A hope that shines and a torch that ignites,.. Unity of the path and destiny.

• By the head of the Syrian Future Movement
  Dr. Zaher Baadarani

The devil of the Syrian regime, through a systematic policy, managed to create a horizontal rift in the layers of the people as a whole. This quickly formed a trench that severed the country into warring camps, turning their initial cries of “The Syrian people are one” into horrid sectarian incubators, which he later exploited to undermine the unity of coexistence in the country, all for the sake of the regime’s survival and his family’s monopoly on power.

As the geographical scope of the Syrian popular revolution expanded, the Assad regime adopted a policy of specifically targeting Sunni strongholds across the nation, while ensuring the safety and security of others. At the same time, he released from his prisons and those of Iraq and Lebanon, extremist religious terrorists, whom he infused with his malicious spirit. This was done to make minorities retract from the popular uprising on one hand and ensure their alignment with their religious references on the other (believing and striving to make these references pledge allegiance only to him, thus ensuring the loyalty of their followers). This had two results:

The first: The diminishing of national sentiment in favor of growing sectarian and religious sentiment, which he would exploit to continue his rule and tighten his grip.

The second: The Sunni component offering immense sacrifices over twelve years on behalf of the entire Syrian nation.

After the “people rebelling against the Assad regime” found themselves alone against the Syrian war machine, and unparalleled Iranian and then Russian support, the Assad regime began to promote itself as having triumphed over a “conspiracy”. A conspiracy formed by a people who in 2011 asked their government for political and constitutional reforms, the abolishment of the emergency law, restraint of security forces, and a fight against corruption. Their punishment was death, imprisonment, exile, or displacement.

Once the Arab League reopened its doors to the warlord, the modern-era Hulagu, the leader of Captagon, the mastermind of chemical massacres, and when the media cheered for it, it seemed as though the general Syrian climate had succumbed to the status quo. However, as the cradle of the revolution, the southern province of Houran, and the volcano of Jebel Al-Arab in the Sweida province, began to rise, the Syrian coast exhibited signs of an impending tsunami. The people of Damascus cautiously anticipated the shifting scene, signaling the nearing end of Assad’s regime.

Today, Syrians have come to realize without a shadow of a doubt that the Assad regime’s divisive and fragmentary policies were merely cheap means to protect his throne. Our need for each other has become a necessity for the survival of the “people” as a whole. Transitory, phase-dependent labels won’t benefit us; not “pro-regime” or “opposition”, but just “people”. No foreign ally can protect us but our “homeland”. Our shared identity is our “citizenship”. The “world” is not more concerned about our Syrian cause than we are. We believe in the necessity of preserving it, protecting it, and shielding it from the most dangerous enemy of the people: “division and disagreement”.

The Mountain of the Arabs is Arab:

It’s not strange to call the “Summaq” or “Druze” mountain, (The Mountain of the Arabs). Perhaps its identity is what the devil (the Syrian regime) wishes to obscure!

The mobilization of the free people of Sweida has restored our mountain’s pioneering historical role. Its inhabitants rose to defend all of Syria, unifying the Syrian ranks anew under the flag and emblem of the revolution. They took its elder as a symbol for everyone without discrimination and revived in the Syrian memory a mosaic national image with a unified Syrian hand. In it, the five colors (Sunnis, Christians, Alawites, Druze, and Ismailis) blend with a brush that expresses a Syrian cultural and national wealth that we overlooked for a decade, resulting in a catastrophe for us all! A wealth that makes the Sunni adhere to his Sunni identity, the Alawite to his Alawite identity, the Christian to his Christian identity, the Druze to his Druze identity, and the Ismaili to his Ismaili identity, all within a collective and unifying Syrian framework. It is without exclusion, without tyranny, without exploitation, and without corruption.

The Sweida Movement is a Torch:

One of the primary duties of the Syrians today lies in supporting the southern region’s movement (Daraa and Sweida) so it may deal a fatal blow to the Syrian regime through the following:

1. Emphasizing that the people’s revolution continues. The most crucial lesson gleaned from the 12 years of the revolution is that no one triumphs but the people, and no one is defeated except the Assad regime. The regime exploited the card of minority protection and sheltered under its umbrella. Simultaneously, the system and the monsters it tamed in its prisons for years, and then unleashed at the onset of the revolution, were mass-killing our people and targeting individual members of minorities, brazenly and in broad daylight, with cold blood.

2- There are no minorities in Syria. A Syrian is a brother to a Syrian; he neither wrongs him nor betrays him. In this sense, we are numerous if we unite and join forces towards our goal. We become a small, weak minority when we are divided and torn apart. The only truth is that there exists an oppressive minority that has become exposed, thriving solely on sowing discord among the people of the same nation.

3- The movement of our people in Suwayda should not be defined as a Druze religious movement; it is, instead, a national beacon. Its protection is a national, revolutionary, ethical, and religious duty that concerns every Syrian across the country.

4- The alternative to the success of the movement today is failure. This means a temporary new victory for Assad over his people’s will towards a decision of change, signifying the continuation of his tight security grip and its exploitation to divide the Syrian ranks. Hence, it’s imperative to defend the movement by all possible and legitimate means, cutting off his path and taking the reins towards achieving the desired goal and purpose.

The Situation in Suwayda Today:

Suwayda has managed, until now, to pull away the regime’s choice to confront the popular movement with an open ground military confrontation. This is due to the people’s ability to control the pace of their movement peacefully on one hand, and also because the regime has lost its tools of control on the ground on the other hand. This occurred after the rebels forced the evacuation of security and party headquarters of Assad’s forces, his loyalists, and supporters en masse. Moreover, the possibility of aerial strikes has been ruled out by the regime’s allies, given its potential negative repercussions if carried out, and it might possibly create an international sentiment with unpredictable consequences, favoring their presence on the ground.

Based on this, the current danger lies in the possibility that the regime might smuggle weapons and equipment into the mountains first, and then sneak in extremist (suicide) militants secondly – as was literally mentioned by the media figure, Hussein Mortada. Simultaneously, the regime will spare no effort in intensifying the prevailing national atmosphere through orchestrated propaganda campaigns targeted at the members of the same sect, arguing that the ongoing unrest against Assad undermines the stability of the entire nation, harms national unity, and signals danger to the historical existence of the members of the sect.

Necessary Steps:

It is likely that the Syrian regime will try to suffocate the revolution by imposing a siege on the mountain, which includes closing the passages and crossings for people’s food and essential supplies, in an attempt to subdue and slowly kill them with the weapons of hunger and need!

Hence, we, in the “Syrian Future Movement”, see the necessity for concrete steps to assist the success and continuity of our people’s movement in Suwayda, including:

1. Consistent Demonstrations: The Syrian people must continue to organize regular demonstrations, both domestically and abroad, in front of UN headquarters, diplomatic missions, and entities. The most recent was the solidarity stance of the Syrians in the French capital, Paris, yesterday. This is in support of the popular movement inside the country, highlighting the danger of the regime’s siege on the Suwayda province, and reaffirming to the world the regime’s failed policy of fragmenting Syrian unity under the pretext of minority protection. Our chant remains: “The Syrian people are one.”

2. Media Spotlight: It’s essential to urge media outlets sympathetic to the revolution to draw global attention to the importance of the peaceful public movement in Syria against the Assad regime and to renew the people’s legitimate demands from 12 years ago. All revolutionary parties, bodies, and institutions must issue statements of support and endorsement.

3. Open Safe Channels: Efforts should be made to open a safe and reliable channel to provide support and relief to the southern region in general, and to Suwayda and Jabal Al-Arab in particular, through all possible means by the Syrians at home and abroad.

4. Shedding light on the significant active and influential role of women alongside the men and youth of the revolution, (which became evident through their remarkable presence and impactful participation in the movement of our people in As-Suwayda). This undoubtedly has a profound impact, indicating that the womb of the revolution is still pregnant and birthing, and that Syrian women are participating with their children across the nation in preserving their present and shaping their future.”

5. Protecting Revolution Leaders: It’s crucial to ensure the protection of Syrian revolutionary figures during this sensitive phase against assassination attempts, which the Syrian regime has mastered over decades. A notable example of this is the assassination of the “Men of Dignity” on Friday, 04/09/2015, headed by Sheikh Wahid Bal’ous, accompanied by Sheikh Fadi Naeem and Sheikh Rakan Al-Atrash.

6. Engaging with Jordan: Communication with our brethren in Jordan is essential to open safe passages with the southern region, perhaps under the auspices of the United Nations.

7. Reaffirmation: Emphasizing that the popular movement inside Syria is a continuation of the 2011 revolution. It is wholly patriotic and is far from being influenced by external dictates, and free from the fingers of local, regional, and international intelligence.

What’s next after the Suwayda movement:

The success of the popular movement (firstly), the success of the inclusive national discourse (secondly), the unity of the Syrian people in all its spectrums standing together (thirdly), and the raising of the revolution’s flags and slogans (fourthly), all of this will provide our people in the Syrian coast a space for serious reflection and taking tangible steps towards supporting the people’s demands to change the regime, build a state of citizenship, and move beyond supporting an individual to favoring the interests of the nation and its citizens.

Thus, we in the “Syrian Future Movement” rely on the inevitability of an upcoming movement from our people in the coastal region. Their union with their counterparts in Suwayda and everywhere on Syrian soil is only a matter of time. The historic opportunity to rebuild a transcendent Syrian national social contract across provinces is imminent.

Conclusion:

We, in the Syrian Future Movement, salute on behalf of all free people the stance of the Sheikhs in the Mount of Arabs, led by Sheikh “Hikmat al-Hijri” and his companions. Along with all patriotic Syrians, we await a comparable and complementary historic national stand from our kin in the Alawite mountains, especially in this pivotal phase of utmost importance in Syria’s present and the building of its near and distant future.

While “Adib al-Shishakli” once warned amid the rise of sectarian sentiments, saying: “Beware of the two mountains”!! So, after the bitter experience Syrians have had with the Assad regime, they have become convinced of the inextricable link of their path and destiny. Now, we see the two Syrian mountains and their residents as a beacon of hope shimmering on the Syrian horizon, completing what we started in 2011, striving for a state of citizenship where Syrians are “one people”. Here, we set our compass towards its goal and say: O Syrian regime, “Beware of the two mountains”.