Mourning the Downfall of Bashar al-Assad
One person mourned and wept for the downfall of the tyrant Bashar al-Assad, angry at the victory of the Syrian people and their struggle for freedom, saying: “Oh, my beloved Syria, the stab is deep in the heart of Arabism, but Arabism will not die!”
Questioning Arabism
The speaker has the right to believe what he wants and defend whomever he wishes. It is also the right of people to ask him: Does the fall of a tyrant who killed, slaughtered, displaced, destroyed, repressed, prevented, marginalized, uprooted, divided his country, and imported invaders and occupiers from every corner of the earth constitute a stab in the heart of Arabism?
The Reality of Arabism
And what is that Arabism that has been stabbed, causing bleeding in hearts and chests, in Syria or the northern region of Egypt (formerly)? Is it the Arabism of the racist Alawite sect that has dominated the country and its depths, starting from the presidency to the army, which is known among people as the Alawite army, whose leadership is comprised of professional killers, the foremost being Maher al-Assad, the tyrant’s brother, and secondly Suhail al-Hassan, leader of what is called the "Tiger Forces," which has violated the innocent, slaughtered the honorable, imprisoned those without guilt or offense, and raped women by the hundreds, until dominance extended even to the smallest jobs?!
Arabism and the Jewish Enemy
Is it the Arabism that has not killed a single Jewish fly for five decades, that has not defended the honor of Damascus, the capital, and other cities, while the Nazi enemy enjoys a near-daily presence in the air of Arabism, hitting, bombing, and destroying, without facing a single bullet in return? It was even said recently that the fleeing tyrant was handing over enemy intelligence the coordinates of sites where Iran stored its weapons to burn them?
Arabism and Syrian Sunni Muslims
Is it the Arabism that slaughtered more than a million Syrian Sunni Muslims, using chemical weapons and barrel bombs, and the weapons of the Persian and Russian occupiers and militias emerging from the depths of sectarian fanaticism, and then displaced more than half of the beloved Syrian population to various parts of the earth?
Friendship and Loyalty
Can friendship and loyalty to the fleeing tyrant take precedence over values and ethics that reject tyranny, injustice, brutality, fanaticism, racism, reckless revenge, and the oppression of the majority by a minority through iron and fire?
Arabism and Islam
What is Arabism away from Islam, which elevated it and gave it cultural value when the Quran was revealed in Arabic, spread its language among the peoples, and carried Arab civilization to the corners of the earth?
Arabism without Islam has no value, and Arab nationalists have tried to rule the Arab world for 80 years, reaping nothing from the downfall of Islam but thorns; defeats, setbacks, backwardness, tyranny, sedition, division, and disgrace in the eyes of the world.
The Counter-Revolution and Islamophobia
The Islamophobia that dominates contemporary culture is the counter-revolution that has deprived Arab peoples of the blessing of freedom and security. Had the values of Islam prevailed, the nation would have achieved many positives, foremost among them independence from Western colonialism, self-sufficiency in essentials, and progress in the fields of science, knowledge, culture, and arts.
Secularism and Rejection of Islam
The counter-revolution demands secularism and calls for the rejection of Islam, which it labels as darkness, regression, and backwardness. Although the times in the countries of colonial direction and influence have surpassed secularism to post-secularism, beloved Syria lived through its most flourishing era of secularism during the tyranny of the Assad regime, surpassing Western countries that claim to be secular. It waged a war against Islam, deeming it synonymous with terrorism, so much so that every Muslim became a suspect of terrorism until proven otherwise. This led to a situation where personal conflicts and competition within society turned those without morals into informants and snitches, accusing their peers of terrorism or Islamism, causing them harm or depriving them of their jobs or rights.
Nusayri Secularism
Nusayri secularism prevented Islamic programs on Syrian television, and the granting of permission for imams and preachers to grow beards was subjected to security checks for approval. Activists published images of these security approvals, and Nusayri secularism reduced the Umayyad Mosque to just a tourist site where obligatory prayers could be performed without the call to prayer (adhan) being broadcast on screen. To be fair, the sectarian Nusayris were not alone in this; there were those who invented a magnetic card for Friday prayers, as happened in Tunisia during the era of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali!
Mosques and Terrorism
Some see mosques as breeding grounds for terrorism, closing them and only opening them during prayer times. Even the attached bathrooms that the public uses are closed and only opened a few minutes before prayer begins. This transforms Islam in the public mind into a source of danger, fear, and terror, as the failed secularism succeeded in frightening Muslims away from their religion—a feat that the invading colonial armies of the West and Jews could not achieve!
The Gifted Girls
The sectarian Nusayri secularism surpassed the secularism of others when it offered gifts to a state that assisted the tyrant in slaughtering his people, referred to as “the Gifted Girls”!
Fifty thousand girls from beloved Syria were dubbed “the Gifted Girls,” among them the daughters and wives of high-ranking intelligence and military officials in the regime, providing psychological pleasure to Russian occupation soldiers and entertaining them in appreciation of their role in crushing and killing Sunni Muslims with advanced “MiG” and “Su-30” aircraft!
Cultural Celebration
On December 8, 2024 (the day of the regime’s downfall), the Russian news agency "ANNA" published several photos of Russian military police elements accompanied by “the Gifted Girls” at a cultural celebration in Aleppo, a city under the regime's control in northern Syria. Some considered “the Gifted Girls” a new phenomenon in the Syrian reality. Assad had pursued the same policy through the loyal and close “Gifted Girls” who appeared in photos hugging Russian pilots at the Hmeimim military base. This served as a thank-you message to the Russian pilots for their fight against “terrorism” (Islam!).
Unofficial Entity
The “Gifted Girls” group is one of the most unofficial entities within the Assad regime, yet at the same time enjoys unprecedented support from high-ranking military and security figures influential in the regime.
Ahmad Hassoun and the Iftar Banquet
To complete the farce/tragedy, Ahmad Hassoun, the mufti of the regime, was a guest at an iftar banquet organized by "Sabayaa al-‘Ata." The banquet turned into a source of mockery and ridicule towards Hassoun and his behaviors, which reached the point of vulgarity. He broke all the norms related to his position and role in the state and society, and he was introduced by a woman wearing a short skirt, like many of the girls who organized the event, including the head of the association’s board, Alia Khair Bek. The event was even named the "Short Skirts Party."
The Counter-Revolution Against Freedom
The counter-revolution against freedom calls for the freedom of women and minorities and personal behavior, seeing the leaders of the revolution as terrorists and agents of the West and the Jews. It doesn’t stop slandering the leader of the revolution and stripping him of his belonging to his family and father, who was a nationalist Nasserite and fought against French colonialism and authored an important national book!
The Revolution's Right to Defend Itself
Suppose the counter-revolution, both externally and internally, aims to imprison the Syrian people once again in Sednaya and their equivalents. In that case, the revolution has the right to defend itself and hold onto Islam, which was the title of the Umayyad Caliphate that ruled the world at the time. It should represent the majority in the best way. We have not seen the gentlemen advocating for secularism and nationalism think, even for a moment, about the encroachment of the Nusayri minority or other minorities on the Muslim majority, which is described as the happy minorities. When minorities monopolize power and its implications, they do not think to share it with the Islamic majority, but rather fight it relentlessly under the names of combating terrorism, extremism, radicalism, backwardness, and obscurantism. After they come down from their elitist heights, they shout: minorities and community sects must share!
The Nationalists' Oversight
The nationalists have not thought about liberating the thousands of women raped in the prisons of the sect—I won’t say the homeland—nor have they defended the rights of Muslims to fast during Ramadan in the face of the iftar of the sect's leaders and their executioners and followers in broad daylight. The freedom to drink alcohol (they call it spirits) and to embrace women in the streets and to regulate prostitution does not mean that the homeland is free and independent.
True Freedom and Independence
The freedom of the homeland means liberating it from the shabiha (militiamen) and thugs, while the independence of the homeland means that citizens live in safety, participate in determining their destinies, and choose the way of life that suits them, according to their identity, beliefs, history, and future.
The shabiha and thugs with their tailored collars are no different from the real shabiha and thugs on the ground; they are all against freedom and human dignity, and they have the right to mourn the tyrant who fell and deprived them of the pleasure of committing crimes against the people, freedom, and hope!
