I want to discuss the nihilistic futility Syrian exilees feel when we see Rami Makhlouf's son driving a Ferrari in LA, when we see countries normalizing relations with a regime that killed&displaced us.
How are we supposed to move on when the blood of our martyrs is still warm?
My main mental health struggle the past couple of years was with meaning. How do we make meaning of everything that happened in the shadow of all this injustice and lack of accountability? Hell, even the impunity! We are required to "assimilate" in our new countries, but how?
We are not in 1945, we are in 2021! We have enough evidence to hold the heads of the Syrian regime accountable, yet we are told that things take time, but we don't see it going in the direction of justice!
We are frustrated, tired, and traumatized. But we have to act "normal," hold jobs, wait on our legal papers to be processed, and even be grateful that some rich countries let very few of us live on their soil.
No one talks about political trauma. The world wants us to just be normal like nothing happened. To live in denial and make new beginnings in our new countries. They praise success stories but overlook the people wilting away, the suicide cases, the depression, the PTSD.
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So let me get this straight. People demonstrated in 70 cities in the US today against the US intervening in the ME against Iran, but how many times have people demonstrated when Iran intervened in places like Syria, Iraq, & Lebanon killing thousands of innocent people? Hypocrisy.
I did not hear ONE chant from the anti-war demonstrations today against Iran's interventions and wars. Only about the US, &/or general anti-war slogans.
Our blood as Syrians/Iraqis/Lebanese in the past decade on Iran's hands did not deserve your attention? Not surprising.
Some Syrians hv been celebrating, ppl who'v been exiled bc Assad kicked them out of their own homes wth Iran's help. They later saw pics of Soleimani walking over the rubbles of their homes.
They didnt celebrate bc they are pro-US. But bc we have not seen any justice since 2011.