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Feature: Spectators outnumber buyers of Eid al-Adha sacrificial sheep in Damascus

Xinhua, September 24, 2015 Adjust font size:

In the ancient quarter of Damascus, livestock merchants spread near butcher shops, showcasing herds of sheep for people to buy and sacrifice on the first day of the Muslim Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice.

The spectacle at the livestock market is similar to that of previous years, but with one main difference, which is the number of people who are actually buying, as most of the people gathered near the butcher shops said they were "just looking."

"I came here to buy a sheep to sacrifice but I found that the prices have gone up, which pushed me to change my mind and refrain from buying," Mohammad Subhi, a father of two, told Xinhua, complaining of the skyrocketing prices now of everything in Syria.

Performing the "sacrifice" ritual of slaughtering sheep and distributing their meat to the poor is the essence of Eid al-Adha. In prewar times in Syria, this practice was followed by the vast majority of the people, as prices were more affordable.

With the Syrian crisis entering its fifth year, the prices of sheep have increased 75 percent comparing to the year before.

"I feel sad today," said Ghaith Shami, 44, who came to the market with his wife and two daughters. "I thought I could follow every year's ritual, but unfortunately, it seems that I will return home empty-handed."

The price of sheep meat has risen sixfold as compared to prewar times. "The prices are really high with rampant joblessness," Shami said. "The situation is really bad."

Juma'a al-Hajji, a livestock dealer, said only dozens of people bought sacrificial sheep from him, a far cry from the large number of buyers before the onset of the four-year-old conflict, which has resulted in huge economic losses, unprecedented unemployment and low expectations that the country's devastating economy would recover any time soon.

Official estimates put the jobless rate at 36 percent and inflation at 147 percent in 2014. Some unofficial estimates place unemployment rates at over 50 percent.

According to the Syrian Center for Policy Research, Syrian economy suffered a total loss of 202.6 billion dollars from the beginning of the crisis in 2011 to the end of 2014. Endit