No one doubts that the old order in Syria is over. What no one seems to know, is what the future of the country will look like. For us as internationalists however the mater we need be busy with first and foremost, is to define clearly the framework within which the people of Syria will be able to continue their struggle for freedom, equality and social justice.
By Salomo Kilpatrick.
Is the Syrian revolution a nationalistic revolution?
Central to this, is the question some Syrians like to dismiss too easily: does the future of this people lie inside the present boundaries of the Syrian Arab Republic? In fact, we are not the only ones who wonder whether the territory, Nation State and prewar economy of Syria can give any prospect of solution for the country. The national bourgeoisie – which went through different stages of transformation and through rough internal competition – asks itself exactly the same question. In fact they have already accepted it won’t: Syria is not the national structure which will organize the life of it’s people.
To be precise, this hasn’t been the case, politically and economically seen, already for a long long time. We know that historically the Assad dictatorship in Syria built its strength on the compromises it brokered with the big international players in the region: Israel, France and the USA. The Ta’if agreement of 1989 for example guaranteed de facto a lasting Syrian domination over Lebanon – is was intended to counter the growing Iraqi influence. The various international partnerships in turn allowed the Assad regime to suppress any form of opposition: inside the army, the country and the region at large (fighting the Palestinians, the progressive Lebanese forces and the wealthier Iraqi Ba’ath Party).
If anyone had tried to overthrow the Syrian regime of Assads this would surely have triggered an international reaction to keep them in power. And this is precisely what we are witnessing since March 2011.
Furthermore, the territorial integrity of Syria was given up twice by this ruling family: in June 1967 when Hafiz withdrew its troops from the highly fortified Golan Heights, and in December 2004 when his son accepted the Turkish annexation of the Province of Antiochia (occupied by Ankara since 1938). The Assads canceled the future of the county institutionally, depleted it economically and enchained it’s population. They did this solely for the sake of their own privileges.
However, in 2011 the Syrian people broke their chains, but this happened at a very high cost. Their cities and their cultural heritage has, to a large extent, been destroyed. They are living as refugees by the millions precisely because their enemy was not only a national dictatorship but an international order of oppression and repression. The Iranian regime and the neo-tsarist order of Russia have been involved forefront, together with Israel, in the military campaign to prevent the Syrian apparatus from collapsing. Obviously this massive use of destructive force could never have happened without the consent of the USA.
Shaking the world order, revealing the true oppressive nature of global institutions
So it is not hazardous to say that the revolutionary process that the Syrian people initiated quickly brought about shock waves around the world. Not so much because of economic ramifications – which would have reflected a more traditional vision of the spreading of a revolutionary process – but because it undermines precisely the institutional world order that relied greatly on the Assads to keep the volatile but strategic Levant region revolution-free. Also the moral legitimacy of the UN has been deeply scattered. Useless to say, the true internationalists and their organizations should increase their leverage on this whole new global institutional landscape in ruin.
The Syrian people themselves are often not aware of the deep implications for the World order that their basic demands for freedom and justice have had. However, they know oh too well that the world order is against them. Furthermore, they have given up believing that Arab or Muslim solidarity can relieve them from this terrible ordeal.
Nevertheless, by keeping the essence of their struggle alive the courageous people of Syria have been able to unite with other revolutionary communities in the region and to start tearing down the artificial boundaries that the European colonial powers installed in the Middle-East roughly a hundred year ago. For example, a lot of Syrians in exile participated in the revolutionary process in Egypt until the Conservative government of Muhamad Morsi was ousted by General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in July 2013, they are present in Grece now side by side with the local population strangled by the world financial institutions, ultimately they even gave new hope to the Palestinians that freedom will come for everyone. It has to be said however that unfortunately within the broad social movement that shock Turkey in May-August 2013 (centered around the Gezi Park protests) the pro-Assad political agenda had the upper hand when it came to foreign relations.
The Syrian revolution abroad, or how to distinguish true internationalists from chauvinists
Supporting the Syrian revolution as internationalists thus means operating at at least four levels: practically by helping the displaced and the revolutionaries on the ground; extending the struggle geographically and politically so that the people of Syria can unite with other populations and social classes to build the future they want for their communities; denouncing the present institutional world order as such because it is compliant with the genocide presently taking place in Syria and finally embracing those Syrians, the true revolutionaries, that don’t go along with the official strategy of compromise put forward by the emissaries designated by the West to speak abroad on behalf of the revolution.
Still, one has to admit that the morale of the Syrian youth who has been at the forefront of the revolutionary process inside Syria has been sharply downgraded by the complete lack of political and military support to topple the regime. In the first months and up until the summer of 2013 there was a rooted believe among the Syrian people that, as in Libya, the “International Community” would not let a democratic revolution be crushed. This – knowingly – whatever the real agenda of the imperialist powers of the West would have been. On the contrary, the regime and its allies have never effectively been prevented from using their military means to destroy the country and crush the people of Syria! If a certain number of young Syrians enlisted in the counter-revolutionary force of Daesh it is first and foremost because the regime went unpunished for the massive chemical attack it unleashed on the neighborhoods of Damascus on 21st August 2013.
Counter-revolution tendencies
Furthermore, among the Syrian population in exile a significant part of the old generation which stands with the uprising, does so essentially in order to extend their personal and tribal influence. These individuals are therefore very worried about the autonomy of the younger generation and the women in particular, and try to exert new forms of social control over these real actors of change. After everything the revolutionaries have been through since 2011, obviously they are not eager to go along with such new oppressive practices. Hence the lingering of a real tension inside the free Syrian communities in exile.
Worse, these new-old patriarchs also oppose a truly self-determined and workers-run Syria! The complete lack of any revolutionary political manifesto on their behalf – when they should have the experience and understanding to formulate such proposals – for the post-Assad era is a clear indication of this. It shows nothing less than the usurpation they are planning. So let us be aware, the different proposals which are getting some media attention too, for a Transitional period away from the current regime towards the building of a democratic Syria, need to be understood in such a (grim) light. We therefore immediately need to denounce them as a betrayal of the values of the revolution. In fact, such plans solely represent the viable scenarios that Israel and the West want to implement.
Finally, there is a real danger facing the Syrian activists that are now living in exile in wealthy countries in Europe: they risk missing an essential step which could be crucial for the success of their revolutionary process. In an unprecedented way those who are now in exile can in fact play a huge role in determining the future of Syria and the Middle-East. Everybody knows that the West, together with the world institutions it has itself shaped, wants to re-legitimize the security apparatus of the regime. They have tried repeatedly to sacrifice the political face of the regime in order to succeed. The media drama outplayed around Daesh’s self-recordings of executions is there to prepare the ground. Plus the whole diplomatic show unfolding in Geneva again and again must convince the western audience that this is the only solution. To a large extent the future of the revolutionary process in Syria will therefore be decided in the West by the people who on the contrary will be able to seriously take on the World institutions. As a start we therefore need to denounce the perverse media focus which is given to Daesh!
Never enter dialogue with the oppressors!
Still, many young Syrian activists lack the understanding of how to construct a true revolution towards socialism. What they have experienced is a nationwide uprising for democracy and social justice. Given the failure of the military uprising however, they tend already to reconnect with pro-Asad acquaintances and forget that in the West it is precisely now that we need to insist publicly that the Assad regime is the origin of all sins! They think naively of how to bring peace to Syria – including by shacking hands with the pro-Assads while these are still in power – for the sake of an all-inclusive Syria. They see there is too much at stake for the world powers to let their revolution succeed, and because of their lack of experience they think they therefore should grab now the most they can get. The Syrian people have effectively been abandoned by almost everyone. What many Syrians think is that the International Community will support Assad and keep him in power, they understand that the real problem is the huge military backing the Assad regime is getting. If they didn’t manage to overthrow Assad how can they even dream of taking on the UN, they say.
We have to prevent this betrayal of the Syrian revolution! Let’s show the whole world what real internationalist solidarity means. Is it so difficult to restrengthen their hopes by tightening our ranks?
