The Syrian regime has finally let the army in to Hama to commit a massacre on the people that hasn't seen brutality in the past month due to the fact that there hasn't been any army or security personnel in the city. For an entire month people gathered and protested the regime and went back home peacefully with out causing any trouble and without people being killed. Today alone and so far, 88 people have been killed in Hama alone.
One wonders what the aim of the regime is. Is this some sort of warning that the regime won't stay quiet during the month of Ramadan? or is it its attempt at scaring the people and deterring them from protesting further or to deter them from escalating the protests during the month of Ramadan?
What ever the reason it is nothing less than being barbaric and desperate attempt to gain something, what it is exactly I have no idea. It has lost legitimacy in the eyes of its people, and the Syrian people see nothing more than a bunch of murderous gang running a country.
I was reading Abu Fares' recent blog about his recent visit to Istanbul, where he put forth a question most of us thought about during the past couple of months a lot:
"What if we had democracy in Syria and in the rest of the Arab countries?"
During my last visit to Istanbul I thought the same thing. Why is it that a neighbouring country to Syria can thrive on all levels yet we are still so far behind. I was eager as soon as I stepped foot on Syrian land having just come back from Istanbul and witnessing how magnificent Istanbul is, to be able to make a change in Syria. I queued in a line waiting for my turn in the passport control section to get my passport stamped thinking about all the things I can do to contribute to the development of society in Syria.
I was very excited and everything I thought about seemed real and achievable, until the moment when the person in front of me gave the passport control person 50 syrian pounds to let him pass quickly, my enthusiasm died just as quick as that person passed the passport control section. and I quickly remembered where I was. Not to mention how another person went by the baggage inspection also quickly because his "cousin" apparently works there, or how another person paid a worker in the baggage area to go and get him his bags from behind the conveyor thing. These things just kill your motivation to do things you believe will benefit others and your county.
When I used to travel abroad and come back to Syria I used to feel depressed at the situation the country is in. We all know that the country could be much better than it currently is at. I don't have to travel far to feel that depression, sadness and anger at the way things are in this country, just go to Lebanon and walk in the downtown area. I know that this area of Lebanon is not a reflection of the entire country but even that glimpse of economical/real estate development is not present in Syria.
I know that most people think "what can one person do", I don't hold
that view, because in my opinion if I move and do something, others will
see that someone is trying to do something that they previously thought
couldn't be done, they just need someone to prove to them that some
things can be done if we put an effort in to it. And then they will move
and attempt to contribute. Just like what is happening with all the
demonstrations in Syria. We all thought it would be impossible to show
dissent to the regime in such a public way until some people decided
that this situation cannot remain and decided to take matters in to their
own hands.
Until the current demonstrations, I thought that society in Syria was used to being corrupt and materialistic which made individuals in this society that are well off arrogant and egocentric. It is amazing to see how many people go out in demonstrations in Syria to denounce all those sickening attributes of our society. They are not only putting in an effort, but have sacrificed their lives, for the sake of a better future not only for themselves but for Syria. That I think, is the biggest contribution anyone can give to the development of this society.
Rami Makhlouf, said it. “If there is no stability here, there’s no way there will be stability in Israel.” He also said that policies were formulated as “a joint decision.” Although the interview is obviously intended for American policy makers this will definitely have resounding effects in Syria.
So why are those two comments of importance to what is happening in Syria?
As I mentioned earlier in previous posts, one of the main reasons why the regime has wide support in Syria was because it opposed any peace deal with Israel that wasn't a comprehensive peace with all Arab countries involved. It also gained Syrians support for its support for resistance groups against Israel in the region. Mr. Rami goes publicly and declares that there is a link between the Stability in Syria and Israel. This shows that in reality, the regime has been securing Israels' stability and continuously lying to its people about being at the forefront of resistance against the Zionist state. How can you be resisting and at war with Israel, and then talk about its stability?
So when dissidents of the regime and those opposing it say that "not one bullet has been fired in the Golan since 1973 to free the Syrian Golan, and they (the regime) claim to be part of the resistance axis in the region"; and "the regime has sold the Golan just like it sold Iskandaron" then when you reflect on what Mr. Rami says you find that those accusations are true.
The regime has always tried to pretend that nothing happens and no decisions are made outside government institutions. That all decisions have to be taken within those specialized institutions to deal with the different issues the country is facing. This charade has been conducted very recently when the no longer legitimate president of Syria announced that there will be reform, where excuses such as dissolving cabinet, and bureaucratic measures for applying reforms such as lifting emergency laws, has been used to delay applying those reforms and win time in the hopes that the crises will end with time.
So when Mr. Rami says that policies are "formulated as a joint decision" that eliminates the role of the entire government. A government that is only up there to delude the people that there is a government and that this country is ruled by the law and institutions rather than a clan or a family. Some may say a mafia.
What Rami Makhlouf has said was not intended to be heard by Syrians. What he said resembles the truth about the regime. He has basically admitted, defended and is proud of everything, what the protesters are saying is wrong with the regime. He said the regime will fight. The regime will fight for its survival against the will of the Syrian people and against the legitimate demands of the people. The masks have finally fallen.
In the last couple of weeks we have seen those that are pro-regime call the protesters in Syria as Traitors and conspirators against their country. I have been stunned to hear from a couple of people that I talked to (some are family members) that what the regime is doing is just because these people (protesters) want to destroy the country. They call them "mukharebeen" that is people that sabotage, vandalize and to put it simply, terrorists. They say those that attack public goods like buildings and such deserve what they are getting.
What this reflects is two things, first, to these people human life is not sacred, secondly, materialism and worldly desires have blinded them so much that they have become selfish. In their eyes a nation is a place, a land, a building or a park, a road and a billboard. They are Wrong. A Nation... is a PEOPLE. People not stone or bricks, not a tree or a building. It is the people. People make up nations, they build nations.
So when you deprive your people from liberty, justice, freedom, security when you strangle their aspirations, hopes and dreams, when your doing this to your PEOPLE, your destroying your Nation; your Country.
Those that kill their people, kill their nation; those that say it is alright to kill some people for the sake of security, in fact are aiding to the destruction of their nation; and those that feel nothing when they see a person killed have no regards to their nation, they don't respect or love their people or nation. They are selfish, they are slaves to materialism. And They Are, most importantly, Traitors.
A nation is not a place, a land, a building or a park, a road and a billboard. A nation is a People.
In this post I will attempt to show how the Syrian regime of Bashar Al Assad has managed to gain so much support over the past couple of years, just bare with me for a couple of introductory paragraphs!
Social media has played a major role in the uprisings that have taken place across the Middle East and the North Africa region. It is without any doubt that such social media has been the instigator for people to continue their struggle; in the absence of such media those uprisings would have most probably ended in the favor of ruling regimes.
Not only are those social media websites driving and assisting people in their struggles against corrupt governments especially when acting as alternative sources of news and information, but more recently they are showing the consensus and the opinions of majorities in certain countries. For example, on facebook there is a new application that allows individuals to ask questions where other facebook users may select an answer from a number of different answers. One such question that came around a couple of days ago was:
هل انت مع توقيع سوريا لاتفاقية سلام مع اسرائيل؟؟
Do you think Syria should sign a peace treaty with Israel?
Having just checked the results so far those that said YES are 197 whereas those that said NO are 6003.
So how can this be related to the support the current regime gets from most of Syrians?
When it came to foreign policy the Syrian regime has stuck to its core principles of right to resist, righteousness of resistance movements, standing against imperialism and foreign intervention in the middle east region, and most importantly not accepting a peace treaty with Israel. Of course, those aren't simple issues and are discussed further below.
1) Right to Resist and Righteousness of resistance movements:
The Syrian regime has willingly and sometimes out of necessity, supported resistance movements in the region. As we all know they support Hizbullah of Lebanon, Hamas of Palestine and other Palestinian factions including the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and for a short while openly supported Iraqi resistance and then covertly supported that resistance after 2004-2005.
When government officials were interviewed by any news outlet and were asked about resistance movements in the middle east, the made it clear that the regime supports any righteous resistance that was fighting any oppressive regime wherever it may be.
Now any Syrian, in fact any person in the world would agree to that and in the eyes of most Syrians, any movement that is fighting the Zionists state is and will always be seen as a righteous movement fighting a righteous cause. However some skeptical Syrians would ask, how come we don't have any resistance on our borders? why isn't our regime, that supports resistance movements in Lebanon and Palestine not conducting its own resistance to the occupation of the Golan Heights. And that's the point the regime failed to address.
2) Imperialism and Foreign Intervention: Not much needs to be discussed except that the regime in Syria opposed any sort of foreign intervention in the middle east most notably the invasion of Iraq even though ties between the two countries haven't been good since the Iraq-Iran war.
3) Peace with Zionist Israel:
The policy that has been carried out by the current regime has been similar to that of Hafez Al Assad. His policy was that no peace will be signed with Israel unless it was a comprehensive peace agreement between Zionist Israel and Palestine, Lebanon and Syria, while at the same time maintaining full rights including return of all occupied lands up until 1967, sovereignty over all the returned lands and other rights related to Palestine.
Having taken the same stance by Bashar Al Assad very little people were against it. However indirect talks that were reveled to the public prior to the 2008 aggression on Gaza exhibited the flexibility of the Syrian regime towards this policy. Whereby the regime defended the indirect talks by pointing out the peace treaties signed between Egypt, Jordan and Israel and justified it by saying it was all part of the comprehensive peace process and that the regime is pragmatic (it does what it can given the circumstances). The indirect peace talks (moderated by Turkey) ended after the aggression on Gaza, as a sign of protest to that aggression.
Those are the three principle foreign policies that solidified the relationship between the people and the regime. There are however other major events that cemented that relationship even further which include:
- US sanctions on Syria
- Assassination of Rafik Harriri and the International Tribunal
- Collaboration of previous Egyptian regime and Saudi Arabia with other countries to topple Syrian Regime.
- Taking in refugees from both Iraq and Lebanon
- Anti Syrian sentiment in Lebanon
(The first Three events contributed heavily to the justification by the regime in current events for the presence of a conspiracy against Syrian regime and its people)
Having considered the foreign policies mentioned above and other events we can clearly see why the majority of Syrians stand by the current regime. When it comes to domestic policies, that is where most of us will find 180 degree shift of opinion. Very few Syrians will be against the foreign policies that were upheld by the previous regime (such questions on facebook reflect this where the current numbers to the earlier mentioned question is at 6950 for NO and 229 for YES - only 6 hours later), believing that the events currently happening in Syria are a continuation of that conspiracy against the Syrian regime by foreign countries and and other entities (mainly Lebanese parties and other figures in the Gulf region).
I do believe that foreign intervention has a minor role in what is happening however the major effects that caused the current uprising happening now in Syria is a result of failed domestic policies, injustice by the regime towards the people and corruption. Will be hopefully discussed later.
Long has been the myth of the mighty security/intelligence forces (or mukhabarat) in Syria, that people dare not say the names of those security apparatus in public or even in phone conversations. There are 13 different security apparatus in Syria each dealing with different aspects of everyday life of the people. The most notorious of those is the Air force intelligence which works domestically as well as overseas. A security clearance is required for virtually everything anyone wants to do, whether it was to get married, start a business, travel, eat, breath... no I'm just kidding, you don't need a clearance for that.
After what has happened in the past couple of weeks from what some may call a revolution -whereas I like to call it anti-government demonstrations- the government has decided to loosen up a bit by removing security clearance procedures for many of the activities.
But honestly, this post is not about the reducing of procedures by these security/intelligence forces. Its about the following (it is related to the security/intelligence in Syria though).
Anonymous, is a person I know who works two jobs, in the morning he goes to the Governorate of Damascus where he works in the Directorate of waterways. His second job is working at the place I work in. A couple of days ago, when there was apparently a football game taking place at the Abbasiyeen stadium, workers at the Directorate of waterways were called for an emergency. They all gathered at the Directorate, each was given a baton and were then sent to the stadium to make sure that if some people, all of a sudden, decided to protest, there would be security present to beat them up and disperse them. According to Anonymous, he said nothing happened that night and they were all sent home.
This according to anonymous has been happening regularly. Two days ago when there was a call for a demonstration in the Abbasiyeen Square, government employees were also sent to face the protesters. Anonymous told his employer that he will not go and opted to go on an inspection round to Al Assi river. He said he would never beat a fellow Syrian, and would rather be hit himself instead if put in that position.
This shows how thin the security forces have been running recently. Given that their power is mostly centralized in Damascus it seems they have been poorly distributed across the country. According to another person I have talked to, he tells me that his brother in-law who works for one of the mukhabarat branches, has been in Dera'a for weeks and that last time they talked he was heading to one of the cities in the North, could be Banyas or Homs, he tells me they still haven't heard anything from him.
This also makes it clearer what and why, what is known as "people's committees" have been created in some cities in Syria like Lattakia, Banyas, Dera'a, Homs and other areas where protests exploded in recent weeks.
And this also slightly ridicules the notion being put forth by the ever so failing Syrian media (namely the Syrian T.V. and the Al Doniya TV station) which attempted to ridicule and deny the videos of security forces beating up civilians with the most absurd and farcical of excuses. Like for example, in their attempts of delegitimizing the video where armed security forces had men from the village of Al Baida on the floor with their hands cuffed behind their backs while the security men were stomping on their heads; Al Doniya suggested that one of the security forces looked too young to be part of the security forces given that anyone wanting to join the security/intelligence must be 18 or over, hence deeming the video fabricated.
It was not until recently that the media has been slightly taking a different narrative. They nearly stopped using outlandish excuses for the failure of security forces in dealing with what has been happening, and they tuned down their attack on those that have been protesting for their rights as citizens in a country ruled by the law and by institutions rather than individuals as most claim. Furthermore, with the above in mind, it does very much seem that the security/intelligence apparatus in this country is not as mighty as one may think, it is still however not a good idea to be caught by them, you will most definitely not have a good time where ever they may take you to.
With yesterdays directions given by Bashar Al Assad, it will be interesting to see how things will unravel in the coming week and not weeks. I'll leave me impression on yesterdays 'Lecture' by the president to the new government for another post.
I've been contemplating while I sat here tonight, on what I should write about today. Its been a while and even though I have so much time to be sitting and writing (since I am still technically jobless - no surprises there considering where I'm currently living) I still don't, maybe its a lack of motivation or maybe its just the lazy in me?
As I said, this post could have been about the Copenhagen Summit on Climate Change, or on Islam or even on government silliness (not restricted to any country) in whatever matter, But I choose to write about ignorant, selfish, unbelievably stupid and inconsiderate things that Syrian people (not everyone) usually do in public. Ofcourse this will require at least an essay that is 27 pages long so I will be talking about one thing every week - just so that I do not shock people who are reading this that live in a more civilized country. So for today, I shall talk about my favourite topic (which I usually complain about every single day): Driving in Syria. I really do get excited when I talk about driving in Syria and seriously become extra motivated, I am right now grinning at my laptop screen as the clicks of the keyboard gradually get louder.. I shall split this into subsections so that you don't get confused:
Rules.. really?: Rules while driving in Syria are non existing. You can virtually stop where ever you want if your man enough you can even stop on a high way but that will just be pushing your luck; you can drive between lanes; you can go into a roundabout at a speed of approximately 165 Km/second (as long as there are no cameras); you can drive counter-flow; you can babysit your child while driving or you can even drive without any lights on (this one is for those military vehicles). Don't get me wrong people do stop on traffic lights just because they really hate paying those fees if a damn traffic policeman or camera gets them.
High beam headlights, Syrians' favourite:
Wherever you drive, be sure to be blinded by the high beam headlights (or more commonly known as 'Highlights') from cars driving 5 meters behind you, or cars coming from the other side. In some cases you can't blame some people since the roads might not be fully lit or lit at all, but come on people, Damascus is full of signs saying something along the lines of "driving requires manners and that driving properly shows how civilized a person is".. all in vein.
The Mezzeh Autostrade.. or is it?:
The Mezzeh autostrade is not really an autostrade (Italian for highway). First of all there is approximately 27 traffic lights. Secondly you are restricted to a speed of 60 Km/hour in whatever lane your in. And finally, although there are underpasses for pedestrians everyone crosses the road on the 'autostrade', there are even zebra crossings in front of the traffic lights, which brings me to the next point.
Crossing Roads:
A pedestrian may cross from where ever they want. A pedestrian can at times consider him/herself a moving vehicle and walk between cars until there is an opening between the traffic that would enable him/her to move on a lane closer to the side they wish to be on. Pedestrians are really dangerous and suicidal if your new to this country, as they will not wait for you to stop, for them to decide to cross the road once they get bored of waiting.
Traffic light timers:
A good invention. Lets you know exactly how many seconds of your life your wasting waiting for the traffic light to turn green. The benefit of those timers are not quite clear, here taxi drivers that I have been with think they are a method of entertainment and statistically 6 out of 10 drivers will ask you (if your in the passenger seat next to the driver) "will we make it?" and starts to speed up in order to "make it". In other instances the timer is a means of notifying those stuck way behind In a traffic when they should start blasting their horns, or for those in the front can use the timer to either drag race or waste a couple of seconds and see how pissed off those behind them get.
Roads like Silk:
Roads in Syria in general are shit. I apologize but there is no other way to put this. A well laid road in Syria is one which has 7 or less holes in it. When driving in Syria be sure to have a paper bag with you, like the ones they have on airplanes. They say Damascus is the oldest inhabited city in the world, and those roads are the evidence.
Taxis and other Public Vehicles:
Should be considered as hazard. Where to start...!?
Traffic policemen:
If it is the end of the month and traffic policemen are broke, they will pull anyone over for whatever reason it is no matter how unimportant you think it is (indecent looking car for example) and will try to get you to bribe them so that they will let you go.
and to round up something from my last personal experience of driving in Syria.
As I drove yesterday in the suburbs of Damascus, I had to cross a two way bridge that fits exactly two vehicles, to get where I wanted to go. I was driving right behind a pick-up car and as usual the load was a couple of men. All of a sudden and with no prior notice, the driver of that pick-up decided or most probably had made a previous decision with the three men at the back to drop them off on top of the bridge for some strange reason, knowing that they would eventually have to walk to either side of the bridge to get to the place where the micro-buses (little white buses) usually pass by. having little time to act and no choice of stopping I had to take the idiot over; I barely missed him and the glare of the 'highlights' from cars approaching from the other side, struck my eyes nearly blinding me during the process; I had to quickly swerve back into the right lane nearly missing the car and subsequent cars from the other side. Having avoided crashing, I also avoided ending up in prison that day as I decided not to kill that guy ("guy" is not the word or words in my head right now).
Tuesday, 10 November 2009
I enjoy listening to speeches by Bashar Al Assad because he says things in his speeches that no Arab leader says or has said in a long time. Things like 'if peace is not achieved then our only means to get back what has been taken from us by force, will be through resistance', or 'Resisting occupation is a national duty and for Syria to back it up is a moral and a legitimate duty and that supporting it is an honor for us" are things that any body in this region likes to hear. Still in many cases what is being said does not match the reality on the ground...
Drought has been hitting the North-Eastern parts of Syria in the harshest of ways, causing thousands of people to flee their once green fields into larger cities in Syria (mainly Damascus) looking for an alternative source of living. Speaking to the Financial Times, Nabi Rashid Mohammad, Syria's deputy minister of agriculture says that Syria wants "more parties to be involved in this problem because we, the Syrian government and the people are doing all we can but the problem is bigger than our abilities to deal with it."
Although Syria is seeking international aid, this has so far not been sufficient. The UN has not yet been able to come up with the required amount of funds to face this problem:
"The UN is seeking some $53m (€36m, £33m) in emergency funds but has not received any money yet from donors...
Drought is a slowly ongoing disaster and because of the political situation donors do not give money easily for humanitarian action in Syria," says Mostafa Shbib to the FT. According to a report on Aljazeera the UN has only managed to secure 19% of the total funds necessary.
The effects of the drought can be felt on many levels. Nabil Sukar a Syrian Economist has said that the effects of the drought on the economy can already be felt estimating that the drought will "shave about 1 per cent off gross domestic product growth this year." Syria's GDP growth this year is expected to be around 1%.
The BBC has also reported on the effects of the drought on the families that live in that region stating that nearly 300,000 families have already left the area. Although there has been 'limited assistance by the Un and Red Cross along with food aid distribution and the introduction of a system of tax breaks and new loans for farmers by the Syrian government; non of it is enough.'
The press conference that was carried out two days ago between Hugo Chavez and Bashar Al Assad was very interesting to watch. Apart from what the talkative Hugo Chavez (I understand now why he has his own TV show) one thing caught my attention from what Bashar Al Assad said during that press conference. When answering a reporters question he said something along those lines 'currently there are no leaders or presidents that work for a cause, most leaders are serving their own interests instead of their peoples interest'. It is debatable as to the extent the Syrian regime serves the peoples interests rather than their own (my personal opinion is that they do) however this comment could be said to be directed towards the current members and leaders of the puppet government in Baghdad especially after the deteriorating situation between the two countries after the bombings on what is now known as the 'Black Wednesday' where more than 100 people were killed in bombings that targeted different Iraqi ministries.
When the bombings took place, the Iraqi prime minister Al Maliki was on a two day visit to Syria along with a group of ministers from the puppet Iraqi government signing Strategic agreements between the two countries including the creation of a higher strategic council that would look after the strategic affairs between the two countries. In some Arab news outlets some political analysts viewed the signing of those agreements as part of a large regional alliance between Iran-Turkey-Iraq and Syria. However those analysts, although they are probably right about the attempts by those countries to create a regional alliance, fell short after the bombings in Baghdad.
Al Maliki ended his visit to Syria a day earlier heading back to Baghdad where without any evidence Al Maliki and Hoshyar Zibari (Iraqi foreign minister) placed responsibility of the bombings to two members of the Iraqi Baath party that reside in Syria in a very Bush administration style; providing no evidence and placing the blame hours after the bombings occurred. Feeling deceived by the Iraqi puppet government the Syrian regime strongly denied all the allegations that were directed towards it. The Syrians went on to launch a diplomatic effort to explain to the world its position in this matter while the Iraqi's continued and escalated their tone and accusations to the Baathist members and 'neighboring states'. It is worth noting that some Arab news agencies reported that the head of the Iraqi intelligence services Mohammad Al Shehwani was retired as cheif of the intelligence services after disagreeing with Al-Maliki over who was behind the bombings saying that the Baathist party doesn't not have the capabilities to conduct such bombings. This comes contrary to what has been said by Reuters which claimed that Al Shahwani was released days before the bombing occurred as Al Shahwani reached the retirement age.
The issue of capabilities is probably the main issue that leads to the dissmisal of the Iraqi accusations towards the Baathists in Syria and the Syrian role in the bombings. Do members of the Baath party have the ability to conduct large simultaneous bombings in probably the most guarded areas in Baghdad? Do they have relationships with members of the current government security services that would allow for such bombings to occur?
A recent comment made by a Turkish newspaper "Hareet" stated that 'there is a country in the region that is annoyed by the growing relations between Turkey, Syria and Iraq' saying that 'Syria did not gain anything from those attacks'. It is clear which country might be annoyed with those growing relations between the three countries. Egypt remains the only country in the region that has not improved its relations with the Syrians and there remains to be any sort of high ranked diplomatic exchanges between the two countries other than the visit by Omar Soliman who arrived in Damascus earlier this year to conduct talks with the different Palestinian factions in Damascus. The Egyptians seem to be the most annoyed with the improving relations between the three countries as it was one of the main players in the region that took part in the attempts to isolate the Syrian regime during the Bush era; seeing itself i.e. the Egyptian regime, being slowly isolated from regional affairs and the decreasing influence and role of the Egyptian regime in the region.
The Iraqi's seem to be only interested in increasing the issue by directly blaming the Syrian regime and calling on for an international investigation and tribunal for those responsible for the bombings even though there are attempts by both Turkey and Iran to lower the tensions between the two countries. The Syrian president Bashar Al Assad will be on his way to Ankara soon in an attempt to resolve the issue, there is an expectation members of the Iraqi government will be present in Ankara too, however Iraq has still not confirmed if anyone from its government will be heading to Ankara.
Three weeks ago I packed my bags in the UK and was on a plane on my way back to the Middle East; Syria for now. To be honest this is not what I planned for last year when I was hoping to work for a couple of years in the UK to gain some experience in my field and then moving on to the middle east where naturally I would have ended up. However due to many factors that affected my plans I was not able to stay in the UK given the current economic crisis and the job market in addition to other things that added to that I decided not to bother anymore and head straight back home.
It's great here. They always say that it is only great if a person comes here for a vacation, anything else a person will surely end up in depression. I don't think that is the case, I like it here, it is very much different especially now in ramadan where everyone seems to be pissed off for some strange reason as if each person fasting thinks they are doing it for everyone else and not themselves. What I don't like here is that in order to get something done in time and with little hassle you have to know someone who has some influence or works in the ministry where you are trying to get something done. It is terrible however I am getting my driving license done that way soooo... :D
Got extremely bored today at work, so I thought to myself what better to do then to check out whats going on in terms of sustainable development in Syria!!! Ya' feel me ! interesting stuff.
So I went on google and searched "Syria Sustainable Development" and as usual the relevant stuff comes up...(?) I was surprised to see that there was a report on the sustainable development programme in Syria that was submitted to the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa. So I decided to read it. It was really enlightening. The environmental management and planning system they were proposing to implement is very similar to the system here in the UK to some respect. Until I hit this bombshell of a sentence:
"MSEA is assisted by a Consultative Technical Committee and nine Environmental Committees reflecting scrotal interests."
SCROTAL??!!! reallyyy? they have scrotal interests? Excuse me if I am mistaken but scrotal does not fit in that sentence at all! unless there is another meaning to that word (from what I know scrotal is basically describing something that has a scrotum... you should google it if you need more info that's as far as I go)
NINE committees reflecting scrotal interests! I think we have some serious scrotal issues in Syria that no one knew about.. we should all get our scrotals checked by those committees before its too late! haha..
This is the link to the report in pdf. click here if interested.
إلى كل شامي لا يصدق متى تتاح له فرصة السفر والخروج من الشام
إلى كل دمشقي لم يدرك جمال دمشق ولم يحمل لها في قلبه الحب والإخلاص والوفاء
إلى كل مسلم لا يعرف وصية رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم بالشام
أهدي هذه الرسالة التي وصلتني في بيان فضل دمشق والشام من أحاديث سيد البشر صلى الله عليه وسلم,
وللاستزادة (كتاب فضائل الشام ودمشق) ((للإمام الألباني رحمه الله)) والذي خرّج فيه أحاديث كتابي (الربعي) و(شيخ الإسلام) عن نفس الموضوع وإليك الرسالة:
لقد ذكر النبي صلى الله عليه وسلمالشــام وخصوصاً دمشقبإسمها، من خلال أحاديث صحيحة ومسندة صححها أهل العلم والحديث
قال صلى الله عليه وسلم: ((إن فسطاط المسلمين ، يوم الملحمة ، بالغوطة إلى جانب مدينة يقال لها :دمشق، من خير مدائن الشام الراوي: أبو الدرداء - خلاصة الدرجة: صحيح - المحدث: الألباني - المصدر: صحيح أبي داود - الصفحة أو الرقم: 4298
قال عليه الصلاة والسلام: ((ستخرج نار من حضرموت – أو من نحو بحر حضرموت – قبل يوم القيامة ، تحشر الناس)) . قالوا : يا رسول الله فما تأمرنا ؟ فقال : ((عليكم بالشام)) الراوي: عبدالله بن عمر - خلاصة الدرجة: صحيح - المحدث: الألباني - المصدر: صحيح التر! مذي - الصفحة أو الرقم: 2217
ذكر النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم فقال: ( اللهم بارك لنا في شامنا ، اللهم بارك لنا في يمننا ). قالوا : يا رسول الله، وفي نجدنا ؟ قال: ( اللهم بارك لنا في شامنا ، اللهم بارك لنا في يمننا )...... الراوي: عبدالله بن عمر - خلاصة الدرجة: صحيح - المحدث: البخاري - المصدر: الجامع الصحيح - الصفحة أو الرقم: 7094
وقال صلى الله عليه وسلم: ((يوم الملحمة الكبرى فسطاط المسلمين بأرض يقال لها : ( الغوطة ) ؛ فيها مدينة يقال لها : (دمشق) ؛ خير منازل المسلمين يومئذ .)) الراوي: أبو الدرداء - خلاصة الدرجة: صحيح - المحدث: الألباني - المصدر: صحيح الترغيب - الصفحة أو الرقم: 3097
وعنه صلى الله عليه وسلم أنه قال: (( عليكم بالشام)). الراوي: معاوية بن حيدة القشيري - خلاصة الدرجة: صحيح - المحدث: الألباني - المصدر! : صحيح الجامع - الصفحة أو الرقم: 4069
وعنه صلى الله عليه وسلم أنه قال: ((صفوة الله من أرضهالشام، و فيها صفوته من خلقه و عباده ، و لتدخلن الجنة من أمتي ثلة لا حساب عليهم و لا عذاب)) الراوي: أبو أمامة الباهلي - خلاصة الدرجة: صحيح لغيره - المحدث: الألباني - المصدر: السلسلة الصحيحة - الصفحة أو الرقم: 1909
وقد ورد عنه عليه الصلاة والسلام أنه قال: ((يا طوبى للشام، يا طوبى للشام، يا طوبى للشام، قالوا يا رسول الله وبم ذلك ؟ قال: تلك ملائكة الله باسطوا أجنحتها على الشام )).
الراوي: زيد بن ثابت - خلاصة الدرجة: صحيح - المحدث: الألباني - المصدر: فضائل الشام - الصفحة أو الرقم: 1
I have been following the Syrian football league this season extensively, and it has been quite the amazing for certain clubs, and a huge disappointment for others. Al Karamah (Homs) the league champions for the past 3 years were struggling in the first half of the season and just managed to finish the first half in the mid-table region. On the other hand Al Ittihad of Aleppo (or Al Ahly), were one of the strongest contenders battling through out the first half of the season until they topped the league above Al Jaish (Damascus) and Al Majd (Damascus).
The Second half of the season took a different turn. Al Ittihad remained top of the league for the entire time, while Al Karamah finally rediscovered their game and their goal touch, climbing slowly up the ranks of the league, beating Al-Ittihad 1-0. In the final 10 games of the league (which is technically the second half of the season minus three games since the league is only 14 clubs) Al Karamah managed to win 8 games, draw 1 and lost 1, while Al Ittihad won 4, drew 2 and lost 4.
By the end of the season Al Karamah managed to amass equal points to that of Al-Ittihad, 52 points each with Al Ittihad on top on goal difference. However, this is not how the Syrian League works. If two teams end up with equal points at the end of the season they play one more decisive game to determine the winner of the league. That game was played yesterday. A poll on the Syrian National News Agency (SANA) showed that most people though Al Ittihad were going to win the game and so on the 21st minute a penalty was given to Al Ittihad which Otobong Ene Ede, the Cameroonian National converted with ease past Mosab Balhous, the Karamah Goalkeeper. Everything seemed to be going as predicted until Mohammad Al Hamwi scored an equalizer in the 71st minute, rounding a defender from the right side of the penalty area and taking a shot which deflected off an Ittihad defender sending the goalkeeper in a completely wrong direction. A killer typical goal by Al Karamah then came in the 95th minute of extra time (Al Karamah made it a habit of scoring late goals). A cross from the right side was headed back into the 6 yard box where Eyad Mando was left unmarked. Having all the time and ease to place the ball in the top right hand corner of the goal sending Al Kramah fans into ruptures.
By that Al Karamah ended an amazing season for themselves, while Al Ittihad will be left wondering where did it all go wrong.
It was good to see teams from Damascus up there again, Al Jaish playing really well so was Al Majd. Terrible to see Al Wahda unable to compete since I am a Wi7dawee... next season maybe ? haha..
Having posted the "Vision 2015" of the American-Israeli plans for the region, I would like to solidify those stated points by using current events to do so, and just to remind you that what is happening right now is bigger than what some might think it is.
1) Liquidation of the Palestinian cause:
We have seen how the coming of an extreme right leadership in Israel with Netenyahu as it's prime minister and Lieberman as foreign minister, pointing to one thing which is similar to the camp david negotiations between Ehud Barack and Yasser Arafat, the Israeli proposition is back to being that of a "economical" peace between the Israelis and Palestinians with no defined sovereign state for the Palestinians. Not that it hasn't been that way for the past 9 years but they are actually saying that it is an economical peace rather than claiming a peace done through the two state solution "the road map". The Fateh Leadership seem to accept anything that they can benefit off directly while the only people resisting those plans are cornered in Gaza with no-say on whats happening in the West Bank.
2) Removal of Any Regional Entities that would oppose the American-Israeli plans:
Wars in Gaza this year and in Lebanon 3 years ago prove this point. Recently there has been a diplomatic move by the US specifically to try to erode this coalition between Syria and Iran on the one hand and Syria-Hizbullah-Hamas on the other. With the arrival of many diplomats recently to Syria from the US and others from other countries to try and persuade the Syrians to break off those ties by offering them better economic relations and more aid to help in development and such. It seems that so far this has been ineffective as the American administration kept the US sanctions on Syria. Indeed the Americans and Israelis would like to see their plans go through without having to fight in another war, the recent meeting between Netenyahu and Obama for the purpose of synchronizing actions between the two countries in order to maintain this aim of trying to reach the objectives without war. The question is how long will this period last for?
Other events to consider: - Hussein Hajj Hassan (Hizbullah member of the Lebanese Parliament) visits the UK. - The continued siege on Gaza by Israel and Egypt. - Recent accusations made by Egypt towards Hizbullah, after 5 months of capturing the Hizbullah member in Egypt. - Revealing Israeli military actions in Sudan and the air force exercises in long distance bombing and exercises on mid-air refueling. - Publishing of reports on possible Israeli military strikes in Iran and their consequences to the region. - Al Assads' speech during Abdullah Gul's visit to Syria.
The proposed visit of US Middle East envoy George Mitchell to Syria anytime between now and Barack Obama's visit to Egypt should be a defining moment as to what the next 7 months hold. The thing to watch out for after that visit is the Saudi-Syrian relations which seem to be massively effected by the attitude of the US policy towards Syria, and what happens at the US embassy in Syria.
3 and 5) Normalisation of relations between (Arab) states and Israel and the creation of a (regional) alliance to counter the rise of new global powers.
Writing this would seem to King Abdullah of Jordan as shortsightedness, as he accused those who wouldn't back the American agenda for this region of being, at least in the broad context of his claims. Anyways, In addition to the proposal made by Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmad al-Khalifa the foreign minister of Bahrain in October last year of a regional alliance between The Arab states, Israel, Turkey and Iran, there has been recent proposals of a similar alliance yet with a wider reach of not only Arab countries but also all 56 Islamic states that form the OIC. That way normalization of relations (once a humiliating peace agreement has been reached between the Israelis and Palestinians) between Israel and a quarter of the countries of the world will be achieved. This alliance has been called out for by the Jordanian King twice and by the Jordanian Prime Minister Nader Al Dahabe. Amr Mousa on the other hand 'only' stated that there needs to be a 'regional security agreement'.
To make things easier for Israel since it has to make a lot of concessions in order to achieve peace between them and the Palestinians (sarcasm) the Financial Times has stated that some Arab governments are looking to reduce some of the terms and conditions relating settlement expansion in the West Bank in order to achieve the peace they (the governments) always dream about. Not to forget that settlement building on occupied land (let alone expansion) is illegal according to the Geneva convention agreement.
With the re-surfacing of old US policies coupled with a new vision, the Muslim world is yet again going to be used to fight the wars of the West as a proxy to achieve their plans without sacrificing much except some of their wealth (Afghanistan in the 1980's and Chechnya). However, there is a huge difference with the situation back then and today. The Muslim world is a fast developing one with growing economies and huge economic potential with a rapid predicted increase if those potentials are harnessed correctly. Obama's romance with the muslim world is not being pursued with no aim or objective behind it, and it isn't just to refresh America's image in the Muslim world.
Two things are happening soon in Syria's politics. First of all the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood. The Syrian Muslim brotherhood is a sister organization to the Egyptian brotherhood, it is an Islamic political party who's ideas were transferred to Syria in the early 1930's from Egypt, but only became prominent politically in the 1950's. the Muslim Brotherhood was outlawed in 1980, anyone caught and accused as being a member of the brotherhood was sentenced to death. The Hama revolt carried out by the Brotherhood, and subsequently the crushing of the revolt by the iron fist Ba'athist regime (also known as the massacre of Hama) was the last fight between the Syrian regime and the brotherhood. Leaders of the Syrian brotherhood were exiled.
Coming back to recent events; in 2006 exiled leaders of the Syrian muslim brotherhood formed an alliance with other opposition members most notable AbdulHalim Khadam who was the Syrian vice president to Bashar Al Assad, the alliance was called the "National Salvation Front" and was created to bring the Syrian regime to an end and usher in a democratic government. To most Syrians this was seen as a joke mostly due to the reputation of AbdulHalim Khadam due to his activities in both Lebanon (during the time Syrian forces were present in Lebanon) and Syria.
Having seen their credibility dwindle, and the increase of popularity of the Syrian regime under the leadership of Bashar Al Assad, not only within Syria but also across the Arab world, and having seen their efforts go ineffective to the much efficient and effective Syrian foreign and internal (to an extent) politics and policies the leadership of the Syrian Brotherhood are reconsidering their position, carrying out an "auditing approach" to their position and policies. The Muslim brotherhoods' membership to the "National Salvation Front" is also under revision and a decision will very soon be made as to whether or not they should uphold their membership to the "Salvation Front" or terminate it in order to be able to resume political activities in Syria. The Syrian government have signaled a willingness to allow the Syrian Brotherhood back into Syria but of course under their rules and conditions. It will be a tough nut to crack for the Syrian Brotherhood where they will have to make some concessions but I believe this will benefit both sides.
Secondly, the Syrian government will be undergoing a cabinet reshuffle soon. It is said that there will be two additional ministerial roles added. This will include reinstating the role of 'Deputy Prime Minister for Services', and the addition of a 'Deputy Prime Minister for Administrative Development/Reform' along with the currently existing role of 'Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs' occupied by Abdullah Al Dardari. Thus, and for the first time there will be three deputy prime ministers in the new government. According to the sources of AlQuds AlArabi the new appointments will be completely from an academic background with a great amount of experience in their fields of expertise and that there will be no appointments of well known politicians within the Syrian political circles. This comes as Syria moves towards a new stage of its "social market economy", as well due to the current world economic crisis that is bound to hit Syria.
I was reading an update report on the real estate sector in Syria done by the Kuwait Financial Center Highlighting the major changes in the Syrian economy in regards to real estate. I will bullet point the findings.
The governments' 5 year economical plan which is aimed at attracting foreign investors and liberalizing the Syrian economy has so far been able achieve a growth of 3.5% on average in the past 2 years according to the IMF.
Notable Developments include: opening up in economy, and reduction in taxes driving the real estate market; increase in apartment prices by 20%; residential prices increase due to favorable demographics and the increase of foreign business executives; commercial supply growth rates continue to lag demand growth rates; 1Mn Sq meters of real estate projects launched during the past 2 years.
New projects include: Eighth Gate (Emaar), Damascus Hills (Emaar), Damascus Financial District (Aref Group), Syrian Bonyan City (Bonyan Group), Futtaim Project (Futtaim Group), Palm Village (Bin Laden Group), Latakia Tourism Projects (Diar), Kiwan Project (Kharafi), Nasser Gardens (Kharafi),.
Demand for high end residential units is on the rise leading to price and rent hikes. (due to increase in foreign executives, and political turmoil in neighboring countries, i.e. 1 million Iraqi refugees)
Tourism sector most promising sector in terms of contribution to GDP growth. Tourism revenues amounted to $2.3 billion in 2005.
According to the ministry of tourism, the current hotel capacity cannot handle any increase in the number of tourists. Syrian hotels are considered over priced and over classified despite the fact that most hotels are in need of renovation, and their rates to be re-quoted to compete with other countries.
The building and construction sectors are expected to witness more growth upon the launch of many real estate projects.
One of the main pillars of a healthy economy is the size of its investments. Syria is working hard on attracting new investments through allowing the private sector to invest in the areas that were hitherto restricted to state monopoly, which include banks, insurance companies and cement factories.
The report continues and if you want to read it, its on: http://cm2.zawya.com/researchreports/ p_2006_09_12_01_48_17/20070430_p_2006_09_12_01_48_17_013449.pdf
