Shiite worshippers visit the Mosque of Sayyida Zeineb, a holy Shia shrine and the center of the largest Iraqi area in Damascus. This is the mausoleum where the Prophet Mohammed’s daughter in law is said to be buried. It is also one of the main pilgrimage sites for Iranians. More than half a million Iranian tourists and religious pilgrims come to Syria every year.
As Syria steps out of the shadows of isolation and auditions for a larger role on the world stage it has become increasingly important to understand its significance in the murky politics of the Middle East. Although the US and much of the West has refrained from engaging Syria, its recent inclusion in the Paris Summit and renewed talks with Israel are signs of change.
Syria was once the center of the Islamic Empire, and Damascus is one of the oldest and most celebrated cities on earth. Historically Syria has always belonged to someone else: the Phoenicians, Egyptians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Crusaders, Mongols, Ottomans and French have all laid claim to this land with one of the world’s oldest civilizations. And since its independence in 1946, Syria has lurched from one military ruler to the next, until strongman Hafez al Assad took control in 1970.
From these fractured beginnings Syria remains a largely secular nation, ruled now, still somewhat precariously, by Assad’s son Bashar. He holds together a conglomeration of ethnic groups that include a mostly moderate Sunni majority (70%), Shia, Druze, Armenians, Kurds, Assyrians, Arab Christians and the small but powerful ruling Alawites. Further complicating this mix is the recent addition of roughly 2 million Iraq refugees, Palestinian refugees and the growing presence of diplomats and businessmen from Iran.
Against a rich backdrop of history and culture our story will look at how this mosaic of diversity may be where the road to peace in the region begins.