I would re confirm my previous post that there is no such thing as a true idea of Syria as a nation state. There is on the other hand a significant place for family and clan politics just as it is in Lebanon. Today, the major players in Lebanon are inheritors of the political roles of their ancestors except for the Sunni families of Yafi and Salam both of which have been replaced by the Hariri Inc. group. Elswhere positions are also distributed according to family politics and clan power play and that goes for the ministeries and for the governorates. In Iraq today, the Sadr clan is playing against the Hakim clan and both are against the Allawi clan.
The axis of fear as described by Pepe Escobar which comprises the moderates in the region afraid of the Iranina hegemony have a huge handicap. They have no Sunni population that can be mobilized effectively as they have been marginalized for generations now. What they have left is the role of the secret services to play. Unfortunately, there will always be willing fools to carry out the destructive policies of the big and not so big players.

The recent book by Ali Allawi about the fiasco in Iraq claims that the expatriate community was delusional in its assessment of the situation in the country having only a memory of the Iraq they once knew and confusing it for the current reality. I would say that the many commentators on this site have an idea of the Syria they knew from the past and have no understanding of the current situation. THis is a situation where the disappearence of the middle class and the presence of a super rich segment does not seem to be obvious to them. The current boom in construction is due to the fact that the super rich do not know where to invest their money having lost confidence in the international banking system, in the Lebanese bank secrecy, and wanting to put it in concrete.

Riyadh Seif says above: “and I pledged to myself that I would remain loyal to the trust given to me by the sons of Damascus”

“DAMASCUS” ???? trallaa…!

He just blew it. I would have taken his point more seriously if he had said “Syria” not “Damascus”. So much for so called “independent” candidates. “Independent” from whome?

ausamaa,
This man was MP for Damascus NOT Syria !!!

Aahhh, and is there a difference?

Kind of .. He was the MP for the citizen of Syria form the CITY of Damascus!!
Try to find another one to attack him. This is a none issue 🙂
Alex,
Do you believe that Bashar Assad was forced to adapt the rule of “DO NOT tolerate the opposition”? Is he a truly and deeply believer of this idea?

Attasi,

First, it was Parlimentary Election not Municipal elections. Right? Maybe I am Paranoid, and maybe my antena is over sensetive. But when an MP starts using the City or the Clan or the Trib or the Family, it just does not go down well in my book. Because they simply appear to miss the all too important notion that Syria needs progress at the national level and not at the City, Tribe or Famillial level. And if for the purpose of gaining votes they opt -by design or ignorance- to give rise to sentiments favoring the smaller entity at the expense of the nation, then they are on the wrong path altogether.

Sorry, but in my book, new and independent candidates who call for change should be grilled a thousand times more than anything we already have.

If they want us to give them our TRUST; they should EARN it hundred percent. We are not going to jump and cheer for CHANGE just because it is CHANGE. No Sir. They better be ready and up to it.

You are looking @ the wrong county Parliamentary Election my good friend. When is the last time you seen the list of the MP’s. Bedouin tribe’s chiefs, Smugglers, newly established shadowy businessmen; corrupted people like Kalthoum, Kadora and others

Distinguished national personalities similar to “Farris AlKouriy” are nonexistence’s my friend. The Syrian Parliament has been mocked, shamed and sidestepped long time ago.

Great material! Thank you and congratulations for publishing this. Here’s a plea for Syria Comment to return to the realities of Syria instead if the endless circular ruminations of various observers about what other observers think about others’ theoretical relations with Syria.

Having just returned from Syria I saw the absurd wallpapering of the country with candidates’ posters and the cynical dismissal of the election exercise by Syrians.

The posters were a bit odd. Many of the candidates were pictured gazing away to the side as if unable to face the camera. One banner I saw in a regional centre featured a smiling Assad giving the thumbs up to one hopeful.

But it’s no joke to many Syrians, as one friend said to me: “Look at these dreadful fools they are now pushing at us. Criminals and rubbish. They have threatened or arrested so many competent, decent people who tried to do something in politics there is hardly anyone left to speak.”

Keep it coming, Dr Landis.

Atasi,

Sorry, but for God’s sake, do you see any “serious” opposition around? Independents are nice decorations but nothing more in our case. Especially when they can not in their state of weakness be smart enough to understand and appreciate the sensetivities of the System and its red lines especially during the then evolving hectic anti-Syria era. Mr. Saif said it himself; he used the term Don-Quixotic. A noisance for the System but no more. You need critical mass, grassroot effort, organization and support. Which is not there.

And if Syria does not have a serious opposition at the moment we should not cling to any “opposing” voice and try to convince ourselves that we do have an “opposition”.

Anyway, if some independets have the best interest of the nation at heart, then God Bless them. At least they are trying to do some good. Beats commenting on blogs only!!!

What can we say..

http://www.economist.com/agenda/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9032177

“Makanak Raweh”

Dr. Landis,

First, thank you for publishing this article. I would encourage the many who regularly criticize you to come out of their closets and also drop you a thank you note. They are quick to attack you when you publish a so-called leadership friendly regime articles but they seem to go in hibernation when you allow posts that are leadership unfriendly to appear on your site.

Having watched and read some of Mr. Sayf’s writings in the past, one cannot but feel a sense of respect for the man. Everything he said in this article is impossible to argue with. His words on corruption are particularly noteworthy. If I recall correctly, he was the only man to criticize the Syriatel deal when it was struck.

The level of corruption in Syria is truly astounding. The amount of money that has been made, siphoned out and then siphoned back into the country over the past three years is spectacular.

Business ventures are now measured in hundred of millions of Dollars. How was this money made? What taxes were paid on such wealth?

When I was growing up in Syria, the Baath party die-hards once came up with the slogan of “Min Ayna Laka Haza” or “From Where did you get this”? Armed with that slogan they went after a number of merchants who they deemed as evil and exploitive.

There are very few Baath-inspired ideas that I have supported in the past. I will make an exception this time:

How about a modern day “Min Ayna Laka Haza” drive?

How about starting from the top down?

Democracy. As if it is a commodity that we are all racing to acquire at our neighborhood’s Best Buy. Let’s think rationally and keep our passions and emotions aside for a little while we look at the bigger picture. How is democracy is going to take root in a country one out of four is out of work? A true liberal democracy must be stable and deeply rooted. That mirage of a liberal democracy can only be realized when the aspiration of the Syrian people and their underlying desire to be free can be turned into meaningful political institutions.

Unfortunately, most Syrian politicians today, including the honorable Mr. Seif, think that they speak for the people of Syria. The fact of the matter is that no one speaks for the people of Syria. No one is even close to know what the Syrian people want, because, ready for this, the people themselves are still clueless. Admiring the Swiss democracy is one thing. Importing it is another.

I am not undermining the great Syrian people and the their genuine desire to be free and democratic; but I am trying to underscore that democracy will be born naturally when it becomes the only logical outcome of certain conditions. These conditions are still in the oven. I know someone will ask, should we wait forever until democracy is baked? Should we endure the rule of an authoritarian government indefinitely? Yes, if that is what it takes to have a stable and peaceful democracy.

Atassi and Alex, cheers dudes! I had a great two weeks in Beirut, Damascus, and Italy. The airline almost charged me for the extra weight in my belly!

Ehsani,
Well said. Indeed Joshua is to be commended not only for publishing this article by the amazing Riyad Sayf – who risked it all for what he believed in – but also for keeping this fabulous blog alive. Joshua’s endurance and intellect is to be commended as well.

Your point is well taken about the deeply rooted corruption in Syria. It is everywhere. On the corruption index of Transparency International (TI) for 2006, Syria is number 93 out of 163. Syria’s inmates in cell number 93 are Argentina, Armenia, Bosnia, Eritrea, and Tanzania!

Atassi,

If you want my opinion … I think Bashar agrees with his security chiefs who decide sometimes to jail some opposition leaders.

Maybe he does not support all cases, but some at least.

If you see something done by everybody in your neighborhood (the Arab world in this case), then it is probably going to continue to be done.

In the case of opposition members jailed … the regime will tell you that as long as they are staying in power, there are red lines to be respected. Those who cross them will be jailed (or warned repeatedly then jailed).

To be honest, at this stage in Syria (and the rst of the Middle East) where we all know there will be no regime change or “democracy” … being in the opposition is not the most constructive thing to do. Being a strong critic is more useful. The only option is to seriously reform the current system (not only the regime).

In the previous thread I asked “Why is no one talking about the elections”

One commentator rebuked it is an insult to one’s intelligence to even mention them.

This is an excellent thread and post. To outsiders in the diaspora, this is an eye opener, commendations to Josh for writing this, this is not pro regime and the article is well balanced and written.

Ford Prefect writes:

“Should we endure the rule of an authoritarian government indefinitely? Yes, if that is what it takes to have a stable and peaceful democracy.”

This unfortunately and succintly is the crux of the issue at stake here, how long would a people endure this stability, with its institutionalised corruption, repression and underlying poverty?
Unfortunately maintaining the staus quo here is not the ideal situation, change through stability is ideal, however in the mid east, it is only through forced change will the staus quo be altered.

I wonder how long it will take the Syrian populace to wake from its slumber?

Alex wrote:

“If you want my opinion … I think Bashar agrees with his security chiefs who decide sometimes to jail some opposition leaders. Maybe he does not support all cases, but some at least.”

I say:

And what’s your opinion, Alex, on what would happen to Bashar (whom you are comically portraying as a normal leader, not a thug) if he was not in total agreement with his security chiefs?

Please let’s try to return to the cold steel of reality. This topic and Sayf’s article present information and discussion points that have been too long absent from this site.

All my respect to assafir for publishing syrian opposition members writings.

Ehsani;
you are right,as usual,syria comment would not be interesting if it is one sided,good job Josh.

In Syria the corruption at the bottom is not the biggest problem,the civil servants are forced to be corrupt because of poor salaries ….but the most disastrous stealing are from the head of the pyramid ,amongst the many asads and the many makhloufs and the syrian army officers.

It is a great post.
Much appreciated and I am very happy that Joshua put it out for us. I wish there was more in translation from Saif’s interview.

Ausamaa wrote: Mr. Saif said it himself; he used the term Don-Quixotic. A nuisance for the System but no more. You need critical mass, grassroots effort, organization and support. Which is not there.
Hey! stop being so harsh you. The man was even criticizing himself. And…. of course you are correct that Syria needs all of the above ‘critical mass’ on the grassroots level to effect any changes, but still – Saif seems very genuine in his description of what he had aspired to and his ideals which he could not succeed in realizing. He deserves a lot of credit for that, no matter whether he represents Damascus… Syria… or his neighborhood for that matter.

Ford Prefect said : The fact of the matter is that no one speaks for the people of Syria. No one is even close to know what the Syrian people want, because, ready for this, the people themselves are still clueless.

Very very well said. I tried to suggest a similar idea the other day – that there are serious problems with the people themselves….. The majority of the population is without a political consciousness to activate and catalyze. They are without clear vision or the will above all at this point to bring about dramatic shifts in the System. And the system as a whole demands altering. It is far bigger a challenge than a simple change in the ruling families. It is bigger than simply more clean elections.
it is no less than the development of the populace towards a place certainly beyond lip service about the famed ‘democracy’ and hopefully beyond even the basic understanding of ‘democracy’. No less than LIVING it… that is the experience of a participation in living in a civic capacity out of a necessity- through organic change will be needed to bring about a shift.

in Alnahar newspaper,today there is a picture of Walid Al Muallem talking to Saud Al Feisal, Saud is holding something in his hand, can someone look at that picture and tell me what is it that Saud is holding in his hand, or was it he was in a hurry to go to the restroom

Zenobia said:

It is a great post.
Much appreciated and I am very happy that Joshua put it out for us. I wish there was more in translation from Saif’s interview.

Zenobia,there is, you can read it in Levant news,
the Safir newspaper was banned from entering Syria because of this article

Opposition in Syria has no voice till now, they are outlawed and their playground is outside the country. The inside civil society played two rules. The first is as a barometer for the level of tolerance of change, and the second rule played the soft challenge with the regime. The regime took the bait very well; he missed the train big time and could not use the civil society for the regime and the country’s benefits. The real opposition is outside the country are getting stronger with everyday the Syrian economy go south and with the increase of the masses of the outsiders against the depressed backward, fragmented and disparate insiders. From here I would say we should not discard any of the major players.
One note on what has been said that the “Being a strong critic is more useful. The only option is to seriously reform the current system”. I think the principal of disfranchising others should be rejected as a chauvinist principal. You would expect the recent turmoil of events in Iraq have taught other regimes something, however it seems they are sticking to their ways like they can not get out the box, in my view.
Great respect to Ford Pefect thought, I would say even if Syria is not number 1 on the scale of corruption, still in each country this factor is played differently. In Syria what we are seeing now that population is loosing its economical balance by getting poorer.
Thank to Josh and Mr. Seif on his great timely post.
One word to Ausama, I still after 30 years in Diaspora, prefer to take about my local damascene economic and domestic difficulties for one more reason never mentioned here, because if you talk about the whole country the regime usually makes you feel that you are stepping one their toes, and who we are to speak about Gordaha fro example, we know nothing about the whole we should stick to our caves. Before leaving the country when I used to attend lectures, we used to leave criticism to Alawite’s friends because they are kind of immune from the regime retaliation.

Zenobia,

Ok, you are right. Meanwhile, and in the absence of a credible and serious Syrian opposition, I guess I should start developing better taste for minor league opposition. Especially the struggling and deprived nieghberhood petty capitalists who export made-in-Syria Adidas shose to the whole world. We gotta have some opposition to support even if we have to creat it in our minds. Right.

Aussamaa, you can look for your opposition in jails if you really cared about them.

ha ha ha – your concession sounds so genuine -!…mr sarcasm. “petty capitalist”…please….that is a pretty sad capitalist in the end. I happen to like adidas……
He seems admirable not for ‘opposing’ for its own sake but for the original activity – as someone interested in creating something progressive – especially in the economic sphere where syrians are desperate. thats what i heard him saying. It isn’t the ‘opposition’ I support…..it is anyone with some balls and guts and heart. He spent five years in prison….(this time!) ..he must have been doing something…noble..

Ok, Ok, twenty inches above I said:

“Anyway, if some independets have the best interest of the nation at heart, then God Bless them. At least they are trying to do some good. Beats commenting on blogs only!!!”

Thanks Prof Landis.

I enjoyed the post and all the linked articles. Props to As-Safir for the rare act of publishing Syrian dissidence (traditionally An-Nahar’s domain).

Ausamaa,

You’re a bit loony. Thankfully, you stand apart from the rest of the regime-tolerant crowd around here, who are saner than you. But I enjoy your contributions; *someone* has to play the “regime deadender” 🙂

He is ‘loony’. Lovable loony.

Only a “bit” loony?? Can’t complain. Beats a full-fledged loony I guess!