By David Bender

    A notable contrast between Syria and Egypt is the different way foreigners are treated in each place.  While both places are generally very welcoming, foreigners in Egypt are greeted with a barrage of “hellos’ and stares on the street.  Walking around in Cairo, it seems that nearly every kid feels the need to say “Hi!  Welcome in Egypt.  Where from?”  Occasionally, there is even an adult who will engage in the welcoming.  It is all in good spirit—at times it can even be charming—but it also demonstrates a lack of consciousness about the normality of difference.  Egypt is a fairly homogenous place.  It is 90% Sunni Muslim, Egyptian nationalism emphasizes the exceptionalism of Egypt in the contemporary Arab world and in history.  Egypt’s Pharaonic ruins are impressive, but there is perhaps not other country in the world that so closely identifies its contemporary identity with the feats of its ancients.  As such, there is strong sense of who is a non-Egyptian in Egypt and as a foreigner one really feels it.

    Syrians are admirably comfortable with difference.   Syria is a highly diverse place, ethnically, religiously, and socially.  First, from a purely visual standpoint, Syrians are quite varied in their looks.  Egyptians have a far more distinctive ‘look’ than Syrians.  This is the result of history and geography.  Over the millennia, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Crusaders, Mongols, Turks, and the French have all passed through Syria.  Their genetic marks are still visible.  The Nile Valley, while hardly isolated, is a more insular place. This has mean that Syrians are intrinsically comfortable with the notion that people look different—even within their own country.  There are fair- and dark–skinned Arabs, Kurds, Armenians, Turks, Turkmen, and various other smaller groups.  As a foreigner in Damascus I am often mistaken as a Syrian, not because I look particularly Arab, but rather because Syrians just assume that their compatriots can look like anything.

    Religiously Syria is equally diverse.  While there is a small Sunni majority, Syrian society is consciously inclusive of large number of religious minorities, including, Alawis, Christians (Catholic and Orthodox), Druze, Ismailis, and even the few remaining Jews.  Acceptance of religious difference is a fairly natural disposition for most Syrians.  Perhaps as a result of this religious polyglot, even among Sunnis there is far less social pressure to practice religion than in other Arab countries.  There are many pious Syrians, but Damascene society seems to intrinsically accept the Prophet Muhammad’s Hadith that states, “There is no compulsion in religion.”  On Thursday night (the night before the Syrian weekend), there are scenes of inebriated Syrians leaving clubs and getting into taxis driven by long bearded religious-looking drivers.  Both largely accept the other, even if they do not agree with each other’s lifestyle choices.  With exceptions, religion is a more private matter in Syria than in other Arab countries.

    This is in contrast to Egypt where the outward display of religious faith is seen everywhere.  The most conspicuous sign is the prayer bruise on the upper forehead of many men.  This mark has always been something of a mystery to me.  It comes from repeatedly touching ones head to the ground during prayer.  However, it is extremely rare to see a man in Syria with the mark, despite Syria having plenty of pious Muslim men.  Insofar as I can tell, in Egypt, it is purely an announcement of one’s devotion to prayer and thus to God.  But it serves as a constant visual reminder that Egypt is a place where Islam plays a much more public role than in Syria.

    Likewise, there is tremendous tension between Muslims and Christians in Egypt.  The Egyptian government is remarkably effective at keeping stories about religious violence aimed at Coptic Christians out of Western newspapers, but it is a common occurrence.  Last fall there were anti-Christian riots in Alexandria after a Christian-produced play supposedly insulted Islam.  In Middle Egypt churches are occasionally targets of arson and face constant bureaucratic pressure from the government and denied permissions to make any improvements.  The Egyptian government knows that such stories would cause great discomfort in the West and is generally able to keep journalists from areas in which there is tension.

    Some Syrians credit Hafez al-Asad and secular Baathism for this spirit of tolerance that exists in Syria.  The Baath party has strongly promoted secularism and limited religion’s influence in society to a degree.  It is easy to see Hafez al-Asad as nothing more than a brutal dictator—and he was that—but at the same time it is important to recognize what he did for the country.  Lebanon and Iraq are both equally diverse and both are being torn apart by sectarianism.  Syrians may not be thrilled with their current government but there is a genuine fear that if it is overthrown, Syria could descend into Iraqi-style sectarian violence.

    This is not to say that there is no tension between the different groups in Syria.  When I told a Syrian friend (who is a member of one of the minority groups) recently how impressed I was by the general level of tolerance among different groups in Syria, he responded by saying that below the surface there were strains.  This is true, but the key is that they are not overt.  There is little below the surface in Iraq or Lebanon.  If Syria were as unstable as Iraq or Lebanon, Syrians would no doubt seek out fellow members of their groups for aid and protection, but as long as Syria remains secure there is no reason to believe that the current situation will change.

    However, even if the Syrian government were to fall (there are no signs such is imminent), I question how easily Syrians would succumb to begin—as they say in Lebanon where one’s sect is printed on the national identity cards—‘killing according to the ID.’  It could happen and there are certainly scores to be settled, but the government cannot be the only reason that Syria has resisted the sectarian tensions that consume its neighbors.  Prior to the rule of Hafez al-Asad there were only limited examples of sectarian strife, there has not been a major outbreak of sectarian violence since 1860, when Christians were targeted by Muslim mobs in Damascus for their supposed collaboration with the French.  

    Similar to race in Brazil or class in the United States, Syrians see their culture as different from other places when it comes to sectarianism.  Brazilians see race relations in their country as different from the racism of the United States; Americans see class in the US as being different from historical class conflict Europe; and Syrians see their approach to sectarianism as being different from that in Iraq and Lebanon.  Importantly, it is something that is a source of great pride for many Syrians.  Sectarian killing is something for Iraqis and Lebanese, not Syrians, they proclaim.  All national myths have some idealization and some truth in them and Syria’s lack of sectarianism is no different.  But in the Middle East today, living peacefully with some self-deception is quite a bit better than the alternative.