Once I image Syria, the very first thing I see in my thoughts’s eye are the statues of the late Syrian president, Hafez al-Assad, in navy apparel – there’s one in virtually each sq.. Nevertheless it’s not simply statues within the city areas, this muscular picture of the nation permeates fashionable tradition – Syria is symbolically depicted in songs and tales as a nation of warriors. And, for the reason that rebellion in 2011, this hyperlink between Syrian masculinity and warrior standing has, if something, intensified.

However the coronavirus has hit all sides very arduous. The influence of COVID-19, mixed by new sanctions within the form of the US Caesar Act, which targets abroad sources of earnings for the Assad regime and its enablers, has introduced hostilities to a halt in the intervening time.

In opposition to this backdrop of financial and political turmoil, the present president, Bashar al-Assad, has needed to resort to adopting new methods to prop up his regime’s funds. This has included chasing his cousin Rami Makhlouf – a regime loyalist – for lots of of tens of millions of {dollars} in unpaid again taxes.

One other revenue-raising train has been the latest reform of the navy service legislation. This has set a brand new stage of exemption charges – one class for Syrians dwelling overseas and one other for Syrians contained in the nation. So, for the primary time, some male residents of Syria – together with teachers – can evade navy service by paying a price, with out having to depart the nation.

The brand new reform has additionally imposed a cost on individuals who, for medical causes, have been exempted from the navy service – now they must pay, regardless of being bodily unable to bear arms (we’ve to say that ‘those that are assigned to service at places of work’) This reinforces the hyperlink between being an able-bodied Syrian man and serving within the navy, whereas on the similar time bringing in more cash for the regime’s coffers.

Militarised manhood

Within the two Syrian constitutions (1973 and 2012), navy service is necessary for males. The sacred notion of combating and dying for the nation has been a part of the regime’s propaganda imposed on youngsters by means of the obligatory conscription to Baʾath-affiliated organisations such because the Syrian Nationwide Organisation for Childhood (talaʿeʾe) through the major stage and the Revolutionary Youth Union (al-shabibah) in highschool.

In a landmark speech in July 2015, Assad emphasised the connection between nationwide “belonging” and navy service, saying: “The fatherland will not be for individuals who dwell in it or maintain its nationality, however for individuals who defend and defend it.”

His spouse Asma al-Assad strengthened this narrative of masculinity when she met a bunch of voluntary feminine troopers on Mom’s Day in March 2018 and praised them as compared with males who evaded conscription.

Your presence within the battlefield marks a brand new victory and a complete new age… When you’ll be able to sacrifice your soul for the nation, that is the brand new age and that is the actual equality between women and men… You’ve gotten now proved to the entire world that you’re a human being… a human being has sturdy willpower that can not be defeated.

Masculinity and post-war Syria

For some males, this this perpetuation of the warrior male stereotype has contributed to an id disaster. In a latest roundtable dialogue with about 50 males who had fled conscription and have been dwelling within the UK, lots of the males expressed a way of anguish for failing to defend the nation.

Some concluded that they weren’t worthy of being Syrian with out the honour of carrying arms for his or her nation, whereas others expressed their need to return to die on their dwelling soil. One among them instructed me: “I really feel I’ve failed my mom… Syria is our mom.”

However the newest reform to Syria’s navy service legislation displays the regime’s new priorities in combating COVID-19, which takes cash, fairly than combating the regime’s enemies, which takes troopers.

It’s essential to notice that the reform targets Syrian males in diaspora and people dwelling in Syria who can afford to pay fairly than be a part of up (accepting that some males had at all times corruptly paid bribes to keep away from navy service). It’s a disgrace that the male physique remains to be thought to be both cannon fodder or a supply of money for the nation – and it gained’t cease males feeling that the structure, which stipulates that navy service is “sacred obligation” and pledges to constructing “bodily” as much less masculine in the event that they don’t be a part of the armed forces and signal as much as defend the nation.

Rahaf Aldoughli doesn’t work for, seek the advice of, personal shares in or obtain funding from any firm or organisation that might profit from this text, and has disclosed no related affiliations past their tutorial appointment.