Cultural heritage at discount prices

Many are the gains made by the Assad regime on the humanitarian, cultural and political levels; at the forefront are the liquidation of all sincere nationalist figures, the displacement of the Syrian people, internally and externally, and the torture, killing and detention of people on the basis of their identity.

To highlight his achievements, Assad boasts about what he does for his own people and uses it as a way to gain support from those whom he wants to satisfy of his own sectarian preferences. In its turn this is embodied in the grand accomplishment of forcing many Syrian writers and intellectuals to liquidate their massive libraries, some of which contain rare and precious books, and selling them to the owners of "stalls" to be sold at discounted prices. Some were forced into selling their books and precious belongings for any amount after being obliged to leave Syria because of the constant harassment as a result of the war waged by the regime on all the Syrian people.

Assad’s regime is at the climax of happiness because its policies dedicated to serving its ambitions have brought the Syrian people to this level of extreme poverty and brought about the absence of the most basic necessities of life. The main reason for Assad’s successes and achievements of false gains is his alliance with his loyal friends who share his feelings of hatred and hostility towards the authenticity of all Syrian people.

We see very well that the goal of boasting of these gains and achievements is distracting the nation’s attention away from the destruction of Syria and the liquidation of all who do not support Assad.

A quick look to the books sold on the sidewalks of the streets of Damascus reveals books of poetry, collections of short stories, novels and research in various political, social, economic fields and even dissertations on issues of religion and Islamic sects among others.

It is for sure that Assad’s thugs do not buy such books, because they are already in the possession of all that they need after engaging in the looting of houses and stealing from their fellow Syrians. And they are too busy spouting speeches about the achievements and false victory claims that were achieved at the expense of the helpless citizen who is fed up with the cost of their lies to even have time to read them.

This regime is not ashamed of anything it does, and is applying the proverb that says: "If you feel no shame, then do what you want."

Congratulations to Assad, his regime, and his masters for their great achievement of forcing Syria’s great thinkers and writers into the place where they have been obliged to sell their libraries of precious books, their awards, their belongings and sap their minds just to afford the expensive living conditions of the difficult life that the Assad regime’s war has created.