On Haykals' Interview

On Aljazeera last night there was an interview with Mohammad Hassanain Haykal. He talked about the Arab Spring and shared some of his thoughts on what is happening. I agreed with most of the things he said regarding Syria, how the middle classes in Syria (mostly in Damascus and Aleppo) are still quiet as they consider what has happened in Libya and Iraq and so on, and being able to persuade those middle classes to fully join the uprising will be the decisive point of the uprising. He also mentioned how the revolution should not be rushed by seeking foreign intervention (like in Libya) and that the revolution should mature in order for it to be successful.

He obviously looked down on the foreign intervention in Libya and said that it was a black period of the Arab spring (or something along those lines) as it didn't come from the people, which I would have agreed with if Qaddafi didn't plan on eliminating two thirds of the population of Libya. 

One thing I found a bit inaccurate was when he said that most of the protests in Syria are happening in cities and towns that are on the borders. He talked about what happened in Jisr Al Shughour, and hinted at Dera'a where the spark to the revolution took place and how close it is to the Jordanian border and threw in there a possibility of Jordanian secret service involvement in what has happened in Dera'a.

The problem is that most cities and towns in Syria are close to some border, even Damascus and Aleppo are close to the Lebanese and Turkish borders respectively. I don't think that that is an argument that can be made so as to show that there was foreign involvement in the uprising. And even though Damascus and Aleppo are close to borders there are no mass demonstrations taking place. Take for example Der il Zor, which is more inland, that city had alot of protests before the military clamp down. The only factor that determines the size of protests in cities and towns is the presence of security not anything else. For example, during the month before ramadan when Hama was security free, there were protests everyday and on Friday's the protests would be in the hundreds of thousands. For an entire month not one person was martyred and not one was even injured.

If three quarters of the cities in Syria are close to the border then the probability that protests will happen in some of those cities is high. Lets not forget that what happened in Dera'a, the spark to all this was a response by the people to the injustice their own children were put through and the humiliating and barbaric treatment that the families of those children received by regime officials at the time for protesting the ill treatment their children received by security forces. I don't see how foreign powers could have caused this in any way. Not to say that Haykal didn't admit that the demands and grievances of the people of Syria are not legitimate but he could have gone just a bit towards the governments story of events. 

Nevertheless, it was a good interview and the he did have some important points about the revolutions in different Arab countries especially about Yemen that I found interesting. Watch it if you can.

Rallies and Vocal Chords

I think I ripped my vocal chords apart today with the excessive screaming that I did. And yes, it was about the uprising in Syria. So let me dive into the subject without much introducing myself and how I'm physically feeling. 

So today was the "Family tree of Syria" event or better officially labeled as a 'carnival' that was being planned by the regime since the Arab league decided to send its envoy to Damascus to find a solution to the uprising in Syria. It was undeniable that a lot of people joined the 'carnival' and I had no problem watching it, just to get a couple of laughs you know. Because If you live in Syria and follow what the regime and those that support it have said in the past and compare it to such events you instantly notice how contradictory these people are. Anyways, I decided to stay home today since the opposition called for a general strike and spend some time watching the news and doing some blogging I thought. Until some family members came around while I was watching TV.. not a good moment, because as soon as they did (they are pro-regime.. actually I don’t know what they are exactly, one day they are here the next there?? ), they start cheering and saying things like "see all these people all Syria supports regime" and "the Zionist conspiracy has been defeated today, Americas plans won't happen after this, We won today, look at all these people!!"  

For me that is fine, I don’t mind people having a different opinion even if to me that opinion or position they take is unethical and immoral but when people don't have the correct picture about what is happening, when they are deluded and receive very little information about what is happening in the rest of the country, I don't blame them. What gets me is when those people start accusing those protesters saying they are traitors and basically worthless people who deserve to die. That is when I lose it. I start screaming like there was no tomorrow.

 

How can anyone accuse these people that are going out knowingly putting their lives at risk so that other Syrians might, just might one day be able to live a better life, one that is better than they would have ever hoped for. How is it that those protesting to defend their honour and families honour from the criminal acts that this regime is imposing on them deserve to die? Those people that have been martyred should all be considered nothing less than heroes, and their heroic acts to liberate this country from this intolerant, unjust and murderous regime should be and will always be remembered. The likes of Ghiath Matar, who during protests used to go up to security army personnel in Daraya and give them water as a gesture of good will and later used to give out flowers, how can this person be worthless? The likes of Hamza Al Khateb, a child with a conscious that went out with members of his town to provide people in a sieged town of Dera'a with food and was arrested and tortured to death, how is he worthless and deserves to die? All those children that have been killed the likes of Hajer Al Khateeb and the other 100+ children are they worthless? Today three more children were killed in Syria, one of them is called Catherine from Homs, I think she was 4 years old or younger. Worthless? 

I can't understand these people. They know that the regime is killing but they refuse to say anything about it or take a position against it. Maybe its because they fear the unknown, these people that support the regime have things to lose, they want to feel safe and the only way to feel safe, the only way they believe will keep them living is if this regime stays. They don't care if members of this regime are stealing the wealth of the Syrian people and spending it on living lavishly, I was told its better that a "Syrian" is stealing the peoples wealth than a foreign state.   

So there are a lot of people that are controlled by fear but is that enough, is fear alone enough to make you defend a regime that is killing other people just so that a couple of people can remain in power? Not really. If you are afraid you wouldn't publicly admit that you don’t support the regime, but when your around people you trust why not admit that you don’t support the regime?  

For this I have two explanations the first one being is that these people are genuinely ignorant of what is going on like I said earlier they don't get the information for them to form the right picture of what is happening. Or, they have become used to following directions that to break out of the shackles and to think freely scares them. If you watched the rally today you can see that even though, and after eight months of protests calling for the end of a regime where one man rules all, both the regime and its supporters are still saying "Bashar is our leader forever" and that it self is stupid and as I said earlier also contradicts what the regime has been talking about like, reform. So, these people have been programmed to think that there is only one person, and one person alone who is able to run this country, one person alone that is able to maintain peace in it and stop it from falling into civil/sectarian wars, and that just happens to be an eye doctor who had a crash course in the military probably becoming the fastest high ranked officer in the world (6 years to become General) who only came back to Syria from the UK because his older brother died and so he was next in line to rule because the second oldest son was seen even by his father, as too moronic and savage to rule. Yes, the perfect person for such a job even for someone who didn’t want to live in this country in the first place. 

There is a good documentary to watch called Tufan Fe Bilad Al Ba'ath (Flood in Baath Country) which shows how the education system in Syria instills these ideas that the ruling party is so great and that our leader is eternal and what not.  

These ideas that have been instilled into the people have completely sealed off and locked down any notion these people might get that there could be an alternative. And thus, you will find people saying "no one better will come if he (basher) goes". But there have been times that I've seen pro-regime supporters escape for a while, when they feel that their conscious can no longer take it and start to speak freely. The next day they come back as if nothing they said a day earlier has ever been said, they apparently have this ability to self suppress any ideas they may get that this regime is doing things that they need to be held accountable for.  

They quickly revert and start saying "No, this regime is fighting terrorists that have come from all borders Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Iraq and are being financed by Bandar Bin Sultan, Hariri, Turkey, Qatar, Aljazeera, Saudi Arabia with billions of dollars and they get the most advanced weapons like laser guns, and they are killing people, because Condaleza Rice said there is a new middle east and regime stood against it, that’s why they made a command center in Hamburg that is leading the protests in the streets, and even Batman is in on this…" ??  

Seriously, this conspiracy thing is going way out of control, people need to understand that there will always be plans by the west to dominate this region one way or another, it has never stopped and probably will never stop. These countries have interests, and they will do what is necessary to reach their aims. The problem is not that these western nations have plans to dominate, the problem is when WE don't have a plan to become strong enough to fight off those plans without having to depend on others to stand by us (Iran) and without having bargaining chips that we can use with the west to ease off pressure and get what we want like Hizbullah, Hamas, PKK, etc.  

I've gone way out of the topic but its all relevant. However this could have been two or three posts even. Nevermind that, this is probably the only time I'm going to have for a while to write this. 

So carrying on with the story I first started with. After ripping apart my vocal chords, I decided to leave the house and go to the office. So off I went, drove past a checkpoint and was going towards the city, only to find out that all entrances to it were sealed off. I ask a police officer how I can get in, he just points towards the other side. So I drive to the other side and to another entrance but it was also sealed off. There, was a man obviously frustrated at not being allowed in, lost it and cursed the police man who was talking to him, the police man shouts at the man with the very famous coastal accent "go away or I'll shoot you right now". The man freezes, looks at the policeman and says "Do it". At that point I still didn’t grasp what was going on, I was watching but also being still angry at the earlier argument I had, and the fact that I didn’t have much fuel in the car and trying to figure out how to get to the office, all this was distracting me. I think if I wasn't distracted I would have gone out and picked a fight with the policeman.  

Anyways It rained in Damascus soon after and I assume that people left the rally early. I met with a couple of friends soon after,one of them works in some government department, tells me how employees were forced to attend the rally. We assumed that atleast 80% of those that attended didn't want to be there really. Nevertheless, we can't deny there are people that still support the regime, and we shouldn't have a problem with those people, after all we all want a Syria where we can support who we want and oppose others without being killed for it.

I Support the SNC

I couldn't have been happier today after hearing that the Syrian National Council has been finally formed head by Burhan Ghalioun, who I honestly haven't heard of before the start of the Syrian revolution. So obviously for now I and many other Syrians will be supporting this council, and although it is not representative of all the political parties and other entities in Syria it does represent (according to Mr. Burhan) nearly 80% of all Syrian entities whether political or ethnic.

Following my last post titled "The Way Forward" which points out how the Syrian revolution needs to take a different path than its counter parts in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya by properly planning the steps taken by those in the forefront of the revolution to ensure a transitional phase that will actually be able to accomplish the aims of the revolution, with much less obstacles as compared to other revolutions. I advise you guys to read it, it’s a pretty good read, if you do rush to read it please ignore the typos, And! Maybe you could leave a comment or rate it or something.. you know. 

In relation to that previous post I think this National Council will be able to eliminate any uncertainties and fear of the unknown that the silent majority has, and will (if the council does its job properly) create more backing for the revolution from people that are still undecided or those that are currently pro-regime but have been growing tired of the situation. In any case, what I would like to see from this Syrian National Council next is an action plan and mechanisms by which they will ensure the revolution is successful in toppling the regime (which has been stated as the aim of the council) and the way this council will carry out the transitional phase from a dictatorial regime to a regime that is representative of all the people. What I would also like to see is that the National Council allows other entities that have been formed to support the Syrian revolution or Syrian political parties or Syrian organizations from different backgrounds the ability to take part in the council. According to Mohammad Al Oudat, A Syrian Journalist, 15 political parties within Syria are not represented in the council. 

That said, a lot of the people that support the revolution in Syria have decided to support the Council for the time being but have stated that they won't raise their hopes too high and will be watching the steps the council take very closely. It is very possible that this council will lose a lot of its internal support and thus credibility if it carries out things that people believe to be in the wrong direction or are counter-productive. Anything like arguments that break out in the council for any reason that is thought to be insignificant, or making the wrong decisions for example agreeing to hold talks with the current regime or accepting any foreign military intervention or taking the liberty to act on behalf of the revolutionaries rather than acting as a tool to support the revolution. 

In any case the Syrian National Council has finally been formed and I support it because for the time being it is the only alternative available.