Who represents the Syrian people? The regime promotes two contradictory views. According to the first, most Syrians support the regime, and everything that is going on is a conspiracy. The second view is that there are three different groups in Syria: the regime, the opposition, and the people. The upshot of this second view is that ordinary people are distracted, so I will call it "the distraction plan".16 May 2012
| Who Represents the People? |
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Unfazed by political ploys and traditional ideological struggles, the Syrian people are now representing themselves through their actions. By Odai al-Zoubi
Evaluating these views, we have to say that no one believes in the first one. It is a traditional strategy of all dictatorships. The distraction plan is more plausible, and it was this plan that motivated the national dialogue. According to this view, questions about the Syrian leadership and opposition are secondary. More important are the people to whom the regime will listen. So why then do we need an opposition? In line with this plan to distract, the regime invented two political groups: "The Third Road" bloc (lead by Mohammad Habash) and "The Tamed Opposition" (headed by Qadri Jamil). This invented opposition thus becomes a showpiece for the regime that is secondary to its dialogue with the people. Through its dialogue with the people, the regime aims to ignore the political crisis. In a way, the opposition agrees with this view, but from a different angle. Most of the people on the ground do not think there could be dialogue with the regime. Rather, according to most activists, the regime should step down. For these activists, what needs to be clarified is that the opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) represents "us" not as a political opposition group but rather as an organisation that aims at replacing the regime. They do not believe that the regime is capable of any political dialogue. Hence, the council represents "us" as a step towards re-building the whole political system in a new Syria, one in which there is no place for the current regime. The people who believe this, as well as those in the council itself, should not claim that it represents all Syrians. The council is not a political party, but rather a temporary organisation, established in special circumstances, to fulfill the needs of a political crisis. One way to better answer the question of who represents Syrians is to look at the young people active on the ground. It seems they do not have any ideology, as understood as a systematic commitment to any world view. There is no unifying program behind the youth movements. In that case, what we need to understand is that the Arab Spring might mean the end of the traditional notion of a political system. It is not just the end of Arab dictatorships. It could also be the end of the concept of the non-existent citizen. The Arabs have started to believe in their ability to change the world. They do not need political parties to lead them. What they are doing is acting. This is why the SNC does not represent the youth movement, which is not political in the traditional sense. Hence, it cannot be represented by any political body the way traditional parties typically represent the opinions of some political groups. This is also why the regime cannot win. Now, unlike during the rebellion in 1982, most young Syrians are engaged in battling the regime. There is no single leader of the movement, which is based on creative activism. Therefore, the only way to defeat it is mass destruction. Probably, the regime is heading towards this solution. What makes young people believe there can be no dialogue with the regime? It is the thousands of people who have been killed and tortured. But there is also a more profound human fear. It is the instinct for survival that drives them. One activist, Danny Abdul Dayem, told the BBC: "If we stop, that would be the end of us…They would actually get us one by one; we know that." Odai al-Zoubi is a doctoral student in philosophy. |
16 May 2012
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