Calling Out Syria’s Crimes
A Voice for the Victims
Mouaz Moustafa, 31, a Syrian who immigrated to the United States as a boy, has worked in partnership with the Museum to raise awareness of mass atrocities in his native country. At the National Tribute Dinner in May 2016, he spoke with Director Sara Bloomfield. The following are excerpts of their conversation.
Bloomfield: We first met you in 2014, when you came to the Museum on one of the most memorable days of my life. Tell us about the images you brought to us.
Moustafa: The Museum was the first place we could think of to bring these horrific images. Through my work we were introduced to a forensic photographer for the Assad regime’s military police. Early on in the revolution, he was asked to take photographs of innocent civilians who were tortured to death in and around Damascus. He took a total of 55,000 photographs over a period of two and a half years.
And this very brave man, whom we call “Caesar” to protect his identity, eventually fled and was able to bring the photographs with him, to show the world what is happening in Syria. We are so grateful that the Museum and its Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide have been able to draw the world’s attention to them — in an exhibition at the Museum, in a display on Capitol Hill, and through news coverage and social media outreach.
Bloomfield: You lead the Syrian Emergency Task Force, which is working to alleviate suffering in Syria, where more than 400,000 people have been killed since violence broke out in 2011. But your organization is also actively working to build democracy there. Can you tell us about that?
Moustafa: Our work on the ground in Syria focuses on nurturing the civilian governing structures that are rising up in the contested and liberated areas of the country. People have fought for their freedom at great personal risk and loss, so we try to support local civilian governing councils to make sure that terrorist groups, extremists, or warlords aren’t the ones who come in to fill the administrative vacuum.
In the course of our work for democracy, by the way, we’ve lost two members of our staff to the Assad regime, who were tortured to death; two others were taken by ISIS and killed.
Bloomfield: What role has Iran played in the Syrian conflict?
Moustafa: Since the beginning of this conflict, despite crippling sanctions, Iran has supported the Assad regime. Iran called for its proxy, Hezbollah, to enter Syria and to supplement the regime’s army in killing and going after civilian populations, civil society, and civilian councils. And as they did this, we were in awe, because the Syrian people always believed that their supporters in the West, in the free world, wouldn’t let us fight alone against this dictator.
We see the Russians also supporting the Syrian regime. The Syrian people are fighting two extremist forces: a dictator supported by Shiite extremists and the Russians, plus the terrorist groups ISIS and al-Qaeda.
There’s a mutual understanding I would say between extremists like ISIS or Hezbollah to go after the moderate Muslims and others from this beautiful mosaic of ethnic backgrounds in Syria because they don’t want people who want a civilian, pluralist, democratic state.
Bloomfield: Can you talk about the impact of the Museum’s work?
Moustafa: One of the most heartbreaking things, talking to people who are living in the midst of a horrendous war, is when they tell me the world has deserted us, forgotten us — our blood is just simply not enough to care about.
But this institution, the Museum, changes that. You should see Syrians’ reactions when they witness the Museum’s efforts to bring awareness. It’s almost as important as giving them food or water or sheltering them from bombs. It means the world to them that somebody out there has not forgotten them, that people have connected with them on a human level.
This place supersedes politics; it builds bridges; and it allows for the possibility that we may see a Middle East that is safe and stable with everyone living together in peace.
Rescuing Judaica in Syria
One of the civilian councils that the Syrian Emergency Task Force supports is located in Jobar, a Damascus suburb that is home to the Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue, which dates back to 720 BC.
After the outbreak of the Syrian crisis, members of the local council tried to protect the synagogue from looters and buried priceless Judaica — including rugs and Torah scrolls — for safekeeping. Because of their efforts, these artifacts were not damaged when the synagogue was shelled and destroyed in 2014, according to Moustafa.
“That’s who the real Syrian people are,” Moustafa explains. “They understand that this important Jewish history is also world history, and that is sacred to them.”
Watch a Museum program on the effort to save the Jobar synagogue.
This article was first published in Fall 2016.
