The Arab World is Awakening...

At the risk of being slightly melodramatic, I felt this piece of music reflects the mood and temperament of the Arab world quite well. Enjoy Carl Orff's Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi. .

In the Balance

The Syrian government knows that this is the critical period of the revolution. If the unrest is nipped in the bud, then the Assad regime will have survived the crisis of its new generation. If not, and if the people continue to be defiant, then the country will go into freefall. Either way, the Assad regime has been dealt a major blow both domestically and internationally. The Syrian government has, over the past 11 years, been very careful to cultivate an image of moderation, sovereignty and secularism.

Massive PR efforts included flattering articles about the country in European and American international newspapers, dazzling and romanticised interviews with the president's charming wife, and a slick propaganda campaign internally. The new president was determined to do away with the trappings of Eastern bloc dictatorship and crude propaganda that he inherited from his father. Yet this has now all amounted to naught.

In the space of a few short weeks Syria's image has gone from internationally respected to banana republic. The portrayal of her statesmen as urbane, educated technocrats who are welcome in polite society throughout Western capitals has also been shattered. When Jeremy Paxman interviewed the Syrian Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Dr Sami Khiyami, he introduced him as "the president's man" in the UK and immediately ruffled the latter's feathers. Any pretence that the discussion would be one of polite, sobre debate was thrown out of the window when his excellency's incredible justifications for an authoritarian regime were dismissed as incredible justifications for an authoritarian regime. For once I thanked God for the freethinking, no-nonsense, temerity that only the English can muster in the face of authoritarian dogma. In my eyes it was a short, but glorious, interview.

Hama 1982 - Daraa 2011

It is, and I say this with great trepidation, still nowhere close in terms of a body count. But the similarities between Daraa and Hama are now increasing at an alarming rate. The Syrian army has deployed its troops and personnel a stones-throw from the Israeli-occupied Golan heights to once again kill Syrian citizens. The official version of the news is that the residents of Daraa had implored the government for assistance in the face of a "salafist" insurgency that aims at transforming Daraa into an Islamic emirate. Syrian television has, just today, broadcast pictures of what it claims are militants who were captured, along with weapons caches that have been discovered. Nobody, apart from the regime's most ardent supporters, believes these ludicrous claims; Yesterday an al Jazeera presenter laughed out loud when he heard an apologist for the Syrian regime call in and give the official version of events. In another sign of the regime's desperation, on Saturday I was watching the Syrian state satellite channel and they had, unbelievably, exclusive and exhaustive coverage of floods (that nobody has heard about) in the Qamishli!

What this all shows is that the messages coming from the official media are confused, panicked and inconsistent. Whether this regime will succeed in cowing protesters in other cities by its actions in Daraa will only be apparent come this Friday.

A Bitter Pill

It is, for me, tragic to have the West speak of Syria as if it were a central African state with which they could interfere at will. I don't blame the protesters for an instant, and hold the regime entirely responsible for putting Syria, and Syrians, on the moral backfoot. You cannot be taken seriously, nor respected, when you do not have justice by your side. Whether in the eyes of the West or, more importantly, in the eyes of the Arab world, the Syrian regime has lost all credibility - and this is something that they cannot regain with tanks and bullets.

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قصيدة جميلة لأحمد مطر - يسقط الوطن

أبي الوطن

أمي الوطن

رائدنا حب الوطن

نموت كي يحيا الوطن

يا سيدي انفلقت حتى لم يعد

للفلق في رأسي وطن

ولم يعد لدى الوطن

من وطن يؤويه في هذا الوطن

أي وطن؟

الوطن المنفي..

أم الوطن؟!

أم الرهين الممتهن؟

أم سجننا المسجون خارج الزمن ؟!

نموت كي يحيا الوطن

كيف يموت ميت ؟

وكيف يحيا من أندفن ؟!

نموت كي يحيا الوطن

كلا .. سلمت للوطن !

خذه .. وأعطني به

صوتاً أسميه الوطن

ثقباً بلا شمع أسميه الوطن

قطرة أحساس أسميها الوطن

كسرة تفكير بلا خوف أسميها الوطن

يا سيدي خذه بلا شيء

فقط

خلصني من هذا الوطن

* * *

أبي الوطن

أمي الوطن

أنت يتيم أبشع اليتم إذن

ابي الوطن

أمي الوطن

لا أمك أحتوتك بالحضن

ولا أبوك حن!

ابي الوطن

أمي الوطن

أبوك ملعون

وملعون أبو هذا الوطن!

* * *

نموت كي يحيا الوطن

يحيا لمن ؟

لابن زنى

يهتكه .. ثم يقاضيه الثمن ؟!

لمن؟

لإثنين وعشرين وباء مزمناً

لمن؟

لإثنين وعشرين لقيطاً

يتهمون الله بالكفر وإشعال الفتن

ويختمون بيته بالشمع

حتى يرعوي عن غيه

ويطلب الغفران من عند الوثن؟!

تف على هذا الوطن!

وألف تف مرة أخرى!

على هذا الوطن

من بعدنا يبقى التراب والعفن

نحن الوطن !

من بعدنا تبقى الدواب والدمن

نحن الوطن !

إن لم يكن بنا كريماً آمناً

ولم يكن محترماً

ولم يكن حُراً

فلا عشنا.. ولا عاش الوطن!
 



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A Web of Lies

It is quite amazing to see the web of lies being woven now that the situation in Syria becomes critical. The official narrative, and one which a considerable chunk of the Syrian population wish desperately to believe, is that the protests are being provoked by unknown foreign elements that are trying to destabilise the country. The official media is focusing exclusively on the deaths of members of the security services, ignoring the hundreds of deaths amongst the mostly peaceful protesters that have taken to the streets across Syria. I say that many people wish desperately to believe the official narrative because many people simply don't want to see more bloodshed and death on the streets of Syria. Many people are also afraid and don't wish to be seen as accepting the fact that the Syrian government is now at war with its own people.

Syria - An Update

As for the current situation in the country, the only explanation I have so far is that it is utter confusion. The media only receives sketchy information through twitter and facebook. At the moment I am getting reports of a massive attack by security services on the town of Nawa. In the official Syrian news report, there was a warning that some 'elements' were deliberately manipulating the distribution of bread to increase the levels of panic. Yet a few hours earlier I heard that the government was withholding grain from the bakeries in Daraa, meaning that nobody can buy bread over there, and this puts more pressure on the ordinary people.

Smoke and Mirrors

From other sources I am hearing ridiculous rumours that Iran and Hezbullah have sent snipers to Syria in order to shoot protesters, because the Syrian soldiers are refusing to fire. I appreciate some soldiers might have refused, but I am pretty sure the Syrian security services are doing quite well shooting their own people without having to ask for help from Iran and Hezbullah. It's quite ridiculous. At the same time, the Syrian media is, I hear, making a bit of a story about Ghassan bin Jeddo's resignation from al Jazeera. For the record, Bin Jeddo resigned because of the outrageous coverage of the Bahraini revolution and subsequent repression. He is most certainly supportive of the Syrian revolt that is currently forming and was banned (later lifted) from visiting Syria for his reporting after the Hariri assassination in 2005.

There are unconfirmed rumours floating around about a panic of the monied classes in Syria. The bigger merchants are allegedly trying to transfer assets and funds out of the country and one tweet rumoured that Rami Makhlouf is smuggling out $5 million dollars a day through Bulgarian banks. All this may or may not be true, but it is clear that the current situation is affecting the country's economy in a bad way. Shops are deserted, banks and merchants are not investing or lending and tourism has slumped. The longer the unrest goes on, the more desperate the situation will become for the regime. This in turn means we can expect an escalation of the violence and bloodshed as the security services crack down hard and violently, in an attempt to shock the populace into submission.

If it is true that the International Criminal Court is thinking of holding the Syrian President and members of the regime responsible for the deaths of at least 170 protesters, then this could be enough of a deterrent against a sequel to the 1982 Hama massacre where the Syrian regime made an example of the city and subsequently gained another thirty years of acquiescence from the terrified population; This is not 1982.

As for the macabre footage that is emerging from Syria, I have purposely chosen not to open the videos I have been sent links to. I have seen one video of a man with his brains blown out in a morgue and have no need to go through anything like that again, if I can help it.

Roundup

Undoubtedly, there are elements who will be taking advantage of the weakening in Syria, but I do not think that Syria's regional role, or importance, will be affected. Syria is indeed the beating heart of Arabism and, in fact, of resistance, in the region. But that is not because of the Syrian Baathist regime, rather it is something that comes directly from the people. If groups like those of Khaddam or Rif'aat al Assad think they can just waltz back into the country, take control, make peace with Israel, and join the Saudi bandwagon of moderate states then they are gravely mistaken. As the case of Egypt shows, it does not really matter what a particular dictator does and ultimately the people will rise up and change the reality on the ground. There is no more fear or respect due to the bankrupt Arab regimes that have only offered corruption, cronyism and inefficiency. The mass fortunes we have seen dictators such as Mubarak, Bin Ali or Muammar al Gaddafi gather up makes one thing very clear: The Arab world has sufficient wealth and natural resources to guarantee an opportunity at a dignified life for each and every one of its citizens. It is crystal clear to anybody with common sense that the atrocious economic, social and political reality that has marked the Arab world in general, and Syria in particular, is now undoubtedly due to a failure of leadership at the highest levels, and has nothing to do with religion, culture or any of the other orientalist cliches that have been bandied about in academic and media circles. 2011 is the year the Arab peoples have arisen and taken charge of their own destinies.

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To the Brave Syrian People and all Free Arabs

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The Collector's Guide to Fine Arabic Propaganda

I thought it quite amusing that each Arab 'leader' has songs that extol the virtues of their wise rule, their glorious achievements, their outstanding bravery and their steadfastness and courage in the face of their nation's enemies. It is all really quite repulsive and nausea inducing.

The first is from my beloved Syria. The entire country loves the president. So much so that this singer whole heartedly and of his own volition released this song as a sign of his gratitude and love for the eternal leader of the Arab revolution.

Second is from the wonderful land of Saudi Arabia. The current King Abdullah is so beloved of his people, so benevolent, so wise. He is a bastion of stability against the evil Shi'ite hoards that threaten to overwhelm the holiest of holy countries, Saudi Arabia. He doesn't seem to mind the United States or Israel though.

Next is the cousin of the al Saud's, the al Khalifah family. They aren't really Bahraini as their family moved there a long time ago and took over, but that doesn't really matter. They own the island now, and everybody on it. You got a problem with that? They'll just bring in a few thousand Saudi soldiers and tanks and run over anybody they don't like.

We won't forget Ali Abdallah Saleh, the immortal leader of Yemen, uniter of the Yemen's, scourge of al Qaeda, moderniser of the nation. I didn't think somebody would have done a song for this guy, but it's out there. Enjoy.

This one is quite funky, it's for the King of Jordan, Abdullah the Second. His family used to own the Arabian peninsula before the Saudis came in and called it Saudi Arabia. Instead he ended up with a patch of dirt with no water, no natural resources and no money. But his people think he's great and I guess that's all that matters. He wears a lot of medals when in uniform and I don't know what they're for. Last time I checked Jordan never won any wars. Maybe he puts them on because they look pretty.

Finally, this one was kind of hard to find, especially since the guy in question is now so much of a joke and the Zenga Zenga song has dominated YouTube. Yes, we are talking about the King of Kings, Lord of Africa, Leader of the Glorious Revolution, Founder of the Islamic Jamahirriyah of Libya, Barack Obama's Father, the one, the only, Colonel Mu'ammar al Gaddafi. This song was for his son Khamis, but the illustrious leader is the main inspiration for the song, as you will see.

One late entry thanks to my dear friend Seleucid. Egypt's Mubarak has a song here which is probably the slickest and most professional of these clips. Very fascinating and the message is extremely subtle. You don't see Mubarak till the very end. I think this gets top marks.



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London Protest at the Syrian Embassy

A short clip of the protests that were taking place in front of the Syrian embassy in London this Saturday. .

A 'One Man Party', One Party State?

A very interesting post on Syria Comment with several comments and quotes showing that the shootings, at least on the Syrian coast, might have actually been carried out by groups linked to Khaddam. I can't discount that, and it might be quite possible. But there are so many lies, and such a crisis of credibility for the Syrian goverment, that it's simply not possible for me to make any judgements about what is happening. Time will tell, but I think that this has been a massive learning curve for the Syrian government if the president is serious about reform. One thing that can be certain is that not all the people who were shot could be said to have been killed by these mysterious 'armed groups'. The police, and the security services, were shooting people with live ammunition. Whoever is responsible for that must be made accountable.

For one thing, the bad old days of shooting anybody who opposes you, or locking them in a hole somewhere, might well and truly be over in an age of fast, almost instant, communications. Furthermore, the clumsy response of the state, with propagandic slogans and clampdown on information, destroyed their credibility even when they might have been telling the truth.

Secondly there is a desperate need for more open government and accountability. The right hand of the state apparatus does not appear to know what the left hand is doing. The head of the state is said to have been oblivious to the 'legitimate' grievances of the people, which is, to be utterly frank, a deplorable and unacceptable failure of organisation. Hundreds of people are dead because of this failure - and let us call it by what it really is - in government. It simply will not do that the only recourse for justice in the entire country is one man, even if he did have the best intentions. Syria is not a tribe, it is a modern nation.

Thirdly, the country needs a functioning government that represents a wide cross-section of society with independent and solid institutions that are run by qualified people who deserve to be there - not rewarded a position simply for their party card or connections.

Fourthly, the reforms that Syria needs to implement, including removing the state of emergency, shouldn't take as long as people are saying that they should. When the last president died, the consitution was amended almost immediately so that his son could take power. Syria is in a greater state of crisis today than back then, so why aren't these changes made immediately? As Abd al Bari Atwan stated in a BBC debate recently, why should it be shameful for a government to relent to pressure from its own people? There is indeed no shame in doing that. Especially for a country that has always resisted pressure from the United States and other countries.

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Anarchy in Syria - Probably A Good Idea?

Symbol for Steady Reform?

• The Media is being selective in what it shows. It is not showing both sides of the story.
• We are in a state of crisis and we have to work together not against each other.
• We are with the legitimate demands of the people, but we must distinguish the peaceful calls for reform from those of the saboteurs.
• They are striking at the identity of our homeland. At our unity.
• We should be less emotional and more rational.
• We don't want chaos.
• Work with us so we can make this work.
• We just need a bit more time.

Last year I was shadowing at the local magistrate's court and I had noted how most of the cases we saw were to do with domestic violence and abuse. Sadly this is so throughout the United Kingdom. For many of these cases, it was not the first time that the couple were in court. In fact, many times the claimant would not appear in court - meaning that the case against the defendant would collapse. I spoke with many of the advisers and lawyers there, and they all noted a depressing cycle whereby the wife or girlfriend would 'change her mind' because her husband would 'smooth-talk' her, buy her flowers, and promise to never do it again. But they did do it again. A few months later the claimant would be at a police station again, having been beaten horribly, and the cycle would continue.

I have said previously that the relationship between the state and the people is a lot like that of an abusive husband with their wife. The arguments I've listed above are from various statements made by the government or its representatives and apologists. They lead to circular arguments and use a simple binary logic to trap a reasonable person with statements that you cannot disagree with. Of course the reasonable person does not see the interrogations, the torture, the abuse, the grainy videos of men getting their brains blown out with live ammunition, or of school children with the marks of torture on their backs. The average person does not see the pools of blood in the streets. They know it is there, but the fact that they do not see it makes these honey-coated lies all the more potent, all the more seductive.

Instead, under the cloak of stability, respectability, and an 'orderly progress', a corrupt oligarchy is being allowed to continue its dominance of an entire state. If you question the status quo, you are undermining national cohesion; you are a subversive working for the foreign enemy; you are a traitor. So corrupted have the institutions of the state become, so inmeshed with the injustice, that to attack the injustice is to render you an outsider, a saboteur, an 'anarchist'. The word anarchist is thrown around as if it is an insult. Google Translate presents the term anarchist as فوضوي - which actually means somebody chaotic and disorderly.

What an anarchist actually is, and this is something that those government officials aren't even aware of, is somebody who is opposed to the entire structure of power and hierarchy, along with all the privilege and trappings that these bring. Property is theft, meaning you do not own lands, factories, and buildings. That does not mean, as some ignorant people think, that you will dye your hair fluorescent green, put nose rings and tongue studs, and adorn yourself in tattoos and leather jackets. During the Spanish Civil War, the POUM were organised militias that fought against General Franco's fascist military forces. What they lacked for in arms and professional training, they made up for in enthusiasm and determination. Ironically it was not Franco who crushed the POUM, but Stalin.

Contrary to propaganda at the time, Spain's anarchists did not burn, rape and pillage their way across the countryside. Quite the opposite, they were organised, popularly led and completely egalitarian. Granted that the biggest hindrance to the anarchist ideology is understanding its radical restructure of society and hierarchy, but the Middle East has already had an anarchist uprising before, under the first Muslims. If Rubii bin Amer is not the epitomy of an anarchist then I don't know what is. The pomp and arrogance of an ineffective Islamic caliphate was, in his time, still in the unforeseen future. The remnants of this egalitarian restructure of our region are uncomfortable for traditional Islamic groups and conservative classes in the region, but they are undeniable and far from being a radical, secular, political import.

In a country such as Syria today, where power and privilege are the exclusive preserve of the few, where the abuse of such power and the wielding of this power solely for the sake of power is the norm and not the exception, and where the entire state apparatus is subverted to maintain the status quo, it is time to consider whether anarchy in Syria is probably a good idea. .

دمشق - قصيدة كتبها أخ جدي رحمه الله

دمشق: يا غُصّة الأشواق في كبدي...و يا لهاث الحنين الأمس خلف غدي

نأيتُ عنكِ, خيوط الشوق تجذبني...و جئتكِ اليومَ, جُرحي في الفؤاد ندي

كأنني, و اللقاء الحلم يسكُنني...لم أنأ عنكِ, و لم أبرَح حَمى بلدي

كم لذّ للدهر أن يغتال أُلفتنا...و سعّر النأيُ من وجدي و من نكدي

يا جنة الخلد في دنيا وُعدتُ بها...بين الدموع, و في عمرٍ من الكمد

أنا الغريب, فنور الفجر يُنكرني...و الليلُ يأسرني, في مدِّهِ الأبدي

أنا المنادي, و أوداءُ الفراغ صدىً...يهمّ يصلبني, حيّاً على عُمد

لولا طلولٌ من الأحلام عصفت..يدُ الحنين بها كاجمرِ متّقِد

و رحتُ ألهجُ باسم الشام أعلنهُ..في الحلم و الصحو, في أوطاني الجددِ

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دمشقُ: أنت ربيع العمر بهجتُهُ...و أنتِ كأسُ هوىً أترعتُهُ بيدي

اني أعودُ, و قد أغفى الشتاء على...مفارقي, و شبابي فاتَ, لم يعُد

أعودُ, أنشُدُ دفءَ القلب راحتهُ...فذكرياتي التي أجهضتُ لم تلِد

لا يعذبُ العمر, الا ان ألم به...طيفٌ من الصفو, أو صيفٌ من الرغد

و ما صبابةٌ مشتاقٍ يداعبه...طيفُ اللقاء, كمشتاقٍ الى الأبد

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Latest thoughts on Syrian Events

I'm watching what is happening in Syria with grave concern. There have been dozens of deaths so far in Banias, Homs, Lattakia, Daraa and other parts of the country. State media have been blaming "armed gangs" for the attacks and claimed to have 'exclusive' footage of them shooting at the crowds. I don't believe that for an instant, and nobody else seems to buy it either. The protests have been gathering pace every Friday and don't look like they will slow down any time soon. The state's response has been thuggish, brutal and incredibly stupid. If things continue like this then the country will descend into a whirlpool of violence.

On al Jazeera, which has picked up its coverage of what is happening there, I was surprised to hear that there may be as many as 4000 political prisoners whose fate is unaccounted for. This is the most conservative estimate, other estimates put the figure closer to 16,000. Of course these figures are not a result of the recent events, but a sum total over the past two or three decades. Everybody is being very careful about what they say, but I am noticing more and more Syrians living abroad who are demanding to know what is happening in Syria, simply because nobody in our families is saying anything on the phone. People are starting to ask questions, and also starting to express outrage over the senseless bloodshed. More and more Syrians I know are substituting their Facebook pages with black pictures, or a Syrian flag with a black strap on its corner. The fear is still there, but it no longer seems to paralyse people into inaction.

What is far more worrying is the number of people who, in a deluded fashion, appear to think that patriotism for Syria can only be expressed through supporting one man and his family. This is a divide that runs between friends and families; I am already at odds with some of my relatives on this matter. The state is taking on an increasingly corporatist, quasi-fascist, nature, and this is something I can never give my support to, regardless of the consequences I might face.

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A War Every Decade?

I know that if you want to find patterns in history then you can, and there are many conflicts I have not listed here, but still, it is interesting to note what looks like a trend here...

1948 Nakba and first Israeli-Arab war
1956 Suez Crisis between Egypt and Britain, France and Israel

1967 Israeli-Arab war

1975 Lebanese Civil War

1980 Iran-Iraq War - First Gulf War

1982 Israeli Invasion of Lebanon

1991 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait - Second Gulf War

2003 American invasion of Iraq - Third Gulf War

201? TBA.....

It appears we are overdue for another large scale conflict.

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The Farce that is the Arab Regime

The initial enthusiasm I felt with the success of the Egyptian and Tunisian revolutions has now subsided. The past three months have exposed the painful truth which many Arabs refused to see, which is that the biggest enemy of the Arabs is not America, Iran or even Israel. It is the Arab rulers. The Arabs today are a people divided into tiny squabbling kingdoms dominated by petty ruling families who are propped up by a complacent international system and brutal security services that imprison or torture all those who dare say that "the emperor has no clothes". These ruling families have each developed a cult of personality that would put Stalin to shame. Over the past few weeks we have seen a concerted attempt to quell the tide of Arab dissatisfaction. Massive subsidies have been put back into place, wage increases for the public sector, free mobile phone minutes. All these actions, it is hoped, will quiet down the people and return them back to a docile and manageable state.

Furthermore, governments have also been sacked, apparently the puppet masters are greatly displeased that their puppets have not entertained the masses as they should have. Even al Jazeera's coverage has been toned down recently with regards to the protests in Syria and Bahrain. This is something which has been particularly surprising and troubling to me. It appears that pressure has been brought to bear on the Qatar based network, and whilst still maintaining extremely high standards, the channel is not as daring as it was whilst covering the fall of Mubarak. Ultimately it seems that the Arab revolutions are a threat which has been recognised by all Arab rulers, and this has united them in a way that no external threat ever could.

Yet whilst I feel despondent that change will not be as quick as I expected, I remain optimistic that the fear barrier has been broken. Even with Syria, I can see now that people are much more open in their views about the government, much more ready to give their opinion, than they would have been a year ago. It simply will not do to claim resistance, modernisation, or having a charming trophy wife, as a means to placate the masses. The people have seen through that, and they have seen how weak those who govern them really are. Something is changing, I just hope it is permanent.

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