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Kassioun Editorial 1254: The Most Important Weapon of Mass Destruction: Sectarianism!
Over the past weeks, the noise of sectarian rhetoric—both in its “peaceful” and violent forms—has grown louder. This has been accompanied by an intensified division of Syrians into opposing and polarized groups, through demonstrations and marches, repeating the miserable scene the country lived through during the Assad era. All this has unfolded in parallel with increasing foreign interventions and attacks on Syria—mainly, the “Israeli” assaults, the latest of which occurred in Beit Jinn in Damascus Countryside, where a group of young men confronted Zionist aggression, reaffirming that “Israeli” arrogance and brutality will not deter Syrians from defending their land and dignity, and that the Syrian people’s choice—first and foremost—is to resist the occupier, regardless of the needs or illusions of regimes.
The events of the past weeks in the country confirm the following:
First: Sectarian discourse is inherently unpatriotic—whether it openly or covertly relies on the external enemy, and whether it presents itself as opposing or supporting foreign intervention. Sectarianism is a weapon of mass destruction that fragments nations and directly serves external enemies—mainly the “Israeli”, who openly states that it works to divide Syria along sectarian, religious, and ethnic lines. Put more clearly: you cannot be sectarian and patriotic at the same time, even if you incessantly and loudly curse the Zionist. As long as you insult your fellow citizens on a sectarian basis, you directly serve the “Israeli”, whether you realize it or not.
Second: Sectarian discourse and politics are the natural counterpart of savage neoliberal economics. When a socioeconomic program works against the interests of the overwhelming majority of Syrians, its proponents seek to divide Syrians along sectarian, religious, and ethnic lines—because uniting Syrians around their shared socioeconomic interests would mean uniting them against the neoliberal plunder associated, ultimately, with the IMF and World Bank. Such programs benefit a small, plundering minority that transcends religions, ethnicities, and sects, and work against the interests of more than 90% of Syrians—who belong to all ethnicities, religions, and sects.
Third: Sectarian discourse requires low levels of political freedom, and it requires preventing people from organizing on political bases and instead pushing them to gather on sectarian, religious, or ethnic grounds. It is therefore entirely predictable that the constitutional declaration would be disregarded, and attempts would be made to control any political activity in the country, subjecting it once again to “security approvals” in the manner of the fallen regime. We see this today repeated through the Ministry of Tourism’s circular obligating any political activity to obtain prior approval from the political authority.
Fourth: Unifying Syrians around their true national and socioeconomic interests requires genuinely involving them in determining their own fate and shaping the future of their state—through an inclusive and comprehensive national conference, and through a genuine political solution that achieves the core objective of UNSC Resolution 2254: enabling Syrians to actively determine their own fate through a transitional governing body and a permanent constitution leading to free, fair, and transparent elections.
Fifth: Relying on external actors for legitimacy—whether by central authorities or other authorities and forces across the country—weakens those actors and further threatens the unity of the country and its people. The only guaranteed source of legitimacy is the meeting and unity of Syrians—all Syrians—regardless of religion, ethnicity, or sect.
The fundamental criterion of Syrian patriotism today is working against sectarianism and against dividing Syrians along sub-national lines, and working sincerely and seriously to unite Syrians through a comprehensive political solution that necessarily serves the interests of the overwhelming majority of Syrians and stands against the interests of war lords and sectarian profiteers.
