AKs and Lollipops: Inside The Syrian Conflict

By Paddy Vipond

Since the spring of 2011 Syria has been a country intent on destroying itself. What began as peaceful demonstrations, against the leadership of President Bashar al-Assad, soon became a national uprising to overthrow the dictator. With millions displaced, and hundreds of thousands dead, it is a humanitarian disaster on a scale the world has not seen in decades. In the midst of this turmoil, Paddy Vipond, a young British volunteer, ventured across the border from Turkey to see the situation for himself, and to help those that were suffering.

This honest and insightful account of the short time he spent in Syria is a thought-provoking and candid look at a world many of us have turned our backs on. Armed with nothing but a pen and paper, and in the company of a man he had met the day before, Paddy embarked on a journey that would change his life forever.

Detailing remarkable stories, and written with warmth and humour, AKs and Lollipops places us alongside Paddy as he parties with Free Syrian Army soldiers, rides tanks with northern rebels, and gets bombed by Assad’s military. From his initial illegal entry into the country, right up to his final encounter with ISIS, Paddy paints a picture which is truly impossible to ignore.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bennion Kearny
• Release date: May 18, 2015
• ISBN: 9781910515341

Book preview

AKs and Lollipops: Inside the Syrian Conflict

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Paddy Vipond

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 [Smashwords Edition]

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Published in 2015 by Bennion Kearny Limited.

Copyright © 2015 Bennion Kearny Limited.

ISBN: 978-1-910515-34-1

All Rights Reserved.

Bennion Kearny has endeavoured to provide trademark information about all the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Bennion Kearny cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

Published by Bennion Kearny Limited, 6 Woodside, Churnet View Road, Oakamoor, Staffordshire, ST10 3AE

www.BennionKearny.com

Table of Contents

Title Page

In Memory Of

Dedication

Quotes

About the Author

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Part 1

1. Beginnings

2. Meetings

3. Syria

4. Introductions

5. Fighting

6. Death Race

7. Departing

8. Conflict Tourism

9. The Crazy One

10. Tank

Part 2

11. A Return to Syria

12. Impatience

13. The Frontline

14. A War on Many Fronts

15. Aid

16. Reyhanli

17. A Failed Return

Epilogue

Syria by Numbers

How to Help

Other Books from Bennion Kearny

In Memory Of

In memory of

Andrew Thomas Vipond [16/11/57 – 23/02/08]

and

Charles Fredrick Edward Clark [23/06/34 – 09/03/15]

Dedication

To all those who believe a better world is possible,and for all those committed to making it a reality.

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Dedicated to the people of Syria who continue to struggle  for the rights and freedoms that all should be entitled to. May the tragic loss of life have not been in vain.

Quotes

Nobody can do everything, but everyone can do something Max Lucado

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Be the change you want to see in the world Numerous bumper stickers

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 You have never really lived until you have done something for someone who can never repay you John Bunyan

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 If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put your foundations under them Henry David Thoreau

About the Author

Paddy Vipond is a BA Hons graduate of the University of Brighton with a degree in War, Conflict and Modernity. During a volunteer placement in Turkey he established Do What You Can, a small aid giving project for displaced Syrians and refugees. When the project was able to go no further he returned to the UK and began studying for an NCTJ diploma in Journalism. Paddy writes articles for numerous publications, across a broad range of topics, and has been featured in The Guardian, Psychology Today, Center for a Stateless Society, and Skin Deep Tattoo Magazine. As well as writing, and studying, he also works in the non-profit sector for Renewable World - a renewable energy charity based in Brighton, UK. His frustration at the state of the world is matched only by his desire to change it.

Acknowledgements

I am aware that all humans are part of an interconnected web of interaction and influence. I realise that without my history I would not have my present, and in turn my future – whatever that may be. Every action I have undertaken, every event that I have been involved in, and every person that I have ever met and spoken to, have all impacted on my being, and helped to form who I am today. Without my past interactions and choices none of what I have written would have been possible. With that being said there are a number of people that played more than a casual role in helping me to experience what I did. Though everyone and everything has influenced and shaped me, the following people deserve individual thanks and praise.

I would like to say thank you to Nur Öksüz, who first introduced me to the man that would take me into Syria. That man is Basel Arbar and I owe him huge gratitude for how he helped me, for what he showed me, and for the experiences he allowed me to be a part of. I have to also thank all the EVS volunteers that helped me out when I needed assistance; My housemates in Ankara who encouraged and supported my desire of going to Syria; and the volunteers in Gaziantep who gave me a place to stay as I was criss-crossing back and forth over the border. I have to say thank you to Prisca Ebner for her reassuring words and positivity. My EVS coordinator in Ankara, Murat Berksun, who was always very friendly and understanding, I owe him thanks for allowing me to take time out of the volunteer project in Guçkobir so that I could travel to Syria. And to answer your question Murat, no, I do not think I am Jesus.

I need to say thank you to a certain Dutch man who has chosen to remain nameless. Without him I would not have even contemplated the Do What You Can project. Though he and I lost contact, it was his inspiration that showed me that one person can make a difference, and that as individuals we can do so much more than we think. His work to help the people of Syria was thankless and admirable. I must also thank the Turks, Cuneyt Gorkem, Buğra Kaya and in particular Serkan Şahin. Serkan’s anything is possible attitude is infectious, and his drive and ambition to achieve were quite an inspiration.

I must thank my friend Conrad Molden as without him I would have never gone to Turkey in the first place. As well as this, I must also thank him for teaching me that things do not fall into your lap, and that there are no handouts in life. His persistence and his desire to better himself, and the world, are traits that I have tried to replicate. The iron triangle remains strong.

Thanks also to my EVS sending organization, Concordia, who whisked me away to Turkey, and to the lecturers at the University of Brighton – in particular Lucy Noakes who was my long-suffering personal tutor.

Obviously, I owe a tremendous amount of thanks to all of the people who fed, watered, transported and housed me whilst I was in Syria. I want to say thank you to Nizar, Fadi, Tarik, Amaar, Omar, Mohammad, Basel and Ipo, as well as the countless others whose names I did not know. Thank you also to the soldiers in Azaz - to all of the Abu’s who were in the flat that unforgettable night. Thank you to the people of Syria who were so generous and welcoming. I will always appreciate what you did for me.

A huge thank you must go to my friend, and my brother - ben kardeşim –Abdulrahman Jaber. Thank you for the experiences, thank you for the company, thank you for the companionship, thank you for your commitment and dedication, and thank you for the memories. They will stay with me a lifetime.

The Do What You Can project would never have been as successful as it was, were it not for a man in South Wales. The website, the hosting, the content, the graphics, and probably so much more was all because of Michael Bale, and I will be forever grateful that he helped me. I truly could not have done it without him.

Thank you to my friends and family for their support throughout the Syrian adventure. In particular my Mum who was put through endless amounts of stress, and Jetta McLaggan for the companionship and love. Thanks to the taybarns Garys in South Wales. I appreciated the concern and the suggestions to not get myself shot or killed. Thanks to the Brighton people for the donations and correspondence, including my birthday video. Thanks also to Jack Jeff Williamson who once told me something that I have never forgotten, even if he may now not remember. It is the motivation that drives me to this day. Thank you to my friends in the UK that kept in touch with me during my time in Turkey. Thank you also to the friends that I made whilst in Turkey, especially those that helped to make the last few weeks so special. Farzam Dadeshzadeh, Bulut Ulukapi, Tom Dietrich, and particularly Tuğba Abla Ozer.

A quick thank you also to the proof readers, Frankie Salter and Chris Pesterfield. Chris is particularly worthy of thanks because it was his eyes that had to read over the initial notes and ramblings in an attempt to make them coherent. Thank you Chris for your eyes, your advice, and your recommendations. Thanks also to my colleague at Renewable World Alice Larkin, for the interest she has shown, and the advice and suggestions she has given.

A thanks also to all those online who gave advice and feedback, whether it was through email or on LinkedIn. A thank you too for the publisher of this book, James Lumsden-Cook, who has persevered for months and has put up with me despite some rather tactless remarks. His feedback and criticism has made this work far better than it would have been had I done this all alone.

The most important actors throughout this whole venture were the people that donated. They are too numerous to list and thank individually, but I would like to take this opportunity to thank them all from the bottom of my heart for allowing me to spend their money to help strangers halfway across the world. Turkey, UK, USA, Malta, Australia, wherever they were based they were invaluable. The words of encouragement and support were very welcome, and the response that I received when I asked for donations was overwhelming. I won’t ever forget the generosity.

For fear of this becoming a Miss World acceptance speech – if it has not already - I will stop here. I apologise if I have left anyone out of this list, it has not been intentional.

Cok tesekkur ederim

Introduction

The large majority of this book has been taken from the extensive notes that I wrote during my brief time inside Syria in 2013. I have not embellished, nor fabricated any conversations or events. In the instances when my memory has proved to be hazy, I have simply included what I could remember. The thoughts and feelings are my own, unless otherwise stated.

This book has been written in an attempt to turn a collective gaze towards a crisis we have all too readily turned our back upon. It is my hope that this book can give an insight into a world very few people know or understand, and speak out for those who are unable. Ideally, I would have liked to have told the story of Syria through the voice of its people, but the language barrier and my inability to write down everything exactly as it was told to me has meant that the majority of this book is told from my own perspective and using my own words. It is by no means an exhaustive account of what has happened inside Syria; it is but a glimpse of a world seen through the eyes of one who has been there – if only for a short period of time. I hope that the account presented here is not a disservice to those I met and an injustice to those suffering.

Many of you may have already seen images, videos and news reports similar to what I describe. Unfortunately, the destruction that I saw, and the tragic stories I heard, are an all too common feature. Though the articles and the photographs provide some form of recognition, it is vital that we connect the dots and understand that the subjects of such news are real people, with real lives, and real emotions. They are as tangible as you or I, and though their story may disappear from the front page after a day, their suffering does not.

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As with any event, the roots of the current Syrian conflict can be traced back through the countries recent history. Such uprisings, revolutions, and wars do not simply occur from nothing, and are instead the result of years of action, event and incident. Each one adds more wood to the bonfire, until eventually, a single spark ignites the lot.

The spark that ignited the Syrian bonfire was one that affected numerous Islamic states across the Middle East and Northern Africa. The self-immolation of a Tunisian street vendor in January 2011 was a catalyst for not only a revolution within his own country, but was the starting point for the Arab Spring itself. It seemed that the entire Arab world took to the streets in protest at their governments and leaders. Protests in Tunisia were soon followed by similar action in Lebanon, Algeria, Jordan, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Syria. More nations followed suit as the Arab Spring crossed borders and flooded into the culture and society of the people of the region.

Following a coup in 1970, Syria has been under the rule of one family. Hafez al-Assad, head of the Syrian Ba’ath party, lead Syria for 30 years before his son, Bashar, took power following his death. Under both Assads, Syria has been awash with bloodshed. The reign of Hafez al-Assad is widely remembered, and condemned, because of the Hama massacre in 1982. At that time, the town of Hama was besieged for 27 days in an attempt to quell an anti-government uprising that was led by members of the Muslim Brotherhood. The uprising was put down through brutal military force, and resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of people. Amnesty International gave an estimate of 25,000 deaths, and the Syrian Human Rights Committee estimate between 30,000 and 40,000. The overwhelming majority of those killed were civilians.

Bashar al-Assad, the current President, succeeded his father in June 2000 and continued to rule Syria with his father’s vice-like grip.

From the outset, Bashar al-Assad looked to consolidate his position of power by removing threats and eliminating any opportunity for democratic reform and regime change. Opposition politicians, activists, and other individuals deemed a threat, were regularly imprisoned, and international relations were strained by Syria’s involvement in Lebanon and the support of Hezbollah, a group the West labels as terrorists.

In the early months of 2011 protests within Syria were relatively low key, despite what was happening in neighbouring states. After decades of police suppression and government control, the Syrian people felt uneasy speaking out against the ruling party and its leader. Fear was Assad’s greatest weapon and ally in such disruptive times, but even that was losing its power.

By March of that year the wall of fear, which had prevented Syrians speaking out, was beginning to crumble. Due in part to the Arab Spring, and in part to the decades of persecution, opponents of the Assad regime began to speak out and organise. In what is seen as one of the first major events of the Syrian Spring a dozen or so teenagers in the city of Dara’a scrawled graffiti on walls, which denounced the Assad regime and demanded change. Their exact words: The people want the regime to fall.

Following the capture of those responsible for the graffiti, they were imprisoned and tortured. This led to widespread protests as more and more people began to voice their anger and unhappiness with the government. Demonstrations in Dara’a were soon replicated in Damascus, Latakia, and Hama, with thousands taking to the streets in opposition to the Assad regime. Assad responded in much the same manner that his father had done when faced with unrest, he used brutal force in an attempt to silence opposition and crackdown on dissent. He claimed that such protests were the actions of foreign agitators.

As the protests grew and intensified, so too did the ruthless manner in which Assad attempted to prevent them. Security forces, arrests, and water cannons did not halt the protestors and soon Assad turned to live ammunition and torture. Bodies of dead and tortured activists began to appear in neighbourhoods and outside family homes as a warning to those thinking of speaking out against the regime. Zainab al-Hosni, an 18 year old from Homs, was just one example. Amnesty International believes that al-Hosni was the first woman to have died in custody after the protests began. Her body was found by her family, head decapitated, with the arms cut off, and the skin removed.

Throughout the second half of March, anti-government protestors and demonstrators were greeted by military personnel firing upon them. The death toll rose daily, and by the end of the month as many as 70 civilians had been killed by military and security forces.

During the month of April, the situation continued to deteriorate. Protests had now erupted across the country and became a daily occurrence. Tanks were called into action in certain cities and suburbs and the death toll continued to rise as military, security, and police forces fired upon protestors across the country.

Syria had begun its descent into chaos. With Assad refusing concessions to the protestors, and responding to their calls for freedom and democracy with live ammunition, arrests, and torture, the country began to fragment. According to the BBC, by the 5th of May - just two months after major protests had first started - 500 Syrians had been killed, and 2,500 had been arrested. Twenty days later the death toll had reached more than 1,100.

As the months passed, the death toll rose steadily. As many as 2,200 civilians had been killed by mid-August, and the actions of Assad and his government were attracting international condemnation. Turkey led the calls for Assad to step down, Canada, France, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Germany all soon followed suit. United Nations reporting found that Assad had committed crimes against humanity, had executed opponents, used torture on prisoners, used arbitrary arrest, and indiscriminate force against civilians.

With Syrian cities and towns besieged by military forces, refugees flooding across borders into neighbouring countries, and anti-government protestors being arrested, tortured,