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)
