Duraid Laham is an outstanding Syrian and Arab artist and he is considered one of few Syrian artists who contributed to the foundation of the Syrian Arab TV in 1960s. Laham is widely known for his famous character “Ghawar” which is still living in the memory of most Syrians. Laham has a distinguished presence in all art domains either in the theater, cinema or TV till now. Meeting with a great artist such as Duraid Laham, is undoubtedly an opportunity to look at the Syrians’ awareness and rich culture. In a recent interview with Tichreen daily, artist Laham talked about the real situation in Syria and the great suffering of the Syrians for more than three years because of the global war which had been launched against Syria, the country of culture and human civilization.
Laham started his interview with the most important issue on the Syrian arena which is the presidential elections. Where he asserted that the upcoming presidential elections make us close to achieving a serious step towards a real democracy, June 2014 elections to select one of the candidates to be the President of the Syrian Arab Republic is considered a democratic step which will be recorded in the contemporary Syrian political history.
Regarding the continuous attempts by some international parties to disrupt the presidential elections in Syria, Laham confirmed that whatever we do in Syria they will criticize us because, throughout history, there are hostile stances towards Syria . And those enemies of Syria will do their best to prevent the Syrians from achieving this important political step in the history of Syria.
Duraid Laham added that we didn’t care for those who try to interfere in our presidential elections because it is an internal Syrian matter. Syria is a sovereign country and any external intervention in its affairs is illegal and couldn’t prevent the Syrians from practicing their national rights.
But the Syrians as usual don’t care about these hostile stances of the enemies of Syria, quite the contrary, they became more insistent to hold the presidential elections till the end.
Duraid Laham also praised the strong will of all Syrians who are defying the terrorism when they practice their daily life despite of the firing of dozens of mortar shells everywhere.
Answering those who incriminate him because he is carrying the flag of his country, Syria, Laham said:” Everyone is responsible for his stance, and I personally say that everyone is hostile to my country, to its flag and to its anthem” Guardian of the Homeland”, is an enemy to me personally.
Laham commented that the main objective of the war against Syria is to destroy it by targeting its archaeological history, its mosques , churches, universities and its infrastructure. Thus, it is enough for the enemies of Syria to lie and call for freedom and democracy. Can anybody imagine what is the situation of a country which has no president? Therefore, anyone who is against the advance of the election process in Syria, is without doubt serving the interests of the enemies of the country. Of course, the countries which paid billions of dollars in order to destroy Syria and weaken the will of the Syrian people , are themselves working now to disrupt the elections in Syria.
Duraid Laham described what is going on in all Syrian territories as never related to freedom and democracy,
and as but terrorism. So, I want to ask those persons who come from the other Arab countries carrying weapons to kill the Syrians, if they have really known what is the meaning of democracy and freedom in their countries.
Concluding his interview, artist Laham talked about the reality of the Syrian drama during the crisis , describing it as excellent, the Syrian drama nowadays is like elderberry flower tree which grows from the rock. He appreciated the courageous and brave efforts of those who are working in the field of drama because they could maintain its survival and effective role despite the difficult circumstances in our beloved country.
M.Wassouf