“Eid in Syria: bang, bang, you’re dead,” The Economist. A glimpse into how Syria is being affected:
AMONG the gifts of new clothes and sweets for Eid al-Adha, the toy of choice for Syrian children this year has been the plastic gun. Boys carrying small black pistols and long brown rifles roamed across the streets of Damascus, doing battle. "Bang, bang!" shouted one boy aiming at another across the street, before ducking behind a dustbin as his friend pretended to return fire. Others scampered around the old city’s winding streets, guns swinging by their side.
Toy guns are always popular Eid gifts. This year’s are mainly cheap plastic versions imported from China which, along with Russia, has blocked a UN Security Council resolution condemning Syria’s crackdown on its protesters. The sight of children pretending to shoot each other is an uncomfortable one in Syria. Eight months into an uprising that the authorities have brutally repressed, gunfire has become the norm for children and adults across the country.
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