ABSTRACT
Baniyas is a breezy town of 50,000 inhabitants, perched on the slopes of the mountain range that lines Syria’s Mediterranean coast. The town and surrounding countryside is famous for its dates, olives, citrus orchards, and timber, which the region exports to foreign markets. The population of Baniyas mostly consists of middle-class Sunni, Christian, and Alawi bureaucrats and business owners, as well as industrial laborers, whereas the poorer countryside lives off subsistence farming and seasonal labor. In the past two decades, rapid industrialization, the development of the harbor, and the construction of an oil refinery have led to increased air and water pollution. In the summer of 2006, after a month-long tourist trip through Syria, I visited Baniyas and found a cozy and welcoming environment. Whereas the atmosphere in Damascus and Homs had been tense just a week before due to the Israeli assault on Lebanon (the ‘July War’), in Baniyas young men were smoking water pipes, joking, drinking tea, and playing backgammon in the cafés along the boulevard. Baniyas seemed enjoyable for the young crowd due to an apparently permissive, secular consensus that gave the coastal town a feeling like any other Mediterranean city. I had a long-held aspiration to move to Syria for a year to learn Arabic. When I left Baniyas in August 2006, I was strongly inclined to return, settle, and follow my ambition. But that never happened.
