a thin veneer of

化学兵器の使用はシリア政府によるものなのか否かに注目が集まっています。
そういったなか、首都ダマスカス中心部にあるホテルのプールは、暑い夏のひとときを楽しもうと大勢の人で賑わっているようです。
そんなシリアの日常を"thin veneer of normalcy"という表現で伝える記事に胸が痛みます。
veneer には「（家具などの表面に張る）化粧板、ベニヤ」（『ジーニアス英和大辞典』）に加えて「見せかけ、うわべの飾り」という意味が書かれています。(Sy)

Thin Veneer of Normalcy in Syria's Wartime Capital
Even in the capital of a country torn apart by civil war, Syrians have to find some way to enjoy themselves on a hot summer weekend.

So the pool at a Damascus luxury hotel was packed on a recent afternoon. The children playing in the water paid no attention to the frequent thump of artillery and shells from fighting on the city outskirts.

"This part of Damascus, the center, is like Paris. But beyond that, you don't go," said a 26-year-old bank employee, lounging on the deck with his buddies, who took puffs from a thick cigar they passed among themselves. Like several others who spoke to The Associated Press, he talked on condition he not be identified, wary about drawing the attention of either side in the conflict.

Not that the center is entirely safe. Just a day earlier, a mortar fired by rebels on the city edges landed just a block from the hotel, across the street from a church, knocking a chunk off the balcony of an apartment building. A few days later, on Monday, another mortar hit a neighboring mosque, cracking its minaret and killing a passer-by.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/thin-veneer-normalcy-syrias-wartime-capital-20087027