Thursday 23 January 2014

Syria, a rug, and sectarian lunacy.



This rug appeared on my page a couple of days ago, so I thought I'd tell you of its history.

My late father-in-law's first diplomatic posting was to the British Embassy in Ankara. He had already been working in Turkey (as a dealer in fine carpets), so knew the language and most of the people of importance.

Many years later, after he'd retired, he used to return to Ankara and Istanbul as often as possible; driving around Turkey itself, and on down into Syria and Lebanon.

On one such trip, in about 1970-ish, he was driving through mountainous country in the heartland of Syria when he came across a tiny shepherd's cottage with the above rug hanging outside. He spoke to the lady and offered to buy her lovely handiwork; the price was just £5. She explained that she made just two each year and (provided that she sold them) the money was HERS to spend as she wished (whoopie).  

Nowadays no-one in their right mind would make that trip. If one lot of loonies didn't get you, the other lot would.

I often look at that rug, and think of the horrors that are taking place on a daily basis in that once peaceful land; and with the recent publication of the photographs of all those poor dead tortured opposition fighters, the horror just becomes intensified.

Today I am even more disturbed to hear that Hezbollah fighters from Lebanon are to join with Hassad's men, and no doubt some of the Palestinian Hamas nut-cases will be along later to join them. The ISIL fighters, from Fallujah in Iraq, have already fallen-out with Al Qaeda, and in-fighting between all the various terrorist groups is rampant. 

The west now seems to be happily supporting Al Qaeda, who are killing ISIL's Sunni fighters. Hezbollah have temporarily halted their terrorist activities against Israel, to concentrate on killing both Al Qaeda's and ISIL's men. And frankly the whole thing is not only a complete bloody mess, but also very difficult to keep on top of who's fighting who; and why! 

It's a Muslim v Muslim nightmare. Thank goodness my father-in-law bought that rug when he did; one wonders if there'll be anyone left to make any more!




20 comments:

  1. Every night on the news .... riots, bombings, fires, demonstrations ..... why the heck can't we all just get along.

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  2. Just more examples of man's inhumanity to man. What the hell is wrong with our species?

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  3. I am reading Anne Mustoe's book Cleopatra's Needle in which she cycles from London to Cairo. I got to the bit where she is cycing through Turkey and down through Lebanon and Syria last night and thought along the same lines of your post. She comments what lovely, kind people they are in all three countries. She made the journey in 2002.

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  4. Absolutely appalling situation I agree. Only five years ago my Grand-daughter went into Syria and Lebanon alone with a back-pack and said what wonderfully friendly places they were. How times change - religion of any kind has a lot to answer for.

    On an entirely different subject - please do a post on Processionary Caterpillars - I am intrigued to know what they are after you mentioned them in answer to my yesterday's post.

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    1. I was just about to write something about those wretched caterpillars. It'll probably appear in the next few days.

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  5. PS I love the rug - I have a not dissimilar one which I bought high up in the Taurus Mountains in Turkey in a small village.

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  6. splendid rug, I love that combination of colours.

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  7. They said it would all be over in two weeks... idiots.

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  8. Baroness Warsi who is a Muslim said recently that not since the Roman times where Christians were burnt alive as illuminati for garden parties and dressed in wild animal skins and thrown to the lions, have they suffered such persecution torture and murder in the Middle East as they are experiencing today. In particular in Syria Egypt and Iraq
    Most people are unaware. The situation gets little to no media coverage in the press. It's just not sexy news. I don't think one needs to be a Church goer or a believer to be horrifed at what is happening to this minority group

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  9. Exploring foreign lands has always had an element of risk but so many countries are just far too dangerous nowadays to visit and travel through. From a selfish point of view I think that's rather sad.

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  10. I am afraid I have had a gutful of it (in Northern Ireland, Sarajevo, Mozambique and Angola) and no longer have anything to say. If it isn't religion, it's tribalism. But we must not overlook the invidious effect of those countries exercising their influence outside their borders. They are the ones who pour petrol onto smouldering embers and turn it into an uncontained conflagration.

    So, instead of anything sensible or profound from me about yet another human tragedy, all I can offer is some trench humour of which your rug reminded me.

    Did you hear about the entrepreneur who started selling landmines disguised as prayer mats?

    He is doing well. Prophets are through the roof.

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  11. It's a hell hole of our making.
    The folk that run or try to run Europe no longer control tribalism. It will happen here, Dithery Dave preaches hate and fear. It's all he knows.

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  12. It's a beautiful rug with a beautiful story and a tragic shadow...

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  13. The Middle East has ever been a mess and probably will remain that way, it's so horrible for the people who live there.
    We lived in Turkey too, in Izmir, and of course I bought a couple of carpets. Yours is beautiful.

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    1. In our fireplace hangs a trophy of wild boar tusks that my father-in-law shot in Izmir in 1935.

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  14. What a lovely piece of art and humanity.

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  15. The rug looks very good as a wall hanging.

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  16. It's horrible and beyond horrible what's going on in Syria right now. Thank you for sharing the story of your rug - it's beautiful. Many people must be just longing for the peace that was theirs back in the seventies.

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  17. I can't begin to imagine the hours of work that went into making that rug. Such a beautiful keepsake.

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