By Jameel Theyabi
This commentary was published in al-Hayat on 04/04/2011
Whenever I speak to any of my Syrian friends, I find them disheartened and pouring their rage on President Bashar al-Assad’s last speech. The remarks and criticisms targeting this speech were numerous, but most of them focused on its reliance on old slogans, vague rhetoric and attempts to maneuver around the demands of the protesters who are seeking their rights, freedom and dignity. Al-Assad’s speech carried useless pride and sarcasm, as it covered the popular demands with the cloak of “conspiracy” which has been haunting the Syrian people for fifty years, as though each among the citizens had the expression “no rights as long as there is a conspiracy” written on his forehead. Indeed, instead of implementing the reforms and lifting the state of emergency, the promises remained an “illusion” used by the regime far from any transparency or social justice.
The Syrian people became frustrated after they waited for days for a speech which turned out to be a rejectionist and vague one, especially since the president’s advisor Buthayna Shaaban alluded in press statements to the inclination to annul the emergency law, allow partisan plurality and unleash media freedoms, which are part of the demands that will never be recanted by the protesters, and will even increase.
The people expected their president’s speech to mark the inauguration of a new stage of political, economic and social reforms and the consecration of the rights through laws, not the repetition of the resistance and conspiracy rhetoric. Al-Assad’s speech was similar to his previous ones, as he played the tune of the resistance which his country is hosting, and the foreign conspiracy theory of close and distant countries to detonate sectarian strife through their domestic agents, thus legitimizing the logic of the “infiltrators” which he is currently using, and was previously used by the “cornered” rulers!
I do not know how these presidents have not yet grown tired from linking their governments’ mistakes to conspiracy? Moreover, I do not understand the link between the domestic reforms demanded by the people, and the positions toward the political issues that are directed toward the foreign scene? These are long-standing and archaic arguments. The regimes in the Arab countries are under domestic pressures before being under foreign ones, while the positions of the Western states and foreign powers are not new to the ruling regimes in the region. So, let Al-Assad know that the Tsunami of change which is sweeping the region, will not spare his country as easily as he hopes it would through the promotion of justifications related to the presence of the resistance, the conspiracy theory and the foreign pressures. As long as he continues to reject the introduction of real reforms and refuses to listen and respond to the popular demands, he will hear the roars of the crowds yelling “The people want to topple the regime.”
In an article headlined “14 Reasons to Call for the Toppling of Bashar al-Assad’s Regime,” Syrian academician Amer al-Aazm indicated: “A regime that feels no shame in regard to the continuation of the occupation of its land while it has been boasting verbal resistance and strategic balance for forty years, does not deserve to remain in power. You cannot give a painkiller to cure someone with cancer… We have followed the speech which confirmed to each person who enjoys insight that the regime cannot be reformed. Let no one expect Bashar al-Assad to accept a reform that will affect him and obstruct his monopolization of power and wealth. Al-Assad’s speech was not successful, and the language of threats and security firsts will not protect any regime from the rebelling youth, and the lessons in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya are still vivid in our minds.”
Many know that the prisons of the Syrian regime are filled with opinion and freedom prisoners, that the rights of the Syrian Kurds are wasted, that the citizenship rights are absent, that unemployment is widespread and that the oppressive apparatuses are extremely powerful. However, the Syrian president disregarded all this and is wagering on the resistance and the confrontation of the conspiracy, as though he wanted the Syrian people to sacrifice their rights to ensure those of the others.
I believe that the Syrian president’s speech will provide justification for the fueling of the protests and the increase of the tensions, and will force the people to take to the streets and raise the ceiling of demands. Al-Assad must remember that the language of threats and the distribution of the accusations of “infiltration”, “conspiracy” and “collaboration” among the people did not prevent the Tunisians from taking to the street, did not prevent the Egyptians from upholding their legitimate demands and will not prevent the Syrians from turning into “infiltrators,” from taking to the streets from their homes, alleys, mosques, schools and universities to demand their rights, aspirations and freedom. This has already started through the campaign which was launched on Facebook and called on the Syrians to stage the “Friday of the Martyrs.” So, will the Syrian regime proclaim war against its own people?
Whenever I speak to any of my Syrian friends, I find them disheartened and pouring their rage on President Bashar al-Assad’s last speech. The remarks and criticisms targeting this speech were numerous, but most of them focused on its reliance on old slogans, vague rhetoric and attempts to maneuver around the demands of the protesters who are seeking their rights, freedom and dignity. Al-Assad’s speech carried useless pride and sarcasm, as it covered the popular demands with the cloak of “conspiracy” which has been haunting the Syrian people for fifty years, as though each among the citizens had the expression “no rights as long as there is a conspiracy” written on his forehead. Indeed, instead of implementing the reforms and lifting the state of emergency, the promises remained an “illusion” used by the regime far from any transparency or social justice.
The Syrian people became frustrated after they waited for days for a speech which turned out to be a rejectionist and vague one, especially since the president’s advisor Buthayna Shaaban alluded in press statements to the inclination to annul the emergency law, allow partisan plurality and unleash media freedoms, which are part of the demands that will never be recanted by the protesters, and will even increase.
The people expected their president’s speech to mark the inauguration of a new stage of political, economic and social reforms and the consecration of the rights through laws, not the repetition of the resistance and conspiracy rhetoric. Al-Assad’s speech was similar to his previous ones, as he played the tune of the resistance which his country is hosting, and the foreign conspiracy theory of close and distant countries to detonate sectarian strife through their domestic agents, thus legitimizing the logic of the “infiltrators” which he is currently using, and was previously used by the “cornered” rulers!
I do not know how these presidents have not yet grown tired from linking their governments’ mistakes to conspiracy? Moreover, I do not understand the link between the domestic reforms demanded by the people, and the positions toward the political issues that are directed toward the foreign scene? These are long-standing and archaic arguments. The regimes in the Arab countries are under domestic pressures before being under foreign ones, while the positions of the Western states and foreign powers are not new to the ruling regimes in the region. So, let Al-Assad know that the Tsunami of change which is sweeping the region, will not spare his country as easily as he hopes it would through the promotion of justifications related to the presence of the resistance, the conspiracy theory and the foreign pressures. As long as he continues to reject the introduction of real reforms and refuses to listen and respond to the popular demands, he will hear the roars of the crowds yelling “The people want to topple the regime.”
In an article headlined “14 Reasons to Call for the Toppling of Bashar al-Assad’s Regime,” Syrian academician Amer al-Aazm indicated: “A regime that feels no shame in regard to the continuation of the occupation of its land while it has been boasting verbal resistance and strategic balance for forty years, does not deserve to remain in power. You cannot give a painkiller to cure someone with cancer… We have followed the speech which confirmed to each person who enjoys insight that the regime cannot be reformed. Let no one expect Bashar al-Assad to accept a reform that will affect him and obstruct his monopolization of power and wealth. Al-Assad’s speech was not successful, and the language of threats and security firsts will not protect any regime from the rebelling youth, and the lessons in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya are still vivid in our minds.”
Many know that the prisons of the Syrian regime are filled with opinion and freedom prisoners, that the rights of the Syrian Kurds are wasted, that the citizenship rights are absent, that unemployment is widespread and that the oppressive apparatuses are extremely powerful. However, the Syrian president disregarded all this and is wagering on the resistance and the confrontation of the conspiracy, as though he wanted the Syrian people to sacrifice their rights to ensure those of the others.
I believe that the Syrian president’s speech will provide justification for the fueling of the protests and the increase of the tensions, and will force the people to take to the streets and raise the ceiling of demands. Al-Assad must remember that the language of threats and the distribution of the accusations of “infiltration”, “conspiracy” and “collaboration” among the people did not prevent the Tunisians from taking to the street, did not prevent the Egyptians from upholding their legitimate demands and will not prevent the Syrians from turning into “infiltrators,” from taking to the streets from their homes, alleys, mosques, schools and universities to demand their rights, aspirations and freedom. This has already started through the campaign which was launched on Facebook and called on the Syrians to stage the “Friday of the Martyrs.” So, will the Syrian regime proclaim war against its own people?
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