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Post by pieter on Feb 28, 2012 11:07:00 GMT -7
The massacre on the civilian population by the Syrian Baath regime continues, while government militairy forces, militia, police and gangs attack civilians indiscriminately in some rebellious Syrian towns and cities. The country is in a state of civil war and sectarian violence is part of that. I fear that extremist Sunni Muslim forces and extremist Shia Muslim forces will take an important role in this, and that there will be a situation like in Lebanon in the late seventees and eightees and Iraq after 2003. Iranian revolutionairy guards and Hezbollah fighters from Lebanon supporting the Syrian Baath regime and since recently Al Qiada and Hamas openly supporting the "Sunni" rebels.
The rebels are being supported by the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, The Arab Leage, the Egyptian authorities (Egypt is a Sunni Muslim country), Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and other Arab and Muslim states. Whil there be in the short term a war between Muslims in the Middle east? Shia Iran, the Shiites of Iraq and Lebanon (Hezbollah) and the Syrian Alawite Baathists (supported by Christians and probably Druze) against the Sunni majority of Syria? A new problem after Hamas turned itself against the Syrian Baath regime will be that the Palestinians of Syria will be a target for the Syrian authorities and their Hezbollah henchmen. Being a minority in a country which is in a civil war situation is not a good thing.
Nobody dares to support or help the Syrian opposition due to the support of Assad by Iran, Russia and China.
Hamas in januari
How are the Palestinians in the Syrian refugee camps doing?
This French journalist is safe in Lebanon now.
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Post by pieter on Feb 28, 2012 11:13:06 GMT -7
Khaled Mashal, (May 28 1956) has been the main leader of Hamas since the assassination of Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi in 2004. Mashal headed the Syrian branch of the political bureau of Hamas in Damascus.Hamas ditches Assad, backs Syrian revoltCAIRO/GAZA, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Leaders of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas turned publicly against their long-time ally President Bashar al-Assad of Syria on Friday, endorsing the revolt aimed at overthrowing his dynastic rule. The policy shift deprives Assad of one of his few remaining Sunni Muslim supporters in the Arab world and deepens his international isolation. It was announced in Hamas speeches at Friday prayers in Cairo and a rally in the Gaza Strip. Hamas went public after nearly a year of equivocating as Assad's army, largely led by fellow members of the president's Alawite sect, has crushed mainly Sunni protesters and rebels. In a Middle East split along sectarian lines between Shi'ite Islam and Sunni Islam, the public abandonment of Assad casts immediate questions over Hamas's future ties with its principal backer Iran, which has stuck by its ally Assad, as well as with Iran's fellow Shi'ite allies in Lebanon's Hezbollah movement. " I salute all the nations of the Arab Spring and I salute the heroic people of Syria who are striving for freedom, democracy and reform," Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, visiting Egypt from the Gaza Strip, told thousands of Friday worshippers at Cairo's al-Azhar mosque. " We are marching towards Syria, with millions of martyrs," chanted worshippers at al-Azhar, home to one of the Sunni world's highest seats of learning. " No Hezbollah and no Iran". " The Syrian revolution is an Arab revolution." Contemporary political rivalries have exacerbated tensions that date back centuries between Sunnis - the vast majority of Arabs - and Shi'ites, who form substantial Arab populations, notably in Lebanon and Iraq, and who dominate in non-Arab Iran. Hamas and Hezbollah, confronting Israel on its southwestern and northern borders, have long had a strategic alliance against the Jewish state, despite opposing positions on the sectarian divide. Both have fought wars with Israel in the past six years. But as the Sunni-Shi'ite split in the Middle East deepens, Hamas appears to have cast its lot with the powerful, Egypt-based Sunni Islamists of the Muslim Brotherhood, whose star has been in the ascendant since the Arab Spring revolts last year. HAMAS MAKES ITS CHOICEHamas rally in Gaza" This is considered a big step in the direction of cutting ties with Syria," said Hany al-Masri, a Palestinian political commentator. Damascus might now opt to formally expel Hamas's exile headquarters from Syria, he told Reuters. Banned by deposed Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, the Muslim Brotherhood has moved to the centre of public life. It is the ideological parent of Hamas, which was founded 25 years ago among the Palestinians, the majority of whom are Sunni Muslims. Shi'ite Hezbollah still supports the Assad family, from the minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam, which has maintained authoritarian rule over Syria's Sunni majority for four decades but now may have its back to the wall. Hamas, however, has been deeply embarrassed among Palestinians by its association with Assad, as the death toll in his crackdown on opponents has risen into the thousands. In Gaza, senior Hamas member Salah al-Bardaweel addressed thousands of supporters at a rally in Khan Younis refugee camp, sending " a message to the peoples who have not been liberated yet, those free peoples who are still bleeding every day." " The hearts of the Palestinian people bleed with every drop of bloodshed in Syria," Bardaweel said. " No political considerations will make us turn a blind eye to what is happening on the soil of Syria." ANTI-ISRAEL AXIS WEAKENEDThe divorce between Hamas and Damascus had been coming for months. The Palestinian group had angered Assad last year when it refused a request to hold public rallies in Palestinian refugee camps in Syria in support of his government. Hamas's exile political leader Khaled Meshaal and his associates quietly quit their headquarters in Damascus and have stayed away from Syria for months now, although Hamas tried to deny their absence had anything to do with the revolt. Haniyeh visited Iran earlier this month on a mission to shore up ties with the power that has provided Hamas with money and weapons to fight Israel. It is not clear what the outcome of his visit has been, though the tone of the latest Hamas comments is hardly compatible with continued warm relations with Tehran. Rallies in favor of Syria's Sunni majority have been rare in the coastal enclave but on Friday it seemed the Islamist rulers of the territory had decided to break the silence. " Nations do not get defeated. They do not retreat and they do not get broken. We are on your side and on the side of all free peoples," said Bardaweel. " God is Greatest," the crowd chanted. " Victory to the people of Syria." Hamas-Hezbollah relations have been good in the past. But Hamas did not attack Israel when it was fighting Hezbollah in 2006 and Hezbollah did not join in when Israel mounted a major offensive against Hamas in Gaza in the winter of 2008-2009. Anything that divides Hamas and Hezbollah is likely to be welcomed by Israel, which has been watching warily recent moves by Hamas to reconcile differences with its Palestinian rivals in Fatah, the movement of President Mahmoud Abbas. There was no immediate Israeli comment on Friday's speeches. (Additional reporting by Tom Perry in Cairo; Writing by Douglas Hamilton; Editing by Alastair Macdonald)
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Post by Jaga on Feb 28, 2012 11:43:30 GMT -7
Pieter:
+++The divorce between Hamas and Damascus had been coming for months. The Palestinian group had angered Assad last year when it refused a request to hold public rallies in Palestinian refugee camps in Syria in support of his government.+++
+++Hamas-Hezbollah relations have been good in the past. But Hamas did not attack Israel when it was fighting Hezbollah in 2006 and Hezbollah did not join in when Israel mounted a major offensive against Hamas in Gaza in the winter of 2008-2009.+++
this is an interesting development. Here in America the world is seen in very simplified terms. Nobody even paid attention to the complex situation in Syria.
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Post by pieter on Feb 28, 2012 14:53:31 GMT -7
Pieter: +++The divorce between Hamas and Damascus had been coming for months. The Palestinian group had angered Assad last year when it refused a request to hold public rallies in Palestinian refugee camps in Syria in support of his government.+++ +++Hamas-Hezbollah relations have been good in the past. But Hamas did not attack Israel when it was fighting Hezbollah in 2006 and Hezbollah did not join in when Israel mounted a major offensive against Hamas in Gaza in the winter of 2008-2009.+++ this is an interesting development. Here in America the world is seen in very simplified terms. Nobody even paid attention to the complex situation in Syria. Jaga, It is an interesting developent indeed. I hope that the best solution for Syria will be found. In the Middle east I am always concerned about minorities, especially Christians. But also Kurds and Druze people. Maybe our press spends more time finding a ballanced view of the world with different perspectives (the quality press in particular), but like in America the world is seen in very simplified terms by the average citizen, who do not follow international or foreign news on the television or in the newspaper. They look with half and eye and are temporary focussed on something else, and then when a national, regional, local or sport news item comes along (in the Dutch perspective Soccer, Ice skating or bicycle racing) their attention is back. I can't say the Syrian question is a subject of discussion even on my local radio & TV station. Like in the USA not many people pay attention to the complex situation in Syria. Unlike Palestine (development in Gaza, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Westbank and etc.) or Libya a short while ago Syria is a less attractive subject. It's to far away, and not many people feel connected to the Middle east. Even Israel (when the news is not connected to the Palestinians) gets little attention over here lately. During this crisis time everybody is preoccupied with their own situation, cut backs, rising costs and prices and how to survive. And thus people are just busy with their daily lives. Cheers, Pieter
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Post by Nictoshek on Mar 3, 2012 1:08:57 GMT -7
Russia turns its back on Iran and Syria, giving the green light for a military invasion while freezing Iran embassy accounts.Russia has backed away from is hardline stance of standing behind Iran and Syria against a western military invasion, following weeks of warnings to respect the sovereignty of those nations. Iran’s state TV is reporting that Russian has frozen Iranian bank accounts at the same time Russian officials change their stance on Syria, back the UN and saying they will not intervene against a military invasion. Press TV quotes Russia foreign ministry spokesman saying the freezing of the accounts may be due to Russia bowing to EU sanctions against Iran, but more than likely western forces have negotiated a deal with Russia behind the scenes to get their approval to sack Syria and Russia. Not only has Russia taken an about face from their hardline stance of telling the US and its allies to keep their hand off Iran, they are now openly giving the go ahead for a military invasion of Syria calling the government the ‘Assad Titanic’ while referring to him as a dead man who will soon be in a coffin. With Russia now abandoning Iran and Syria, the US can work on the prerequisites of invading Iran – taking out Syria. Here’s a round up of the news. Bloomberg reports Russia has announced backing the UN stance on Syria while quoting Russia’s leaders as referring to the Assad leadership as the “Titanic” and calling Assad a dead man. bit.ly/zVQNzQ
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Post by pieter on Mar 4, 2012 5:21:34 GMT -7
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Post by pieter on Mar 4, 2012 5:24:19 GMT -7
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Post by pieter on Mar 4, 2012 15:52:59 GMT -7
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Post by pieter on Mar 5, 2012 15:10:49 GMT -7
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Post by karl on Mar 5, 2012 17:52:09 GMT -7
realizing of course, the actions in Syria is very deplorable against the people opposing their government. But then, these actions are a cause and effect relationship.
For if a group of people wish to over throw their government, then they must pay the price of their actions. Perhaps as a person, I am singing in the wrong choir, with the wrong book, but, I do not believe so.
For what ever our opinions are of a particular government, it is still a sovereign nation for what ever form. With this, that government does and will protect self in what ever form available.
My personal opinion of the actions of this militant group{s}, is they needs be to stay in Turkey if they are not willing to live under the rules as placed to them by their own government.
What our world needs not, is another war...
Karl
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Post by kaima on Mar 5, 2012 20:16:03 GMT -7
Has he reversed himself and now believes that the bombing action in Libya was good and effective? It seems so. Great hind sight. Great opposition politics, advocate whatever the other party is not doing, don't apply reason or sense.
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Post by pieter on Mar 6, 2012 13:13:29 GMT -7
realizing of course, the actions in Syria is very deplorable against the people opposing their government. But then, these actions are a cause and effect relationship. For if a group of people wish to over throw their government, then they must pay the price of their actions. Perhaps as a person, I am singing in the wrong choir, with the wrong book, but, I do not believe so. For what ever our opinions are of a particular government, it is still a sovereign nation for what ever form. With this, that government does and will protect self in what ever form available. My personal opinion of the actions of this militant group{s}, is they needs be to stay in Turkey if they are not willing to live under the rules as placed to them by their own government. What our world needs not, is another war... Karl Karl, No rule is eternal, no regime infallible, no leadership endless. I wonder why the Syrians rise up to Assads Baath regime? Sure like many Arab states the regime is authoritorian, Arab nationalist, Arab socialist and typical Syrian. In contrast with the civilian branch of the opposing Iraqi Baath regime, which was dominated by the Iraqi Sunni minority, the Syrian Baath regime was of the militairy branch of Baath, and the officers and generals are of the Alawite branch of Islam of the Assad family. Syria has a heritage of interfearing in Lebanese internal affairs, wars with Israel and supporting secular far left Palestinian terrorism (The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine [PFLP], the the Abu Nidal Organization/Black September; Sunni and Shia Islamists ( Hamas, Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine and Hezbollah) It is hard to determine the present news soources, because both the propaganda of the Syrian Baath regime as the propaganda of the opposition paint a black image of the other. I fear that this conflict might light the spark of a Middle-eastern war, because the Syrian opposition is supported by Saoudi Arabia, the other Gulf states and Egypt, while Syria is supported by Iran and Hezbollah (and maybe Iraqi Shiites too) Cheers, Pieter
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Post by karl on Mar 6, 2012 15:31:54 GMT -7
realizing of course, the actions in Syria is very deplorable against the people opposing their government. But then, these actions are a cause and effect relationship. For if a group of people wish to over throw their government, then they must pay the price of their actions. Perhaps as a person, I am singing in the wrong choir, with the wrong book, but, I do not believe so. For what ever our opinions are of a particular government, it is still a sovereign nation for what ever form. With this, that government does and will protect self in what ever form available. My personal opinion of the actions of this militant group{s}, is they needs be to stay in Turkey if they are not willing to live under the rules as placed to them by their own government. What our world needs not, is another war... Karl Karl, No rule is eternal, no regime infallible, no leadership endless. I wonder why the Syrians rise up to Assad's Baath regime? Sure like many Arab states the regime is authoritorian, Arab nationalist, Arab socialist and typical Syrian. In contrast with the civilian branch of the opposing Iraqi Baath regime, which was dominated by the Iraqi Sunni minority, the Syrian Baath regime was of the militairy branch of Baath, and the officers and generals are of the Alawite branch of Islam of the Assad family. Syria has a heritage of interfearing in Lebanese internal affairs, wars with Israel and supporting secular far left Palestinian terrorism (The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine [PFLP], the the Abu Nidal Organization/Black September; Sunni and Shia Islamists ( Hamas, Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine and Hezbollah) It is hard to determine the present news soources, because both the propaganda of the Syrian Baath regime as the propaganda of the opposition paint a black image of the other. I fear that this conflict might light the spark of a Middle-eastern war, because the Syrian opposition is supported by Saoudi Arabia, the other Gulf states and Egypt, while Syria is supported by Iran and Hezbollah (and maybe Iraqi Shiites too) Cheers, Pieter Pieter Yes, your question is a mirror of many includant of my self, For why at this time, Syrians are so opposed to the {Assad Baath regime}? Well, there is no such thing as coincidence. For such actions are contrived with a mind behind the action. What is questionable with the Assad military using military force against civilians is this...For why to risk such actions with cause and effect. For it is to his people that he {Assad} is responsible to. And in this manner, to maintain and hold/keep their support. For with their various departments, they have the capacity of electronic capture of each crowd with the means of identification of the individual leaders. To then remove those identified as separate individuals. For one will eventually identify the next and then the next and so on. A crowd with out a leader, is no less then a mob with out direction. With this, is the question of: Who is funding the weapons and ammunition? This is a question begging of answer. For once the pipeline is identified, then of various methods of resolution may then be effected. The above is not of great time used, but only of a few hours at most. For with satellite resolution, each mob is in turn, brought into focus as individuals, and each individual will either look up or turn in such manner as for identification to be conducted. With currant electronic communication files available on an international basis, we have a very small world. If perhaps of non- of-above, then what? For one, The Assad government is in control of a considerable amount of chemical weapons of various conditional sort. With this, is the opportunity if the currant Syrian Government should fail into a civil war. Well, we have a problem, in as well as most of the Arab neigbours of Syria. For once the power seeking Al-Qued, Hamas and who ever gains control of those stocks. Then the game begins to turn, for it will be a turkey shoot. For as an example: Israel is fully well armed with nuclear weapons, if threatened in any manner, the desert could very well be lighted for some years, another Chernobyl would be the result. It is not a child's game these people are playing with, they are playing with fire, and that fire may be the end game in that regime. Karl
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Post by pieter on Mar 7, 2012 11:10:23 GMT -7
Karl, No rule is eternal, no regime infallible, no leadership endless. I wonder why the Syrians rise up to Assad's Baath regime? Sure like many Arab states the regime is authoritorian, Arab nationalist, Arab socialist and typical Syrian. In contrast with the civilian branch of the opposing Iraqi Baath regime, which was dominated by the Iraqi Sunni minority, the Syrian Baath regime was of the militairy branch of Baath, and the officers and generals are of the Alawite branch of Islam of the Assad family. Syria has a heritage of interfearing in Lebanese internal affairs, wars with Israel and supporting secular far left Palestinian terrorism (The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine [PFLP], the the Abu Nidal Organization/Black September; Sunni and Shia Islamists ( Hamas, Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine and Hezbollah) It is hard to determine the present news soources, because both the propaganda of the Syrian Baath regime as the propaganda of the opposition paint a black image of the other. I fear that this conflict might light the spark of a Middle-eastern war, because the Syrian opposition is supported by Saoudi Arabia, the other Gulf states and Egypt, while Syria is supported by Iran and Hezbollah (and maybe Iraqi Shiites too) Cheers, Pieter Pieter Yes, your question is a mirror of many includant of my self, For why at this time, Syrians are so opposed to the {Assad Baath regime}? Well, there is no such thing as coincidence. For such actions are contrived with a mind behind the action. What is questionable with the Assad military using military force against civilians is this...For why to risk such actions with cause and effect. For it is to his people that he {Assad} is responsible to. And in this manner, to maintain and hold/keep their support. For with their various departments, they have the capacity of electronic capture of each crowd with the means of identification of the individual leaders. To then remove those identified as separate individuals. For one will eventually identify the next and then the next and so on. A crowd with out a leader, is no less then a mob with out direction. With this, is the question of: Who is funding the weapons and ammunition? This is a question begging of answer. For once the pipeline is identified, then of various methods of resolution may then be effected. The above is not of great time used, but only of a few hours at most. For with satellite resolution, each mob is in turn, brought into focus as individuals, and each individual will either look up or turn in such manner as for identification to be conducted. With currant electronic communication files available on an international basis, we have a very small world. If perhaps of non- of-above, then what? For one, The Assad government is in control of a considerable amount of chemical weapons of various conditional sort. With this, is the opportunity if the currant Syrian Government should fail into a civil war. Well, we have a problem, in as well as most of the Arab neigbours of Syria. For once the power seeking Al-Qued, Hamas and who ever gains control of those stocks. Then the game begins to turn, for it will be a turkey shoot. For as an example: Israel is fully well armed with nuclear weapons, if threatened in any manner, the desert could very well be lighted for some years, another Chernobyl would be the result. It is not a child's game these people are playing with, they are playing with fire, and that fire may be the end game in that regime. Karl Karl, Your reaction and thus thinking is from a rational, Western, and certainly " West-German" point of view, if I may say so. you are right ofcourse, and you know the Syrians by experiance (I believe that you have worked in Syria, if I am not mistaken). The Middle-eastern reality is different than the European and American reality. These people have a different kind of mindset, different mentality, history, religious background, political affiliations, society, economical system, ties (they are connected to the Russian Federation - the old Sovjet ties -, China and Iran) and a complicated ethnic (different peoples; Arabs, Kurds, Armenians, Assyrians and Druze people) and religious (Sunni muslim majority, and minorities like the Alawites (also known as the Alawi Shias a prominent mystical religious group who are a branch of Shia Islam centred in Syria) background. The population of Syria is 74% Sunni, 12% Alawi, 10% Christian, and 3% Druze. Combined, some 90% of the Syrian population is Muslim, while the other 10% is Christian, which includes mainly Arab Christians but also Assyrians and Armenians. Major ethnic minorities in Syria include Kurds (9%), Assyrians, Armenians, Turkmens and Circassians. The majority of the population is Arab ( 90%). If I may be an advocate of the devil, so speaking in the interest or from the perspective of Bashar al-Assad and his supporters Syria bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest has dangerous borders. The danger of infiltration by land, sea and air is immense. The Syrian Baath regime fears Arab infiltration from Jordan, Iraq, Turkey and from the Sea. Al Qaida, Hamas, the Egyptian Muslim Bortherhood (who wants to support Syrian brothers), Sunni muslims from Lebanon, Saoudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Yemen, Algeria, Chechenia and other countries. Arab secret services, guerilla's, militia of the Syrian opposition ( the Free Syrian Army), the Mossad, CIA, MI5/ MI6, Bundesnachrichtendienst and the French DGSE. ( Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure) HistoryThe Alawites were traditionally good fighters, and revolted against the Ottomans on several occasions, and maintained virtual autonomy in their mountains. Under the Ottoman Empire (1299 - 29 October 1923) they were ill treated, and they resisted an attempt to convert them to Sunni Islam. After the fall of the Ottoman Empire, Syria and Lebanon came under a French mandate. The French, when they occupied Syria in 1920, recognized the term " Alawi", gave autonomy to them and other minority groups, and accepted them into their colonial troops. The French considered the Alawites, along with the Druze, as the only " warlike races" in the mandate territories, as excellent soldiers, and the communities from where they could recruit their best troops. Under the mandate, many Alawi chieftains supported the notion of a separate Alawi nation and tried to convert their autonomy into independence. A territory of " Alaouites" was created in 1925. In May 1930, the Government of Latakia was created; it lasted until February 28, 1937, when it was incorporated into Syria. In the early part of the 20th century, the Sunnis sat on the wealth and dominated politics, while Alawites lived as poor peasants. In 1939 a portion of northwest Syria, the Sanjak of Alexandretta, now Hatay, that contained a large number of Alawis, was given to Turkey by the French following a plebiscite carried out in the province under the guidance of League of Nations which favored joining Turkey. However, this development greatly angered the Alawi community and Syrians in general. In 1938, the Turkish military had gone into Alexandretta and expelled most of its Arab and Armenian inhabitants. Before this, Alawi Arabs and Armenians were the majority of the province's population. Zaki al-Arsuzi, the young Alawi leader from Iskandarun province in the Sanjak of Alexandretta, who led the resistance to the annexation of his province to the Turks, later became a founder of the Ba'ath Party along with the Eastern Orthodox Christian schoolteacher Michel Aflaq. After World War II, Salman Al Murshid played a major role in uniting the Alawi province with Syria. He was executed by the newly independent Syrian government in Damascus on December 12, 1946 only three days after a hasty political trial. Zakī al-Arsūzī (in Arabic: زكي الأرسوزي; Latakia, June 1899 – Damascus, 2 July 1968) was a Syrian, Alawi, philosopher, philolog, sociologist, historian, and Arab nationalist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of Ba'athism and its political movement. He published several books during his lifetime, the most notable being The Genius of Arabic in its Tongue (1943).Following Syrian independenceSyria became independent on April 17, 1946. Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Syria endured a succession of military coups in 1949, the rise of the Ba'ath Party, and unification of the country with Egypt in the United Arab Republic in 1958. The UAR lasted for three years and broke apart in 1961, when a group of army officers seized power and declared Syria independent again. A further succession of coups ensued until a secretive military committee, which included a number of disgruntled Alawi officers, including Hafez al-Assad and Salah Jadid, helped the Ba'ath Party take power in 1963. In 1966, Alawi-oriented military officers successfully rebelled and expelled the old Ba'ath that had looked to the Christian Michel Aflaq and the Sunni Muslim Salah al-Din al-Bitar for leadership. They promoted Zaki al-Arsuzi as the " Socrates" of their reconstituted Ba'ath Party. President Hafez al-Assad at the Golan front in October 1973Salah Jadid (1926 – 1993) was a Syrian general and political figure in the Arab Socialist Baath Party in Syria, and the country's de facto leader from 1966 until 1970.In 1970, then-Air Force General Hafez al-Assad, an Alawite, took power and instigated a " Correctionist Movement" in the Ba'ath Party. Robert D. Kaplan has compared his coming to power to " an untouchable becoming maharajah in India or a Jew becoming tsar in Russia—an unprecedented development shocking to the majority population which had monopolized power for so many centuries." In 1971 al-Assad became president of Syria, a function that the Constitution allows only a Sunni Muslim to hold. In 1973 a new constitution was published that omitted the old requirement that the religion of the state is Islam and replaced it with the statement that the religion of the republic's president is Islam. Protests erupted when the statement was altered, and to satisfy this requirement in 1974, Musa Sadr, a leader of the Twelvers of Lebanon and founder of the Amal Movement who had earlier sought to unite Lebanese Alawis and Shias under the Supreme Islamic Shiite Council without success, issued a fatwa stating that Alawis were a community of Twelver Shia Muslims. Under the authoritarian but secular Assad government, religious minorities were tolerated, political dissent was not. After the death of Hafez al-Assad in 2000, his son Bashar al-Assad maintained the outlines of his father's governance. Although the Alawis comprise the entirety of the top military and intelligence offices, government employees from lower bureaucratic ranks are largely from the majority Sunni Muslim faith, who represent about 74% of Syria's population. Today the Alawis exist as a minority, but are the most politically powerful sect in Syria and the only one with direct government control. Current president and Ba'ath leader Bashar al-AssadSource: wikipedia
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Post by pieter on Mar 7, 2012 11:21:48 GMT -7
As Syria burns, neighboring Lebanon feels the heatSunday, 12 February 2012Recent violence in Tripoli between Sunnis and Alawites shows how the bloodshed in Syria is enflaming emotions in Lebanon. (File photo)By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BEIRUTThe tensions between the two neighborhoods were building for days in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli. On one side live Sunni Muslims who hate the Syrian regime. On the hill above are members of the Alawite sect, Bashar Assad’s strongest backers. Overnight, the tempers exploded. For hours, gunmen in the two districts traded automatic weapons fire and volleys of rocket-propelled grenades across the avenue that divides them, ironically named Syria Street. By the time a shaky truce was reached Saturday, two people were dead - one from each side ─ and 12 people wounded, half of them soldiers trying to stop the clashes. The fighting underscored how the bloodshed in Syria, where Assad’s regime is cracking down on an 11-month-old uprising against his rule, is enflaming emotions in its tiny neighbor Lebanon. The already deep divisions between Lebanese are being strained, and many fear Syria’s chaos will bleed over across the border. Lebanon is sharply split along sectarian lines, with 18 religious sects. But it also has a fragile political faultline precisely over the issue of Syria. There is an array of diehard pro-Syrian Lebanese parties and politicians, as well as support for the regime on the street level. There is an equally deep hatred of Assad among other Lebanese who fear Damascus is still calling the shots here. The two sides are the legacy of, and backlash against, Syria’s virtual rule over Lebanon from 1976 to 2005 and its continued influence since. Tempers between the two sides are high enough. But Syria opponents worry the regime may intentionally cause trouble. “ The Syrian regime holds a lot of cards in Lebanon, and the biggest fear is that as the Assad regime gets more desperate, it would decide to use them to create regional chaos,” anti-Syrian politician Mustafa Alloush said. Among those cards is Hezbollah, the Syrian and Iranian-backed Shiite militant group with an arsenal of weapons more powerful than that of the Lebanese army. Already, any talk about Syria is potential cause for a fight. On a political talk show on Al-Jazeera TV earlier this month, Lebanese writer and Syria supporter Joseph Abu Fadel flew into a rage over taunts from the other guest, a Syrian opposition member. Abu Fadel leaped from his chair and charged around the table, fists clenched - and though the host got between them, he managed to land a slap on his rival’s face. An earlier show on Lebanese television turned into a brawl when Alloush called Syria’s president a liar. His rival guest, Fayez Shukur, the head of the Lebanese branch of Syria’s ruling party, hurled a glass of water in his face. Northern Lebanon, in particular, is a potential powder keg. It has a strong Sunni Muslim population, sympathetic to its sectarian brethren who have been the backbone of the Syrian uprising. But it also has pockets of Alawites, the Shiite offshoot that makes up the majority of the Syrian regime’s leadership and to which Assad himself belongs. The Friday-Saturday night clashes were between the mainly Sunni Bab Tabbaneh neighborhood and the adjacent, Alawite-majority Jabal Mohsen, on a hill overlooking its rival. Short bouts of gunfire or grenade-throwing between them has been going on for years because of the sectarian tensions. But the violence has become more frequent as Syria worsens. Sunnis in Bab Tabbaneh resent their Alawite neighbors’ backing of Assad, while Jabal Mohsen residents accuse their rivals of giving aid to the uprising. In Beirut last week, hundreds of Lebanese demonstrators faced off outside the Russian Embassy after Russia and China vetoed a Western- and Arab-backed resolution at the U.N. Security Council aimed at pressing Assad to step down. An army cordon separated the anti-Assad crowd from the president’s supporters to prevent clashes. “ Bashar, we are your men!” supporters shouted unanimously. “ Come on, Bashar, leave!” opponents chanted back. Many of Lebanon’s Christians, meanwhile, have been laying low on the subject of Syria. Their community is divided between pro- and anti-Syrian camps. Even some Christian opponents of Damascus are hesitant about backing an uprising they fear will bring Sunni fundamentalists to power in Syria. Patriarch Bechara al-Rai, head of the Maronite Church, which had long been critical of Damascus, raised an uproar in September when he warned that the Christian presence in the Mideast could be threatened if Assad falls. He said Assad should be given a chance to reform. The tensions come at a time when anti-Syrian parties in Lebanon, which once ran the government, are weakened. They were replaced in 2010 by a government dominated by Hezbollah and pro-Syrian allies. Prime Minister Najib Mikati, a personal friend of Assad, says he isn’t taking sides in the crisis, adopting a policy of “ disassociation.” Still, opponents accuse the government of complicity with Damascus. Lebanon voted against suspending Syria from the Arab League in November and was the only member state that did not endorse a League plan calling on Assad to transfer powers to his vice president. “ The Lebanese government is cooperating with the Syrian regime, they are only using this policy of disassociation as a cover,” Alloush said. A longtime Syrian military presence in Lebanon ended after massive 2005 protests sparked by the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in a car bombing. Many Lebanese accuse Syria of involvement in the assassination, a charge Damascus denies. A Western-backed, anti-Syrian government was elected, but its stint in power was plagued by constant feuds with Hezbollah, until the Shiite movement succeeded in bringing it down and elevating pro-Syrians to power. Writing in the leading An-Nahar daily, political analyst Abdelwahab Badrakhan warned that Syria could stir up trouble in Lebanon to intimidate the West and “ settle scores” with Arabs it accuses of conspiring against it. Anti-Syrian politicians say they fear possible assassinations, recalling a string of unsolved killings of Lebanese critics of Syria in 2006. Last week, media reported that legislator Sami Gemayel had been warned by a security chief to take precautions because of a threat. Alloush, the anti-Syrian politician, said he takes the warnings seriously. “ The Syrian regime is in trouble and as it goes down, the concern is that it will try to bring everyone down with it.”
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