by MEMRI
Since the onset of the
uprising and fighting against Bashar Al-Assad's regime in March 2011,
the common belief has been that the 'Alawi sect, to which Assad belongs,
constitutes his major support base. In the three years since the start
of the revolution, some 'Alawi voices did object to Assad's conduct [1]
but the weight they carried on the Syrian street and within the 'Alawi
sect was unclear. However, recently there have been more reports, mostly
in media outlets hostile to the Syrian regime, of increasing
displeasure with the regime among the 'Alawi sect due to the heavy toll
'Alawis are paying for the association with Assad and also due to the
fact that the regime takes their support for granted. This displeasure
is also expressed on social media and articles written by 'Alawis.
According to various estimates, since the outbreak of the war tens of thousands of 'Alawis have died, which constitutes a significant portion of its population, estimated at two million. Most of the dead were youths fighting in Assad's defense.[2] In February 2014, the London-based Qatari daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi reported that families of youths who had been killed were furious, and quoted them as saying: "Assad sends our children to die... Would he send his own children to die? Assad has not lost any family members."[3]
One of the main reasons for 'Alawi anger with the regime is its handling of the issue of 'Alawis captured by opposition forces. According to 'Alawi sources, the regime does not do enough for them and even refuses to act to release them. This criticism increased following the regime's recent prisoner swap with opposition forces on March 10, 2014, in which the regime released 150 female prisoners in return for 13 nuns kidnapped in December 2013 by Jabhat Al-Nusra (JN) in the town of Ma'aloula.[4] This was not the first time that the regime agreed to release prisoners in return for people who were not 'Alawi or even Syrian. In January 2013 the regime released more than 2,000 prisoners in return for 48 Iranians kidnapped by the opposition near Damascus,[5] and in October 2013, it released several dozen female prisoners in return for 9 Lebanese citizens kidnapped in the town of 'Azaz.[6] In fact, there has never been a swap in which the regime released prisoners in return for opposition forces releasing 'Alawi hostages.
The following are several expressions of 'Alawi displeasure with the Assad regime:
Social Media Bloggers: Assad's Policy Is An Existential Threat To 'Alawis
Dima Saadallah Wannous
According to various estimates, since the outbreak of the war tens of thousands of 'Alawis have died, which constitutes a significant portion of its population, estimated at two million. Most of the dead were youths fighting in Assad's defense.[2] In February 2014, the London-based Qatari daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi reported that families of youths who had been killed were furious, and quoted them as saying: "Assad sends our children to die... Would he send his own children to die? Assad has not lost any family members."[3]
One of the main reasons for 'Alawi anger with the regime is its handling of the issue of 'Alawis captured by opposition forces. According to 'Alawi sources, the regime does not do enough for them and even refuses to act to release them. This criticism increased following the regime's recent prisoner swap with opposition forces on March 10, 2014, in which the regime released 150 female prisoners in return for 13 nuns kidnapped in December 2013 by Jabhat Al-Nusra (JN) in the town of Ma'aloula.[4] This was not the first time that the regime agreed to release prisoners in return for people who were not 'Alawi or even Syrian. In January 2013 the regime released more than 2,000 prisoners in return for 48 Iranians kidnapped by the opposition near Damascus,[5] and in October 2013, it released several dozen female prisoners in return for 9 Lebanese citizens kidnapped in the town of 'Azaz.[6] In fact, there has never been a swap in which the regime released prisoners in return for opposition forces releasing 'Alawi hostages.
The following are several expressions of 'Alawi displeasure with the Assad regime:
Social Media Bloggers: Assad's Policy Is An Existential Threat To 'Alawis
One post that was widely quoted on social media was
by Naser Alnukari, who identified himself as an 'Alawi and protested
the fact that the regime does nothing to release 'Alawis kidnapped by
opposition groups, even though they were kidnapped because of the
policies of the regime, which people associate with the 'Alawi sect.
Alnukari wrote: "To honorable President Dr. Bashar Hafez Al-Assad: Only
today I learned that we 'Alawis are worthless in your country! I was
overjoyed at the release of the nuns and thank the gunmen for not
demanding that one thousand 'Alawis be executed in return for their
[release]!! I have no doubt that you [Assad] thought of this. Where are
the 'Alawis of Adra?[7]
Where are more than 176 'Alawi women and girls [kidnapped] on the
coast?! Have we become meaningless in the eyes of your officials? Are we
[mere] property of people we do not know? Tell us the truth! Do you own
us 'Alawis? Mr. President, we are those who paid and still pay the
price for the lawlessness of your governors and the widespread theft by
the officials you appointed, who are not [even] 'Alawis! Did anyone
demanded [to return] the bodies of our dead [held] at the Canadian
[hospital in Aleppo] or elsewhere?... Excuse me, Mr. President, but your
policy has become a real existential threat to 'Alawis! Starting today I
am committed to doing anything [I can] to defend myself as an 'Alawi
against your lethal policies towards me and towards all 'Alawis! We are
human beings! We have feelings and we cry too! Believe me, we are like
everyone else, and I hope you do not forget that! During the [entire]
history of 'Alawis, from the third century after the Hijra [9th century
CE] and until today, they have not faced such extermination. And by
whom? By a country whose president is an 'Alawi!!"[8]
Another post that was cited by many media outlets
and on social media was by Ahmad War, which was posted on a Facecbook
page run by pro-regime 'Alawis. War wrote: "Dear admin, I would like to
say some things on your honorable page and I hope you do not delete
them, because my heart aches for us and you, since many people are dying
like locusts. [I want to express myself even though,] if I speak out, I
will probably be called a collaborator... First of all, I am an 'Alawi
from Safita [a city in the Tartous governorate with an 'Alawi majority]
and I oppose [the regime]. Ask me why I oppose it, and I will respond
that it is because we are [being used as] human shields for one family,
[the Assad family]. Where in the world has an entire sect died for one
family?... You will say [that Islamist elements] kidnapped and beheaded
us, and I will respond that the leaked reports about prisoner torture
[by the regime could] cause someone to rise from the dead and become an
extremist. Every now and then, some asshole [from the regime] leaks a
video showing killing and torture perpetrated by people who speak in the
coastal [i.e., 'Alawi] dialect, in order to increase hatred [towards
the 'Alawis], and then there are killings and beheadings [of 'Alawis]...
I don't understand how, for the past three years, we have agreed to
[let] our youths defend one family, while the head [of this family] and
his relatives sit in a palace... While they act in this criminal
fashion, our youths return in body bags from Syria and elsewhere...
Every action has a reaction, and the [aforementioned] videos are leaked
by the hidden leader [Assad] so that other sects hate us as we stand by
him. You can see ambulances bringing dozens of our youths who died for
the 'honorable' [Assad]...
"Imagine for a moment that Bashar had stepped down
at the start of the Intifada [against him] and how much better off we
would have been. I promise you that no one would have besieged us and
our country would not have been ruined. But unfortunately we are fools.
We thought the [Assad regime] was defending us, and instead we because
its slaves. It exploits our weakness to achieve its ambitions of
remaining [in power]... Look at how it released the Iranians while there
are hundreds of ['Alawi] prisoners [held by the rebels] in Daraa. He
released the Lebanese while there are hundreds of ['Alawi] prisoners in
Aleppo. He released the nuns while we there are hundreds of ['Alawi]
hostages in the rural areas north of Aleppo. [Assad] says he defends
minorities and us – but does he?!... We are like stupid mules telling
him 'we love you.' Why should I love you? For the explosive barrels that
you used to destroy the country, or for the residents who have had to
leave their homes, or for the siege we are suffering, or for our
prisoners, or for 60% of the ['Alawi] youth, who have died? And after
all this we still continue to volunteer. I tell you that if the
situation persists another year, there will not be a single youth
left..."[9]
'Alawi Writer: There Is A Pro-Assad Group That Can No Longer Live In The Shadow Of His Regime
Naser Alnukari and Ahmad War's posts were quoted by
Dima Saadallah Wannous, a Syrian 'Alawi writer, in her article "Why Do
We 'Alawis Not Love You?" In the article, Wannous claimed that the posts
express the position of a group of Assad supporters who can no longer
live in the shadow of his regime in light of its humiliating treatment
of the 'Alawis. She wrote: "The comments [evoked by] the release of the
kidnapped nuns and their exchange for 150 imprisoned women and little
girls, are more important than the deal itself. These comments, whether
they come from [regime] opponents or from regime supporters, emerged
after the video of the nuns' release aired...
Dima Saadallah Wannous
"What we saw was not a movie. This happened in
Syria. The Assad regime exchanged women [prisoners] it held for nuns
held by its enemies, just as occurred several months ago in swaps of
Iranian and Lebanese prisoners. Responding to these deals, one [regime]
supporter expressed his feelings of discrimination and isolation. The
regime, which 'defends minorities,' cannot defend its own sect...
"At the end of an atypical day, much like the other
atypical days, as darkness falls and a resident of the coast [i.e., an
'Alawi] sits alone, he might grow angry when the anchorwoman on official
Syrian TV calls the deal 'historic'!... The numbers lose their
importance and the number 13 [the number of nuns] is equal to the number
150 [the number of prisoners released by the regime]... [And it seems]
that the Assad regime quite likes humiliating the Syrians by exchanging
them for Iranians or for Lebanese. The fancy reporter, who goes to greet
the nuns on the Syria-Lebanon border and describes the deal as
historic, also quite likes humiliating Syrians. And this is not [about]
just any Syrians, but rather regime supporters who sacrificed their sons
for the survival of [regime] members...
"The nun... thanked 'the armed terrorist gangs,'
'Mr. President Bashar Al-Assad,' and 'the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin
Hamad' in a single sentence. She thanked them all and equated their
efforts! She did not say that she was rescued from the takfiri terrorist
rapists, but rather thanked the 'terrorist groups' for their
hospitality. She denied the reporter's claim that they were forced to
remove [their] crucifixes. She simply said there were not forced to do
anything, that they lived in a place that had everything they needed,
and that their kidnappers treated them kindly and politely... The
comments by [regime] supporters were split – there was the oppressed
side and the shabih[10]
side, the side that blames the 'defender of minorities' regime – which
did not exchange the prisoners it held for 'Alawi prisoners, or at least
for prisoners from the sect that supports [him] politically – and the [shabih]
side, which was so shocked [by the nuns' praise for the kidnappers]
that it resorted to cheap thuggish behavior, [such as] calling the nuns
improper names...
"There is a group among the supporters [of the
regime], whose size is unknown, that can no longer live in the shadow of
the regime to which it is connected by sect while [this regime] sells
it out... just as it sells out the rest of the Syrian people and all its
sects. [True, the regime] does not throw explosive barrels at them or
bomb them with chemical weapons or arrest them, but it uses them as a
cheap human shield without negotiating [their release] or protecting
them."[11]
Endnotes:
[1]
See for example the Facebook pages "The Coordinating Committees Of The
Syrian Revolution Against Bashar Al-Assad In The 'Alawi Mountains"
(he-il.facebook.com/Alawites.Against.Syrian.Regime); "The 'Alawi Youth
Coalition Against The Al-Assad Family"
(he-il.facebook.com/3alawi.Youth), and "Free 'Alawis For The Ouster Of
Bashar"
(he-il.facebook.com/pages/%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%88%D9%8A%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%A3%D8%AD%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D9%84%D8%A5%D8%B3%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%B7-%D8%A8%D8%B4%D8%A7%D8%B1/170124559728150).
[2] All4syria.info, November 19, 2013.
[3] Al-Quds Al-Arabi (London), February 21, 2014.
[4] Syriahr.com, March 10, 2014.
[5] Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), January 10, 2013.
[6] Middle-east-online.com, October 19, 2013.
[7] A city to the northeast of Damascus where Islamist rebels kidnapped and murdered dozens of 'Alawis in December 2013.
[8] Facebook.com/akkad.aljabal, March 10, 2014.
[9] Orient-news.net, March 11, 2014.
[10]
Nickname for members of Syrian regime plain-clothes paramilitary forces
who assist the security mechanisms in fighting regime opponents.
[11] Al-Mudun (Lebanon), March 11, 2014.
MEMRI
Source: http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/7920.htm
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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