Frankfurt (dpa) – If the Syrian regime keeps up the current level of repression, the country faces catastrophe, Syrian novelist Rosa Yaseen Hassan says. “I do not want to talk about literature. Literature is only a minor matter in Syria at the moment,” Yaseen Hassan said in an interview with the German Press Agency dpa while attending an Arab literature event in Frankfurt. Yaseen Hassan – author of several books, whose 2004 novel Ebony won the Hanna Mina Prize – had thought she might not be able to travel to the German city. “I was not allowed to travel until recently. But in order to claim ‘see, we're doing something,' the regime lifted travel bans on many people. These are only formal concessions, not true reform.” People who are not involved in the Syrian revolution do not understand the situation in the country, Yaseen Hassan says. “The regime is separating the regions, social classes and religious denominations from each other. People have no idea what is going on in the neighboring part of town. Residents of Damascus do not know what is happening in Latakia. Syrian state media spread lies. They do not report what is actually happening in the streets.” If the authorities keep up the repression, Yaseen Hassan believes, the situation could escalate into a catastrophe. “People have been demonstrating for months, despite the aggression they're facing. The severity of the regime sparks counter-violence from the protesters. This could develop into a civil war,” the author says. Yaseen Hassan is hoping that the United Nations will intervene – “with economic sanctions, the severance of diplomatic relations, an arms embargo and the establishment of safety zones for the population.” She is against a military intervention, because Syrian army barracks are located in residential areas. “Then the people would be turned into human shields. And besides, the military comprises all social groups and classes. If you attacked the army, you would hit the people.” It is the security forces rather than the army which are responsible for the killings, according to Yaseen Hassan. The author sees women as playing an important role in the revolution, even if they do not often appear in the media. “They are helping in field hospitals that are being set up and distribute food, medicines and money. But women do not participate in demonstrations, because they are crushed so violently. People are shot dead, beaten up and arrested. That would be unbearable for women.” BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/msyQL Tags: Interview, Violence, Yaseen Hassan Section: Human Rights, Latest News, Syria
