Syrian Entitlements

Discussions on the future of the Syrian situation also continue to revolve around in the turmoil of expectations regarding the behavior of the new American administration, and in the whirlpool of waiting for that behavior.

And if it was possible in many countries around the world to wait to "clarify" the American behavior, such a wait is not possible in Syria for many reasons, including:

First: The country, in its catastrophic situation, does not have the luxury to wait. In addition to the de facto situation of division of the country into three regions, the people's living conditions have become tragic at various levels, regarding all kinds of services, medicines, and up to hunger. This is in addition to the continuing tragedies of detainees, missing people, displaced and the internally displaced persons, without any solutions. Above all, the only constant tendency for years is the tendency toward collapse and disintegration, which has only differed in terms of its speed, which reached in 2020 to thirty-four times what it was during the previous years. And if the year 2021 passed with the crisis unresolved, it would certainly not be less bad and catastrophic year.

Second: Whoever observe the US policies at least during the past two decades, can expect that the US policy will not be "clarified", not only in the first 100 days, but may remain unclear for a year or two. Not to mention the very complex special circumstance that Washington is going through, which is difficult to predict how it will be reflected in its foreign policies.

Third: We believe that there is a serious possibility that the American policy towards Syria will continue as it was in 2011; A policy that constantly changes tactics and alliances, but maintains a constant essence: pushing toward division and collapse by perpetuating attrition as long as possible. Therefore, the so-called “lack of clarity” in US policy is essentially nothing but another tool to prolong the crisis and deepen attrition and sabotage.

In addition to these factors, what should be kept in mind is that any process in life has an expiration date, and beyond which the process loses its meaning and viability, and the same thing applies to the political solution in Syria, which if implemented too late, there would be no Syria for such a solution to be implemented in.

For all of the above, the Syrian patriots have existential entitlements that must be quickly moved to be implemented regardless of the US will and policy, and these entitlements are as follows:

First: Achieving tangible progress in the work of the Constitutional Committee, which requires restraining those who are obstructing the process, and restraining the extremists on both sides, as well as completing the representation of those who were excluded from the Committee, and achieving a reasonable balance within the representations inside the Committee so that the extremists cannot play an obstructive role any more. Likewise, transferring the Committee's work to Damascus while providing the necessary guarantees for its members, has become a necessary process to end the stalemate situation, and remove the spaces of empty games and duels in the media, that have been practiced by the extremists from both sides.

Second: All of this will not be enough. Rather, it must be accompanied by proceeding with the implementation of the rest of the provisions of UNSCR 2254, and on top of which is the Transitional Governing Body that would put the country on a new track, so that it paves the way for the Syrian people to enable them to practice their self-determination and choose their own representatives, in a free, democratic and fair way, with inclusion of all Syrians inside all regions of Syria, and outside Syria, as well.

Kassioun Editorial, Issue No. 1002, January 25, 2021

(Arabic Virsion)