Displaying items by tag: Syria

The country is experiencing an extremely dangerous situation on all levels, and it is not “doing well” in any sense. Nevertheless, both the country and the Syrian people have a rare historic opportunity for a fundamental turning point that could lay the foundations for the long-awaited state: a strong, independent, and just state, in which power truly belongs to the Syrian people both officially and in practice. That means power belonging to the more than 90% of Syrians who live below the poverty line; those who produce the nation’s wealth yet receive only a tiny fraction of it; those who come from all ethnicities, religions, sects, and ideological and political backgrounds, united by the fact that they are “underneath”, in contrast to those who are “above”. The latter also come from all ethnicities, religions, and sects, but are united by the fact that they appropriate the greater part of what Syrians produce through their labor and daily toil—and even through the blood they have shed over decades in defending and trying to improve this country.

Among the lessons and conclusions drawn from the Euphrates River’s flooding — and its disastrous effects, which have not yet been fully uncovered — are the following:

Protests of a socioeconomic nature, centered around people’s demands have been growing in both depth and scope over recent months and weeks. Estimates range between 50 and more than 80 protests, demonstrations, and gatherings during the past three months, across various Syrian areas.

“People usually look at the ‘Greater Israel’ project from the perspective of geographic expansion—through building settlements on Palestinian land, and through Israel’s current efforts to expand its borders in Lebanon and Syria. But the core of the issue is about total control over the region—not only geographically, but also through expanding the dominance of its hard power. It seeks to create a situation in which it is surrounded by states that are either collapsed or in a state of chaos and heading toward division and fragmentation, such that they cannot pose any obstacle to Israel’s hard power. This is a geopolitical strategy for Israel. What Israel wants from dragging the US into war with Iran is not merely the dream of regime change in Iran; rather, it seeks the comprehensive collapse of the regime and the state. Someone might say that what Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states are facing is an unfortunate and unintended byproduct of such a war. That is completely wrong—it is calculated in advance and intentional by Israel, because part of the objective is to weaken the Gulf states and to show America as incapable of defending them, thereby pushing them to align with Israel’s project, which seeks to become not only a dominant regional power but also a global one, as Netanyahu has explicitly stated”.

The protest, which all the forces of the old past and its ghosts—both abroad and at home—tried to exploit and divert from its demands on the one hand, or intimidate and frighten on the other, has succeeded in overcoming all these obstacles, marking a turning point in modern Syrian history.

Recent weeks have revealed a gradual rise in socioeconomic protest movements carried out by Syrians across various parts of the country and in many economic sectors: from teachers to taxi drivers and street vendors, as well as the struggles of residents of the Jobar and Qaboun neighborhoods to preserve their rights and property. These also include protests against increased taxation rates, rising service prices, and the lifting of subsidies—especially for electricity and telecommunications—along with threats of privatizing the healthcare sector, and the grievances of dismissed employees or those still working but facing wage deductions or repeated delays in receiving their salaries.

It is mistaken to think that the incident that took place in al-Suqaylabiyah in Hama last Friday evening is a local event isolated from the broader Syrian context, or from a wider regional context. It is even more mistaken to treat it as a passing or “individual” incident with nothing behind it and nothing to follow.

Today, Sunday, March 22, marks the 23rd day of the “Israeli”/American war against Iran, which began as a blitzkrieg aimed at destroying Iran and its regime, ultimately leading to the fragmentation of Iran as part of the “Greater Israel project”. It has since turned into a war of attrition, quicksand, and a dangerous quagmire in which the aggressor powers—and with them the entire global economy—are sinking.

Kassioun’s last editorial pointed to the necessity of dealing with the accumulated and emerging conditions that define the current Syrian situation—domestically, regionally, and internationally—through urgent and emergency measures. This comes as various crises intensify and risk erupting, amid an ongoing war whose end is unclear. What is clear, however, is that its consequences will be significant for the world, the region, and implicitly our country, regardless of the outcomes or the timeframe in which it ends.

Our region is experiencing a state of severe turmoil at various levels, amid the “Israeli”-American war against Iran. It faces open-ended possibilities, all of which share one common element: the scale of dangers and crises for our country is growing and intensifying significantly—especially with the open “Israeli” discourse about working to make Syria the first example of implementing “Greater Israel”, by dividing it, destroying it, and turning it into “warring tribes and clans” enslaved by Zionism.