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Greetings from Syria, where a postwar olive harvest offers a long-lost taste of home
TL;DR
In a northern Syrian village, a former teacher harvests olives for the first time since the civil war, reflecting on the impact of ongoing sectarian violence. Despite fears for his Christian community, the harvest offers a taste of home and resilience.
Key points
- A former teacher harvests olives in a northern Syrian village
- The olive trees were planted by him decades ago
- Ongoing sectarian violence threatens the Christian community
Mentioned in this story
Abdallah IbrahimSyria
Emily Feng/NPR
Far-Flung Postcards is a weekly series in which NPR's international team shares moments from their lives and work around the world.
We'd gone to this Christian village in northern Syria with a former teacher named Abdallah Ibrahim. Much of the village was in ruins — and he told me and my colleague Jawad Rizkallah he feared the sectarian violence that has continued to plague Syria even after the end of the civil war would soon hit his Christian community, again, as well.
But he set aside those fears for a few hours that afternoon last October, harvesting his family's olive trees for the first time since the civil war began. Ibrahim said he had planted many of these trees himself, as a teenager, decades ago.
There is still so much rebuilding to be done and so many past hurts to heal. Some tiny bit of that healing began, I think, in those moments with the warm sun on us, gathering handfuls of hard olives that would grace his family's table in the future: a taste of the home they had been missing for nearly 14 years.
See more Far-Flung Postcards from around the world:
- Greetings from an Islamabad park, a peaceful vantage point in an uncertain world
- Greetings from Nairobi, where taking a matatu is no ordinary bus ride
- Greetings from downtown Cairo, where unpretentious cafés are part of centuries-old charm
- Greetings from London, where a big COVID memorial holds vigil over the halls of power
Q&A
What is the significance of the olive harvest in northern Syria?
The olive harvest symbolizes resilience and a return to normalcy for communities affected by the civil war in Syria.
How has the civil war affected Christian communities in Syria?
Christian communities in Syria have faced ongoing sectarian violence and fear for their safety even after the civil war officially ended.
Who is Abdallah Ibrahim and what does he represent in this story?
Abdallah Ibrahim is a former teacher in a northern Syrian village, representing the struggle and hope of local residents as they navigate life after the civil war.
