Raqqa refugees in the Ain Issa camp. Rodi said in May 2017 Image credit: Reuters
Naim (meaning Kingdom of Heaven) Square, the largest roundabout square in the center of Raqqa, with its beautiful fountains and the oldest café in the city, is today a notorious place that carries grief. In June 2014, the extremist group Islamic State (ISIS) celebrated the founding of the Caliphate here, and the image of a happy beard driving around the square in an armored car drove crazy around the world. Soon after, it was transformed into a theater of horror: it was the main place where executions were carried out, severed heads were displayed on spears to intimidate passers-by, and people were often forced to come here to participate in sadistic celebrations. The roundabout has become the symbol of the "capital of the caliphate", and on October 20, the Syrian Democratic Army, the new winner, also chose to commemorate the defeat of the "jihadists". Then, once again, we see images of armored vehicles speeding around the island, except for members of the PKK (the Syrian branch of the PKK) waving a portrait of their leader, Abdullah Ocalan, among the rubble.
Armored vehicles circled Nayim Square. Photo by Eric de Castro Image: the daily beast
In both celebrations, Naim Square is depicted as an ISIS fortress as the site of the event, rather than as an intersection in an ordinary city where surrounding houses, shops, and restaurants are in ruins. Around the victorious warriors, we could not see the ordinary inhabitants, and the "capital of the caliphate" was like a deserted empty city. Years of war have made it look as if it has never been inhabited. This is not the Raqqa I am familiar with, it is simply a product of the media politics spawned by the occupation of ISIS. The real Raqqa is symbolically obliterated by the whole world. Although the real Raqqa has never had a beautiful landmark, it was once built and lived by 220,000 residents, not counting the many refugees from other parts of Syria. The city was held in a cage in the "capital of the caliphate", and then the war on terror came and destroyed it along with its occupiers.
Extremists stationed in Raqqa in June 2014. Image source: reuters
From the appearance of the specter of ISIS in the spring of 2013 to its evolution into a global phenomenon, Raqqa's image as a city has been crushed by the image of the "capital of the caliphate" where masked gunmen wantonly kill. The inhabitants here are the first victims of a super-violent crime syndicate, powerless to struggle under the weight of their terror. But people have never admitted that they are victims of terrorism like the victims of issis attacks in many European cities. People never even realize they exist. They are just nameless and nameless invisible people. The world knows nothing about their lives, their stories, and it's not clear how many of them are victims of ISIS terrorism. No one mentioned the hundreds of Raqqa who died at the hands of ISIS, or how several battles they launched in early 2014 prevented terrorist groups from taking control of their cities more quickly. No one knows that ISIS is not content to hunt down and eliminate their opponents in the cities, and they track down Turkey to assassinate some young opposition figures.
There are no figures in the empty streets. Bulent Kilic on October 16 Image credit: afp
Since Raqqa disappeared into the shadow of the "capital of the caliphate," its inhabitants have become invisible, at best treated as a whole devoid of history, dignity, rights or status. People don't even think they fought in the war on terror and resisted the destruction of their homes by ISIS. No one consults or participates in any of the smallest strategic choices. People distrust them and see them as environmental factors that may accept "jihadists". The denial of the Raqqa is not limited to the political level, but is reflected in the basic human treatment of them. As a result, while intelligence and military preparations had been planned a year before the fighting in Raqqa began, no aid plan had been put in place for the tens of thousands of people the war would bring, creating one of the largest refugee flows in the Syrian conflict. The city was bombed indiscriminately by aircraft cannons, not caring that there could be countless civilian casualties. The exact number of victims, we may never know, because no one cares. One need only look at the devastated images emanating from the victorious troops to see how obsessed they were with destroying the capital of ISIS, without the slightest concern or restraint in killing the inhabitants of Raqqa and destroying their cities.
Isis executes the rebels by a fountain in the center of The Naim Roundabout. Image source: times
Step by step, the Raqqa went from being victims of the "capital of the caliphate" to victims of the war to eliminate ISIS and recently reported in the war media. The international media is interested in the exotic little stories of European idealists abandoning everything and fighting around Kurdish militias, which can be used as a model against extremist groups, rather than syrians in exile. There have been few reports on the plight of tens of thousands of Raqqa refugees. No one worries that they will be able to return to their homes in the ruins of the "capital of the caliphate." No effort has been made to search for the hundreds of missing persons during the ISIS occupation. The Syrian Democratic Army seized control of the al-houta region north of Raqqa two years ago with U.S. support, where terrorist groups are rumored to have buried many bodies. The same is true in many of the city's buildings that have been turned into prisons by extremists. We see images released by the Democratic Forces of soldiers entering prison buildings and throwing their contents out, no one thought of collecting clues about the missing, and their families have been living in waiting anxiety for years.
Former Nayim ring intersection. Image credit: the daily mail
Today, waiting for news is part of Raqqa's life. They want to know what happened to their relatives and friends trapped in war zones, and what else would happen on the ruins of their own cities. How to guarantee the minimum conditions for returning to normal life? Is there anyone in the international community who cares about their return? Now that ISIS has been driven out, can the area be handed over to the Assad regime? Compared with these questions, it seems whimsical and even comical to investigate the Democratic Army and the international forces in collusion with them to confirm that they have committed war crimes against the Raqqa, who have been devastated by the terror of ISIS. Today's Raqqa is still hidden in the shadow of the "capital of the caliphate" in the eyes of the world, and when the latter fell, the city ceased to exist.
This article is written by Yassin Swehat
(This article was originally published in the online journal al-jumhurya on November 12, 2017, according to a French translation by Hala Kodmani, a reporter for the French newspaper Liberation newspaper, du Su.) ）