A biweekly digest of select reports prepared by Tharwa-Syria
Note: All links below are to the original articles in Arabic.
Let the freedom bells toll for Syria's Kurds
An article that discusses the peaceful demonstrations organized by Syria's Kurdish population earlier this month in northern Syria (mostly in Qamishly and Kobani) and the ensuing bloody crackdown by the local authorities. The author accuses the Syrian President and his Minister of Foreign Affairs of instigating this incident by their public endorsement of planned Turkish incursion into northern Iraq and condemning the PKK, which Syria had supported for so long during the reign of Hafiz al-Assad, as a terrorist organization. The author also criticizes the country's opposition parties and movement for their sole reliance on verbal denunciations and for continuing to wait for external succor in their fight against the regime.
In the preceding two weeks, Tharwa correspondents conducted a number of insightful and frank interviews, that have been widely circulated on the Net, with a number of noteworthy figures in the Syrian opposition scene and with regard to Syrian and regional politics, including:
An interview with Abdul Haleem Khaddam
We seek to create a modern democratic and and civil state, far from religious, sectarian and national affiliations
In this interview, Syrian former VP, Abdul Haleem Khaddam, denied that he played any role in the widespread corruption in Syria, and challenged the regime that he abandoned to produce any evidence that can prove otherwise. Khaddam also discussed a number of issues related to the period when he was one of the main pillars of the Assad regime, and affirmed that the National Salvation Front, the opposition coalition that he established in 2006, in partnership with Ali Sadreddine, al-Bayanouni, the head of the Muslim Brotherhood, and representatives of various opposition currents, is large enough to encompass everybody, and that it seeks to establish a modern democratic state where all citizens are equal in terms of their rights and obligations, their religious, sectarian and national affiliations notwithstanding. Finally, and with regard to the ongoing situation in Lebanon, Mr. Khaddam expressed his wish that Syria's allies would be able to put the interests of Lebanon above all those of Syria and Iran.
An interview with Ali Sadreddine al-Bayanouni
His partnership with former Syrian VP, Khaddam, says Mr. Al-Bayanouni, head of the Syrian Branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, is not a mistake, as the break of the former with the ruling regime in Syria and his subsequent contrarian stands clearly indicate. Moreover, the National Salvation Front, that the twain has established in cooperation with representatives of other Syrian opposition movements and parties continue to expand, as Mr. Al-Bayanouni attest, and has proven that it is open to all constituent components of the Syrian society, including the Alawites. The Alwaites, Mr. Al-Bayanouni assured, are as much a victim of this regime as everyone else in the country and will play an important role in bringing about the much needed change in the country. The Muslim Brotherhood, in Syria, Mr. Al-Bayanouni said, seeks to build a modern civil state. With regard to Iran, Mr. Al-Bayanouni says that Iran has to make up its mind whether it wants to be an Islamic state of a Shiite one, because so far, its choices seem to be made on purely sectarian basis. Meanwhile, and under Bashar's leadership, Syria has become playground for Iranian Mullas and politicians. As for the possibility of establishing a transitional government, Mr. Al-Bayanouni said that this possibility is clearly stated in the foundational charter of the NSF.
An interview with Kurdish Rights activist Farhat Ali
A former political prisoner and a Kurdish rights activist, Mr. Farhat was first arrested by Lebanese security agents and handed over to the Syrian authorities, where his rounds of the country's infamous jails begun. In this candid, interview, Mr. Farhat discusses the living conditions of Syria's political detainees and prisoners of conscience, highlighting the various forms of torture and the complex relationship between jailor and jailed, and among the jailed. Mr. Farhat then discuses the Kurdish situation in Syria and how parochial partisan interests seem to have alienated the existing parties from their grassroots supporters, making them fall into the same trap of those parties which play within the rules established by the Syrian regime.
An interview with Nayef Hawatmeh
In this candid interview with the Secretary General of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Mr. Hawatmeh discusses the various recent developments in Gaza, including the Hamas takeover, in which he asserts that the Hamas back-down from a full military takeover in Gaza comes in response to the popular expectations of the Palestinian people. Mr. Hawatmeh also says that the planned Annapolis Conference could bear fruit, if properly managed.
Syrian Kurds continue to monitor the developments on borders between Iraq and Turkey with much apprehension, this is a sampling of the many reports they wrote on this issue over the last few days:
In this article, Syrian Kurdish activist, Moustapha Ismail, notes that at the heart of the current crackdown championed by the Syrian authorities lies their failure in tackling any of the country's essential economic problems, especially those affecting the country's neglected Kurdish population. For when it comes to the country's Kurdish population, the Syrian authorities tend to exaggerate both in their level of negligence and the ferocity of their crackdowns, as the recent events in northern Syria reveal. What threatens the country's security more, the author wonders, the unarmed demonstrators or the unruly security officers?
Why does Turkey insist on swimming against the stream?
The shrinking relevance of Turkey on the international scene, the author contends is encouraging the Turkish authorities to adopt a more belligerent with regard to the country's lingering Kurdish Question. But previous historical precedence indicate that militarism is not the right way to deal with this issue, and will not facilitate its entry into the European Union. Turkey's attitude vis-à-vis Kurdish aspirations carried many contradictions, the author concludes, especially when they endorse special arrangements for the Turkmen of Iraq, and for a Turkish federal entity in Northern Cyprus, while she they continue to oppose the Kurdish project in northern Iraq.
Turkey and the planned incursion into Iraqi Kurdistan
The author of this analytical piece discusses the various factors influencing Turkey's decision for sending troops into northern Iraq, and concludes that the main factor at play is related to the ongoing struggle between the military and civilian establishments in Turkey on the one hand, and between the forces of secular nationalism and those of Islamism. But, and contrary to other analysts of the situation, the current author is hopeful about the future, noting that the US will not sacrifice its interests in the region for the sake of the Turkish identity crisis and its drive to create an Islamic imperial entity in the region.
Can Israel influence Syrian-Russian relations?
The author of this article casts doubts on whether Israel can indeed convince the Russians to cancel their upcoming missile deal with Syria, noting the growing military cooperation between the two countries, and the recent announcement by the Russians that they intend to build permanent military base for themselves in the Syrian port of Tartous. In addition to other bilateral military agreements already signed, it seems that Russian-Syria relations are on the rise again and may not be easily shaken at this stage.
Legal Perspectives
A just and independent judiciary is our needed rock
In this article, Tharwa's legal correspondent, Michel Shammas, reviews the current sorry condition of the Syrian judiciary system, and asserts that the main reason for its inefficiency is related to its linkages to the other branches in the state, especially the executive branch. Low wages, poor qualifications, rampant corruption, nepotism are other contributing factors in this regard.
He Divorced her, but she still wants him
In this report, the author spotlights the plight of the divorced women in the country and the societal pressures that compel them to chose to return to an abusive relationships. Sometimes, the author notes, the abuse women receive from their husbands is less than that received from their families, especially in the aftermath of divorce.
The author notes the huge gulf between the various laws and decrees passed by the authorities to combat corrupt practices, and their application. The application of these laws, notes the authors, focuses on the weak and spares government officials, especially high-ranking ones, and their families. This make the entire campaign against corruption continue to be ineffective.
Price hikes eat up the change
In the absence of any real role for the country's rubber stamp parliament, the author contends, Syria's citizens are living on the whims of their unruly rulers and their harsh policies that continue to impoverish them, driving the prices higher than they have ever been in Syria's modern history, while the few rich affiliated with the regime get richer and richer.
Human Rights
The administrators and writers of the Nisaa Syria (Women of Syria) website that focuses on women's rights called on the local authorities to protect a young 18 year old Druze girl from the southern Province of Sweidah from an honor waiting to happen, the girl having married a young man from a different confessional group. the girls is currently held by the local authorities in Sweidah, but could be released at any time to members of her family who are asserting their right of custody. Following previously-set pattern, this move could pave way the young girl's murder should the local authorities "honor" the family's request. on this occasion, Tharwa issued a call on the Druze elders to stand up against this barbaric practice, seeing that the authorities cannot be relied upon to do any good. The Tharwa team will continuation to monitor the situation.
A draft for a new parties law in Syria
Even from his prison cell, and even as he battles the various ailments associated with the unsanitary conditions under which he is kept, Syria lawyer and human rights activist, Walid al-Bounni, continues to challenge the authoritarian hold of the Syrian regime. His most recent act of defiance was the issuance of a draft for a new parties law in the country to facilitate the liberalization and democratization of the country. The move seeks to build upon his earlier work in this field, namely the draft constitution that he authored two years ago. The draft has been widely distributed over the net.
Syrian Youth Caught between the problems of the past and the challenges of the future
Unemployment, poverty, high cost of education and its poor quality, notes the young author of this article, represent some of the basic problems that Syria's youth has to deal with these days in order to make a living and build a future. But this struggle seems to be an increasingly losing cause, for whatever future, the country's is building it is a very lonely one indeed as celibacy rates are currently the highest registered in the country, standing at 65%.
The National Concern of the Syrian Youth, the case of Syria's Kurdish youth
Syria's youth are almost completely absent from the political scene, even among the country's move politically conscious Kurdish population, where partisan politics and rising parochial interests served to alienate the young Kurds of the country. Political parties have a lot of work ahead of them in order to circumvent the mounting cynicism, apathy and mistrust of the young population and so that they can reconnect with the country's increasingly young demographics.
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