Syria: Damascus – Patriotism, Souvenirs, & Graffiti

And the last post from Syria, and most definitely my favorite. Almost everywhere you go in Damascus, you are greeted by Assad staring at you from posters, wall paintings, graffiti, and souvenirs memorabilia, and Syrian flags waving and painted everywhere. Every checkpoint is literally plastered with Assad pictures (and none of the checkpoints are pictured here, since photography is not allowed). Personality cult? Patriotism? A combination of both? Damascus and all the people we spoke to are very clearly on the government side and view the rebels as mostly foreign sponsored fundamentalists trying to assail the secular Syria. Everyone is happy that the situation is finally normalizing and the war is coming to an end. People seem to be ready to reconcile and rebuilt as long as all the foreign powers and proxies leave the country.
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