Hama: the whisper of a memory

An entire city was almost exterminated on a day like this, twenty seven years ago...while the Arab world looks over with astonishment and anger at the death and destruction which has struck Gaza, the people of another city will today be reflecting on a similar calamity that befell them but was many times greater. It is estimated by the Syrian Human Rights Commission that almost 40,000 of the people of Hama were killed during the crushing of the Muslim Brotherhood's uprising. Large swathes of the historic part of the city were completely obliterated, including mosques and churches. We have read reports by Patrick Seale, Robert Fisk and Thomas Friedman (of all people), but the human element has always been missing. Over the years I have spoken to many about what happened there and how the massacre affected them. Here are some first hand accounts from ordinary people who were there at the time - though I have changed their names to keep them anonymous:

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Zayd: I was a little boy at the time, raised by my grandmother. One morning we heard the call to prayer but it was not prayer time. There was a call from all the mosques, Hayy 3ala al Jihad (Arise to Jihad) over and over, along with Allahu Akbar. The city came under attack and shelling. I don't remember how long we stayed hidden in our home. We had no food or water, only hearing gunfire. I remember hearing machine gun fire, grenades going off. I heard that mingled with cries of Allahu Akbar (God is Great!). When these stopped, we'd know that another young man or group of men had been killed whilst fighting the soldiers. Eventually, this grew less and less common as they were gradually wiped out. Some soldiers also turned on their comrades, unable to to take part in the massacre. They too were cut down in gunfights. When we first left the house to look for food or water, I saw body parts strewn everywhere. I could see hands and feet and heads on the road as clearly as I see this cup of coffee in front of me now...If the regime ever fell, there will be a bloodbath in Hama as scores are settled with those who betrayed their neighbours and collaborated with the government.

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Wa'el: I was a little boy, we knew the shelling started but then I heard that my uncle had come to rescue us. He was an officer in a special army unit, he had been wounded twice before in his career and fought the Israelis in Lebanon. He had also been captured by them and wounded but his friends came and broke him free from the clutches of the Israelis, his best friend carried him on his shoulder as they escaped under heavy gunfire. Anyway, my uncle commandeered an armoured troop carrier, drove right up to our home, took our family in and then drove us out through the front lines. He waved his machine gun at a bus driving past Hama and ordered the driver to take us to Damascus, warning him not to stop or betray them. Later I heard that my uncle had been reported as a Brotherhood sympathiser by some of his rival officers who wanted to see him executed in a field court. They said he smuggled out Muslim Brotherhood fighters, which was not true, it was just us he got out. Luckily he had contacts high up in Damascus who could vouch that he was not with the Brotherhood and he was not shot. My grandmother was not so lucky, she was killed by gunfire before he could reach us.

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Zeyad: I never met my father, my mother was still pregnant with me when the uprising began. I heard that my father was out of the house, probably looking for food or water and he was held by an army patrol. They lined him and several other men up against a wall and machine gunned them. Just like that. I was raised by the rest of our family in Damascus.

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Malek: We are not from Hama, we heard whispers of what was happening at the time in Damascus. I also heard that the soldiers were selling household goods and furniture under the President's bridge in Damascus for outrageously low prices. I went to my father and told him about this, saying we could get a fridge or a washing machine for a bargain. My father refused, he said this is all Mal haram (Money which is haram). "These things have been looted from Hama during the massacre.", he told me. We didn't buy anything from there and I didn't go near the area whilst the things were being sold there, al hamdulilah (Thank God).