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The Spectator, UK
April 26 2014
Notes from Damascus
Plus: The memory of Jeffrey Bernard, and the 100th anniversary of the
Armenian genocide
by Peter Oborne 26 April 2014
As I looked out of the window of my hotel bedroom, studying the view
of central Damascus, the mobile phone rang. Peter Walwyn was on the
line. I have not seen Mr Walwyn, who was twice British champion
racehorse trainer and trained Grundy to win the Derby in 1975, for
several years. I reminded him of our lunch at Simpson's-in-the-Strand.
He had sat down, ordered a vodka and tonic, and told me that the
evening before he had placed flowers on Jeffrey Bernard's grave. After
Bernard died several Lambourn trainers, along with Peter O'Toole, held
a ceremony at the top of the gallops. A simple granite stone memorial
now marks the spot. I think that the Low Life correspondent of this
magazine would have felt great happiness and pride that the daffodils
swaying in the breeze beside the huge beech tree at the top of
Faringdon Road gallops in Lambourn this spring were planted in his
memory by one of the finest and most popular racing trainers of the
20th century. At the very least he would have fallen off his bar
stool.
Peter Walwyn's wife of 60 years, Bonk, died in January, and a
quotation from Bernard was on her funeral service sheet. It read: 'The
following morning we went to Lambourn to see Peter and Bonk Walwyn.
Bonk pulled my shoes off and left a large vodka, ice and soda on the
bedside table. You can't ask for more even from your own wife.'
I was still feeling exhilarated by my conversation with Peter when I
travelled across town to Bab Touma (St Thomas's Gate) in Old Damascus
to interview Armash Nalbandian, the Armenian bishop. He said that 11
of the 32 Armenian churches in Syria have been bombed or attacked
during the conflict. He was incensed by recent events at Kasab, an
Armenian village close to the Turkish border in northern Syria. He
told me how villagers had been attacked in the early hours of the
morning by militant groups. 'These groups were supported by the
Turkish army. Our people there, they witnessed that.' Almost the
entire population of Kasab has fled, while the al-Qa'eda aligned group
al-Nusra is said to be patrolling the streets.
Next year marks the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, a
tragedy which Turkey to this day refuses to acknowledge. The bishop
was careful to stress that no one was killed during the attack on
Kasab. 'Please don't compare this to the Armenian genocide.
Nevertheless the only thing that I can say is that the Turks are the
ones who committed that genocide and are now behaving the way they are
in Syria.' Nora Arissian, a Damascus-based historian of Armenia, told
me: 'It was not genocide, but it was a forced evacuation and ethnic
cleansing because many inhabitants have had their homes looted and
stolen.'
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It is a short 200-yard journey up Straight Street (along which St Paul
walked in the Bible) from the Armenian church to Al-Zaytoun Greek
Catholic church. There I attended a crowded service of incomparable
peace and beauty. Six mortars fell nearby as we prayed, and the church
precincts had been struck twice by mortars in the last week. Later I
had dinner with a dentist who told me of his despair that the West
showed no concern at the plight of the Christian community in Syria.
He offered his own explanation: 'To the jihadists we are kafirs. But
to the West we are just Arabs.'
David Cameron last week declared that Christians 'are now the most
persecuted religion around the world' and committed his government to
fighting this persecution: 'We should stand up against persecution of
Christians wherever and whenever we can.' There is no doubting the
Prime Minister's sincerity. However he needs in all truth to
acknowledge that his own policies, like those of Tony Blair before
him, have contributed to the isolation and terrorisation of some of
the most ancient Christian communities in the world. There are thought
to have been 1.5 million Christians in Iraq before the 2003 invasion.
Ten years later over one million have fled. More than 300,000 Iraqi
Christians went to Syria, which is no longer (partly thanks to British
policy) a safe haven. For all Bashir Assad's faults, during his regime
he was careful to tolerate many of the minorities (so long as they
acquiesced in his regime) -- communities that had lived in Syria
securely for thousands of years and make up some of the most ancient
civilisations in the world.
In spite of the real dangers to minorities in Iraq and now Syria,
Britain and the United States have so far accepted only a handful as
refugees. If David Cameron's pledge to Christians around the world is
to have any meaning, perhaps he should not offer them the safe haven
that is being destroyed in Syria.
This article first appeared in the print edition of The Spectator
magazine, dated 26 April 2014
http://www.spectator.co.uk/features/notebook/9190561/damascus-notebook/
From: A. Papazian
April 26 2014
Notes from Damascus
Plus: The memory of Jeffrey Bernard, and the 100th anniversary of the
Armenian genocide
by Peter Oborne 26 April 2014
As I looked out of the window of my hotel bedroom, studying the view
of central Damascus, the mobile phone rang. Peter Walwyn was on the
line. I have not seen Mr Walwyn, who was twice British champion
racehorse trainer and trained Grundy to win the Derby in 1975, for
several years. I reminded him of our lunch at Simpson's-in-the-Strand.
He had sat down, ordered a vodka and tonic, and told me that the
evening before he had placed flowers on Jeffrey Bernard's grave. After
Bernard died several Lambourn trainers, along with Peter O'Toole, held
a ceremony at the top of the gallops. A simple granite stone memorial
now marks the spot. I think that the Low Life correspondent of this
magazine would have felt great happiness and pride that the daffodils
swaying in the breeze beside the huge beech tree at the top of
Faringdon Road gallops in Lambourn this spring were planted in his
memory by one of the finest and most popular racing trainers of the
20th century. At the very least he would have fallen off his bar
stool.
Peter Walwyn's wife of 60 years, Bonk, died in January, and a
quotation from Bernard was on her funeral service sheet. It read: 'The
following morning we went to Lambourn to see Peter and Bonk Walwyn.
Bonk pulled my shoes off and left a large vodka, ice and soda on the
bedside table. You can't ask for more even from your own wife.'
I was still feeling exhilarated by my conversation with Peter when I
travelled across town to Bab Touma (St Thomas's Gate) in Old Damascus
to interview Armash Nalbandian, the Armenian bishop. He said that 11
of the 32 Armenian churches in Syria have been bombed or attacked
during the conflict. He was incensed by recent events at Kasab, an
Armenian village close to the Turkish border in northern Syria. He
told me how villagers had been attacked in the early hours of the
morning by militant groups. 'These groups were supported by the
Turkish army. Our people there, they witnessed that.' Almost the
entire population of Kasab has fled, while the al-Qa'eda aligned group
al-Nusra is said to be patrolling the streets.
Next year marks the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, a
tragedy which Turkey to this day refuses to acknowledge. The bishop
was careful to stress that no one was killed during the attack on
Kasab. 'Please don't compare this to the Armenian genocide.
Nevertheless the only thing that I can say is that the Turks are the
ones who committed that genocide and are now behaving the way they are
in Syria.' Nora Arissian, a Damascus-based historian of Armenia, told
me: 'It was not genocide, but it was a forced evacuation and ethnic
cleansing because many inhabitants have had their homes looted and
stolen.'
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border="0" width="728" height="90"/></a>
It is a short 200-yard journey up Straight Street (along which St Paul
walked in the Bible) from the Armenian church to Al-Zaytoun Greek
Catholic church. There I attended a crowded service of incomparable
peace and beauty. Six mortars fell nearby as we prayed, and the church
precincts had been struck twice by mortars in the last week. Later I
had dinner with a dentist who told me of his despair that the West
showed no concern at the plight of the Christian community in Syria.
He offered his own explanation: 'To the jihadists we are kafirs. But
to the West we are just Arabs.'
David Cameron last week declared that Christians 'are now the most
persecuted religion around the world' and committed his government to
fighting this persecution: 'We should stand up against persecution of
Christians wherever and whenever we can.' There is no doubting the
Prime Minister's sincerity. However he needs in all truth to
acknowledge that his own policies, like those of Tony Blair before
him, have contributed to the isolation and terrorisation of some of
the most ancient Christian communities in the world. There are thought
to have been 1.5 million Christians in Iraq before the 2003 invasion.
Ten years later over one million have fled. More than 300,000 Iraqi
Christians went to Syria, which is no longer (partly thanks to British
policy) a safe haven. For all Bashir Assad's faults, during his regime
he was careful to tolerate many of the minorities (so long as they
acquiesced in his regime) -- communities that had lived in Syria
securely for thousands of years and make up some of the most ancient
civilisations in the world.
In spite of the real dangers to minorities in Iraq and now Syria,
Britain and the United States have so far accepted only a handful as
refugees. If David Cameron's pledge to Christians around the world is
to have any meaning, perhaps he should not offer them the safe haven
that is being destroyed in Syria.
This article first appeared in the print edition of The Spectator
magazine, dated 26 April 2014
http://www.spectator.co.uk/features/notebook/9190561/damascus-notebook/
From: A. Papazian