Akio Matsumura
(1915 – 2004)
President Trump announced this week that US soldiers will leave Syria, despite opposing messages from his advisers like John Bolton and Brett McGurk. Policy aside, this decision has helped bring the tragedy in Syria back to the top of the American news cycle and our minds.
When I see the news clips, I think of the children, the terror and fear they have suffered through and carry within them. I think of the dead, the half million people who lost their lives in the war. I think of the six million refugees trying to find a new life, and millions more who have been internally displaced, unable or unwilling to cross the border out. Outside those borders, others in the region suffer: from the Iraqi civil war, the Kurdish struggle for autonomy, and the ongoing struggle for political control and security in Israel and Palestine — I will always remember Prime Minister Rabin’s strong efforts to host another Global Forum conference, with Chairman Arafat, before his assassination.
Syria’s crisis was not inevitable. Men, political and religious leaders in Syria and abroad seeking profit or glory, steered Syria toward this crisis. Rather than assign blame, what I wish to emphasize is that people, not institutions, drove the change. Institutions implement, people lead.
At the same time, individuals are also the best possibility to make change for good. What would have happened if such counter-forces had been present in Syria in the lead up to the civil war?
Specifically, I refer to the wisdom of Grand Mufti Kuftaro of Syria, who served as his country’s preeminent religious leader from 1964 until his death in 2004. It’s impossible to know, but I believe that his wisdom could have prevented the crisis in Syria.
At one time, I needed to discuss sensitive political issues with the Grand Mufti. In those days, whenever I called Communist countries or Syria, I assumed our telephone conversations were tapped. I always chose my words carefully to keep from inconveniencing my friends.
For two days I thought over how to best convey to the Grand Mufti my hidden agenda. I worried that if I told him I wanted to visit him, I would be snagged by the bureaucracy of the foreign office rather than the easier to navigate religious affairs office. We’d quickly get bogged down by trivialities of visas, my UN affiliation, and other issues of protocol.
So I decided to say, “Grand Mufti, I’d like to meet you.” I was surprised to hear the Grand Mufti reply, “Thank you very much, Akio, for accepting my invitation to attend my international conference.” Of course there was no such international conference scheduled! Grand Mufti instantly judged the situation and knew how to deal with my hidden agenda. I was so impressed with his wisdom, his ability to see navigate difficult situations, and see past confining issues of bureaucracies and day-to-day politics toward ideals. He was always able to see a larger perspective.
If Grand Mufti Kuftaro had met with President Al-Assad at the early stage of the conflict without any public notice nor media, I believe his wisdom might have worked well to redirect President Al-Assad before the situation became unnavigable. I believe this to be more than wishful thinking.
But here we are, more than seven years after the civil war began. Violence continues with no political solution in sight. US leaders, rather than act courageously, have given up to save face or cut a deal on another topic. Refugees and migrants will continue to be treated unfairly while their very presence exacerbates societal divisions in Europe and the UK. I struggle to see the situation more positively. For years our leaders have failed to grasp the full consequences of the situation, and so it has only become worse.
We as a society may have lost faith in our institutions, but we cannot give up hope for individuals. Social media feeds, filled with hot takes and bluster, make it hard to find an opinion we can trust, but we need to leave room for courage. It will be individuals, not institutions, that negotiate a solution in Syria and individuals who guide us through the new European society.
I miss the Grand Mufti Kuftaro. I’m sure Syria does too.