Syrian writer Khaled Khalilfa’s latest novel, In Praise of Hatred, is being translated into English. The novel is based on events that took place in Syria in 1982: a clash between Muslim fundamentalists on the one hand and state Baathist “fundamentalists,” as Khalifa calls them, on the other. Khalifa watched a “culture of elimination” evolve on both sides of the conflict.
Journalist Robert F. Worth interviewed Khalifa recently in Damascus. Worth’s article closes with the following comment, in which Khalifa mourns the erosion of Syria’s longstanding tradition of tolerance as a result of the brutality and violence that occurred:
“Syria has a long history as a cosmopolitan and commercial place; its traditions are tolerant and diverse…This is what prevented the victory of the Islamists in the 1980s.”
Khalifa dreads the growth of Islamic fundamentalism in Syria, especially among young people: “All this has harmed Syrian society so much…If what happened in the 1980s were to happen again, I think the Islamists would win.”
Source: Robert F. Worth, “A Bloody Era of Syria’s History Informs a Writer’s Acclaimed and Banned Novel,” New York Times, April 12, 2008, A9.
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