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| A Surface Calm, Punctured by Artillery and Weary Arguments | A Surface Calm, Punctured by Artillery and Weary Arguments |
| (about 20 hours later) | |
| DAMASCUS, Syria — Camouflage-clad militiamen guard sandbagged checkpoints along this storied city’s elegant downtown boulevards. Merchants who once owned their own shops are reduced to selling plastic trinkets on the street. Families from war-torn provinces sleep in mosques and schools. | DAMASCUS, Syria — Camouflage-clad militiamen guard sandbagged checkpoints along this storied city’s elegant downtown boulevards. Merchants who once owned their own shops are reduced to selling plastic trinkets on the street. Families from war-torn provinces sleep in mosques and schools. |
| The Syrian capital has been deeply altered by the country’s civil war, now in its third year. The economy is collapsing. Displaced people arrive faster than they can be absorbed. Most of all, there is a sense that the war will continue, perhaps for years, making the country’s rifts progressively harder to heal. | The Syrian capital has been deeply altered by the country’s civil war, now in its third year. The economy is collapsing. Displaced people arrive faster than they can be absorbed. Most of all, there is a sense that the war will continue, perhaps for years, making the country’s rifts progressively harder to heal. |
| Dark as it is, that foreboding has led to a convergence of sorts, a desire by many on both sides of the conflict to bring an end to the killing and destruction even if it means compromise. | Dark as it is, that foreboding has led to a convergence of sorts, a desire by many on both sides of the conflict to bring an end to the killing and destruction even if it means compromise. |
| “There is no more pro and anti,” said a janitor who opposed the uprising, but like many here in the capital has relatives and co-workers who supported it. “We all want security.” | “There is no more pro and anti,” said a janitor who opposed the uprising, but like many here in the capital has relatives and co-workers who supported it. “We all want security.” |
| Some here wonder if that increasingly popular, though by no means universal, view could be the basis of peace talks that world leaders are seeking to arrange half a world away. Others warn that moderate sentiments on both sides — in a diverse city relatively unscathed by the fighting — may have little bearing on the combat, which is driven by government hard-liners, rebel extremists and anger over the deaths of more than 100,000 people. | |
| Yet in whispers, or among trusted friends, people in central Damascus across the political spectrum are increasingly questioning the value of pressing the conflict. Many no longer believe the assurances of their nominal leaders and doubt they have the interests of ordinary people in mind. Most share a horror of extremist Islamist groups in the armed opposition, disagreeing only on whether that translates into a desire for the current government to remain. | Yet in whispers, or among trusted friends, people in central Damascus across the political spectrum are increasingly questioning the value of pressing the conflict. Many no longer believe the assurances of their nominal leaders and doubt they have the interests of ordinary people in mind. Most share a horror of extremist Islamist groups in the armed opposition, disagreeing only on whether that translates into a desire for the current government to remain. |
| With the war mired in stalemate and the possibility of American airstrikes receding, people here are no longer bracing for what many once expected, a rebel invasion of the city. Instead, problems seep from within. Political tensions intrude on social gatherings. The war is deforming relationships, neighborhoods and landscapes. | |
| The checkpoints, once shocking to residents here, have become fixtures, popping up every few blocks. Their red, white and black Syrian flags are tattered and gray; regular commuters greet guards by name; and some checkpoints have been expanded, from simple shelters to sandbagged concrete bunkers. | The checkpoints, once shocking to residents here, have become fixtures, popping up every few blocks. Their red, white and black Syrian flags are tattered and gray; regular commuters greet guards by name; and some checkpoints have been expanded, from simple shelters to sandbagged concrete bunkers. |
| The government rarely permits soldiers, checkpoints or military vehicles to be photographed, keeping from the international news media the visible militarization of daily life. | The government rarely permits soldiers, checkpoints or military vehicles to be photographed, keeping from the international news media the visible militarization of daily life. |
| Beneath highway overpasses, Syrians newly joining the five million pushed from their homes by war mill about with their baggage, not sure where to go. | Beneath highway overpasses, Syrians newly joining the five million pushed from their homes by war mill about with their baggage, not sure where to go. |
| Outside the city center, some roads made impassable at times by the fighting are safe, at least during the day. But along one such highway, from Damascus to the suburb of Sahnaya to the southwest, malls, restaurants and office buildings stand abandoned, their windows shattered, their parking lots mostly empty. One lot is crowded with the twisted carcasses of burned city buses. | Outside the city center, some roads made impassable at times by the fighting are safe, at least during the day. But along one such highway, from Damascus to the suburb of Sahnaya to the southwest, malls, restaurants and office buildings stand abandoned, their windows shattered, their parking lots mostly empty. One lot is crowded with the twisted carcasses of burned city buses. |
| Streets are busier now, giving a surface sense of normalcy. The plaza outside the Umayyad Mosque at the heart of the Old City hums in the evenings, no longer deserted after dark as it often was just a few months ago. Children race after balls, vendors sell roasted corn and housewares, and families rest along the base of the mosque’s thick stone wall. | Streets are busier now, giving a surface sense of normalcy. The plaza outside the Umayyad Mosque at the heart of the Old City hums in the evenings, no longer deserted after dark as it often was just a few months ago. Children race after balls, vendors sell roasted corn and housewares, and families rest along the base of the mosque’s thick stone wall. |
| But a closer look reveals that many of these people are displaced, living nearby in cramped apartments, storefronts and offices, filling the gap left by tourists and residents who fled the country. | But a closer look reveals that many of these people are displaced, living nearby in cramped apartments, storefronts and offices, filling the gap left by tourists and residents who fled the country. |
| Ask them why they are venturing out, and Damascenes and newcomers offer similar answers: They do not necessarily feel safer; they are simply used to danger and sick of distorting their lives to avoid it. | Ask them why they are venturing out, and Damascenes and newcomers offer similar answers: They do not necessarily feel safer; they are simply used to danger and sick of distorting their lives to avoid it. |
| “We got tired of staying inside,” said Umm Abdullah, a 60-year-old woman from Daraya, a suburb pulverized by war, sitting with her three daughters and a toddler granddaughter outside the mosque to escape the confines of a lawyer’s office where they live with five other relatives. | “We got tired of staying inside,” said Umm Abdullah, a 60-year-old woman from Daraya, a suburb pulverized by war, sitting with her three daughters and a toddler granddaughter outside the mosque to escape the confines of a lawyer’s office where they live with five other relatives. |
| At the Nufara cafe, a favorite spot in the Old City, a group of teenagers barely looked up from their coffee and water pipes one recent night as half a dozen shells crashed down, close enough to jar the gut. | At the Nufara cafe, a favorite spot in the Old City, a group of teenagers barely looked up from their coffee and water pipes one recent night as half a dozen shells crashed down, close enough to jar the gut. |
| “Count,” said one boy, glimpsing a flash over the rooftops. He ticked off the seconds until the boom, calculating the distance. Artillery barrages are as familiar as thunder and lightning. | “Count,” said one boy, glimpsing a flash over the rooftops. He ticked off the seconds until the boom, calculating the distance. Artillery barrages are as familiar as thunder and lightning. |
| This group of high school friends supported the government, but disagreed on the nature of the opposition and how to solve the crisis. Some called for talks with Syrian rebels; others dismissed the insurgency as the work of Al Qaeda. | This group of high school friends supported the government, but disagreed on the nature of the opposition and how to solve the crisis. Some called for talks with Syrian rebels; others dismissed the insurgency as the work of Al Qaeda. |
| After a lively discussion, one alluded to the symbols of the warring parties, the government flag and the revolutionary one, revived from Syria’s early years of postcolonial independence, that replaces the state flag’s red strip with a green one. | After a lively discussion, one alluded to the symbols of the warring parties, the government flag and the revolutionary one, revived from Syria’s early years of postcolonial independence, that replaces the state flag’s red strip with a green one. |
| “Now you got the opinion of the red flag,” he told a reporter. “Where are you going to go to get the opinion of the green flag?” | “Now you got the opinion of the red flag,” he told a reporter. “Where are you going to go to get the opinion of the green flag?” |
| But it is not necessary to travel to rebel-held suburbs, bombarded by government warplanes, to find supporters or sympathizers of the insurgency. In shops and workplaces, in circles of friends and increasingly in shelters and schools for the displaced, government supporters and opponents interact and even socialize within the relatively safe space of Damascus, an experience less common in other parts of the country, where disagreements have turned into large-scale slaughter. | But it is not necessary to travel to rebel-held suburbs, bombarded by government warplanes, to find supporters or sympathizers of the insurgency. In shops and workplaces, in circles of friends and increasingly in shelters and schools for the displaced, government supporters and opponents interact and even socialize within the relatively safe space of Damascus, an experience less common in other parts of the country, where disagreements have turned into large-scale slaughter. |
| One recent evening at a Damascus restaurant, two longtime friends who took opposite sides early in the uprising lamented where it had ended up. The government opponent denounced Damascus intellectuals for ceding leadership of the rebellion to armed groups. The pro-government friend, surprisingly, was more forgiving, noting the government of President Bashar al-Assad had cracked down quickly on peaceful activists. | One recent evening at a Damascus restaurant, two longtime friends who took opposite sides early in the uprising lamented where it had ended up. The government opponent denounced Damascus intellectuals for ceding leadership of the rebellion to armed groups. The pro-government friend, surprisingly, was more forgiving, noting the government of President Bashar al-Assad had cracked down quickly on peaceful activists. |
| “They were never given the space to act,” she said. | “They were never given the space to act,” she said. |
| On both sides, flashes of emotion telegraph deepening frustration. Walking past a wall scrawled with the slogan “Assad only, Assad forever,” one government supporter spluttered: “This is wrong. Syria is for my children — for everyone equally, not just for one person.” | On both sides, flashes of emotion telegraph deepening frustration. Walking past a wall scrawled with the slogan “Assad only, Assad forever,” one government supporter spluttered: “This is wrong. Syria is for my children — for everyone equally, not just for one person.” |
| Some government supporters passionately back Mr. Assad, but others call him “crazy” or the lesser of two evils. | Some government supporters passionately back Mr. Assad, but others call him “crazy” or the lesser of two evils. |
| At an out-of-the-way cafe in the Old City, a group of government supporters met to discuss the situation, fearing the security services enough that, like others interviewed for this article, they did not want their names or pictures used. The atmosphere was cozy, but as the arak and vodka flowed, nerves grew raw, and what began as an abstract political discussion flared suddenly into a personal quarrel. | At an out-of-the-way cafe in the Old City, a group of government supporters met to discuss the situation, fearing the security services enough that, like others interviewed for this article, they did not want their names or pictures used. The atmosphere was cozy, but as the arak and vodka flowed, nerves grew raw, and what began as an abstract political discussion flared suddenly into a personal quarrel. |
| An artist mused that Syrian Jews who left the country should be allowed back in; a gallery owner shot back that they had chosen to leave, as had the artist, who was visiting Damascus after moving with his family to Europe to escape the war. | An artist mused that Syrian Jews who left the country should be allowed back in; a gallery owner shot back that they had chosen to leave, as had the artist, who was visiting Damascus after moving with his family to Europe to escape the war. |
| “Don’t start,” the gallery owner said. “You left the country. I stayed here.” | “Don’t start,” the gallery owner said. “You left the country. I stayed here.” |
| “I have children, I had to leave,” the artist protested. | “I have children, I had to leave,” the artist protested. |
| “I have kids too,” the gallery owner said, and began to cry. | “I have kids too,” the gallery owner said, and began to cry. |
| Resentment between those who fled and those who stayed also suffuses the opposition. | Resentment between those who fled and those who stayed also suffuses the opposition. |
| At another gathering, a government critic complained that the exile opposition had gutted the movement by luring young activists to Turkey to work fruitlessly, if lucratively, to set up an alternative government. | At another gathering, a government critic complained that the exile opposition had gutted the movement by luring young activists to Turkey to work fruitlessly, if lucratively, to set up an alternative government. |
| The critic’s daughter said she had lost hope that their dreams of democracy would be achieved. “Not in our lifetime,” she said. | The critic’s daughter said she had lost hope that their dreams of democracy would be achieved. “Not in our lifetime,” she said. |
| The critic, appalled, said: “No! Maybe not in my lifetime. But in yours,” adding, “We’ll see.” | The critic, appalled, said: “No! Maybe not in my lifetime. But in yours,” adding, “We’ll see.” |
| The young woman shook her head. “We’ve been seeing,” she said. | The young woman shook her head. “We’ve been seeing,” she said. |
Andrea Bruce and Hwaida Saad contributed reporting. | Andrea Bruce and Hwaida Saad contributed reporting. |
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