Restaurateur who barred American consul is toast
of the town
Majd Niyazi Tabbaa told diplomat: ‘You are not
welcome’
DAMASCUS: Among the most visible signs of anger at US policy in the region are two
restaurants in Damascus that have taken stands against Americans, albeit with different
messages.
Majd Niyazi Tabbaa became famous last month as “the woman who threw the American
consul out of her restaurant,” which is actually owned by her husband and located in
the Old City of Damascus.
More than a month afterward, Tabbaa said that she continues to receive a stream of
telephone calls and messages
of support, whether locally or from outside Syria.
Various versions of the incident circulated through the internet and media, which Tabbaa
said required clarification.
“It happened on April 7,” she recalled. “When the consul, Roberto Powers,
walked in, he went to the bar. I went over to him and told him: ‘Mr. Roberto, tell
your George Bush that all of you are not welcome please get out.’
“He’s a nice guy and I don’t have anything against him, but because he
represents the US government, it was the only way to reach the US government and convey my
feelings and my message,” she continued.
The US Embassy declined to comment on the incident.
Tabbaa said that Powers, who frequented the restaurant, had also been at Oxygen on the
night of the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington.
On that occasion, “I told him: ‘Mr. Roberto, we’re sorry about the innocent
people who died. As a Syrian citizen, I give you my condolences.’
“But unfortunately, the US government forced me to behave this way with its
representatives,” she said, describing
her more famous later encounter with the consul.
The message she wanted to get across, Tabbaa continued, had to be as “harsh” as
the
one conveyed by President George W. Bush, “whom I can’t accept saying that
(Israeli Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon is a ‘man of peace.’
“The American people are good, but their government is falsifying reality and 100
percent in the grip of Sharon.”
Tabbaa said she received an unending stream of phone calls of support as news of the
incident spread, taking out a stack of business cards dropped off by admirers.
“Many people have come to see the restaurant where the incident took place, with a
lot of people from Jordan, Lebanon, other Arab countries. An American businessman came in
a few days ago, and said it was a pleasure to meet me.”
Tabbaa said she was not a member of a political party, and while not officially
coordinating with grass-roots boycott campaigns, she has taken part in candlelight marches
to protest the Israeli military offensive on the West Bank.
The 41-year old mother of three is a painter, and several
of her works adorn the walls
of Oxygen, which is located in a restored traditional stone house in the Qaimarieh
neighborhood, near Bab Touma.
She said the restaurant, owned by her husband Aref Tabbaa, had not experienced a radical
improvement in business after the incident, since it was doing well in the first place.
But Oxygen has become a household name, where everyone seems to have heard of the
“famous restaurant.”
Drawing a clear line between the US administration and the American people, Tabbaa said
she disagreed with the “No Americans Allowed” message put up at a restaurant
called Mondo in the posh neighborhood of Malki.
Mondo’s owner, Ahmad Diab, said he put up the sign at the height of the Jenin
massacre and disregarded advice to send his message only to “official”
representatives of the United States.
“The message is directed at all Americans, not just diplomats. All Americans are
involved in what’s going on. The killing is taking place with their weapons and
planes. Don’t they pay taxes?” he asked. “Many of my friends, some of whom
are naturalized American citizens, advised me not to do this. They encouraged me to only
target diplomats. But how many US diplomats are there in Syria?”
The owner also brushed off the notion of a contradiction between the message outside and
the Statue of Liberty poster and other American decor inside, as well as banana splits and
American coffee on the menu.
As for failing to distinguish between Americans and their representatives, Diab said that
an American girl called the ban “disgusting.”
“We told her about the kids who are dying. Do they differentiate between armed and
unarmed people?” MD Copyright
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