SYRIA: The Syrian revolution and the speech of Bachar Al Assad

January 7, 2013

The speech of the dictator Bashar Al Assad on Sunday January 6, 2013 at the opera in the capital Damascus was not different to his last official speeches and was in many way a mere repetition. He once again appealed for the “total mobilization of the nation” to fight against the insurgents who he described as al-Qaeda terrorists. He also called for a reconciliation conference with “those who have not betrayed Syria” which would be followed by the formation of a new government and a new amnesty.

The solution of the crisis of Bashar Al Assad is not a solution, but on the opposite a clear message to the Syrian people: the regime will continue its war against the popular movement, both peaceful and armed.

This speech does not open new perspectives, other than the continuation of the revolution, to the Syrian people that has been struggling for nearly two years to overthrow the criminal and corrupt regime of the dictator Bashar al-Assad. The number of martyrs has now exceeded the 60 000.

Nor is the so called “peace plan for Syria” suggested by UN Peace envoy Lakhdar Ibrahimi is a solution for the Syrian people as we said before in a previous article[1]. This plan calls for the formation of a transitional government which holds the total responsibility of executive power to govern Syria until Presidential and legislative elections in 2014 under the auspices of the UN. During this period, the dictator Bashar al Assad would stay in function at the top of the State. The following sentence of the Russian revolutionary Trotsky, which was directed to UN ancestor the League of Nation, applies perfectly to the United Nations: “The League in its defense of the status quo is not an organization of “peace”, but an organization of the violence of the imperialist minority over the overwhelming majority of mankind “[2]. The UN as its late predecessor the League of Nations is indeed the instrument of the imperialists powers of the world to guaranty their interests and the Syrian or Palestinian case also are examples among others.

In both cases, these are not solutions, but the continuation of the suffering of the Syrian people and their denial to freedom and dignity which they have called since the beginning of the revolution.

Assad repeatedly described parts of the opposition as agents of foreign powers who could not be included in any negotiations: “We will not have dialogue with a puppet made by the West”. The Syrian people agree with this quote, they refuse any negotiation with a regime that has not hesitated for the past 30 years to serve imperialist powers on many occasions. The great powers do actually not see any interests in the collapse of the regime. This regime has helped stabilize the borders with Israel and has worked with the Western powers repeatedly in the “war against terrorism” launched by former President George W. Bush, and in the wars against Iraq in 1991, and in 2003 the regime has participated in the “interrogation” of prisoners by the Western powers, not to mention military intervention in Lebanon in agreement with the Western powers and Israel to crush the Palestinian resistance and the Lebanese left in 1976. The neoliberal policy has accelerated extraordinary since the rise to power of Bashar al-Assad in 2000, and the regime had also opened Syria to many Western and the Gulf investors before the beginning of the revolution. These policies have plunged more than half of the population in misery and poverty. This is why until today the imperialists’ powers have no advantage in seeing the regime collapse, for the above reasons and for the security of Israel, whose border with Syria has been quiet since 1973.  Yes the Syrian people refuse to negotiate with a regime which served imperialists and a dictator that was called a reformist by US official Hillary Clinton for the Six first months of the revolution and who was having lunch at theElysee Palace with French President Sarkozy. The Syrian people will not negotiate, they will fight until you are overthrown.

In the same time, the Syrian people will refuse any attempts to submit Syria to western control as a banner in Binich 2012, September, stated “Overthrow all who want loyalty in exchange of support” [3] and will also oppose the section of the oppositions using a sectarian discourse and backed by the Arab Gulf states in their sectarian propaganda, to transform this popular revolution in a sectarian war to prevent the deepening and the spread of this revolution. In that manner, the evil of Sectarianism characterized by many in the popular movement  as “the tomb of the revolution or of the homelands”, which was spread by the regime for decades, can only defeated by struggling in conjunction for democracy, social justice, secularism and real independence.

Finally, in his speech, the dictator Bashar Al Assad said that “This is not a revolution, a revolution needs intellectuals, where are the intellectuals of this revolution?” A revolution needs leaders who are the leaders of this revolution? “This sentence symbolizes the lack of understandings of the Syrian dictator and regime, symptomatic of all dictatorships, in front the popular movement and the dynamics around it. The popular movement self organization through popular committees at the level of villages, neighborhoods, cities and regions have been the rule since the beginning of the revolution. These popular committees are the real backbone of the movement, mobilizing the people for demonstrations. They have also developed forms of self-management based on the organization of the masses in the areas liberated from the yoke of the regime. Popular elected councils have emerged to deal with and manage the liberated areas, proving that it is the regime that causes anarchy and not the people. In the same time, the armed resistance of the Syrian people on the other side is the expression of its right to defend itself against repression, and it has made possible the continuation of popular resistance in some regions in the face of the regime’s attacks. Revolutionary councils have been formed across Syria, as well as coordinating committees for political and armed actions

The leaders of this revolution are every woman and man involved in this revolution and invested in these popular committees. The leaders of Syria are the people of Syria themselves.

And for the intellectuals, they are all those who brandish their messages on their placards to demand freedom, dignity, a democratic, social and secular state, denounce sectarianism and repeat the Syrian people are one and united, or saying that the speech of Bachar al Assad only deserved a shoe in his face…

Yes the intellectuals as argued by Gramsci can no longer consist in eloquence or restricted to its ivory tower as perceived by some, but has to join actively in practical life, as constructor, organizer, and permanently active persuader among the masses.

The intellectuals are therefore every woman and men involved and invested in this revolution. The intellectuals of this revolution are the Syrian people.

Without any doubt, this is truly a revolution and this since the beginning. And despite the harsh and criminal repression, the Syrian people have always the same answer to what next:  permanent revolution until victory!

Viva the Syrian Revolution and Peace for all the martyrs of the revolution!

[1] http://syriafreedomforever.wordpress.com/2012/12/25/syria-peace-and-christmas/

[2] Trosky L. (1936). La révolution Trahie

[3] http://syriafreedomforever.wordpress.com/2012/10/21/listen-to-what-the-syrian-popular-movement-and-revolutionaries-have-to-say/

Source: syriafreedomforever

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