Tips for the Pres on his next speech

Tomorrow the head of the Syrian regime will give a speech. These are the top 5 things Bashar Assad should and shouldn't mention in his speech.

Five Things Bashar Shouldn’t mention in tomorrow’s planned speech:

1) Terrorists, armed gangs that have terrified and murdered the people
2) Key terms such as salafists, infiltrators (mundaseen), extremists etc
3) Global, nay! Universal conspiracy theory against Syria and how the regime has defeated that conspiracy.
4) Denying the wrong doing of the regime during the uprising
5) Planning more useless reforms that won’t happen and setting up new committees that won’t do anything (the head of the committee will usually come up and say the people are not ready for such reforms).

Five Things he should do/mention:

1) Apologize and accept responsibility for everything that has happened in the past few months and pay respect to all those that have been murdered.
2) Withdraw the military from the entire country and end the military’s role in this crisis.
3) Start a constitutional reform and end the Baath control of the country as well as releasing all political prisoners and those that have been abducted during the uprising.
4) Set date for early and free presidential election/plan for new government
5) Allow Syrian refugees in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan back in to the country and allow foreign and independent media into the country.

I just want to make two further points:
- The only hope I think for this crisis to end with the least damage and through a smooth transition to a more representative system of the Syrian people is when this regime does the above. The crisis in Syria is very similar to that in Yemen, there are still those that support the president and there are those that don't which will make this crisis go on for a much longer period. Lets hope that the regime in Syria and that Bashar Assad has more sense and is more patriotic than Abdullah Saleh of Yemen and is able to see that his stay in power will only result in further deterioration of the situation in Syria especially if the regime keeps on carrying out their security measures against the protesters. I think I still have some faith that Bashar will do the right thing tomorrow. I hope he does for the sake of this country.

- In the free Syria that we all envision we should all respect the opinions of everyone even those that still stand with the current regime. Even though we call for the end of the regime and the end of the reign of the Ba'ath party in Syria, that doesn't mean their presence in the political spectrum in Syria should be erased.

الله اكبر فوق كيد المعتدي

Dedicated to all the Arab world and more importantly to Palestine. This Sunday will be the 63rd Anniversary of the Nakba (Catastrophe) 15th of May. It will also mark the 3rd Intifada of the Palestinian people. And will be a day to celebrate our martyrs that have fallen for freedom, and died as free men and women. 15th of May will be a celebration of Arab uprisings in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, Syria, Jordan and a call to all Arab countries to break the chains of submission and be free. God bless our nation,

الله اكبر

Not For Syrians

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.

انا الشعب

أنا الشعب لا أعرف المستحيلا 

ولا أرتضى بالخلود بديلا 

بلادى مفتوحة كالسماء 

تضم الصديق ؛ وتمحو الدخيلا 

انا الشعب، شعب العلا والنضال 

أحب السلام، أخوض القتال 

ومنى الحقيقة.. منى الخيال!! 

وعندى الجمال، وعندى آمال

****

 وجاء الغزاة

جميع الغزاة.. 

فأبدوا خشوعًا 

وأحنوا الجباه

وكل تساءل فى دهشة ٍ

.. وكل تساءل فى لهفة : 

أمعجزة مالها أنبياء؟! 

أدورة أرض ٍ بغير فضاء؟!

تلمح بين الجموع وجوهًا 

يرف عليها حنان الإله 

.. ففيها المفكر والعبقرى 

وفيها التقاة ؛ وفيها الهداة

.. ف(موسى) تشق عصاه الزحام 

وذلك (عيسى) عليه السلام 

وهذا (محمد) خير الأنام 

أمعجزة ماله أنبياء؟! 

أدورة أرض ٍ بغير فضاء؟! 

****

فاين تحقق ما كان وهمًا 

ومن ذا الذى ياترى حققه؟! 

وكيف تحرر من أسره 

سجين الزمان؟! ومن أطلقه؟!

لقد شاد بالأمس أهرامه 

بأيدٍ مسخرة موثقة

على ظهره بصمات السياط 

.. وأحشاوه بالطوى مرهقة!!

... وها هو يبنى بحريةٍ 

دعائم آماله المشرقه 

بسد منيع، عجيب البناء 

يبث الرخاء ويوحى الثقه 

فارزاق أبنائه حرة 

وآراؤهم حرة مطلقه 

وليس بهم سيد أو مسود 

فكل سواء بلا تفرقة 

أمعجزه مالها أنبياء؟! 

أدورة ارض بغير فضاء؟! 

****

وصاح من الشعب صوت طليق 

قوى، أبيّ، عريق، عميق 

يقول : انا الشعب والعجزة 

انا الشعب لا شىء قد أعجزه 

وكل الذى قاله أنجزه!! 

****

كامل الشناوي

الدكتور الهاشمي

عبد الباري عطوان- سورية

كلمة وائل غنيم