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Kassioun Editorial 1238: There is Only One Path, the General National Conference
Official statements published by SANA on Saturday, August 9, citing “an official source in the Syrian government”, commenting on the “Components Unity Conference” held by the Autonomous Administration on Friday, August 8, in the Syrian city of Hasakah, reflect a clear contradiction within various texts issued by a single source, at almost the same time. These statements contrast calm and positive language calling for public dialogue, national consensus, and guaranteeing the right to assembly, political action, and political participation, with vociferous language throwing accusations of treason and threats in all directions. This contradiction reflects a recurring pattern: between positive promises and demonstrations of a desire for openness, and a practical approach that remains largely exclusive and far from participatory, viewing “security solutions”, i.e., the “logic of dominance”, as its fundamental path.
Society, like nature, does not accept a vacuum. Therefore, movements such as the “Components Unity Conference” and other activities that have a sectarian character or are based on sub-national state formations are the natural negative outcome of the absence of genuine national consensus, the absence of serious national dialogue, and the failure of the authorities in Damascus to fulfill their responsibilities in working to achieve genuine political participation and engaging in the process of holding a General National Conference founded primarily on political participation and the participation of all social components in Syria.
The forces controlling the ground throughout Syria are jointly responsible for the rise in sectarian, nationalist, and religious rhetoric, for the fight against and intimidation of the unifying national discourse, and for inviting and raising the level of foreign interventions. However, the primary and main responsibility remains with the authorities in Damascus, precisely because they are in Damascus, and because the center of any unifying national action, as the “responsible source in the government” says, must be in Damascus. Nevertheless, for this to happen, the authorities in Damascus must be effective in this regard, and in a real way, not through appointments based on narrow political loyalty.
The actions and rhetoric of the dominant forces across the country have not yet risen to the required comprehensive national level. Each of them still looks outwards more than it looks inwards, and relies on external balances and forces more than it relies on the strength of the Syrians and their unity, as Syrians, and not as sects, religions, nationalities, or tribes.
Foreign interventions, under the sway of an outward-looking mentality, will only increase and become more destructive and disastrous. Claiming to protect this or that segment of the Syrian people “against” other segments is the perfect formula for bloodshed among all Syrians, harnessing the shed blood not to stop the bloodshed, but to deepen grudges and vendettas, and shed more blood.
The Syrian path is one-way: a general national conference, to be convened as soon as possible, that will take its time to publicly discuss before all Syrians their future, including agreement on the appropriate formula for the relationship between centralization and decentralization. This conference will produce an inclusive national unity government, a permanent constitution, and free and fair elections. Anyone who deviates from this path or obstructs it will bear responsibility before the Syrian people for their actions.
