Long before there was evidence of black holes, there was the notion of such an occurence. One presumed that they had to exist. Long before the Syrian revolution took place, people dreamed of an end to the Assad dictatorship after enduring it for 40 years. Seen in terms of physics, a black hole is a zero point. All of the laws of the universe appear and disappear within them: infinite density, infinite volume, time seems to proceed more slowly within them.
Revolutions are also a zero point. They suspend the regularities of social life. They are, as Walter Benjamin wrote, the true bringing about of an emergency situation for those who are already living in an emergency. On March 15, 2011, people in Damascus took to the streets to demand democratic reforms, inspired by the protests in Egypt in Tunisia. They did not know that they were bringing about a break in history, a new beginning within what already existed.
Their words were “Allah, Syria, freedom and nothing else.” This was an answer to “Allah, Syria, Bashar and nothing else.”
Their words were also “The people want to bring down the regime.” Precisely those words that had already brought about the fall of the Egyptian dictator Mubarak and Ben Ali in Tunisia. Only this time, the words were aimed against the Syrian regime. “Regime” did not only mean Bashar al-Assad, but instead also a criminal military and secret service apparatus that demonstrated the asymmetrical ethinic-religious distribution of power in the country since the colonial era. This is why, amongst the protestors, there were also words heard like “One. One. One. The Syrian people are one.” Parallel to this, parents assembled in the southern part of the country, in Daraa, and demanded the release of their children, who had written on a wall: “You’re next, doctor.”
The protests were followed by arrests and deaths; after all, a dictatorship does not allow dialogue. The people began to organize themselves and a great deal was conducted via Facebook. Every Friday, the revolutionary coordination committees that formed released new banners, under which more and more people assembled. At the height of the protests, entire cities like Homs and Hama were on the streets. Revolutionary songs were written and new newspapers were published and theater groups, entire educational institutions, humanitarian and artistic groups were founded. For a few months, perhaps even half a year, one was certain of the ability to topple the regime. The increasing state violence against the protests, however, first came the sharpshooters, later the barrel bombs and the besiegement of entire cities, the certainty crumbled and the protest militarized itself. The more that international forces became involved, the more Syrians streamed out into the world.
Memories are narrated from the moment of the present: since 2011, nearly half of the Syrian population has left Syria. More than half a million people have been killed. One hundred thousand people have disappeared. Countless crimes have been committed.
There are theories that say the big bang was a collapsed black hole.
How do you commemorate a failed revolution?
By constantly conducting the work of remembering. By talking about this one moment from which the break emanated and which is still emanating today, across the entire world.
After all, there are theories that say that black holes are wormholes into other universes.
