Months passed, between divisions and disagreements, before the Syrian Opposition met in Istanbul. Despite its political and ideological differences, it has finally decided to join ranks under the banner of the Syrian National Council (SNC). However, the Opposition did not easily arrive at this stage, or without any obstacles. During the period leading up to the formation of the SNC, many in Syria and abroad, wondered in disbelief about the position of the Syrian Opposition after nearly seven months since the beginning of the Revolution; this peaceful Revolution of the Syrian people who amazed the world and received its admiration with their epic resilience against one of the most oppressive and brutal regimes in modern history.
For months, the Opposition could not unite and assume its duties as a leader of the Revolutionaries. It also did not attempt to gain recognition and legitimacy for the popular movement, to prepare for the stage after the regime is toppled. This weakness and division resulted in disappointment among many of the Revolutionaries, which pushed them to depend more on the Local Coordinating Committees (which have done a great job). As for the reluctant ones, the skeptics, and opponents of the Revolution – they downplayed the importance of the Revolution and its ability to achieve any change. Meanwhile, foreign countries used the absence of a defined Opposition with clear characteristics and goals as an excuse to not provide enough support and international protection to the Revolution in facing the criminal regime, which uses the ugliest suppression and torture against its own people.
So what is the behind the Opposition’s inability to overlook its differences and unite its ranks for more than six months? This is all despite the fact that the Opposition agrees on the main goal, and that is to overthrow the tyrannical Ba’athist regime and establish a free, democratic state. At the same time, we find that opposition in democratic states are able to overthrow the government merely by convincing the people that the government is not fit to continue leading the nation due to mistakes it makes when it exercises its leadership functions. In those nations, responsibilities are divided between the government and the opposition, where the government controls internal and foreign affairs, while the opposition monitors the government’s performance and confronts it when issues must be addressed or fixed within a framework of councils and organizations whose members are freely elected and democratically by the citizens. The national army, in these democratic nations, works under the guidance of and in cooperation with the government to protect the country from external invasions and defending it if needed, without getting involved in politics. As for keeping peace and ensuring safety of its citizens, that is the duty of the internal state security that also deals with demonstrations and protests, where the only weapons it uses are a helmet, a shield, and a rubber baton – to be used only for self-defense.
As for authoritarian regimes, a small group that is not elected by citizens reaches the government using tricks and devious ways, and is able to remain in power by using a security apparatus to manage state and internal affairs. As for the army, it becomes politicized and part of the government, and its main role is to protect the legitimacy of the government, rather than protecting the country. Additionally, the preference is for hypocrites and opportunists to conduct affairs of the state, and the standard for assessing citizenship becomes the degree of loyalty rather than the performance.
As a result, corruption and favoritism spread, and the principle of equal opportunity is eliminated. The freedom of the majority of the honest citizens is suppressed, their dignity is wasted, and their economic and social conditions worsen, until their only interest is limited to making a living with the least amount of insult and humiliation. All this, with citizens having no right to complain, protest, or criticize. This leaves no room for any kind of opposition, whether political or individual, and if there happens to be opposition, their destiny is oppression or fabricating charges and throwing them in jail if they cannot escape the country. Therefore, the opposition figures are generally divided and unable to unite its ranks, positions, and efforts, and opposition figures are unable to trust one another because some may become weak and start cooperating with the government by belonging to a framework of formal democracy that is void of any power to real effectiveness. One such example is the People’s Representatives Council. In other situations, the opposition may form several opportunistic parties under the lead of the government’s party, and the only purpose of these councils and organizations is to beautify the ugly face of the regime.
What is happening Syria now is the result of the submission of the Syrian people to this kind of an oppressive regime for more than 40 years. Then conditions worsened to the point that protest movements started appearing here and there, and got repressed by the regime. But as soon as these movements became greater and reached the point of a revolution against the regime, the regime dropped its mask and its ugly face emerged, with the result being the massacre in Hama. When the republican regime was embarrassingly inherited like a monarchy, many people were optimistic, because this newcomer had a good reputation for openness, democracy, and liberalism. Everyone was waiting for the great reforms he promised. Damascus then had a calm spring, but it was very short-lived, when again it woke up to find the autumn of the previous regime coming back again to take the same repressive approach. All opposition figured were chased, regardless of their leanings, and any chance to form internal opposition was crushed, and because of fear for their families from revenge by the government, the opposition figures’ efforts to form true opposition outside were also crushed.
When conditions became bad to the point where the people could not take it anymore, protesting masses took to the streets, being affected by the spring of change in the region, and called for its minimum rights, freedoms, and dignity. The response of the government then came, not expecting the people to dare pierce through the wall of fear and get out of its control. The regime depended on the security solution from Day One, and tried to repress the protests in a brutal manner using state security forces supported by tanks. As a result, many martyrs fell, a large number of protesters were arrested, and the result was the increased persistence of the protestors in asking for their demands. The circle of protests spread until it included all Syrian cities and villages, and with that increased the repressive, arrest, and torture measures. The chants and slogans of the protestors went from demanding reforms to nothing less than overthrowing the regime.
All these people are waiting for is that some of the opposition figures put behind them their old hatred and ideological, organizational, and national disputes, and to put off such disputes until after the regime is overthrown. What the opposition needs to do now is to form what can be formed as a legitimate representative of all revolutionaries, and to have the young leaders inside participate. However, because of the above-mentioned disputes, this opposition appeared divided and awkward, and needed several attempts that may have lasted longer than necessary to unite its ranks. Now, it seems that the opposition figures have overcome their differences and are ready to work together within the framework of the SNC. Our hope is that the SNC is able to reach the level of international recognition so it can relay the voice of the people, their demands, and the Revolution’s goals to the rest of the world, and thus secure international support for the Syrian people. If that happens, this will be the beginning of the end for this criminal regime, and we may witness in a future Syria reconciliation between the opposition and the government, where each side does its part in building Syria, without shedding blood or forcing opposition figures to organize their ranks in exile.
Dima Moussa is a Syrian-American attorney and member of the Syrian National Council (SNC). She can be contacted here.
The views identified in this op-ed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of NAFS.
