#Syrian revolution

[hussyknee]

[deadpresidents]

"Bashar al-Assad left his country so secretively that some of his aides remained in the palace hours after he had left, waiting for a speech that never came, the insider said. After midnight, word came that the president was gone, and they fled in a panic, leaving the palace gates wide open for the rebels who would storm in a few hours later."

-- "Deception and Betrayal: Inside the Final Days of the Assad Regime", New York Times, December 21, 2024.

I love fly-on-the-wall reporting of events like this. Great work from Ben Hubbard, Farnaz Fassihi, Christina Goldbaum, and Hwaida Saad of the New York Times. Here's a gift link from me to bypass the paywall and read the whole story.

[genlosscharliie]

Syrians celebrating independence from the French by burning French books (April 17th, 1946) / Syrians celebrating freedom from the regime by burning Ba’athist symbols (December 8th, 2024)

[moonlayl]

Ppl going “are you happy now?” “Israel is attacking Syria” 

1. Israel is scared. They’re worried the Syrian freedom fighters are gonna do something about the shared border. 

For 53 years, they didn’t have any concerns while the Assad regime was in power. This has now changed during the most difficult time for Israel (worldwide pressure, support for the Palestinian cause stronger than ever before, continued resistance in Gaza, escalations in Lebanon) 

2. Based on what I said above, people acting like the Syrian revolution succeeding is bad and therefor shouldn’t have happened,  are basically saying the Syrian people should NOT have liberated themselves out of fear for Israel. 

Since WHEN do we allow fear of the enemy to paralyze us? Since when do we allow the threat of Israel to stop us from fighting for freedom? Why are you treating Israel like some boogeyman? Should we be throwing this rhetoric at Hamas for October 7th?? No, obviously! 

3. The prisoners that were freed have literally said that 54 of them were sentenced to be executed literally that SAME DAY. FIFTY FOUR people were supposed to  be MURDERED. Syrian fighters saved their lives. HUNDREDS of people were freed from torturous prisons. They were rescued by the Syrian fighters. Should we have let them die because of an uncertain “what if”? Is their lives, and safety, and freedom irrelevant? Are they not important? Do they not matter? 

Now, if the previous statement wasn’t said out of genuine concern for the Syrian people, or fear of Israel gaining more land, meaning more power, but rather you genuinely thinking Palestine lost an ally with Assad’s defeat, then you are an idiot. 

1. The Assad regime was in power for 53 years. Not once did they attack Israel. Not once did they advance to retrieve the occupied Golan Heights. IN FACT, The Golan Heighys was practically given to Israel by Hafez Al Assad ! 

2. The Assad regime massacred hundreds of Palestinians, and destroyed several Palestinian refugee camps in Syria. They have never stood with the Palestinian people. Hundreds of Palestinians in Syria remain missing. 

3. As the most recent events revealed, dozens of Al Qassam members were imprisoned in the tortuous dungeons by the Assad regime. Some of the people that would’ve helped Gaza the most, being tortured for years by Assad. So much for solidarity. Not to mention, over 600 Palestinian prisoners being released BY the Syrian rebels these last 2 days. 

4. The Syrian freedom fighters have ALWAYS stood with Palestine. From 2011 making it clear that after Syria is freed, they plan to help out Palestine, to Idlib (one of the only Syrian cities to be liberated in Syria and remain that way all these years ago) constantly showing solidarity with Gaza (being the only Arab city to hold a funeral for Yahya Sinwar), to just a few days ago raising the Palestinian flag alongside the Syrian Revolution flag in Aleppo. They’ve on multiple occasions over the past 13 years made the stance on Palestine clear. Not sure where all your stupidity is coming from now. 

Hamas literally helped train and stood in solidarity with the Syrian Revolution. They congratulated Syria JUST TODAY. 

Yes, even Syrians are concerned for the future, just like anyone would be after a major change, and with power hungry vultures nearby, ready to take advantage, but this does not mean Syrian people freeing Syria from an Authoriatian regime that has destroyed the lives of MILLIONS, was a bad decision.  Stop consuming propaganda. You fall for the same BS you claim to be immune to. The West has always supported dictators in our countries. They’ll scramble to replace this one, that’s obvious, but that doesn’t mean we stay silent and refuse action over a “What if”. 

WHERE IS YOUR FAITH IN ALLAH? WHERE IS YOUR IMAN? 

Palestinians IN GAZA, facing a GENOCIDE RIGHT NOW, are celebrating for Syria and praying for Syria. Syrians and Palestinians have always stood together! Have ALWAYS supported each other. Have always prayed for each others’ liberation and freedom and safety.

What makes YOU think that your diaspora ass knows more than them? That their joy is somehow misplaced and that you are more concerned for them and for Palestine than they are? 

Also “Syrian Rebels are backed by Turkey, which has its own agenda, and has committed numerous atrocities over the decades. That’s why I can’t be supportive. That’s why I don’t stand in solidarity. That’s why I’m against them. They discriminate and mistreat Kurds and minorities” 

I’m sure glad the Palestinian resistance isn’t financially backed by a country with its own agenda. With dozens of proxies across the Middle East carrying out its bidding. A country that helped massacre thousands of not millions of Muslims. A country that oppressed its own citizens and discriminates against minorities, including Kurds. A country that currently occupies other regions. 

Oh wait…

[ohsalome]

In 2015, Russia officially entered Syria an ally of Assad in order to kill Syrians and commit the most heinous massacres, such as bombing markets, hospitals, residential neighborhoods, city centers, and health centers. Until now, Russia and the Assad regime and its ally, Iran, are killing civilians in a semi-formal manner. daily. They committed thousands of massacres against the Syrians in many areas in Syria. As for the United States, unfortunately, it did not have a word in order to stop the criminals from killing the Syrians. The United States policy was weak in Syria and did not properly care about the civilians being killed by the Assad regime and Russia. In 2020, the Assad regime, Russia and Iran expelled me from my city of Maarat al-Numan and occupied it. They destroyed my memories, took my house and my father's shop, and stole everything we owned. Because of these criminals (the Assad regime, Russia and Iran), I became an internally displaced person without anything. I lost my memories, my city, my home, and literally everything.

To all foreign journalists interested in the Syrian issue, please be honest and forthright in everything you write about Syria. Don't forget the Syrian Revolution. Do not write “civil war.” It is not a Syrian civil war, it is a Syrian popular revolution that arose for the sake of demanding freedom and democracy. Please follow those who live on the ground (inside Syria) and take the news from them, do not trust any other source. Those who live inside Syria know all the truth and everything that is happening. Do not forget the detainees in the prisons of the Assad regime, who are subjected daily to the worst forms of torture. Research the Caesar Files [in August 2013, a military defector code-named Caesar smuggled 53,275 photographs out of Syria showing at least 6,786 detainees who died in detention or after being transferred from detention to a military hospital.] And also follow the organization I work with, Syrian Emergency Task Force, in order to know a lot of things about Syria.

[abla-soso]

This is from a book published in 2023.

I'm... speechless.

[darkkpearl]

2 آيار، ذكرى مجزرة بانياس.

هذه ليست مشاهد من فيلم رعب، إنما أحداث حقيقية وقعت في بانياس على الساحل السوري سنة 2013.

توعد النظام "بتطهير الساحل السوري من الإرهاب"، حاصر بانياس وأطبق حصاره، وبعد معارك مع فصيل للجيش الحر اقتحم البلدة:

بلدة البيضا: 2/5/2013

اقتحمت ميليشيات الأسد وحزبالة بلدات وقرى بانياس

دخلوا البيوت والمحلات التجارية وقتلوا الأهالي بالرصاص،

في بعض الأحياء، جمعوا الرجال في ساحة واعدموهم بالرصاص.

جمعوا 25 جثة شهيد في محل لبيع الخليوي، واشعلوا فيها النار.

دخلوا إلى المنازل وذبحوا الأطفال والنساء بالسكاكين والسواطير.

استمرت المجزرة ٣ ساعات، استطاع القلة من الأهالي الهروب إلى الجبال وإلى بلدة راس النبع.

راس النبع: 3/5/2013

في اليوم التالي 3 آيار، وعلى بعد 10 كيلو من البيضا، قصفت ميليشيا الاسد وحزبالة راس النبع بالمدفعيات تمهيدا للاقتحام

اقتحموا البلدة، دخلوا البيوت، ذبحوا من بقي من الأطفال والنساء بالسكاكين، والبعض بالحرق والتفجير، اخرجوا البقية إلى الساحة وأعدموهم بالرصاص.

دخلوا بيت الناشطة بيان جلول وشوهوا وجهها، قطعوا انفها، وطعنوها في يدها ورجلها، وتركوها تنزف حتى الموت.

منعوا المسعفين من الدخول للبلدات حتى مر ٣ أيام. جمع المسعفين جثث الشهداء ودفنوها في مقبرة جماعية. إدعى النظام أن المعارضة والجيش الحر هو من ارتكب المجزرة، رغم إعلان النظام أنه في عملية "تطهير الساحل السوري من الإرهاب"، مع وجود فيديوهات وصور توثق اقتحامهم لبلدات ومدن الساحل وتفاخرهم بقتل الأهالي.

مجزرة بانياس حدثت في 2 و 3 آيار/مايو 2013. ذبحوهم بالسكاكين. لا تنسوا وذكروا كل الأجيال الجاية.

تقرير قصير عن المجزرة

فيديو لضحايا المجزرة

عناصر من ميليشيا الاسد وحزبالة تجمع الجثث لحرقها

شهادة ناجٍ من مجزرة البيضا

شاهد عيان .. أحداث بلدة البيضا الحقيقية

شهادة أم الناشط عمر الشغري أحد الناجيين

قرية البيضا بعد تهجير من أهلها بعد المجزرة

[originalleftist]

AP Reports Syrian Rebels Have Entered Damascus- Assad has fled!

A few thoughts:

It is impossible to know what the long-term repercussions of this will be, yet, and whether what ultimately emerges on the other side will be better or worse than the Assad regime. Time will tell.

That said, in the short-term, this is a GIGANTIC kick in the rubles to Putin. He poured a great deal of effort into propping up his Syrian proxies, seemingly successfully intimidating Obama out of taking a stronger stance against Assad after the chemical weapons "red line" was crossed. Syria also is (was?) the home of Russia's only Mediterranean naval base IIRC. I would go so far as to guess that this may be the worst loss Putin has ever taken, outside of his failure to blitzkrieg Ukraine.

While not necessarily validating every action taken in that war, this outcome would seem to validate Israel's decision to strike Hezbollah. Hezbollah were major allies of Assad, and the damage they took from the IDF in recent months likely helped make the swift fall of the Assad regime possible. The rebels will not be friends of Israel either, but nonetheless, and whether it was anticipated or not, the IDF has arguably, indirectly, done what the entire world failed to for the better part of two decades: toppled a key Russian proxy state and rid the Middle East of Assad.

Watch how quickly the "pro-Palestine" Westerners' sympathies for Islamist rebels vanishes in this case, because, see above. They're Tankies, they get a lot of their narratives from Moscow, and their darling Hezbollah was close to Assad. If they aren't already painting the fall of the Butcher of Damascus as an evil US/Jewish "Zionist" conspiracy, they will.

[sadanandaom]

[recursive-rupture]

A revolution is an exceptional event that alters the history of a society while also transforming each human being. It is a rupture in time and space, during which humans live two experiences of time simultaneously: authority’s time and revolutionary time. For a revolution to succeed, revolutionary time must become independent, so that people can collectively move into a new period. [...] The danger doesn’t lie in the overlap of these two times, which is part of the nature of revolution, but rather in the separation between the progress of daily life and that of the revolution, for everyone involved. [...] Merging life and revolution is the key element for continuing the revolution and winning. This involves organizing for flexibility within social groupings by developing processes to co-ordinate revolution and everyday human life, which we will call here “local councils”.

Introduction to The Formation of Local Councils by Omar Aziz

[hussyknee]

Every single person not taking the time to find actual Syrians to listen to, every person who isn't a Syrian weighing in— you are stealing voices of the colonized, suppressed and tortured and doing the work of imperialism and colonization. Your voice is not needed.

Here are some twitter accounts to follow:

Leila Al-Shami

Aymenn J Al-Tamimi

Iyad El-Bhagdhadi

Lina Sergie Attar

Zaina Erhaim

Rasha Al-Aqeedi

Sara Hunaidi

If you know the handles of Syrian Tumblrs, please add them.

Do not boost anything that doesn't come from Syrians or endorsed by Syrians— not even any other Arabs or people who happen to be Muslim. If the accounts and perspectives of Syrians are conflicting themselves then that's good because they aren't a monolith. They simply deserve to be heard with their own voices. This is how you decolonize.

[aurarevealed]

As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow

This book by Zoulfa Katouh, transported me into a backdrop similar to that of “A Thousand Splendid Suns” by Khaled Hosseini. As long as the Lemon Trees Grow is heartwarming and unputdownable. Many times it is the constant twists and turns that make a novel, unputdownable. But this was not one of them. This one doesn’t bear a lot of plot twists, but the pain of the protagonist makes your heart…

[syria99]

The Role of Russian Intervention in Syria:

Introduction:

Given that the Syrian people are victims of Russian intervention, it is essential to consider this significant aspect for Syrians and their friends around the world, both people and governments. To understand any military or political developments, we must grasp the context. There are different parties involved, each with its own strategic calculations. The scenes become tragic, as in northwest Syria, when these strategic calculations conflict. Identifying the parties in Syria, we see Russia, Iran, Israel, Turkey, and NATO as key players, each with its own strategic interests. When these interests clash, tragedies occur, turning battles into bloodbaths that can last for more than a decade, or perhaps decades.

Strategic Calculations of the Conflict Parties in Syria:

To see the full picture, we can outline the strategic calculations of local and international parties involved in the conflict. NATO wants to expand in Syria, while Russia aims to stop this expansion. Iran seeks demographic changes in Syria, and Israel wants to ensure Syria does not pose a threat to its security. The Syrian opposition aims to overthrow the regime and establish a new Syria, while Turkey does not want a Kurdish state in northern Syria. The Kurds seek to establish their own state, and the Syrian regime wants to eliminate the opposition and the Kurds to stay in power. The conflicting strategic calculations of these parties result in clashes, causing millions of innocent people to suffer, which sets the context for the Syrian conflict.

What are the Goals of Russian Military Intervention in Syria?

There is no doubt that when Russia intervened in Syria in 2015, the Russian leadership had certain goals in mind. These can be summarized into seven main objectives:

1. Countering Western influence, especially the American role in Syria.

2. Supporting the Syrian regime, which was the main justification for Russia's intervention. The Syrian regime had handed over all control, making Syria's fate dependent on foreign interventions, whether Russian, Iranian, or even Israeli, as we will see in the following details.

3. Eliminating the Syrian armed opposition, which was active during its golden period from 2011 to 2015.

4. Using the Syrian crisis as a bargaining chip with the West and the United States, especially regarding economic sanctions and Ukraine.

5. Restoring Russia's international standing by asserting its role as a key partner in addressing international and regional crises.

6. Increasing Russia's geopolitical control in the Fertile Crescent region, which had fallen out of Russian control, with Americans and Westerners generally viewing it as an area of influence, necessitating Russian military intervention to regain control.

7. Strengthening Russian nationalism, a belief upheld by Putin's administration.

What is the International Stance on Russian Military Intervention in Syria?

Western intelligence agencies, whether MI6 or CIA, were surprised by the extent of Russian intervention. John Sawers, in a recent recorded lecture on YouTube, said that the West tried from 2011 to 2015 to build the Free Syrian Army, not realizing that Putin was monitoring their activities in Syria. Putin's military intervention caught them off guard, undermining the Western project entirely. Sawers admitted that since the Russian intervention in Syria in 2015, the Western project in Syria failed. The West now understands the Russian role in Syria, as it targets all armed Syrian opposition to the Syrian regime. Under the guise of fighting terrorism, Russia entered Syria but primarily targeted Syrian opposition forces and the Free Syrian Army. John McCain, a former congressman responsible for overseeing the building of the Free Syrian Army, stated that while they were building, the Russians were bombing, indicating that Russian aircraft did not target ISIS but rather the Free Syrian Army established by the United States and the West.

Russian Achievements in Syria:

Since its intervention in Syria, Russia has achieved significant and notable accomplishments. Russia prevented the fall of the Syrian regime, restoring its confidence after it was on the verge of collapse. In March 2016, the regime recaptured Palmyra, and in December of the same year, Aleppo. In 2017, they broke the siege of Deir ez-Zor. In January 2017, Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the Russian General Staff, announced that the Russian Air Force had conducted 71,000 sorties, targeting what he referred to as terrorists, meaning Syrian opposition factions. In December 2017, the Russian defense minister stated that 48,000 Russian fighters had gained significant military experience in Syria, with new Russian weapons being tested in Syrian areas. Overall, Russia's achievements in Syria cannot be underestimated.

Syrian Opposition:

Firstly, the Syrian opposition must focus on achievable goals to overthrow the Assad regime and avoid unequal confrontations. Currently, the opposition is cornered in northwest Syria, specifically in Idlib, making them and the civilians easy targets for Russian and Iranian forces, as the Syrian regime has become a tool in the hands of Russia and Iran. Secondly, unifying the Syrian opposition's rhetoric as much as possible is crucial. The opposition is often fragmented with scattered messages, each party having its own project and vision. This fragmentation demonstrates to the world that the Syrian opposition is disorganized and unable to bring about change in Syria. Thirdly, it is essential to engage with external media and present the Syrian cause internationally. Effective media representation is crucial, as evidenced by the global protests triggered by the image of George Floyd being choked by an American policeman. Developing a network of political relations with parliaments, newspapers, radio stations, and global channels is vital to highlight and export the Syrian cause.

Fourthly, the large demographic presence in northwest Syria poses a significant threat to the Syrian opposition and people. The opposition must spread across the entire Syrian geography rather than being concentrated in northwest Syria, to avoid a massive crackdown being prepared by Iran and Russia.

This concludes the coverage of the Russian role in Syria within its political, temporal, and various dimensions.

Written by: Moatasem Al-Bakour

[moonlayl]

[averagegazan]

May all the oppressed people be free. Congratulations to the Syrian people 🌷