A heavy dose of pragmatism not a holier-than-thou
attitude is what the Syrian opposition needs to lead the transitional period.
Thursday October 13,
2011
20 protesters were
killed in the continuing crackdown led by pro-Assad militias all over Syria,
including 13 in the city of Binnish in Idlib Province, and General
Abdulmajeed Al-Masri who was reportedly killed in Hama Province
after trying to lead a rebellion against loyalist forces ---
In a separate incident
in the Idlib Province, defectors claim to have killed 15 loyalist troops
in an ambush near the village of Marayan, but there was no official
confirmation of the incident ---
9 more people were reported
killed in clashes between loyalists and defectors in the town of Harrah
in the Deraa/Hauran Province ---
In Homs Province,
5 children were injured in the town of Houleh, more arrests were
conducted in the town of Talbisseh with the numbers of detainees now
estimated at 1,200 by human rights groups, and authorities took journalists,
including foreign correspondents, on a tour of the town of Rastan to prove that
they have completely pacified it --- In Homs City, loyalist militias
continued their combing operations by raiding the neighborhoods of Qoussour
and Qarabees and carrying out dozens of arrests
Links
What’s
morality? Well, within the context of the ongoing revolution in Syria, a
revolution that has long declared freedom as its goal, many are equating it
with nonviolence. That’s why they reject the recent trend of militarization,
and dismiss all calls for international protection that goes beyond the
symbolic gesture of sending in international monitors. Despite the fact that
pro-Assad troops are busy taking back Syria one rebellious community at time,
battling defectors and suppressing protests through targeted and mass detentions
and killings, advocates of nonviolence seem to labor under the believe that an
Assad victory over the defectors and those civilians who joined them, and they
are legion, will pave the way for a return to nonviolent struggle. What they
fail to see is that a defeat will more likely crush the spirit of the
re-conquered communities, and could empower the Assads to snuff out the spirit
of rebellion.
So
many observers and opposition figures have been saying that Syria cannot go
back to the way things were, but they are wrong. As things stand at this stage,
this is the most likely outcome.
What
further complicates the situation is that the “moral” stands of nonviolence
activists have now been hijacked by currents within the Syrian opposition
motivated more by their anti-Western ideologies than any real belief in nonviolence,
as evident by the fact that they have long supported Hamas and Hezbollah
without ever criticizing their violent tactics or admonish them to adopt
nonviolence as their basic operational philosophy.
One
might note here that the two situations are different and that the political
advocates of nonviolence in this case are concerned about preventing civil war.
In other words, it’s OK to risk starting a new war with Israel, but not a civil
war in Syria. Perhaps they are right. But are these “moral” calculations? Or
are they tactical and strategic in nature, betraying certain ideological
predilections and a certain worldview not shared by all Syrians? The behavior
and discourse of the protagonists of these approaches reveal that they perceive
and frame the issue in moral terms, a position that allows them the luxury to
condemn the other sides of the argument as treasonous and unpatriotic, thus,
justifying their exclusion from the national debate, and their eventual
suppression.
So,
what we have here are two perceptions of morality as nonviolence: the first is a
truly philosophical perception that focuses on maintaining purity of the
revolution and its moral superiority, while the other perception, an
ideologically-inspired one, focuses on protecting the revolution and homeland
from its external enemies. But, both strangely enough, seem to encourage the
adoption of stances that could allow for the isolation and eventual suppression
of the revolution, while keeping the homeland safely in the keep of its biggest
enemies: the Assads.
So,
what’s morality again?
I
truly believe that the moral choice is the tortuous one, the one that shakes
you to your very core before you are able to make it, the one that makes you
strain to find the back-and-white in a thousand shadows of grey.
In
practical terms, what we have unfolding in Syria now is a two-tiered
revolution: an armed insurrection and nonviolent protest movement, and the
champions of both are morally justified in their position, and they need our
support. That support does call at this stage for asking for some kind of
external military intervention tailored to fit the specifics of our situation:
a no-fly-zone, a safe-haven, logistical and material support to the defectors,
etc. We have our work cut out for us in this regard, because the world is not
ready to accommodate any of these demands at this stage. But we owe it to our
people to try to get it there. Yes, we should fear civil war, we should fear
the bloodshed resulting from militaristic adventurism, but we should fear a
return to the status quo ante even more, as it is a real possibility.
As
for those who disagree with me, I say, denounce me all you want, as a naïve
analyst, a traitor and an agent of the West, whatever you want, just provide
with your denunciations an alternative that can be sold to the Syrian
people.
In
his recent
interview with Russia Today, the titular leader of the SNC rejected
foreign military intervention, defections and the militarization of the
revolution, but he failed to provide any vision for how the revolution can be
won at this stage through nonviolent means. As the person who was quick to
point out that he is the sole candidate for the position of president of the
SNC, he had not so far bothered to address the Syrian people directly, to introduce
himself and explain his vision, and that of his colleagues at the SNC.
Of
course, Ghalioun is not the only one missing the point of leadership at this
critical phase, almost everybody else is. Take for instance Sadreddine
Al-Bayanouni, former leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, who still commands the
loyalty of the Aleppo branch within the movement, the branch who played a key
role in the formation of the SNC, in both its iterations. In his most recent
interview with Al-Arabiyah, the man made the same mistakes of
denouncing defections and scenarios of foreign intervention, all while calling
for the protection of civilians. He then went on to assert the Arab and Islamic
character of Syria and advocated using Shariah as the source of legislation in
future Syria. In one stroke, he alienated the Kurds, the Turkmens, the
Alawites, the Druzes, the Christians, the Ismailis and the secular Arabs, be
they leftist or liberals. At a time when protesters have been doing their best
to celebrate national unity and ensure their commitment to it as well as the civic
nature of their movement, this is not exactly the kind of leadership that
inspires trust.
But,
then, in the absence of an agreed guiding vision, anybody can claim anything and
the people are left to believe whom they want. This is a great in a functioning
democracy, but not in the middle of a revolutionary transitional period. This phase
calls for consensus building, and that requires debating specific ideas and
strategies and dealing with the realities that exist in order to get to the
realities that we want to exist. Instead, we wasted months and we cannot even
agree on names.
In Homs City/Bab Houd, protesters carry a
banner supporting the SNC but urging it to call for international protection
for civilians “in any form” http://youtu.be/4qgKCyO4xI4
As they curse Al-Assad, they come under fire (1 min into the clip), but they
hold on http://youtu.be/2Uo5lwGwnfU
Hama City Attorney General, Adnan Bakour, calls
from his hideout inside the country on the international community to provide
protection to civilians http://youtu.be/H6LuqaKl_rg
Loyalist troops torture a prisoner http://youtu.be/PsrT1uoCrKI who was
later on returned dead http://youtu.be/bMFDPxfkUiw
Homs City: victims of sniper attacks http://youtu.be/fVE0dhEjLOw , http://youtu.be/wGwCIUa9erY tanks in Khaldiyeh
http://youtu.be/Yz2gQDdkHY8 security
in Qoussour http://youtu.be/HVerYpnT318
impact of shelling in Deir Baalbah
http://youtu.be/qoCI8I2tP60
But, despite the ongoing military operations in the
city, involving tanks, random shelling, mass detentions and killing, protesters
keep taking to the streets in Insha’aat http://youtu.be/7XzyO9LwEOk Ghoutah
http://youtu.be/h2AaD2sE9mA Qoussour
http://youtu.be/RJbPTE_b0L0 Khaldiyeh
http://youtu.be/dHo7rWl6adQ Baba
Amr http://youtu.be/mDhp_2aPRK4
In Idlib Province, in the morning of
October 13, tanks laying siege to Binnish http://youtu.be/nlQFAXhcNOY stormed the
city http://youtu.be/ypu5iSWuJnc and
clashed with defectors http://youtu.be/q18qyOqHQi8
, http://youtu.be/-kkAg7tlyXY
Idlib City was quick to stage a demonstration in solidarity
with the people in Binnish http://youtu.be/6iFmIkf3yOc
but protesters soon came under fire http://youtu.be/gjtpI7OYpb0
Homs Province: Qseir http://youtu.be/-cqXpmZ0Alc Tadmor
(Palmyra) http://youtu.be/Z-ojg7AgXsM
, http://youtu.be/C8Zsdbsu9kA
Idlib: Kinsafra (Jabal Al-Zawiyeh) http://youtu.be/eIbnY0hdf-4 Idlib
City http://youtu.be/iojZVLcKqaY Binnish
http://youtu.be/bjPa0mzrA4s
Hama: Taybat Al-Imam http://youtu.be/wn-IjBOpx4U
Deraa/Hauran: Jizah http://youtu.be/YqfI0Gjjf44 Ankhel
http://youtu.be/SSeoUE9SMTo Hraak
http://youtu.be/z1WogQIJflw , http://youtu.be/_wXKMwTCX5Y Deraa
City http://youtu.be/4ZIEshCtEAQ Da’el
http://youtu.be/IQTE9p12RNE Basr
Al-Harir http://youtu.be/nTpqjCL666Y
Nasseeb http://youtu.be/fmVEM8cClus
Damascus Province: Hamouriyeh http://youtu.be/ri1GlOItZ-k Douma
http://youtu.be/3UajKht7NRM
Deir Ezzor: Deir Ezzor City http://youtu.be/D4JbIfPtCv8
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