Syria: Clog Capital Of The Middle East!

Lebanon has its hummus--but Syria has its clogs.
But maybe not for much longer, since Clog Industry... Heritage Threatened with Extinction:

Although many now consider the clog as an out-of-date fashion, the distinguished sound it produce still succeeds in stirring a unique sensation of the listener taking him/her back in memory to ancient Damascus, and its homes and alleys.

Clog industry in Damascus, which spread in the 1950s, is threatened with extinction nowadays.


"There was huge demand for clogs in the fifties, from all the Syrian cities, even form the neighboring countries like Jordan, Egypt and Turkey. Now this craft is on its way to extinction with the new brand fashions, and the various types of leather and plastic shoes entering the markets, in addition to the death of most of clog makers," senior craft master of clog industry in Damascus Hamza Mukhalalati said.

But don't go looking for Syrian clogs on Wikipedia.
There, the only countries that are mentioned are:

• The Dutch
• United Kingdom
• France
• Italy
• Spain

Clogs in those countries go back centuries, further back than in Syria.

There is also reference to something there called clog fighting--a British thing:

Clog fighting, locally called 'purring' was a means of settling disputes. Both the fighting and the betting among spectators was illegal.

"It is all up and down fighting here. They fought quite naked, excepting their clogs. When one has the other down on the ground he first endeavours to choke him by squeezing his throat, then he kicks him on the head with his clogs. Sometimes they are very severely injured."

Lebanon has fought hard to keep bragging rights to hummus, but I can't imagine Syria doing the same.

Technorati Tag: Syria and Clogs.