Returning to the Arms of Assad… Fear of the Dictator’s Departure

علي الأمين
Ali Al Amine wrote an article about the Lebanese Syrian relationships during times Lebanese officials are looking to praise the Syrian regime in anticipation of its return to its glorious 2011 self, and how that will never succeed.

One million Syrians have been killed by the war lead by Bashar Al Assad on his people. Others were killed by the militias he sponsored to terrify the west. Millions more were displaced as hundreds of cities were destroyed as the tragedy continues. Meanwhile, some Lebanese are seen bouncing around tvs and radio stations sending praise and congratulations believing they have achieved victory despite the massacres.

“The resistance and its axis have succeeded in Syria!”. ” The Zionist American project has been defeated!”; “the terrorist groups have been defeated!” repeat the supporter of Assad. When ironically, these terrorists have been defeated by the combined efforts of the resistance as well as Israel, the United States, Russia, and Iran in South West Syria. All under the condition of Israel’s safety and an agreement that Iran’s presence be completely removed from the neighboring Golan areas.

Attempts are being made to disseminate into the political discourse Lebanese inferiority in front of the victorious Syrian regime by suggesting a sensational victory was achieved through the killing of hundreds of thousands of Syrians. This discourse aims to present Bashar Al Assad as a strong and triumphant leader regardless of his atrocities and his continued despicable treatment of refugees most of whom ran away for their lives into a country some of whose people were calling for their death, and even participating in it.

Additional irony is present in the fact that the political platforms and personalities pushing this agenda are the same ones who have incurred humiliation by the Syrians in years prior. Some of them have eloquently expressed the Syrian regime’s primary role in the destruction of Lebanon and its political life. Endless stories exist of the humiliation and oppression experienced by those who shouldered responsibilities in governmental institutions. Perhaps some officials in Lebanon are the closest in their inferiority to the Syrian regime to masochism or suffering from Stockholm syndrome. They cannot endure life without indulging in the pain and humiliation as they succumb to their superiors and enjoy it. They themselves view the Syrian refugee as an arrogant and disdainful person. They view them as a plague to be eradicated even at the cost of their own dignity.

What has preceded so far is not a justification or a call for the refugees to remain in Lebanon. On the contrary, it is a constant necessity for us to strive for ensuring their safe return home. Even more, it is our duty towards our brothers who are suffering what we in Lebanon have perceived and endured during 43 years of continuous wars which must be taken into consideration politically as well as morally and humanitarianly. What the Lebanese people should keep in mind is that the relationship with Syria is founded with the Syrian people, not with Assad. They are the constant and he is just only passing, past even, except in the illusioned mind and eyes of those who cannot see. The Lebanese Syrian relationship remain a strong one between two peoples.

The dangers that arise from the inferiority treatment that the millions of displaced Syrians are subject to everyday are great. It creates hatred in the great majority of their ranks, especially those who have been displaced from their homes bordering the Lebanese territories. Those who have had their children slaughtered and their homes destroyed because of claims that have been shown to be false, have also lost their human rights for the benefit of the Syrian regime as they have been branded as traitors when they fight against oppression and tyranny. Today, they are treated as a plague that everyone wants to get rid of while Assad is acquitted from all his crimes of displacing them and destroying their homes as well as causing major political and security disasters in Lebanon. If there is one undisputed cause of the humanitarian disaster that has been incurred in Syria, it is the contempt of the Assad regime for any will for change in the Syrian people. All other reasons take a marginal position or effect of the situation. Nothing comes close to the tyranny inherent in the regime and its behavior.

If Lebanese officials claimed responsibility towards Lebanon and its relations, they are immediately required to act to repair the deep cracks in the Lebanese Syrian relations caused by the Syrian Regime. This restoration of relationships cannot begin with whitewashing the Syrian Regimes tyrannical history. On the contrary, it starts with mending all the wounds inflicted upon the Syrians because of the involvement of some Lebanese in the war against them, and most importantly never forgiving the Syrian regime or suggesting that life cannot exist in Lebanon without a proper political relationship with the Syrian regime. In fact, it is the opposite that holds true. The Syrian regime excels in murder, subversion, destruction and little more. The Lebanese government should not interfere in Syrian affairs. However, while that is true, the state still holds no right to take a supportive political position towards a regime that has caused Lebanese and Syrians a lot of pain and suffering without as much as a retraction or a simple apology.

The attitude by some Lebanese officials towards the Syrian regime is threatening to end what is left of the Lebanese Syrian relations and comradery. Assad is passing, and Syria will live on, so do not take the side of those who will pass over what will remain. Assad is a dictator whose rule will end soon. Assad in 2018 is but a remainder of himself in 2011; he is but a shadow of the man who used to rule Syria, Lebanon, and parts of Palestine, so be not afraid of the shadow of the departed.

السابق
 شر البلية ما يضحك 
التالي
وهاب مخاطباً رئيس الجمهورية: لا تتعب نفسك مع الحريري القرار بيد معلمه