Ordinary Lives Disrupted by War

Here is a compelling series of photographs by Brian Sokol for UNHCR published in Aljazeera. Images from Syria are more often than not, dominated by distressing images of violence, suffering, devastation and squalor. Such images assault the senses, create anger and outrage, and yet their subjects remain strangely impersonal and anonymous.  The present photographs,  on the other hand, simple and understated, are intensely personal.  The photographer by hiding background with a simple sheet forces you to look into the eyes of each of his subjects. In each a Syrian refugee shows the most important thing they took with them when fleeing from their homes. Each story told by these ordinary, dignified people is a heartbreaking revelation of a  life disrupted by conflict. These images will stay with you; now imagine these and similar stories repeated a million times. Such is the scale of the tragedy befalling the people of Syria.

Translation: Moaz Al Khatib's Press Conference 2/28/2013

Moaz Al Khatib represents me. The more I listen to him to more I like the man. He has the right mix of passion, compassion, moral indignation and the ability to stand his ground. Unlike most politicians, you know that he believes every word he says.

“I would like to thank the Italian government, the foreign minister, Mr. Kerry and the other foreign ministers who joined us in this meeting to discuss the pain and suffering of the Syrian people at the hands of the mafia that is ruling it. First I want to say that we are now talking two years after the slaughter of our steadfast people started and the destruction of the country’s infrastructure in a frightening manner. The Syrian revolution is a peaceful revolution and I reiterate that it is the regime alone that has forced the people to take up arms to defend themselves.  The proof of that fact is the savagery perpetrated by the regime today. There is no regime in the world that has bombed its people with fighter jets and Scud missiles. The diameter of the crater caused by the scud missile that landed in Raqqa two days ago was 115 meters.  It is hard for human beings to see the even see these images, so how must it be for the people living under this bombardment when their children, their infants and their women are killed?  There is an important point that the regime tries to exploit by talking about the presence of terrorism.  I told the foreign ministers that there are three questions that we Syrians have gotten fed up with, and I myself, as an official, have gotten fed up with.  The first is the talk about terrorism. None of the terrorists around the world have demonstrated the type of savagery that the Syrian regime demonstrated. The subject of chemical weapons; what the regime has achieved as far as destruction and the use of all forms of weapons in its possession has had a more devastating effect than all the chemical weapons. The third is the subject of the minorities. For a long time and to this day, the regime pretends to be the protector of the minorities. I have one thing to tell you.  Go to Lebanon and see what the Syrian occupation did to the leaders of every religious sect there; I have no other response to this subject.  There is also the issue regarding the rebel fighters.  Many, especially in the media seem more concerned about the length of the beards of the fighters than the volume of blood that flows from the children. A month ago, the regime planes bombed 86 bakeries, kneading the flesh of children into the bread. Please pay attention to that fact before you obsess over the length of fighters’ beards.  The vast majority of our brothers fighting on the inside are peaceful individuals who were forced to take up arms. We do not deny that there some people who have their own strange ideas that are foreign to our society.  We reject such ideas with frankness and we have said before and repeat again, we are against any takfiri ideologies and against those who want to impose their way of thinking by force.  We are against all those who want to destroy the social fabric of Syria. The person who best personifies the ideals of the revolution is the martyr, Colonel Abu Furat, one of the heroes of Aleppo. This man said, "it saddens me whenever a human being from the other side is killed because this man has a family and children and he is, after all, a human being. We are after all human beings not monsters.  I am also sad whenever I destroy a tank but I have to defend the people standing behind be against a savage, destructive military machine." Abu Furat was killed minutes later by a sniper.  This is the spirit of our fighters in Syria. I want to also say that we are not shy to say that we are Muslim fighters. The Islam that we know is an Islam that is inclusive, that respects everyone, that lives side by side with everyone, that wishes good for all and that says to all of humanity that we are all from Adam and that Adam was made from clay. We are born into this life to help each other and not to devour each other. Now, there are several topics that we discussed with the ministers and we frankly asked for several things.  The first is to force the regime to create safe corridors for humanitarian assistance especially for the city of Homs which is under siege for the past 250 days.  Also for the city of Daraya, the cradle of the peaceful revolution, the home of the martyr Gyath Matar who carried in his hands flowers and cold water to offer to the members of the security forces until he was arrested and died in custody, under torture. His throat, with which he called for freedom, freedom, was sent to his family in a plastic bag.  Daraya has been surrounded and bombarded savagely for the last 100 days.  We demand the establishments of safe passages to protect civilians. Second, we consider the unity of Syria, a red line with all the associated international guarantees, to counter rumors, true or false, about attempts to divide up Syria. We will not accept this and all Syrian citizens will fight any such attempts. The call for negotiations is one of the subjects that the Syrian coalition has agreed upon during its last meeting that includes frankly, the departure of the regime and the dismantling of the oppressive security apparatus that rules the country. And here I say from this forum, and probably for the last time, “O Bashar, can you for once behave like a human being. The people have had enough killing, enough massacres, enough arbitrary arrests and torture that have not even spared the children. Make one wise decision in your life for the sake of the future of this country.” Fourth, give the Syrian people and the revolutionaries the full right to defend themselves.  There is one other topic that I want to discuss with all frankness, there are decisions or indications from the international community against arming the opposition fighters for various reasons.  I say, if this is what you want, then work to stop the ongoing flow of weapons that the regime continues to get under the pretext that they are old contracts. Fifth, we ask all friendly countries to facilitate the residency paperwork for Syrians.  We have noticed some countries have started to clamp down on Syrians who show sympathy for the revolution and some have been arrested.  We ask for such actions to stop.  We also ask for help with Syrian students abroad in the form of scholarships and to make hospital beds available for Syrians in need of urgent medical care. Finally, we ask for support for the neighboring countries because of the significant pressure that are under because of the Syrian crisis. I would finally like to say that the international community can no longer tolerate the criminality that is happening in Syria.  Syrians are now in an unprecedented crisis. I close by saying that our great Syrian cities, the mother of history, are being destroyed.  Throwing a stone at Syria is akin to throwing a stone at ones own mother. Syria is the mother of all as from within it all civilizations have arisen. I thank you all.”

Parsing Bashar Assad's Speech

Once again, Bashar's speech, at a time when his policies have taken Syria to the brink of collapse, is completely devoid of realistic solutions to the present crisis.  He rehashed old pseudo-reform ideas that were unacceptable at a time when the revolution was peaceful and are patently unrealistic at this juncture. Not even the clever visuals, likely the work of a well paid Western PR firm, could overcome the alarming lack of substance in his speech. Moving the speech to the larger opera house instead of the cramped parliament allowed for for the presence of a larger number of his supporters; however, at this point their cult-like devotion of the eternal leader only makes him seem more pathetic.  Moreover, the backdrop of his speech, an oversized Syrian flag made up of pictures of the dead, was  cynical and offensive for all who have lost family members in the last 22 months. What is new in the speech is the indirect admission, despite the bluster, that he is quickly losing ground.  Here following specific quotes from his speech as published in the Daily Star followed by my comments

"Today we meet and suffering permeates Syrian land and there is no place for joy in any corner of the country while security and safety are absent from its streets and alleyways."  A clear admission that he is loosing ground and that the revolution has reached every corner of the country. 

"We meet today and there are mothers who have lost their finest children and families who have lost their providers, children who have been orphaned and brothers divided among the martyrs, the refugees, and the missing."  An enraging cynical twisting of the reality on the ground.  It is troops under his command as president that have caused the vast majority of the casualties and physical destruction not to mention the hundreds of videos that "allegedly" show the abuse suffered by common citizens at the hands of the regime's various security forces.

"Syria will only exit this calamity by converting this energy into a total national mobilisation to save the country from the clutches of a crisis which has no precedent in this region." Translation: I have lost control of most of the country and need your help.

"Terrorists holding the views of al Qaeda who call themselves jihadists are the ones running the terrorist operations here and we are fighting them. It is not impossible to destroy them if we have the courage." The old canard trotted out again but still seems to be effective in keeping the West and the rest of the world guessing as to what should be done as the country and its people are systematically destroyed. Here again, the wording: "not impossible to destroy" projects a sense of weakness and impotence.

"Whoever talks solely of a political solution only is turning a blind eye to the facts and he is either ignorant or has been fooled into selling his people and the blood of martyrs for free and we will not allow this." Translation: a political solution on my terms and I reserve the option to continue the military option.  In fact, this statements renders all subsequent statements about dialogue and reform null and void. 

"We will have dialogue with all those who opposed us politically and all who have rejected our positions as long as their positions were not based on trying to destroy our principles and national foundations." A non sequitur: the "principles and national foundations" he is talking about are the ones of the Baath party as interpreted by the rergime and which all his political opponents reject; hence he has no one to dialogue with.

"We will have dialogue with all parties and individuals that did not sell our country to the foreigner." Never mind that the regime has sold the country to the Iranians and the Russians.

 "The political solution will be along the following lines." He goes on to describe a three stage solution for stopping the armed conflict, having a national dialogue, establishing and a new constitution and government. The problem is that this plan is to be implemented by the present discredited government, with their own preconditions and with their own definitions.  This is a non-starter and completely unrealistic.   

In effect the president's plan is a delusional farce and except for the brain-washed devotees at the opera hall, most Syrians will come to the depressing realization that Bashar, even at the height of this crisis, is incapable of  any grand gestures that will help spare the country and its citizens from further death and destruction.  

A Political Solution IS Better than Hell

I sympathize with a traumatized and cynical Syrian public's dismissal of Lakdhar Brahimi's initiative as too little, too late.  If more killing and more physical and psychological destruction of the country can be avoided by a political solution, however, I am all for it. One argument is that since the opposition is gaining the upper hand, at least militarily, then it is not time to stop until this murderous regime is completely dismantled.  That scenario presupposes that the regime is capable of realizing when it is defeated and when to throw in the towel. The last twenty one months have shown that this delusional, insular regime is incapable of such a rational decision; they will still be sending their MIGs on bombing missions when the rebel forces are gates of the presidential palace.

It is precisely because the rebels have the upper hand militarily that the opposition should opt for a political solution.  They will have the upper hand and can set the conditions of the transition especially now that the regime's staunchest backers, the Russian government, has essentially abandoned them. Actually, a political solution is a misnomer as it suggests some kind of negotiated compromise. It should more accurately be called a political transition; the only negotiations are on the terms of surrunder. It should be a forgone conclusion that there will be no room for Bashar or his inner circle in the transition but it will be vital to keep technocrats and middle and low level governments officials in place to maintain a functioning governmental structure.  The mukhabarat should be dismantled completely and the Syrian Army leadership should be restructured carefully.  Even the most thoughtful political transition, however, will be difficult and fraught with danger and yet the alternative of letting this drag on to a military victory will mean that the Syrian state will have to be built from scratch. Starting with a clean slate may have its attractions given the ingrained corruption fostered by two generations of Baathist rule but it is too simplistic a notion when dealing with a complex nation that has undergone the most profound period of strife since its independence. The lingering scars of war, displacement, economic hardship, the prospects of sectarian strife and breakdown of a structured governance system means that the situation will be nothing like a clean slate.

Bashar can opt for an ignominious end in some drainage ditch on the outskirts of Damascus or he can save his skin and be whisked off to some distant land. If the latter saves the Syrian people from the hell they are presently going through, then I am for it, provided he leaves without the people's money and that he and his cronies remain within reach of the international criminal court. In the end though, just as decision to militarize peaceful protests was in the hands the Syrian regime so too is the decision to stop it in favor of a political solution.  It is remains to be seen if the regime has broken out of its delusional bubble and now "gets it". If not then it is up to Bashar's allies, Russia and Iran, for their own political priorities to burst the delusional bubble that they helped create.

Translation of Sheik Moaz Khatib's Speech

After many months of hopelessness and desperation about the fate of the Syrian revolution comes the trio of Riad Seif, Suheir Atassi and Sheikh Moaz al Khatib.  I, like many other Syrians feel energized and hopeful again.  Below is my translation, imperfect as it is, of Sheik al Khatib's remarkable speech.  

Sheik Moaz Al Khatib, head of the newly established Syrian National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces

November 11, 2012, Qatar

The Syrian people are the product of 10,000 years of civilization.  The great people of Syria are facing daily, a programmed war of extermination and savage destruction.  It can be safely said that there is not a citizen that has not been harmed by this regime.  Many parties have exerted much effort to pull this regime out of its primitiveness, its savagery and its stupidity but have been put off by its stubbornness and its arrogance.  The regime has destroyed all aspects of normal life and turned Syria into ruins; it has worked for fifty years to negate the will of the people and to play on its contradictions using them to tear apart our people. After a long struggle, numerous patriotic groups have now united as one to stop the massacre to which our people are being subjected to daily as the rest of world passively listens and watches.  Our primary task is to provide emergent humanitarian relief to our people and to stop the torrent of blood the runs day and night, as we unite our ranks to remove this tyrannical regime with all it symbols and build a righteous society based on justice and the dignity that is bestowed by god on every human being. I would like to alert you to certain issues, even if I deviate a little from the norms of diplomatic protocol.  The first issue is that our revolution is a peaceful revolution from its beginning to its end and it is the regime alone that bears the moral and legal responsibility; for it is the regime that forced our people to resort to armed resistance to defend themselves, their families, their propery and their religion.  In dozens of cities flowers were carried during demonstrations by thousands of young men and women. They carried flowers and cold water to give to members of the security forces to ask for their right, to simply express themselves. This monstrous regime responded with arrests, jail and torture and then proceeded to destroy the physical, social and economic structure of the country after destroying its intellectual and moral fabric for the past fifty years.  We salute the struggle of this great people, men, women and children and we salute their legendary courage in the face of oppression and destruction as we stand with respect in memory of the souls of our martyrs.  We also salute with loyalty all of the fighters of the Free Syrian Army who defend the revolution in the face of tyranny.  The regime has destroyed our people, our country and our army that we honor and feel the pain at the sight of every coffin of a dead soldier. This is the army built by the people’s hard work, sweat and tears to defend the country only to be turned by the regime against the people. Our people’s demands were very simple, brothers, all our people wanted is for every individual to be able to go to sleep without fear.  This was the demand of our people, brothers, and the regime did not respond to this simple demand, and today there are no acceptable decisions short of the departure of the regime and the complete dismantling of its monstrous structure.   The second issue has to do with the Islamization of the revolution and what is said, day and night, about the savagery of the Syrian people and its rebels.  Oh brothers, and I take full responsibility for what I say, every fighter is looking for freedom but some are driven to extremes by the savagery of the regime’s forces.  Efforts are underway by legal councils to regulate the behavior of the rebel fighters even when it comes to their dealings with enemies.  This revolution uses “takbir”(the chanting of Allah is great) in all its corners, not to push anyone away for our brothers from all faiths are our partners. Many of our Christian brothers have joined us as we started demonstrating from within mosques and chanted “Allahu Akbar” in the face of the tyrant.  The Islam that we carry with us is an Islam that builds civilizations and honors human beings, an Islam that embraces Christianity in the most sacred of lands, an Islam that unites people not divides them, an Islam that considers that strength is in diversity no in isolation.  And at the wake of the first martyrs in Douma, it was made very clear that we are demanding freedom for every Sunni and Alawi, every Christian and Durzi, every Ismaili and Syriani.  We feel the pain of every one of them, from the injustices perpetrated against our Arabism to the injustices perpetrated against the great Kurdish people and to the injustices dealt to every segment of our society.  What is present in our country is not only coexistence but true compassion and love for the other.  Our work will end, and I say this specifically to our brethrens inside Syria, as soon as free elections are held.  Every legal and constitutional question is suspended until then so that the people will decide on their legal system and their constitution with free elections after the fall of the regime and in an atmosphere of total freedom and equality.  Thirdly, the revolution distances itself from the idea of revenge against anyone and there will be judiciary committees to hold accountable anyone who commits crimes against innocent citizens.  I also plea, knowing that many Syrian army officers and soldiers are honorable people suppressed by iron and fire as we all were, I plea with them to prepare to defect from this corrupt body and to help us build the Syria of the future.  The majority has suffered and the minorities have suffered and the regime has turned us against each other; it is time to unite in love to face the long night.  Fourthly, we as individuals and communities, do not and will not pledge allegiance to any side or cause that is harmful to our people, our unity or our land and this blood is the signature of our commitment.  We pledge in front of our people to protect their interests, their land, their religion, their morals, their freedom and the rule of law.  The coming Syria will be for all its sons and daughters.  I pledge personally in front of my brothers, to be at the service of my people, to unite them and that every decision made in their interest to regain their dignity.  Fifthly, we call on the international community, on its governments to honor pledges of help to our people.  Our people, Oh brothers, are not a primitive or marginal people, they are the makers of a great civilization and when our people’s rights are returned they will rise again and create a great civilization after the fall of the regime.  We ask for all forms of humanitarian, political and economic support.  In the name of all of our absent brothers in Syria, I extend my thanks to the government of Qatar and its people, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.  I thank our partners in civilization and history, our Turkish brothers as well as our brothers in Libya, Jordan and Egypt.  I hope we can work together to alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people.  I would also like to thank all of our brothers who worked tirelessly over many nights to put together this coalition.  I would also like to thank the Syrian National Council for working with us as brothers, because in the end we are brothers. Finally I want to address our great people with reverence and kiss the hand of every mother and father.  I also want to salute the steadfastness of our young men and women.  I want to salute especially the Syrian woman, the greatest woman on this earth, who made the human beings who conquered iron and blood.  I would also like to address our children with they have my unconditional love and tell them that we will shed our blood so that they can go to bed happy, with a smile on their lips and with love and peace in their dreams.  I want to tell all Syrians that if you find good in what I do then keep me, but otherwise ask me to leave; I love you all and I ask god for success, praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.

(Translation: Rabi Tawil)

Time to Move On

The events of the two weeks week have left me shaking my head in disgust. Apocalyptic right wing Christian zealots and a convicted felon, bent on igniting a culture war, strike the match by downloading their a repulsive video. On the receiving end, Salafis, eager to oblige, feign outrage and whisper into the ears of unemployed and underemployed youths on the Arab "street" resulting in predictable, pointless mayhem and destruction. And the juvenile political theater goes on, mostly for local consumption, as the rest of world looks on in puzzlement. The minister of railroads in Pakistan offers a bounty of 100,00 dollars for whoever kills Mr. Nakoula.  This, after 20  die needlessly around the country from protest turning into riots.  Hizbullah, rapidly loosing popularity and relevance puts on a carefully choreographed protest both to show that they are as pious as the Salafists and to contrast with the unruly Sunni rioters who torched a KFC in Tripoli, depriving many of their own brethren of their livelihood. Mr. Nakoula, or whatever his real name is, and reverend Jones must be exchanging high fives right about now as it is exactly the reaction that they wanted. They played the Muslim world like a marionette on a string.

That piece of trash of a video is not worth spending a second on, so why the disproportionate reaction? Many explanations reasonable explanations are given: that it is only a minority that rioted or became violent, that it is politically motivated and that there is a double standard in the west regarding protected speech and censorship.  These explanations are all valid to a degree. Beyond the riots and the angry young men of the Arab/Muslim street, however, many Muslims who ought to know better, seem disproportionately worked up about the video.  Some of it is certainly the perception of the continuing attack on their faith from the west both on the  political and cultural fronts that does not seem to have abated a decade after 9/11. The problem is that this perception clouds rational thinking as most of the most urgent problems in the Muslim world are not related to the culture war, but rather to the inept, autocratic governments, corruption, poverty, lack of education and the lack of employment.

There is plenty to be outraged about in our own backyards; just look at Syria.  It is time for us Muslims to move beyond the teenage temper tantrum and start addressing the real problems inflicting our societies. Mature, confident, successful societies would have been totally oblivious to such a video and would have thus made it completely irrelevant.

Syria: Turning Tanks into Swings

A Syrian twist on the saying: "turning swords in plougshares. The people of the town of Talbisah turn a destroyed Syrian regime tank into a swing for the kids on the occasion of Eid, the celebration of the end of the month of Ramadan. Despite the horrors imposed on them by the Assad regime, the people of Syria have maintained their sense of humor and their hope in a better future, one with dignity and peace.