The ghastly civil war is raging just a mile away, projectiles are being heaved back and forth, and bullets are flying overhead ripping the air apart. But the youth of Damascus have adapted to the piercing sound of explosions as well as to the metastases of fierce battles and suicide bombings across Syria. Under the government of President Bashar Assad, branded "dictator" by Western media, they are enjoying the sweets of secular life, uncommon in the Middle East.
While slamming President Bashar Assad as "a dictator," media have ignored the fact that Syria with him at the helm had been a prosperous secular Mediterranean state before war erupted in 2011.
Above: A bartender pours a drink at an 80’s Bar in Damascus, Syria, March 11, 2016.
Above: A bartender pours a drink at an 80’s Bar in Damascus, Syria, March 11, 2016.
The government has held true to its secular principles even despite an invasion by hardline Daesh and al-Nusra Front jihadists.
Above: A young woman poses for a photograph outside the Beit Zaman hotel where 80’s Bar is located in Damascus, Syria March 11, 2016.
Above: A young woman poses for a photograph outside the Beit Zaman hotel where 80’s Bar is located in Damascus, Syria March 11, 2016.
People are enjoying life pleasures in bars while battle-hardened Islamists are raging not so far away.
Above: People dance under projected visuals at Nassar pub and art gallery in Damascus, Syria, March 25, 2016.
Above: People dance under projected visuals at Nassar pub and art gallery in Damascus, Syria, March 25, 2016.
They may smoke and drink, and their dress-code is quite loose for the Middle-Eastern region.
Above: People sit at a newly opened pub near a stencil of Lebanese singer Fayrouz in Damascus, Syria, March 24, 2016.
Above: People sit at a newly opened pub near a stencil of Lebanese singer Fayrouz in Damascus, Syria, March 24, 2016.
In bars, young Syrians switch from daily news about war and violence and talk about anything but that.
Above: Dana Daqqaq, a bartender at Pub Sharqi, pours a drink during her shift in Damascus, Syria, March 25, 2016.
Above: Dana Daqqaq, a bartender at Pub Sharqi, pours a drink during her shift in Damascus, Syria, March 25, 2016.
A number of bars have opened in recent months as a sign of approaching peace.
Above: La Marionnette Pub is seen in Damascus, Syria, March 11, 2016.
Above: La Marionnette Pub is seen in Damascus, Syria, March 11, 2016.
Optimism is in the air: Moscow and Washington brokered a ceasefire deal which has been generally holding since late February.
Above: People spend time at Zodiac bar in Damascus, Syria, March 11, 2016.
Above: People spend time at Zodiac bar in Damascus, Syria, March 11, 2016.
Russia’s industrial-scale deliveries of humanitarian aid are a ray of hope amidst the darkness of the war.
Above: Kenan smiles as he carries a drink outside 80’s Bar in Damascus, Syria, March 24, 2016.
Above: Kenan smiles as he carries a drink outside 80’s Bar in Damascus, Syria, March 24, 2016.
Young Damascenes cherish hope to remain in the country instead of dissolving in the refugee flux, and plan ahead.
Above: Dana (R), a bartender at Red Bar, pours drinks for customers in Damascus, Syria March 11, 2016.
Above: Dana (R), a bartender at Red Bar, pours drinks for customers in Damascus, Syria March 11, 2016.
Hopefully, one day life in Syria, once bustling and prosperous, will resurrect and time will heal the old wounds of the war.
Above: People carry drinks at 80’s Bar in Damascus, Syria, March 11, 2016.
Above: People carry drinks at 80’s Bar in Damascus, Syria, March 11, 2016.
