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The Peaceful Revolution in the GDR in 1989 and the Short-Lived Syrian Spring 2011 - A Juxtaposition

Opening, discussion and reception – Tuesday, 9 July, 6 pm, at the Orient-Institut Beirut(Showing hours 10:00 am - 05:00 pm from the 9th till the 16th of July 2019)

Orient Institut Beirut

July, 09 to July 16, 2019

09 /07
to
16 /07
Click on the poster to maximize

Click on the poster to maximize


"Freedom for all!", "Free media!", "Reforms!", "Away with the secret service!", "No violence!" - do these slogans come from demonstrators in Syria in spring 2011 or from the protests in the GDR in 1989/90?

Not only the slogans resemble each other strikingly. Today it is almost forgotten that the parties of the GDR and Syria, the SED and the Ba'th, were friends for decades. The starting position for the protest was very similar in many ways.

However, while the international situation in 1989/90 gave a boost to the protests in the GDR and overthrew the government without the use of force, the peaceful demonstrations in Syria were immediately crushed by the regime with brutal force. Over the course of a few months, the protests were increasingly determined and infiltrated by various armed actors and led to war with massive outside interference.

Young Syrians and students from the University of Erfurt, as part of the Initiative for Refugees at the Chair of History of West Asia, have jointly developed an exhibition documenting the demands for fundamental rights such as freedom of opinion, press and assembly and for a democratisation of the state. The exhibition presents a kaleidoscope of impressions and snapshots from the two historical moments. It thereby engages critically with the similarities and differences of the movements.
 

الثورة السِّلميّة في ألمانيا الشرقيّة (جمهوريّة ألمانيا الديمقراطيّة) عام ١٩٨٩ والربيع السوري القصير الأجل عام ٢٠١١ – مقاربة 

افتتاح المعرض ومناقشة وحفل استقبال - الثلاثاء ٩ تموز، الساعة ٦ مساءً، في المعهد الألماني للأبحاث الشرقية في بيروت - (أوقات العرض من ١٠:٠٠ صباحاً حتى ٠٥:٠٠ من بعد الظهر من ٩ ولغاية ١٦ تموز ٢٠١٩)

 

"الحرّية للجميع!"، "الإعلام الحُرّ!"، "الإصلاحات!"، "التخلّص من أجهزة الاستخبارات السرّية!"، "اللاعنف!"..

هل تأتي هذه الشعارات من المتظاهرين في سوريا في ربيع العام ٢٠١١، أم من الاحتجاجات في جمهورية ألمانيا الديمقراطيّة بين عامَي ١٩٨٩/١٩٩٠؟

ليست الشعارات فقط هي التي تتشابه بشكلٍ مُلفت للنظر؛ لقد غاب عن الأذهان تقريبًا اليوم أنّه قد كان ثمّة صداقةٌ بين أحزاب جمهورية ألمانيا الديمقراطية وأحزاب سوريا على مدى عُقود، وبخاصّةٍ بين الحزب الديمقراطي الاشتراكي وحزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي، كما كانت المواقف المبدئية وراء اندلاع الاحتجاجات شديدة التشابه من نواحٍ كثيرة.

 

وبينما أمكن للوضع الدولي الذي كان سائدًا عام ١٩٨٩/١٩٩٠ أن يُعطي دفعةً قويّة للاحتجاجات في جمهورية ألمانيا الديمقراطية، بما أدّى إلى النجاح في الإطاحة بالحكومة دون استخدام القوّة، إلّا أنّ التظاهرات السلميّة في سوريا سُحقت على يد النظام بصورةٍ فوريّة وبقوّةٍ وحشيّة. وهكذا استطاعت أجهزة النظام الأمنيّة والاستخباريّة، على مدى بضعة أشهر، تحديد الاحتجاجات واختراق صفوف المتظاهرين بعناصر مُندسّة بغية تشويه صورتها، وهو ما انتهى إلى نُشوب حربٍ بتدخّلات خارجيّة واسعة النطاق.

 

قامت مجموعة من الشباب السوريّين والطلّاب من جامعة إرفورت، كجزء من مبادرة اللاجئين في أستاذية تاريخ غرب آسيا، بالتحضير لمعرِض يُوثّق المطالب بالحقوق الأساسيّة التي نادت بها الحركتان الاحتجاجيّتان، مثل حرّية الرأي والصحافة والتجمُّع ودمقرطة الدولة..، ويقدّم مجموعة انطباعاتٍ ولقطات من اللحظتين التاريخيّتين. وهو بذلك يتفاعل بشكل كبير مع أوجه التشابه والتبايُن بين الحركتين

 

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