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Kassioun Editorial 1258: “Thieves! Thieves!”
On February 17, 2011, in Damascus’s al-Hariqa market—before any foreign interventions, before any influx of money or weapons, and as a natural, spontaneous result of the accumulated oppression, injustice, and anger—crowds of Syrians chanted in the face of the authorities and their representatives: “Thieves! Thieves!” They also chanted: “The Syrian people will not be humiliated”.
These two chants alone are capable of summing up the entire political program that was ripening in Syrians’ hearts and minds. They express the two fundamental dimensions of Syrians’ demands and dreams: the socioeconomic, livelihood dimension—the right to a dignified means of living, to a decent bite of bread, in the face of thieves who snatch it from people’s mouths—and the democratic dimension, namely a free and dignified life against repression and the security apparatus’s encroachment on people’s freedoms and dignity.
Although 15 years have passed by, and despite the fall of the Assad regime, these two slogans remain the core of people’s demands and the true expression of their collective conscience. The regime that must be ended and radically changed is, at its core, the way the country’s wealth is distributed and managed, and the way power is divided.
The real divide within Syria has been, and remains, between the “thieves” and the “destitute”. The “destitute” are the +90%—the overwhelming majority belonging to all ethnicities, religions, and sects—who receive from their country’s wealth, produced by their own hands and sweat, only a meager share that no longer exceeds 10% of total wealth. Meanwhile, a very small minority, also belonging to various ethnicities, religions, and sects, controls more than 90% of the wealth.
The real battle was, and still is, between the “thieves” and the “destitute”. Over the years, multiple tools have been brought into this battle, the most dangerous of which has been ethnic and sectarian incitement—used as a weapon of mass destruction against Syria and its people, and against “the destitute” in particular. Those who engage in sectarian incitement are, in the end, themselves the “thieves”, from all ethnicities, religions, and sects. Dividing people away from their real interests turns them into soldiers and sacrificed blood on the altar of the interests of “sectarian lords” from all sides.
If you attack a sect or an ethnicity, treating it as a self-contained group distinct from the rest of Syrians in every respect, with nothing in common with them—claiming that you are “patriotic,” “anti-Israel,” and opposed to partition—know that you are in fact serving “Israel” through your attack and sectarian incitement, whether you realize it or are driven by ignorance or blind incitement.
Likewise, if you attack a sect or an ethnicity, treating it as a self-contained group distinct from the rest of Syrians in every respect, with nothing in common with them—claiming that you are “against terrorism” and against “violations”—know that you are serving “Israel” and its project, betraying your compatriots of all affiliations, and driving them—and yourself—toward peril.
The reality is that the dominant “elites” who adopt sectarian narratives, without exception, ultimately serve the interests of the thieves from all groups, even if they appear mutually hostile and in conflict. Their project is one and the same, fully intersecting with the “Israeli” project, whether they proclaim it or deny it: the partition and dismantling of the country, and the division of its people into impoverished, plundered “subjects” of “sectarian lords” and warlords from all sides.
The only way out of the quagmire is to neutralize the weapon of sectarianism—the weapon of mass destruction against the country and its people—through the unity of the destitute against the thieves. This unity can only be achieved through a comprehensive, inclusive general national conference with full authorities, bringing together political and social forces in Syria without exception. On its open agenda, consensus would be reached on all outstanding issues, including the form of governance, the constitution, relationship between centralization and decentralization, and the mechanisms for redistributing wealth in favor of the destitute—who are, in fact, the Syrian people themselves. If there are any “outsiders”, they are the thieves belonging to all ethnicities, religions, and sects.
