Life goes on in Damascus: 'We cannot give up and lose our hope'

Five years on from the start of Syria’s civil war, Sean Smith meets the people determined to live and work in Damascus, a city of relative peace despite the battles raging on its outskirts. Among them he meets a ballet teacher; a young entrepreneur who has opened a bar during the hostilities; a bereaved grandmother now raising 14 orphans; and workers of a bakery that hasn’t stopped providing bread since the fighting begin
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[@Eisa22347]

this is why about 70% of Syrian Population live in Syrian government areas, because they can be themselves and have a free of choice dancing, drinking, praying, practicing their religions.

[@fossacakyuz]

%70 ????. Do you know at least "Half of the Syrians left the country" ? and unfortunately %2 of population died.

[@alisalloum9893]

@@fossacakyuz half of the population were displaced Not out of Syria But mostly into other parts of Syria ruled by the government

[@bluepillarabic8171]

Duckstain Assad supporter, I am Syrian and my name among wanted people cuz I just said no to Assad's regime

[@alisalloum9893]

@@bluepillarabic8171 I think you did more than just said no Being a Syrian my self Saying no and holding weapons shooting here and there in the name of the revolution isn't as simple as saying no Assuming you didn't do worst And that's if you are even Syrian

[@fl195]

@@alisalloum9893 face the truth

[@dracov6664]

Assad. Europe with you.

[@conormul1]

+baba jaga no were not, speak for yourself

[@petvo1352]

Europe and USA made Syria to become pure shit.I was in Syria in 2010,good country with good ppl.Fuck USA and Eurpoe from Serbia and big respect to Syria.

[@conormul1]

No im not from tel Aviv, assad only has the support of shitte minority of syria which make up a quarter of the country, the syrian majority are sunni who want him dead. The whole civil war in syria started because assad brutally cracked down on peaceful protesters who wanted more democratic rights. @baba jaga you do know that the Assad regime would throw you in jail for your profile picture alone, they're not as secular as you think they're, so why do you support the,.

[@JayTsay]

WRONG!!! I have been to Syria many times. I only wish peace and democracy for the Syria people. No form of regime or extremists. Look at this way, many dont like Assad yet what other choice is there?? Even though his brother and uncle have killed many.

[@lf9825]

baba jaga west Europe support isis but east europe stand beside us 🤦🏻‍♂️ from Beirut all love and respect to president putin

[@TheRumpelstinskin]

The Russians really saved these people. If it wasn't for them, Syria would be in chaos, just like Libya.

[@TheRumpelstinskin]

***** Well, that's the reason they despise Russia. They are the only modern nation with the power to stand against American imperialism.

[@Wurmo]

Russia really helped Syria with their satellite technology, the terrorists always knew where to attack and when to attack because c.i.a. had the latest satellite tech. Something Syria didn't have. This is a great factor in the fall of Idlib, Syria used ghost army tactics to defend the area, only satellites could see there was no proper defenses made.

[@maryel6266]

Tiny Hands Donald well it’s not for nothing ... it’s not out of their kindness they’re taking our oil plus they’re our ally

[@zGetTheF]

Oh yeah like its any better now. Corruption is back to the highest level, thousands rounded up for opposing Assad. Syria is under occupation !!

[@korencek]

lybia was in invasion by USA sponsored terrorsits from egypt. obviously there would be never a peace ofterwards. The same is with syria. invasion of foreign sponsored terrorsits.

[@michalmazur6806]

I've watched it three times, great video. Probably the first unbiased Syria-related video done by Guardian. Gotta celebrate it ;) Mind you though, even under West-backed rebels these good partying people would be severly punished... just for having a party with booze. Or lack of headscarf (women), whatever...

[@sadragon76]

this video is biased to BASHAR ALASSAD the one who is turturing syrians the rebels are a freedom fighter not islamic fighters but the 80% are muslims who are not given freedom because they are muslim

[@storm21506]

truth seeker fuck you and fuck your rebels long live saa and assas

[@Timbo6669]

@@storm21506 I hope the U.S. would continue to to help the freedom fighters..AS well as the Kurds...Bashar is corrupt and that's why Putin can control him.

[@diaaalhussin7476]

yes that is true .. we are the syrians ❤ ... more powerful than war

[@Rasenti25]

It is sad that oil is more precious than human life God Bless You all syrian who still stay there in own country

[@ra777al1]

+AK_Rosamonte And those who leave/left aren't blessed?

[@Rasenti25]

+Jeddah Smiles I think that the real Syrians should fight against ISIS, and retrieve your country...unless you support them?

[@katyu16]

BRAVE PEOPLE...GOD BLESS THEM!

[@ra777al1]

Amazing video! Superb effort for real! Thank you so much for uploading. I LOVVVVVVVE Syria and everything about it. BEAUTIFUL country, authentic nation, great everything about it. Been there couple of times when I was younger and CAN'T seriously wait to visit very soon again. I keep it and all its people in my prayers and thoughts, and to all Syrian people I say Allah is with you.

[@max05003]

Fantastic video! I' ve watched it four consecutive times.

[@farouqomaro598]

I wish Bashar Assad all the best and may he and subsequent Syrian rulers keep Syria free and secular. God bless Syria, God bless Assad. Death to Wahabbism!

[@thegreatone921]

This is Syria, wanting nothing but peace despite the current crisis.

[@ToumaBittar]

Thank you for this look over Damascus... the stories you chose are really good...and it shows the REAL people of the city.. I know that cause I'm Syrian.. I don't live in Damascus but I do visit it alot

[@somethingspecific3619]

Thanks for participating in the RT documentary, Touma!😊

[@franciscj8211]

Basher Al-Assad is A GREAT leader Syria is coming back normel life

[@alkoholik000]

no burkhas , no hijabs , holly shit. fuck us demokracy.

[@danymoussalli7718]

+alkoholik000 there are some women who are wearing hijabs in the video, but it's a normal scene in Damascus, you can see many different people from different backgrounds.

[@CaptainArek]

+alkoholik000 aye more people should see videos like this. Syria was the best country in whole middle east, great example for others. Iran is also much more liberal than terrorist countries like saudi arabia. Unfortunatelly zion and usa have no control over Syria and Iran, thats why media propaganda will portray those countries as evil.

[@danymoussalli7718]

+Captain Arek to prawda ^_^

[@The18x18x]

I want to go to a bar in Syria

[@carlsaint-jacques6110]

GOD BLESS SYRIA AL ASSAD!!!

[@dannieduplessis2432]

Assad & the Syrians have more support in the world than they think...you have won the hearts of many in the world & we all know the Americans tried their best to destroy you but in the end...yet again...another Vietnam.....may you & your non secular Assad governance one day live in peace.....

[@tomdickson8554]

The Syrians should be really proud of there army they’ve managed to fight of USA Uk France Saudi Kuwait uae and Qatari backed fighters and take back there country as an Indian soldier I’ve been in 3 wars one nearly escalating to nuclear attack so I know my stuff and I truly salute the Syrian army and hope that India pledges full support for Syria alongside Russia

[@fojnica2226]

nice people.......god bless you all and support asad from croatians

[@karlkritah6434]

Bashir alassad is a lion of a man my prays are with you

[@user-py8bu9my9t]

i love you syrian i love you bashar assad

[@leew1598]

Really interesting video. Let's hope the cease fire holds and life is able to get back to some kind of normality for these people.

[@borneodayakheadhunterstria1658]

Syrian PEOPLE So Beautiful 🙏👌

[@user-ff7fz7iz7e]

سوريا انت في قلبي😭😔

[@xaixanac]

Keep it up, guys; I am with you in my heart!

[@tommo9176]

amazing vid guardian. More like this

[@kamak24]

heroes! ! Massive respect to all those people,i know one day you will Wake up in war free wealthy country, may God be with You people!

[@usernamemehr]

what a beautiful country torn apart by western society and sunni arab gulf countries. shame on them! long live a secular syria.

[@maryel6266]

Mo Ali nothing to do with sunni hun majority of Syrians are sunni

[@maryel6266]

Mo Ali Saudi Arabia government is wahabi not sunni

[@esammousa2172]

I love and miss Damascus, My Dear city .

[@yoroy8453]

Great video! Thank you

[@mohamedhamza9448]

I wish Syria peace. May Allah protect you

[@MrFrenchteacher1]

I feel so sorry for those people. God bless Russia for bringing peace at last!

[@marcusdanizel9816]

Alonso Rodrigez - Russia, China India and other countries are alive to fight terriost hope still there I'm an Indian I support Russia since soviet Union era

[@bassgitab]

GBU Havez Assad....and your people....

[@1Hannigan1]

awsome , i hope to visit someday

[@1sweettime207]

Life going on.

[@jimmylee7737]

♡ from Texas...best wishes!

[@glagolivedi2306]

Is the liturgy at 3:00 Orthodox? Can someone tell me more about faith of syrian people?

[@dannymesmar633]

glagoli vedi We have Catholics, Orthodox, and Syriacs. Basically Christians make up around 10% of the population

[@MrMed992]

greek catholic cathedral ourlady of dormation see of greek catholic patriarchy

[@user-zu3zs8mq6w]

3:20 Orthodox Church?

[@lilymd2516]

Yes!

[@applebl3ach]

Thanks Russia for saving this country.

[@makoslawyer2342]

This video is amazing... There are the religious people who just want to pray and practice their religion There are the sad stories that break the heart and make not able to escape the reality There the people who want to dance and drink and live freely What could have made the video much better is showing a Muslim family or so to show how practicing Muslims actually live in Syria under this government since they make over half of the population of Syria...

[@user-he5uc6sp5n]

🇸🇾🇸🇾🇸🇾🇸🇾🇸🇾

[@user-nq8dv7jz9d]

😍😍😍😍😍

[@henribastouri5930]

God bless Assad god bless Russia

[@Someone98982]

So I'm a Syrian from Damascus, and watched this video, our country is way more than just drinking bars or dancing or gyms, i wish you could open your eyes and see the real syria, mosques, museums, the art, the children, the history .. and picture how they're all still working perfectly and will continue to, we will continue to be " بلاد الشام " that the messanger Mohammed -peace be upon him - visited and trade in . Finally , still thankful that you showed your real intentions in this video by filming what you only want, allah is with us.

[@farouqomaro598]

eurielle The real intention of the video is to show how people escape the torments of war.through the arts, sports amd some partying. Don't get so worked up. I don't want to see any mosques, enough of that where I live

[@Someone98982]

Peace be upon you brother :) I respect your opinion, and i don't want to jump to conclusions but may allah guide you to the beauty of iman, i already mentioned the arts in my comment and there are so many other things to point out in this kind of videos. الحمد لله رب العالمين ..

[@farouqomaro598]

eurielle I hope Allah will guide you to the right path too. Insha Allah

[@bentleygt3716]

yeas. life continues.. glad the Syrian people have moved on. and DAMN those murderers and mercenaries who committed Heinous crimes, atrocities, and destruction to this beautiful ancient country.

[@johnkrivokapic7527]

He went to the protest and then was tortured,I think we all know,who was killing people for protesting,and who benefited most from having IS in Sirija.

[@Exchiefboy]

No "Assad butchering his own people" line anymore, Guardian?

[@reivax58]

J'ai un grand respect pour le président Bachar qui a su tenir tête à l'hégémonie occidentale menée par les Etats-Unis. Merci au président Poutine d'avoir aidé et sauvé la Syrie que nous aimons; Longue vie à la Syrie de Bachar !

[@jonglewongle3438]

You are on the correct path. You are a prodigal.

[@reivax58]

@@jonglewongle3438 ... Yes, I am...

[@seenakakar2013]

wow is this damascus? I thought it was in ruins

[@nevermindwhatever9145]

Check the map control.

[@nevermindwhatever9145]

Naji Kaskas​ Still from what I hear it's pretty depressing, I left 3 years ago but I have friends left in Damascus.

[@europa3233]

Naji Kaskas I felt Somalia due to the war as a child, and it's still not safe do you think people will return to Syria? I hope they do.

[@louiemusallam3242]

Naji Kaskas

[@KalawuFrank]

💌💐😘🥰❣️🙏🙏💯

[@nightmaresgoogle3905]

I hope the same situation happens to American politicians.

[@user-vm7if5bz2p]

Old russian music in the end )

[@ariaadinegoro4320]

At the end of this video, what's that music name?

[@peligraso]

thanks god Russia was ther, otherwise Syria would be second Iraq.

[@mohammedali-rh7cq]

it is disgusting how the Asad picture is everywhere!

[@dilawarkhan-ch1sb]

This is time for Syrian to be a pro practising Muslim rather than again doing the same shit they do before drinking alcohol and dancing.May ALLAH protect our Syrian brother.ameen

[@raphaelcoliveira]

Alcohol and Dancing is good. Try it. Greetings from Paraguay.

[@rationalmind3567]

and go back to stone age.

[@farouqomaro598]

Another ISIS sympathiser! Go live in Saudi Arabia

[@farouqomaro598]

Miakn Brain Allah does not prohibit alcohol. Allah only asks us to use with caution because too much of it can be harmful. And we are also not allowed to pray when drunk. So please don't make your own rules.

[@heritage433]

Well, what a paradox: some people trying to survive with near to nothing and some are trying to pass the time with clubbing and drinking alcohol for us dollars. Where do the clubbing people get their us money, where their neighbors maybe are starving?

[@truthnumb972]

Mate..they can do what they like ...they've been through a lot..

[@farouqomaro598]

Why so jealous? Let them have some fun.

[@aead626]

حال مقرف هي مو سوريا يلي بعرفها

[@maryel6266]

سوري وافتخر سوريا رح ترجع 🇸🇾🇸🇾🇸🇾

[@zenasibai7646]

بعرف ..والتعليقات ضحكتني عفكرة انو الحمدلله سوريا بخير سوريا ما عراق وليبيا تاني !! هههه ونحنا البلد عنا مدمرة والكهربا بتنقطع نص النهار و نص الشعب هاجر وغير يلي بلحبوس ..لا سوريا اضرب من العراق وضعا لسا

[@mohamadalshartah8436]

Zena Sibai اكيد

[@syriennepeace3309]

lol, they are drinking and bringing alcohol, while syrian people are dieing from hunger.

[@jamesr.g.2320]

they ARE syrians. damascenes are doing whatever they can to help people. you know, not everyone wants to sulk around in grief.

[@syriennepeace3309]

yeah I didn't say they are not syrian and I am not judging them. They do whatever they want.

[@ananzi1975]

ZM A Let me guess, right now you are preaching your Islamic views from Europe where you live on money from the European tax payers? There is no Arab unity and there never will be. Secularism leads to an open mind which leads to education which leads do development which leads to prosperity which leads to peace. Start with step one.

[@Dmitri300]

Why should god help you if you drink booze? Well tell me, what have the little children who died done to upset your wonderful god? What have the people who have been crucified or stoned to death done to upset god? What have the non-Sunni extremists of Mosul done to upset god? What have the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi children who either died or became orphans done to upset god? Did they dare to drink alcohol? Is god really that petty? Does your beloved god not have something more useful to do, than punish people who are desperately trying to maintain some level of normalcy in their lives by having some fun? Surely your beloved god has bigger fish to fry? Please tell god to come visit literally ANY muslim country. He has a shitload of work to do. And considering he has been absent for the past several hundreds of years, I think it is about time for him to start working long days.

[@truthnumb972]

@@Dmitri300 what is this crazed on about.._? they can do what they want..its their country...

[@safwat6377]

😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@user-vt5en2pi9t]

ملاحظين ان صور الديكتاتور بشار بكل مكان حتى بالأماكن المدرمرة تمامآ المؤسف انو شعبنا السوري هو يلي صنع هاد الطاغوت ولا يحدا يجي يعملي فيها وطني ويصير ينظر عليي ويصير بدو يدافع عن هاد المجرم لأنو بظن الوطنية هية انك تحب بلدك وشعبك وليس الرئيس يلي صرلو اكتر من خمسين سنة متسلط على مقدارت البلد ونازل نهب هو وحاشيتو لاء وفوق هيك ذالل الشعب ايما مذلة وحاكمهن بالكرباج ومخليهن تحت رحمة البوط العسكري وعم يتبع عليهن سياسة الافقار والتجويع وبأخر تمن سنوات قدم انجازتو العظيمة دفعة وحدة وهي انو دمر سوريا وساوها عالارض وقتل مليونين مواطن اغلبيتهن نساء واطفال وهجر اكتر من عشرة ملايين مواطن سوري .. طبعآ هو من المسحيل يقدر يعمل كل هالشي بدون ايادي الشبيحة يلي مدعوسين تحت البوط العسكري بأحسن احوالهن وهدول الشبيحة هنن جزء من الشعب السوري او ابناء جلدتنا اذا صح التعبير وهنن نفسن صارو حطب ونحرقو في سبيل بشار يبقى عالكرسي وفي سبيل رافهية ابناء المسؤلين يلي عايشين بدون اي مسؤلية تجاه الوطن والشعب .. واخر شي بقول هنيآ لكل الشبيحة والمؤيدين يلي حمو عرش المجرم بشار وبقلهن مبروك عليكن العيشة تحت حكم البوط العسكري يا وطننين انتو 😏 ..

[@Tide12NC]

Isaiah 17 Holy Bible...please ask God to show you the Truth. This will happen!!!

[@kamelali7809]

There is alot of modern and historical areas u dont film to give the viewers an image that we are still a third world country well we arenot

[@zGetTheF]

Free Syria from Assad,

[@jonglewongle3438]

Screw your Zionist Wahabbism. Screw Zionist NATO.

[@feisalajaj7954]

You turkish puppet.

[@jackmara7448]

Misleading.

[@Professor.y16]

people are dying and she is dancing. shame!!

[@bashersully7667]

She should just sit and do nothing forever because someone out there is dying?

[@Professor.y16]

+Basher Sully well dancing can do nothing for the people that are dying. I wasn't saying do nothing so get your facts right. She can help them like fight against the oppressors, provide people with food and money. Look after the orphans...... basher sully use ur brain, ur not stupid are u?

[@bashersully7667]

sadat rahman No but you are, you expect every man and woman to fight in this pointless war? This war have been going for 5 years now and Damascus have so far avoided the worse of the violence. The people living there and enduring the economic hardships and echoes of war are warranted for some entertainment. People like you sit back so easily behind their computer screen and yell commands at people "let them go out and fight or something!", and who should they fight for? Every side in this war is corrupt and false. If you are such a brave and just warrior your self why don't you take up arms and go fight the demonic jihadis and save the world? You people wouldn't dare pull a trigger if they were at your door steps and then bark orders on people who have endured more hardships those few years than your entire life. Please do us a favor and mind your own buisness.

[@bashersully7667]

sadat rahman I would like you to name one perfect country where every man and woman living in it fought against whatever invading force faced it. Go on, tell me what this paragon of a society is. Even the Japanease weren't that extreme during the second world war and I can't think of a more determined people in history.

[@Professor.y16]

+Basher Sully what the hell you are really stupid. I wasn't saying go to war. I was simply saying fight against those who oppress. You saying I am sitting with my computer.... you got everything wrong about me. I have sending money to Syrian rufeeges for past few years and you have been judging me like silly goose. I have been working for poor and needy people and get stupid people like you chatting rubbish here. Get a life