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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran | |
| No Wind of Change in Syria | |
| 2004-11-13 | |
| Interesting perspective on Syria from a Kurdish news site. ... Meanwhile, the US-led military intervention in neighboring Iraq has also dealt yet another painful blow to the Syrian economy. The sanctions recently imposed against Damascus by the US government appear to be having little impact, yet each financial setback is one too many for a large number of Syrians who are barely managing to keep their heads above water. "Do you know what heaven is? It's a German car, a Swedish woman and an American salary." Tman (28) is sitting in a restaurant in the Syrian capital, Damascus. He's unemployed — just like an estimated 20 percent of his fellow Syrians — but can appreciate the joke about Syria's current economic malaise. "And do you know what hell is? A Japanese car, an American woman and a Syrian salary." The joke itself has become something of a classic, which can be heard being retold all over the city. The average salary here is around 100 US dollars a month. That's barely enough to survive on in Syria. Tman's girlfriend, Riem, does have work, in fact she's holding down two jobs. During the day she works for a telecom business and, in the evenings, she gives private lessons in Arabic. This gives her a total of about 120 dollars a month, enough for her to treat her boyfriend to a waterpipe, which they're both smoking here in the restaurant. Days of the Soviet Union The restaurant itself is reminiscent of similar places in Europe's former East Bloc. It's grey, uninviting, the ceilings stained by years of smoke, an uninspired chef and too many — disinterested — waiters with too few customers to serve. Restaurants like this are not the only things in Syria which bring back memories of Europe's Soviet era. Syria still has a centrally managed economy based on the model of its one-time ally and financial backer. The central government controls the banks and insurance companies, as well as all the country's major companies. The civil service is slow and corrupt to boot.
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| Posted by:phil_b |