Hama Rules

Yesterday, my husband reminded me of a chapter I read in Thomas Friedman's book, From Beirut to Jerusalem, and he also sent me this NY Times article on the Hama Rules and how they have evolved to fit the current political situation.

In 1982, the majority of Syrians were Sunni Muslims, yet they were not in power. Syria was a closed country at the time, like North Korea is today, so most news came as only rumors to the rest of the world. The ruling Alawite regime was the minority group in power, and they used every means available to keep the rest of the country at bay. When the Sunnis decided to revolt in the city of Hama in February of 1982, the government shelled the city and blew up building after building, full of civilians. They killed 20,000 people. This was an act of terrorism that said, "Don't even think about trying to overthrow us. We can crush you." That May, the government opened up the city and invited Syrians from all over the country to see the carnage and get the not-so-subtle message: we will not hold back to get what we want.

Now, the Syrian government is attack its own people again and the country is in revolution. Is it that people have forgotten just how brutal their leaders are? Or is it that terrorism is not enough to prevent the human spirit from flourishing and people from seeking human rights?  Only time will tell. And we can only pray that Syria repents from using bloodshed to secure power.