On the weekend of the 28th and 29th of November 2015, two significantly large demonstrations were held in central London. One, on the Saturday, to put pressure on parliament to vote against the involvement of the British Air Forces in Syria. The other, on the Sunday, to put pressure on the delegates at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris (COP21/CMP11).
I attended both and as usual took my camera and sound recorder with me in order to capture the event. I'd started to do this the previous year as I found that coverage of these often large events (sometimes up to 50,000 people depending on whose estimate you chose to believe) was often insignificant or non-existent. It's a truly surreal experience walking alongside tens of thousands of people straight through the heart of one of the world’s most heavily populated and busiest cities only to later switch on the TV or scroll through online news to find nothing to indicate that the event had ever taken place. One could easily be lead to think that the whole event had been merely a figment of their delusional mind and that the day had instead been spent dribbling in a drugged daze shouting demo chants at a wall.
Anyway, usually after an event such as this, I will spend the rest of the weekend scrolling through rushes and cut a short video in order to have it out for the start of the week. However, on this occasion, this was obviously not possible due to the back to back shooting. I made a good start, but unfortunately, life and work commitments got in the way and so they both sat gathering dust on my hard-drive. This is not an excuse, by the way, just a fact. As time wore on they became less relevant as our parliament eventually, in my opinion wrongly, voted in favour of bombing Syria; while in Paris, the conference had ended seemingly with some glimmer of hope for the future. And thus I felt that to complete these videos would have no use other than to vainly advertise my presence at the events.
Many months later, while going through my hard drive to archive old projects and to finish off a few others, I came across my rushes from both of these events. What immediately hit me was how, after such a heated and public debate, the subject of Syria seemed to diffuse into the background, at least in the media and in politics. Both the government and the opposition (minus its leader, of course) seemed to be so very excited about this conflict and so enthusiastic about its eventual outcome. Yet, after the tension had died down and the grim reality of what bombing another country actually means settled in, all of the WWII-esque feelings of old blighty fighting off the damned Hitler/Nazis of the 21st century seemed to disappear.
(By the way, I generally dislike overuse of 1984/Brave New World comparisons but if there is any perfect modern day example of doublethink it is that this comparison with Hitler/Nazis was first used on Assad in 2013 only for the government to decide later that in fact, the new Nazis had been ISIS. The media knew that Assad had been the enemy two years earlier while at the same time were certain that it had been ISIS all along… “Doublethink”).
Syria became just another series of generic images of war of which there has been a steady stream for as long as I can remember. From the Gulf War, through the breakup of Yugoslavia and later the Kosovo intervention. My childhood memory is littered with images of war and suffering, one blending into another, and those coming out of Syria seem no different. It leads, I think, to what Adam Curtis once described as "Oh-Dearism". With a never ending stream of images of war in the media with no wider context, it becomes normalised and viewed as the natural state of the world to which all you can say is "Oh dear".
Conflicts often arrive with much fanfare as people try to oversimplify the situation and compare them to the easy, simple and, to a large degree, false narrative of the second world war as the good war. Conflicts are never so simple and once that reality sets in the media often lose interest as the good war and tales of daring-do are much more compelling news than the dumpster fire that these conflicts usually are.
So, recently footage emerged showing children caught up in the violence of the Syrian war and, much like Alan Kurdi, the child who'd washed up on the Turkish coast in September 2015, it sparked shock and outrage. I always find the response to these kinds of stories bizarre. Surely it's obvious that children have been dying in Syria. In any crisis children are usually some of the first victims. But suddenly, if briefly, Syria seemed to be back the foreground.
Meanwhile, it seems that not all was good with the Paris agreement. Although both China and the USA have agreed to ratify the agreement, arguably the two most important players in the climate talks, there remain questions over how likely it is that these countries will meet the hard target of 2°C much less the soft target of 1.5°C. Plus, there remains doubt about how committed the wealthier nations will be to helping those people and nations most affected by climate change. Averting climate change, like war, conflicts greatly with economic interests.
But there is an interesting coincidence in both of these demonstrations happening so close together, as they are connected in a way that has seldom been discussed with regards to Syria’s present conflict. Syria, and much of the region, has been the victim of a large amount of outside destabilisation, primarily from Saudi Arabia and Iran, but also from the US and European powers. This is well known. Some might suggest that this is part of a wider policy of destabilisation to contain and inhibit any real democratic nationalism in the region… but that’s for another time perhaps.
However, there is another factor.
In the 5 years preceding the civil war, Syria experienced one of the worst droughts on record which devastated its national agriculture. This placed a huge economic strain on the country and was the catalyst for mass migration from the countryside to the cities. This applied further stress on the job market, further pressure on the government, and tensions naturally grew.
Increasing global temperatures have been linked to a number climatic issues from floods to droughts and often the worst hit are those from poorer communities. Droughts and failing crops in sub-Saharan Africa has been one of the driving forces of both violence and mass migration from this region. A lot of which is finding its way to Europe and its beaches, only to be told by some of the wealthiest and highest polluting nations that we are full and could only possibly take another drop of migration. Unless you're a dead child, then ironically it’s okay.
If there is a moral to my rambling story, I suppose it’s that firstly that the reasons behind every situation are complicated, nuanced and can often be traced back to seemingly unrelated events. Secondly, don’t ever assume that what’s done is done. If you have something to share, share it. Having looked back at the rushes and relistened to the speeches, I decided to share them with you. I met some very warm and interesting people on these demos, as I always do, and heard some insightful and heartfelt speeches (some, however, were just dick waving hyperbole which I ignored). I hope you enjoy them.
Stop the war coalition
Don't Bomb Syria
28 . 11 . 2015
