Who Wants to Kill the Revolution in Syria

There is not a lot of good news coming to our ears from Syria. The uprising against the Assad regime has bogged down into a civil war and the liberating movements and attempts have many difficulties affronting their numerous enemies. Because, let's put it clear, this revolt kicked off to put an end to the Assad regime, to liberate everyone from its yoke and to reconstruct a life on different bases: a revolt for freedom and dignity. That has expressed itself and continues to do so through the attempts of self organization, without central authority or state control, by the revolted people in the neighborhoods of the cities; through the combats, armed or not, that numerous people continue to carry on for the revolution in Syria; through the creation of spaces where relationships that a more free are experimented and that somehow constitute the heart of the magnificent liberating élan that has inspired thousands of people to do away with their fear and to revolt.

But as it was said before, these liberating attempts are threatened by suffocation. Therefore we need to ask: who are the enemies of the revolution in Syria? Who wants to put an end to the possibilities of the revolted people to finish with the regime, and to reconstruct their lives on bases that are completely different than the ones of authority and submission?

First of all this is evidently the Assad regime. When a power feels threatened it will be up to everything, to commit any atrocity or massacre. Self- preservation is part of the essence of every power. In Syria, the power is shooting, bombing, torturing in order to suffocate the revolt in a bloodbath. And the regime has designated itself as the gravedigger of what we could call the spring of uprisings in numerous countries (Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Bah rein, Yemen,...). All of the regimes in the world do agree upon one point: someone needs to put a halt to the revolutionary élan, by all means necessary. This is the reason why certain countries continue supplying the Assad regime with money and arms, with services and military equipment. Let's put it clear: the weapon transport destined to the murderous regime pass through European harbors, as for example the one of Antwerp.

A second and no less enemy of the revolution in Syria are the islamist forces. There are numerous different fractions active and at this moment there are fights going on between the militia of ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq in Syria) and the population which is terrorized by these reactionaries. But already since some months before the start of the armed fights, many popular protests have been taking place in the territories controlled by ISIS, some are clearly expressing: “Neither Assad, nor Al-Qaeda!”. The uprising didn't kick off to replace the authoritarian Assad regime by an equally authoritarian and bloody one. The islamists might want to end with Assad, but they don't want to liberate the population, they don't want the people themselves to decide upon how to organize their lives and chose their own bases for it: they want to impose the law of God (and even their interpretation of it) in place of the law of Assad. But freedom, the radical change trying to end with a world based on power and money isn't compatible with any law. It is either law or freedom. The revolution in Syria must now fight not only against the Assad regime but equally against those that want to impose their law. By the way, the revolutions in other countries that have had uprisings are facing the same challenges (it is enough to think about Egypt where different fractions have successively taken the power to impose their regime to the exploited and oppressed in revolt).

The third enemy then are the chiefs of all color (the interim government in exile, the general staff of the Free Syrian Army...), who are in fatal opposition to the revolution. While the need for using of arms was definitely unavoidable in the uprising against Assad, the weapons are as well consuming the emancipating essence of the revolution. A civil war with strategies, calculations, tactic alliances, political games is not the same as a war for liberation, as a revolutionary uprising. The militarization of the conflict fatally provokes the re-establishment of authority, of discipline in front of chiefs and leaders, rather than free experiment and the construction of a new world. As is the goal of a large part of the islamists, the government in exile probably wants to chase away Assad but only to replace him with their proper regime. Neither the one, nor the other has confidence in the creative strength of the liberated masses, both of them fear the questioning of all power, of all oppression. So they are enemies of the social revolution. And the government in exile is looking for support from other governments, in particular from the European Union who (let's be clear) is demanding some guaranties in return: the UE can say yes to the new government in exchange for an explicit no (by all means necessary) to the social revolution in Syria, to the abolition of capitalism,...

What can we do here to support the difficult road of the revolution in Syria which is threatened by all sides? On the one hand, we can find ways to support and express solidarity with those fighting for the revolution and against all oppression, whether it stems from the Assad regime, the islamists or the democratic politicians. At the other hand, we can combat the enemies of the revolution where we are, where it is possible to cut some branches upon which their support is resting: unmasking the lies of the governments here; sabotaging the companies and the institutions that are supplying services to the Syrian regime; counter balancing the islamist propaganda that is only concerned about the installation of an islamist state on Syrian ground and is recruiting fighters to impose their law to the ones that are actually trying to liberate themselves from oppressive regimes; propagating a revolutionary internationalism, which means supporting the struggle against power in all of its forms so that the magnificent revolutionary élan that has been shaking up numerous countries will not be suffocated in the blood of the revolted people.