The so-called Arab spring for youth in Syria
From 1970 till 1976 I stayed most of the time in Damascus. At the beginning, theBa’th party was in many ways progressive, even revolutionary by general Arab standards. Extensive socio-economic and educational reforms were attempted besides confronting Israeli occupation. In the course of time, however, the party leadership became bureaucratic and rigid and lost touch with its grass roots. Ordinary members lost inner motivation, were drilled to learn by heart the party line and ended up mostly carrying out orders from above without real participation in decision making.
With Hafiz al Assad’s coup d’état a dangerous sectarian element was injected into the power structure. I saw for myself countless times in Damascus how members of the Republican Guard, mostly from the Alawite sect, kept mistreating ordinary people violently and indiscriminately on mere suspicion. I became disgusted with the situation and raised the question with Munir Abdallah, a close friend of mine, a lawyer, an Alawite himself, who sympathised with the struggle of the Oromo people. He and the late Osman Saleh Sabeh had introduced me to Yassir Arafat in Damascus to win him as a champion of the Oromo cause.
Munir Abdallah reacted to my innocent question with resentment and defended the Alawite takeover, saying they only got back what they deserved. A few months later the Syrian authorities withdrew my passport and instructed me through the office of the Eritrean Liberation front to leave the country without any explanation whatsoever.
In general Syrians are a highly cultured people. Their country is the cradle of Arab nationalism and patriotism. This may be part of the reason why they have tolerated for so long an extremely authoritarian and sectarian brutal regime. Finally Bashar al Assad’s succession to his father’s throne made a mockery of a progressive republic. Running the country became a family business. The great Um Kulthum had said there is a limit to patience. No doubt that the great majority of the Syrian people are now determined for a radical, genuinely democratic change. Knowing their intelligence, patience and determination I think they will succeed. I wish them the best.