The Other Side of the Massacres: Sulaiman Al-Haraki Reveals How Hama’s History and Heritage Were Violated

In a new episode of The Syrian Blog Podcast, we host writer, historian, and researcher Suleiman Al-Sulaii Al-Haraki for a long and intensive conversation about the city of Hama, its memory, and the deep impact the Hama massacres left on people, place, family, and society. In this episode, Suleiman takes us into personal details from a childhood shaped by fear and pain. He speaks about the suffering experienced by his family and the way the events in Hama affected an entire generation. He also pauses at the question of guilt and how, over time, such a feeling can develop into a broader social condition whose effects continue to be experienced and inherited.
The conversation stops at one of the harshest episodes in Hama’s memory: the details of what happened after the massacres ended and how, according to the account presented in the episode, residents of Hama were forced to participate in a demonstration supporting the regime of Hafez Al-Assad. The discussion presents this as a scene reflecting an aspect of the repression experienced by the city and its people. Suleiman Al-Sulaii Al-Haraki also discusses the nature of the conflict between Hafez Al-Assad and Hama and how the city became one of the most painful and complex chapters in modern Syrian history.
From the city’s memory, we move to the memory preserved through books and documentation. Suleiman discusses his book Centuries of Hama and the reasons that drove him to write and document. He explains the motivations that led him to author 13 books in an effort to preserve Hama’s history and record its stories, testimonies, and details that he fears could disappear with time. He also speaks about his most important works and the stories he believes deserve to reach future generations so that the city’s memory does not disappear behind prevailing narratives or forgetfulness.
In another part of the episode, we examine the scale of the losses suffered by Hama. Suleiman Al-Sulaii Al-Haraki presents his perspective on the number of Hama’s martyrs and the scale of the tragedy that affected the city and its people. The conversation then turns to one of Hama’s most prominent historical symbols: its norias. We ask how these norias survived everything the city endured and why they remain present today as an essential part of Hama’s identity and memory.
The conversation also discusses the future of the city and what its people can do to restore something of what Hama once was. Suleiman shares his view of what the city needs and the recommendations he hopes will reach decision-makers, before arriving at a question that perhaps summarizes much of Hama’s story: What was the most important thing stolen from the city? Was the loss limited to buildings, neighbourhoods, and monuments, or was something deeper taken from its memory, spirit, and history?
At the end of the episode, Suleiman Al-Sulaii Al-Haraki shares the most important stories he hopes people will learn about Hama, and the stories he believes deserve to be told and preserved, in an attempt to restore the voice of a city whose experiences left a profound mark on Syrian memory.
A new episode of The Syrian Blog Podcast about Hama, its memory, its tragedy, its books, its norias, and its people; about the importance of documentation in confronting forgetting; and about personal and historical stories that Suleiman Al-Sulaii Al-Haraki is trying to preserve for future generations.