I know what it feels like. who lives a drama from the outside. It is like watching helplessly the death of one’s mother. This is the feeling that most represents what I want to describe to you. I know the suffering of exile, because I was born there. “

“Esilio dalla Siria” by Shady Hamadi

I was personally very impressed by this sentence, the focal point of the book and, not surprisingly, even reported on the back cover. “Esilio dalla Siria” in fact analyzes the Syrian question not with the eyes of a native present on the field, but as someone who, in fact, lives in the condition of exile. This “status”, common to many boys and girls in Europe, is, in a certain sense, one of the most infamous as those who are actually in exile are “evil” which, inevitably, still oppresses those who have not managed to make the great leap, leaving the exiled even that subtle but permeating air of “stranger”.

This point of view will be more and more inevitable and necessary to understand, as Europe and the rest of the “Western world” are destined to be included in this history, both on a migratory and geopolitical level. In fact, Shady Hamadi repeats it to us several times in the text: the Syrians, if they could, would stay in their home and many of them are so in love with their Syria that they return even under bombs.

History of Syria and its revolution

The book (published in 2016) in addition to being a powerful text in terms of thought and anecdotes, is also extremely valuable for a clear and synthesized overview of much of what is happening in Syria. Personally, I must admit that I have never particularly studied Syrian history (except for the articles by Ibn Battuta on Syrian cities) and consequently it was a real immersion even at a historical level.

The text, in fact, does not just tell us about the dynamics underway in the revolution, but also delves into the events that led to all this, thus resulting even more complete and precious. “Esilio dalla Siria” is an extremely true, human and profound book that will give us more tools to understand what is happening in the country of Damascus, showing us both local history and the condition of exile with extreme force and impact.

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