Everyone is getting "handshake-gate" wrong

There was a kerfuffle in Syria this weekend, as Politico EU reports:

She came to advocate the rights of women and minorities. She left without a handshake.

The Syrian leader’s refusal to offer a greeting handshake during a visit to Damascus this week was predictable, Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said.

The incident nonetheless prompted a vigorous online debate over global political greeting protocols, as well as the label “handshake scandal” by German daily Bild, as Baerbock’s traveling partner, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, was offered a handshake.

“As I travelled here, it was clear to me that there would obviously be no ordinary handshakes,” Baerbock told broadcasters Friday evening.

“But it was also clear … that not only I but also the French foreign minister did not share this view. And accordingly, the French foreign minister did not extend his hands,” she stressed.

Everyone is getting this story wrong.

I cannot believe I'm the one to defend  Ahmad al-Sharaa, but videos of the encounter show that he offered his hand to Barrot. Barrot half heartedly shook only fingertips - he did indeed extend his hand. Sharaa then put his hand over his heart as he smilingly greeted Baerbock .

The only sign of disrespect during the brief encounter was Barrot's half-handshake. He should have either refused the handshake if he really cared about Baerbock's dignity, or he should have shaken the Syrian leader's hand with respect. 

The jury is still out on al-Sharaa, but expecting him to violate his own religious principles is also a sign of disrespect. Baerbock knew ahead of time that she wouldn't be shaking his hand; there was no insult intended.

The bigger story is that the former ISIS leader did not request that Baerbock cover her hair. That is what Iran and Saudi Arabia would request, and al-Sharaa's government did not. 

Respect is a two way street. It is possible to show respect without violating your own religious principles, as al-Sharaa did. Demanding that a visiting diplomat wear a hijab is infinitely more offensive, as Iran and other Islamist governments do. 

We still have no idea what kind of state Syria will become, if it even survives the continuing infighting. So far the new government seems to be mostly doing what it can to assuage Western concerns about his Islamism. The most recent incident was when reports came out of a change in the school curriculum that seemed to support teaching Islamist concepts and this is indeed concerning. 

But the story of the visit with the German Foreign Minister and her hair uncovered is evidence of moderation, not extremism. 

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