Kassioun’s last editorial focused on the main dangers threatening Syria, and presented an initial vision of “how do we protect Syria?” What is certain this week is that threats are increasing, and their indicators and warnings are becoming clearer.
Every additional day of the ongoing battle proves what Kassioun has repeatedly confirmed, that it is not the battle of Gaza alone, nor even the battle of Palestine or Lebanon alone. Rather, it is a battle for the entire region, and part of a major global battle, in which the main hostile party is Washington. It also proves that the greater goal of the fire burning in Palestine and Lebanon is to ignite the entire region, starting from detonating its internal contradictions.
The entire Western camp, headed by Washington and the global Zionist center, has been experiencing for several years a state that can be described as being like a frog that is gradually being boiled, while relaxed, over a low fire. Even now, having realized that it is being boiled, it is not able to jump out of the pot or from its destiny.
Before looking at what must be done to get Syria out of its crisis, restore its unity and the unity of its people, and restore its sovereignty, we must look at what is actually being done on the ground and in politics.
For several weeks now, a protest movement has been emerging in some areas in northwestern Syria, trying to work against a Syrian-Turkish settlement. It has expressed itself in part by standing against the reopening of the “Abu al-Zandin” crossing, in addition to a number of other activities and events.
Official Syrian, Turkish, and Russian statements over the past week regarding the Syrian-Turkish settlement, made by the Syrian president, the Russian foreign minister, and Turkish officials, indicate that the gradual steps towards reaching a settlement, which have extended for more than two years starting with the Tehran summit of the Astana trio in July 2022, have come close to reaching a point of no return. This is represented by a meeting at the presidents’ level, which naturally will not be the end of the issue. Instead, it will form the basis for consensus that will be followed by the practical implementation of the steps of that consensus.
On July 15, 2024, eight European ministers sent a joint letter to the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affair and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, Josep Borrell, calling on the European Union to reconsider its strategy towards Syria.
More than ten months have passed since the start of the open “Israeli”/American genocidal aggression against Gaza and Palestine as a whole. After the Americans have brazenly and openly acted against any talk of a ceasefire throughout the first five months, they kept on insisting on continuing the massacre after that, albeit in more oblique and hypocritical ways, which their international isolation has pushed them to do, particularly in this issue.
The recent non-paper on Syria that a group of European countries launched, as well as the appointment of an Italian ambassador to Syria after a long hiatus, have sparked a series of reactions.
Tomorrow, Monday, July 15, new elections will be held for the Syrian People’s Assembly. These elections, like many elections that took place in Syria during the crisis and even before it, receive a modest amount of media attention, not to mention the low popular interest towards them.
