SGID is the acronym for Some Guy in Damascus
The first part of my post will discuss my latest trip to Damascus, and the second part is a response to a question asked by Dr. Haytham Khoury about developing sectarianism and radicalism we are witnessing( most of all on syria comment). I also believe this part will be relevant to OTW’s most recent post on his blog.
Damascus
Ali Ferzat describing with his brush what SGID confirms with his words. Today Ali Ferzat’s site was hacked by the electronic thugs of Mr. Al-Assad. The hacking seems stupid (re-direct). And in defiance of these Jerks 7ee6an will be posting more and more of this freedom loving real Syrian artist.My last visit to Damascus only lasted for 2 days (20th and 21st of October). Just a few days prior to my arrival the regime “successfully” held a massive demonstration in the capital’s saba’a bahrat square( which hosts the nation’s central bank) . Transportation, advanced recording, food, drink, entertainment and most important of all SECURITY is provided to the pro-government demonstrators. The appropriate setting is given. A friend of mine who works for one of Rami Makhlouf’s multiple enterprises told me that he was forced to go, despite having a pro-revolution stance on the whole situation. Employees are threatened with dismissals from their jobs if they do not participate. Although the highly esteemed Robert Fisk was a witness to these one of these demonstrations ( the one held on the 26th in the Omayad square), his story that they are purely authentic is far from reality. The regime has done its homework and knows how to conceal its foul play.
That being said, the demonstrations have intensified in Damascus in limited ways, for example Midan, Barzeh, Rikn al Deen and Kafar Suseh are having daily demonstrations. Kadisya, The old quarter of Shaghoor have taken their demonstrations up a notch, furthermore the Muhajereen district has seen some sporadic demonstrations. I would like you to take note that these daily demonstrations cant be compared to the the demonstrations held in Homs. They are played along 2 tactics and it usually the first one: مظاهرة طيارة, literally meaning “flying demonstration” in which the demonstrators gather , chant and disperse in a swift manner , it is useful since it shows opposition to the regime and breaks the ” social order”. And the second tactic is the tactic seen in Homs, a regular and massive demonstration. This tactic doesn’t work well since the “security services” can overwhelm the demonstrators. Contrary to popular belief, the demonstrators in Damascus ARE NOT ARMED. Damascus country side is another story.
Sectarianism and Extremism
Syria has been witnessing a limited Extremist shift during the last decade, and it would be inaccurate to say that such a radical base does not exist., furthermore This fact played well into the regime’s propaganda. I will attempt to assess how this radical base came to be, and how to prevent it, I resorted to the expertise of a sociology professor. The links I provide will show you what progress the regime has done to counter radicalization.
What are the causes of Radicalization? :
1. Reaction to modernization.
it is noted that as societies “evolve”, many will incline to cling to their sects. One form of modernization is bureaucracy; the one in Syria is among the worst. Doing simple papers will send you to various locations for multiple signatures and stamps, there’s also the usual bribe. Another form of modernization is globalization, however I cannot relate this particular factor to the radicalization issue in Syria .
2. Societies become strict.
It is not secret that the Syrian regime is one of the strictest and most authoritarian states in the world, as a result many people have turned to religion as an everlasting solution. The inability to come up with solutions with the state has forced a sort of retreat to religion . here is a study conducted a by Freedom house .
http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=363&year=2011&country=8143
3. Unfulfilled hopes and dreams.
Poor management has cut off many Syrians from a prosperous life
http://www.ifad.org/operations/projects/regions/pn/factsheets/sy.pdf
How do we Prevent radicalization?
a) Building civic society : syndicates, unions, clubs and committees all of which are absolutely useless under the current regime. Basically giving professionals, groups and such the ability to be represented and taken seriously. For example: the taxi syndicate in Syria, is pretty much worthless. I cannot count the times the chauffeurs complain about paying the member ship but getting nothing out of it. Obviously the state is not willing to adhere to any one’s demands and it is absolutely expected that the victim would find some solitude in religion.
b) more freedoms.
From Walls comments :
TRUE says :
“Finally the regime made a move and expressed its position in countering back the AL roadmap. Now AL must discuss both plans on Wed so let’s wait and see.
The AL roadmap
• Immediate release of prisoners held since February
• Withdrawal of security forces
• Deployment of Arab League monitors
• Launch of a dialogue in Cairo
The regime counter-back roadmap
• Immediate stop of propaganda war against Syria
• Immediate stop of weapon smuggling from surrounding countries
• Immediate stop of financial aids to opposition groups
• Immediate lift of the unjust sanctions against Syria
• A parcel of deep and quick reforms
• Launch a dialog in Syria
• Open presidential election at the end of the current term”
ABOUD answers :
Guys, sorry, but I’ve given up on the human race. I can’t bear the shame of being the same species as the complete and utter morons who put forward that ludicrous response. Is Mars accepting applications for citizenship?
• Immediate stop of propaganda war against Syria
OK menhebaks, we know your president’s sensitivities are such that you arrest bloggers and journalists inside Syria, but it’s kinda pathological to expect every country in the world to silence its press so you don’t have to hear an offending word. Idiots. Or is a sub clause of this demand be that Vogue reinstate the profile it did on Athma? LOL!
• Immediate stop of weapon smuggling from surrounding countries
That’s countries, plural. So at least two of Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel or Iraq are smuggling weapons into Syria? Specify which ones you think are smuggling weapons, so we can keep up the weapon smuggling from the countries you missed. Duh. Double idiots.
• Immediate stop of financial aids to opposition groups
But I thought there was no such thing as an opposition group? Acknowledge their existence so we can look into their finances. See how you trapped yourselves there? Riyad Al Assad had to be bought a suit by the Turks before he talked to the international press. Is that the kind of financial muscle that has you scared? The cost of colonel Asad’s suit? Triple idiots.
• Immediate lift of the unjust sanctions against Syria
Oh dear God it hurts to lower my thinking to the level of a peasant Baathist. Besho baby, the sanctions were imposed by Europe and the USA, the Arab League does not have the power to remove them. But thanks for letting us know your pain points. Idiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiooooooots.
• A parcel of deep and quick reforms
Oh yes we are so holding our collective breaths. Like they said in the demos, the only “eslah” Besho knows is “tasleh el debabat”. And you couldn’t carry out these “deep and quick reforms” eight months ago why exactly? If it took an AL ultimatum to get you to this point, I think we’ll wait until you are facing UN sanctions to get better concessions out of you. Say it with me people….iiiiiiiiiiiiiiidiiiiiiiiiioooooooooooooooooooots.
• Launch a dialog in Syria.
Go ahead. Start having a dialog with Najati Tayara. You know in which prison cell he is. Buthaina Shabaan got a Ph.D for this kind of sorry ass diplomatic maneuvering? Looks like they’ll give doctorates to all sorts of iiiiiiiiiiiidiiiiiiiiiioooooooooooooooots.
• Open presidential election at the end of the current term
Yeah well, what’s infinity minus 1, geniuses? Its still infinity.
Daniel Pipes described Besho as a dear caught in the headlines. At least the dear knows that the object coming its way is a deadly mass of metal that will crush it. I doubt very much that Besho quite comprehends the train wreck that is speeding towards him.
Bashar al-Assad as a case study.
In my answer to the National Initiative for Change, which was based on the premise that Bashar would resign shortly after the start of the demonstrations, I explained to them that won’t happen and the war with the regime will take many months. I based my judgement on my personal assessment on the real situation in Syria and also on my personal knowledge of Bashar’s personality, which is mainly characterized by his immaturity. The question that many may ask is how personal immaturity can lead a person to lose his or her conscience, committing crimes and consequently destroying himself and many people around him.
One important characteristic of mature people is that they have good sense of the reality. That means they are able to understand themselves and their environment in a proper way. Indeed, they understand that human beings grow psychologically in a way similar to way with which they grow physically. Each stage of life has its real psychological needs. These psychological needs need to be fulfilled in order the person to mature and grow in a healthy way. While in the early stages of life it is the responsibility of our parents to help us fulfill our needs, in the later stages of life it is our responsibility to find the way to fulfill these needs. Further, mature people can understand their strength and weakness. Thus, they try to develop further their strength and correct their weaknesses. Also, they can understand the life choices that present themselves to them and accept the ones that fit their personality and reject the ones that are not suitable to their personality. Plus, this understanding of own-self provides mature persons the capacity to understand people around them, thus they can distinguish other people’s real needs from their unreal needs and consequently fulfill for them the real ones only while being firm rejecting the unreal ones. Finally, mature people have good understanding for the laws that govern human relationships and interaction. Therefore, they can adapt properly to complex social realties and lead life events to the best outcome for them and for the people around them.
I knew Bashar when I was at medical school. Bashar at that time looked very nice and modest. Further, he looked happy or rather he used to joke all the time. This character used to provide people a sense of comfort, because they felt they are in the presence of the son of the president but they did not have to be formal. However, when I now look back at his behaviour, I can see the early signs of his immaturity. Indeed, his relationships with people were superficial. He had a lot of people around him but not real friends. However, he needed real relationships in order to mature and grow. Further, his jokes were some kinds of superficial fun rather than jokes come arise from an actual situation or reflect wit and intelligence. Indeed, Bashar was disconnected from reality of his own self and the world around him and his nice and fun personality was an escapade from the real world.
I formulated my above-mentioned interpretation of Bashar’s personality from the ideas that acquired through studying the course of his presidency and linking them to the old memories that I have about him. Indeed, let us look at the course of his presidency. Bashar started his presidency with his famous first inaugural speech. In his famous inaugural speech, Bashar promised reforms. However, ten years later he came to say that he was unable to do any of these reforms, because of the hard circumstances. Indeed, Bashar was not able to do these reforms, because has an inherent handicap in his personality that arises his indecisiveness and his pervasive sense of powerlessness. Another event in Bashar’s presidency was the Damascus spring. When Bashar permitted the forums to start, he did not understand the people’s need for freedom of speech and intellectual exchanges. He did not understand the effect of many decades of suppression of free speech. He did not understand that he and the people around him lacked the intellectual acumen that permits to them to keep up with the ideas that may arise from these forums. He thought that he was providing candies, and they should be happy with. Thus, when these forums propagated like mushrooms and the regime’s men were not able to keep up with the ideas arising from these forums, Bashar closed these forums abruptly even putting some participants in prison. That did not only create disappointment among the Syrian intellectuals, but also pain and bitterness. Another big mistake that Bashar did was mixing up the state business with the family business. The archexample of this was offering the monopoly of the mobile phone business to his cousin (Rami Makhlouf), thus provoking the Damascene businessmen and breaking the implicit agreement that Hafez al-Assad made with them. All that resulted in putting Riad Saif and Maamoun al-Homsi in prison on false charges, thus provoking pain and bitterness among the traditional Damascene business class. All the above-mentioned examples reflect Bashar’s inability to understand and deal with complex realities. However, I found that the most shocking example of his negative emotions and disconnection with the reality was his first speech after the uprising started during which he was smiling all the time, while people were dying in the street. This smile reminded me his naïve immature smile when he was young and how it has transformed into a silly wicked smile when he got older, demonstrating how immaturity lead into evil.
All the above-mentioned reflect how complex situations, such as the presidency, could shatter the psychological underpinning of immature naïve people, apparently modest and nice, transforming them into ruthless rulers, committing atrocious crimes. Further, it makes us question the wisdom of the father, Hafez al-Assad, who may be by wishing being eternal Bashar and despite the advices that were offered to him to do not do so, inherited his throne to inapt son, thus casting a curse upon him.
H. Khoury
[youtube http://youtu.be/VREGqHFA1mg?]
“Blood on the Tracks”: Brian Willson’s Memoir of Transformation from Vietnam Vet to Radical Pacifist
Today we spend the hour with a man who put his life on the line twice: once when he served in the Vietnam War and again when he came back. On September 1, 1987, Brian Willson took part in a nonviolent political action outside the Concord Naval Weapons Station in California. He sat down on the train tracks along with two other veterans to try to stop a U.S. government munitions train sending weapons to Central America during the time of the Contra wars. The train didn’t stop.
Click on image
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This is a comment from SC which is a very good retort to the positions of the Syrian pro regime people
Sheila answers :
You said: “The most significant has been greater opening of the economy to the international marketplace and futher moves away from Statism and socialism. The process is far from finished and is proceeding at a pace of gradual, organic evolution, and certainly not revolution”. I would like to contend that the only reforms that happened in Syria under Bashar are those that help somebody in the regime make a lot of money. If this is the Chinese model of gradual change, can you explain why China was able to achieve so much more, in the same period, than Bashar? Not withstanding the fact that China as a country is far more complicated than Syria.
I would like to go over your points:
1- You said:”(1) The overall number of people who accepted the invitation to join anti-regime demonstrations was “small” (though no hard number is available)”. Very disputable. Taking into consideration the brutal crack down on dissent in Syria, I would like to argue that the number of demonstrators in the streets is amazingly high (though no hard numbers are available). With the understanding that upon leaving your house you might never come back. That makes one demonstrator, too many.
2- You said: “(2) The educated classes did not join the anti-regime demonstrations“. Very wrong. University students are demonstrating across the country, lawyers, doctors and engineers have staged many demonstrations and sit-ins. The Diaspora, mostly educated, are vehemently against the regime. I do not know where you get this idea. Examples abound: in Homs, the Attasis the Jandalis and the Sbais to name a few. My family alone, which counts in the thousands all highly educated and mostly against the regime.
3- You said: “(3) Most of the religiously conservative classes did not join the anti-regime demonstrations“. Wrong again. Religious conservatives in the Sunni community are staunchly anti regime. You said: “Neither did the clergy; most of the Sunni clerical leadership went on record as anti-tumult and pro-civil-process“. Wouldn‘t you have done the same when your neck is on the line?. Wrong again. Even with the brutality, many clergy men announced their disgust with the regime. You said:” Most of the people who attended the mosque on Friday did not attend an anti-regime demonstration afterwards, not even if there was a demonstration conveniently available and on offer to them at the doorstep”. True when you know you might very well be killed, arrested or tortured. You said: “since most of them don’t express alienation against the regime, you shouldn’t expect them to vote en masse against the regime”. But who can express anything in Syria without fear of severe repercussions?.
4- You said: “(4) No representatives of agricultural or rural interests having been talking up an alternative to the Assad regime“. Of course. Who dares talk about an alternative to the Assad regime?. We know their names: either murdered, in jail, or fled the country. You said: “There was very little or no movement of people from rural areas into the towns and cities to participate in demonstrations (despite some fake boasts from the fake revolutionaries to the contrary)”. Wrong again. There were many attempts to do so. Muhammad just mentioned the one in Idleb that resulted in the killing of 70 demonstrators trying to enter Idleb from the villages to participate in demonstrations. All cities today are enclosed in and protected by check points, precisely to stop the rural areas from pouring into the cities.
5- You said: “(5) Once the reforms announced by Assad are completed, there will be no major disagreements between Assad and the general Opposition on the structure of the institutions of the State”. What reforms?. Is he going to arrest his cousin Najib for torturing children?. Is he going to prosecute his cousin Makhlouf for racketeering? Is he going to issue an arrest warrant for his uncle Rifaat for crimes against humanity? And is he going to go after all the regime thugs for embezzlement?. No reform is meaningful without rooting out corruption and rooting out corruption means throwing all the regime members in prison. This will result in Assad not being able to stand for elections being a convicted felon.
6- You said: “(6) The demonstrators were predominantly from the poorly educated working class. Most of them did not have an agenda beyond wanting Assad to leave and wanting a breath of fresh air in the country of an unspecified kind”. I would like to venture to say that the breath of fresh air that these people want is of a specified kind. It is called dignity.
7- You said: “(7) The various Syrian opposition parties are very weak today, their representatives are barely known or entirely unknown to the Syrian public, and I can’t see a route by which they can make themselves a whole lot stronger by election day”. This depends on when election day is and on whether Syria is still under the Assad regime. You said: “The attempt to unconstitutionally overthrow the regime has discredited swathes of opposition”. May I ask: how do you constitutionally overthrow a dictator?. I would give Syrians more credit than that, even the ones you are accusing of being poorly educated. Even the illiterates get it.
8- You said: “(8) Aleppo (all overwhelmingly Sunni in religion, btw) have had essentially or very nearly zero anti-regime demonstrations during this past six months”. Nearly zero is not true. There has been many demonstrations, however not at the scale of other cities. Aleppo is boiling under the surface and I assure you that the majority of the city would never vote for Assad in a free election.
9- You said: “9) Everybody in Syria knows that the anti-regime crowd has been lying about security forces atrocities and that the regime has been telling the truth. (Foreigners don’t know it, since they don’t watch Syrian TV, but foreigners are irrelevant since they won’t be voting). More generally, the regime has been able to use its control over Syrian mass media especially TV news to strong effect. The State-controlled TV news puts out good quality products for the most part, which enjoy good credibility with the Syrian public, and have good market penetration”. This one renders me speechless. No one I know in Syria believes Syrian TV. Everyone I know in Syria knows what is going on and what atrocities the regime is committing. Even those that are pro regime, are aware of how bad the regime is and are only supporting it because of their fear of the unknown.
I am really tired by now. You exhausted me. Have you lived in Syria?. Do you know or understand the meaning of the word dignity?. This is what it all boils down to. Years and years of being trampled on in every aspect of life. Humiliation in every possible way. Syrians have had enough. The only way Assad will win an election is if he is still in power when it is held and we all know why.
It is heartbreaking for me to see my blog turning into a wall of obituaries for the martyrs of the Syrian Revolution. But again, in Syria, walls also serve as bulletin boards for Obituaries. The criminal regime of Syria, and its head, the pathetic tyrannical despot Bashar Al-Assad are making obituaries of Martyrs a daily occurrence. And it seems befitting that these virtual walls be no different from the real ones.
After targeting the leadership of the coordination committees with death under torture, and subsequent to the formation of National Council, Bashar Al-Asad is now deploying his death squads to assassinate highly effective opposition figures. On Friday, October 7, 2011, Bashar Al-Asad goons assassinated, mafia style, the Syrian Kurdish leader, intellectual, civil society activist Meshaal Temmo and wounded his son Marcel. Orders for this cowardly assassination could only have come from Bashar Al-Assad himself.
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