Kassioun Editorial 1217: Who Benefits from What is Going on?

Among the most important points that can be recorded about the tragic events that took place during the past few days on the Syrian coast are the following:

First: The objective ground that established these events is primarily represented by the crises that the Assad regime has accumulated over long decades in Syria, with their various dimensions: socioeconomic, national, and democratic, including the various grievances that it has perpetuated among all segments of the Syrian people without exception, and deepened them over the past 14 years.

Second: In parallel, the destructive “Israeli” role was and is continuing, and with the recent events it has reached a level that is blatant, clear, and unambiguous, aiming to partition Syria and practically ending its existence, using various tools and methods: military, security, media, sectarian, and religious.

Third: In concrete terms, everything we have witnessed in the past few days, from criminal operations committed by groups called “remnants of the regime”, to violations and crimes committed by uncontrolled groups that consider themselves part of the “revolution” or part of the “new regime”, is in one way or another an extension of and serves a third external party, which is “Israel” itself. Those who incite, consciously or ignorantly, on sectarian and religious basis fall within the same framework, as do those “politicians” and “political forces” who call for international interventions and “international protection”.

Fourth: These negative factors are exacerbated by the socioeconomic factor that puts enormous pressure on all Syrians; they are further exacerbated by the policies, including: widespread arbitrary layoffs; the continuation of lifting subsidies, especially on bread; and statements about privatization and other measures, in pursuit of the illusion of lifting sanctions and Western recognition.

Fifth: In addition to all of this, there is the continuation of the process of monopolizing power, which may have been understandable thus far, but the continuation of the monopolization has become a threat and an additional explosive factor.

What to do?

First: The sedition fire must be extinguished as quickly as possible, and the path to sectarian and religious incitement must be cut off. This is primarily the responsibility of the current authority, which must exercise the role of the state and the logic of the state in dealing with events. Implicitly, it is useful and necessary for Mr. Ahmed Al-Sharaa to personally visit the two coastal Syrian provinces, and to use his direct influence to create reassurance and establish a situation in which any type of violations against civilians are prevented.

Second: The process of confining arms must be completed. This process will not succeed unless it is supported by the entire Syrian society, and against all types of loose weapons from all sides. This support can only be achieved on the basis of a real and comprehensive national dialogue, and on the basis of broad national participation.

Third: In the same context, it has become an urgent national necessity to expedite the formation of a broadly representative and balanced national unity government that will manage the transitional phase, provide the necessary reassurances to all segments of the Syrian people, and rally their forces towards major national tasks, most notably the restoration of the single national market as a necessary condition for the relaunch of the economy.

The Syrian people have gone through long grim years, and in addition to the great pains, they have inherited great experiences, perhaps the most important of which is that division along sectarian, religious, or even formal political lines is destructive and deadly for everyone. They have also learned that loyalty to the spilled Syrian blood comes first and foremost by stopping its shed and not by using it to incite additional bloodshed. Everything that has happened during the past few days is not in the interest of Syria and Syrians in any way; rather, it is in the interest of the internal enemies of the Syrian people, like warlords and criminals, and the external ones, primarily “Israel”.

(النسخة العربية)