AL-ZAHRAA, Syria - Their names are Sabit, Karam, Samer, Wajid, Wassim and Khaled. At first glance, they look like your average gang of friends. In their early 20s, they like to hang out together, drinking tea and smoking nargile in the Syrian town of Al-Zahraa, across the Turkish border.
Only, they do it in their own unusual cafe, where the tea is so cheap it hardly turns a profit, but where the real purpose is to promote democracy and non-violence, a reply to the violence and war in Syria that is now in its third year and has claimed an estimated 70,000 lives.
The cafe, now not much more than a hole in the wall in the city of Al-Zahraa in northern Syria, intends to remind the youth -- and the population in general -- of “their responsibilities in these dangerous times.” The aim is to teach languages, push customers to read books and newspapers, and attend the regular workshops on civil responsibilities.
Like many young Syrians, they had to stop their studies when the revolution began and the war erupted. Some of them were draftees who deserted from the Syrian army. Others were persecuted for their ideas, and some detained and tortured.
They are from Damascus, Aleppo and Idlib, sharing the common story of many who had to flee during the worst violence, escaping at night to reach Turkey and relative safety.
While they all openly despise the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, they decided not to join the armed opposition. It was during their time in Turkey that the idea of the cafe was born.
“We need arms to fight for freedom, but that is not all we need. We need to know when and how to let go of the guns when the regime falls,” said Karam, 21.
A self-described “secular atheist,” the young activist faced persecution by both the regime and parts of the opposition: Islamist groups did not regard kindly his “atheist” views. When the situation became unbearable for him in Damascus, he fled to Turkey and moved to Antakya, where he met Sabit, 27.
The son of an Azerbaijani mother, Sabit describes himself as a communist. He found an echo of his secularist views in Karam, who also fled to Antakya after deserting from the army and going through 40 days of arrest and torture in Aleppo.
It was in Antakya that the two young men met, and where their idea for a peaceful contribution to the revolution was born. Both expressed concern that the armed struggle, though necessary, was moving in a dangerous direction, with sectarian overtones.
They compared the possible future of Syria to that of Libya, with sectarian fighting and lawlessness becoming prevalent after the fall of the regime. Asked what they planned to do to prevent this, they replied in a chorus, “cheap tea,” before bursting into laughter.
Their joke about the cheap tea resulted from the first idea they had to bring customers: the tea is already cheaper than in the average cafe, 25 Syrian Pounds ($0.35); it drops even lower, to 15 Syrian Pounds, if the customer reads a newspaper with the coffee.
The young men, along with their four friends, opened what they call a “civic cafe” in Al-Zahraa, a small town in the western province of Idlib, close to the Turkish border.
They claim that the revolution started in the universities, led by the youth of the country. “It was meant to demand rights the Syrian people deserved. It was not military. Now, the media regard it as purely military. What we want to do is to remind people of the true purpose of the revolution”, Kamal explained.
Samer, 23, a former student of business-administration in Damascus, was responsible for the theme of the last workshop: the active role for women in society.
“The regime neglected a large part of the population, like women and the youth. What we want is a modern society, where women would be active, and religion moderate,” he said.
Upcoming workshops will focus on political pluralism, the responsibilities of citizens, or the importance of religious freedom.
The six young men are Sunni Muslims, but the cafe welcomes customers from all confessions. They are talking to Christians in neighboring villages to emulate their experiment.
“To be completely honest, we did not come up with the idea. A similar cafe was started before in Saraqued (Idlib Province). It was a big success, and we met the guys who did it in Antakya. They helped us set the cafe in Al-Zahraa, and now we are meeting with people in other villages.” explained Sabit.
Although the attraction for their concept may seem limited at first glance, their idea for expansion is ambitious. The young men envision a cafe in every liberated village and town. They travel through the liberated areas to talk the youth into starting their own.
“Assad keeps comparing the rebels to germs. Well, he isn't entirely wrong: freedom is a virus. The civic cafes will spread like cancer through Syria,” Karam predicted.
“It's one thing to take freedom by force. It's another to deserve it once the dust settles. We want people to realize this: freedom is as much a duty as it is a right,” he added.
