The joy of returning to Raqqa with the first wedding in Raqqa of the bride and groom Ahmad and Heba. Raqqa is a city in Syria that was completely liberated from ISIS a few days ago.
parismatch.com, Editorial Board, 2017-10-28
In the courtyard of a house in Raqqa, people dance in make-up to folk music to celebrate the wedding of Ahmad and Heba: a scene unthinkable a few months ago when the city was still occupied by the Islamist group ISIS. According to residents of the Jazra region, a western suburb of Raqqa city, it is the first wedding since the city was liberated from the Islamic State group on October 17, 2017, after being occupied by this group for three years.
Wedding guests dance special folk dances on festive days, wedding days. The music mixed with the generators of the neighborhood, the houses here were destroyed, abandoned, and had serious consequences in four months of bombardments and ambushes.
The Jazra region was one of the first to be liberated by the US-backed Arab-Kurdish ally. The groom’s family luckily returned to town a month ago when the town was still in ruins, most of the people here had already left. The groom’s father, Othmane Ibrahim, said: “We are very happy. This is the first wedding after the terrorists left,” he greeted the guests in the hall. took power, we had folk songs to sing at weddings, but ISIS banned it, they didn’t allow him to celebrate,” he told AFP news agency. Now Happy to be back in our city.
Marriages are a sign of hope
The participants happily sang folk songs, they put on makeup specially for the occasion. During the three years of occupation, women had to wear black dresses and tight black headscarves, now they wear flower dresses, apply red lipstick. Sitting on the chair, the bride and groom don’t look worried, groom Ahmad, 18, wears a traditional jellabiya dress, bride Heba wears a white wedding dress with floral chiffon, she is holding a bouquet fake flowers in her hand while friends She took photos with her cellphone.
The girls were especially happy with the wedding, they put on lipstick, danced to the music and carried sharp plastic sleeping rings in their hands. Other children help, distribute water or carry chairs for new guests. The smell of perfume mingled and smiles spread on all faces.
Much of the city remains uninhabitable due to destroyed houses and mines left behind by terrorists. But anyway, this marriage is a sign of hope, even if those who have gone far have not returned, even if family members have died. Khaldiya, the groom’s aunt, rejoiced: “Raqqa will be happy again,” she said while playing the derbaké, an oriental percussion instrument. “No one will stop us from singing and dancing,” she said. We will celebrate the holidays as we want.
