At the western entrance to Jaramana [a southern suburb of Damascus],
Wissam says goodbye to another visiting journalist, before — as he does
every day — taking his position at a checkpoint made of sandbags piled
haphazardly on the side of the road.
He is a young man, large and bearded. A few young men carrying Russian
rifles had called him over. They had just finished their daytime duties
and were spreading out under the orange trees — remnants of Damascus'
fertile Ghouta valley — as night approached.
The trees were now surrounded by slum housing that resembled a cohesive
cement jungle. This area was a hub for those emigrating from the
countryside, inhabited by
Christians
and thousands of Druze citizens from Sweida. The city had been
transformed into an unofficial barracks for minority groups, ranging
from Alawites, Christians and Druze, to refugees from Saddam Hussein's
Iraq.
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