"Business is slow these days. Tourists and travellers used to come before but now it's slowed down. We just need more security and things will improve, said Ali, 48, the owner of the shop. Ali's old customers Russian soldiers from nearby military bases, American war influencers and Lebanese tourists have disappeared. Only the faded Cyrillic on the storefront hints at the shop's past hawking regime wares."
"A year after the fall of the 50-year-long Assad dynasty and its replacement by an Islamist-led government, Syrians are renegotiating the symbols and culture that once defined their country. Statues of Hafez al-Assad have been toppled and bulldozed and the portraits of his son Bashar that once plastered across every billboard, office and classroom now survive only as defaced remnants, if at all."
The collapse of the 50-year Assad dynasty and the rise of an Islamist-led government produced rapid cultural change across Syria. Regime statues and portraits have been toppled or defaced and public symbols are being renegotiated. Merchants replaced regime-branded souvenirs with revolutionary flags, jewelry engraved with slogans, and portraits of rebel fighters, but tourism and sales have declined as previous customers disappeared. Vineyards and winery owners report an end to persistent harassment by corrupt officials, yet uncertainty about security and markets persists. The sudden removal of the old security apparatus and arrival of new authorities left society and businesses in a state of flux.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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