Stand by Syria!
A debate on the situation in Syria at a recent New Worker public meeting in London was addressed by Professor Kamal Majid, a communist, well-known commentator in the Arab media, and vice-president of the Stop the War Coalition, and New Communist Party general secretary Andy Brooks, also something of an expert on the Arab world. It was an opportunity to analyse in detail the complex situation in Syria, and the recent upheavals across the Arab world, from a Marxism-Leninist perspective. Professor Majid began by declaring that “the Muslim Brotherhood and Al Qaeda are now spreading terror and sectarian division across Syria, as part of the imperialist plan to replace the Syrian government with a puppet state, à la Libya, which will do the bidding of the Americans and Zionists”. He explained that after the final collapse of the Ottoman Empire in 1919, “most of the Arab countries were ruled by ruthless dictators with close links with Istanbul, which remained attached to imperialism. “But the exception to this rule was Hafez al-Assad, who was not with the imperialists and had a long history of resisting imperialism” (our emphasis). He pointed out that although the philosophy of the ruling Arab Socialist Renaissance Party (generally known as the Ba’ath Party) is secular, “Syria’s Western enemies highlight the fact that the Assad family belongs to the Alawite Shia sect, in order to set them against the Syrian people”. (The BBC variously describes the Alawite Shias as a “sect” or “clan” – NW). Majid said this deception reflected “the current United States strategy of setting Sunni and Shia muslims against one another, first in Iraq after the failure of its occupation plan, and later across the Middle East. “In Gaza,” he said, “the US is against Hamas, but elsewhere it uses the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood, recently against Libya and also against Syria, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Iran”. “Huge weapons shipments have been sent into Syria from France, paid for by Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, and US special forces have been operating on the ground in Syria for many months. The UN’s response has been to send Kofi Annan UN in order to pacify both sides in the conflict. “This is a perfect situation for the United States, with local people paying the price in blood and suffering”. “Yugoslavia,” he continued, “was divided with the help of Al Qaeda - then a US ally - which was very active in Bosnia.” He predicted that “the involvement of Al Qaeda in Syria and elsewhere in the Arab world will continue, even if the US and European imperialist role ends”. Looking at the social structure of Syria, Majid said “class divisions are much smaller than elsewhere in the Arab world, but most Syrians are very poor. “The country is surrounded by powerful enemies including Turkey and Israel, and this which has led to a high level of unity behind the government, far more than in Libya. In comparison, the anti-Assad opposition is sharply divided”. He concluded with a stirring call to support Syria “Not because the Ba’athists are being battered by imperialism, but because their defeat will pave the way for a pro-Western and pro-US regime, and constitute a huge setback for the Arab and Palestinian causes”. Andy Brooks began by pointing out that “imperialism can never solve the problems of the Arabs, or indeed any other people in the world and it never claims to do so. It flies the false flag of “human rights” to justify neo-colonialist aggression and it is doing in Syria what it has already done in Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan, hopes to do in Iran if it gets half the chance”. Andy Brooks reported on the stand taken by the major trends within Syria’s communist movements in support of genuine reform but opposed to all attempts to tear up the new constitution. Both broadly agreed on the need to build solidarity with Syria’s progressive and democratic forces that have closed ranks around the Arab Socialist Renaissance Party (Baath) to end the violence and defend the gains of the Syrian national revolution. Turning to the political situation, he said “Syria has a strong communist movement which is taking part in the current constitutional reforms. Syria was first Arab country to include communists in government, and was followed later by Sudan and Iraq. “All three communist parties in Syria all support the Assad government and defend the secular nature of the regime, and two belonging to the ruling National Progressive Front, established by Hafez al-Assad in 1972 as an alliance of eleven parties. “All its members support the socialist and Arab nationalist orientation of the government and accept the ‘leading role in society’ of the Ba’ath Party”. Describing the Ba’ath Party as “a national bourgeois party,” Andy said “it is the only party in the Middle East to call for the unity of all Arabs, and, in common with the region’s communist parties, calls for Arab control of all the region’s oil resources. “The party was originally founded in Syria but its influence has extended across the Arab world. At various times there have been branches in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the Yemen, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya and Sudan. In Saudi wing its base was in the Shia community, with a strong stance against the Saudi royal family and American imperialism. “The ideology of Ba'athism promotes Arab nationalism, pan-Arabism, Arab socialism, secularism and anti-imperialism, and it currently sees its national interests being preserved by an alliance with Russia”. “The Ba’ath has repeatedly been the victim of the full force of US imperialist power, notably in Iraq – which along with Libya was the only Arab country to nationalise the oil industry - and now in Syria”. Andy recalled that “Syria’s intervention on Lebanon in 1976 saved the progressive forces there from a catastrophic defeat, and paved the way for a new constitution which ended the French-imposed political system based on the dominance of the Christian community. “This was a major setback for the US and its European imperialist allies (and Israel???), which contributed to their hatred of the Ba’ath Party and the Assad leadership”. Looking at the socio-economic system in Syria, Andy said “under the Ba’ath Party’s rule the Syrian peasantry has benefitted hugely from land reforms, a good education system, and careers in the army, medicine, engineering and administration. “Syria,” he added, “is the only country in the Middle East with a welfare state apart from Libya, which unlike Syria enjoyed enormous oil wealth”. Turning to the wider region, Andy recalled that “Dick Cheney’s original plan for the Middle East was to divide the region into cantons and build 19 US bases in Iraq, enabling US control of 95% of the world’s known oil reserves. But this failed due to the strength of the Iraqi resistance, and Washington turned to Turkey and Arab princes. “Turkey is a key NATO member, the only Middle Eastern country to maintain good relations with Israel, and has a long wished to become a regional power, partly a legacy of the Ottoman Empire. “Both Britain and the US have a long-standing special relationship with Turkey dating from the Cold War, and this became even more important for US imperialism after the fall of the Shah or Iran. “Under its current AKP government Turkey is a strong supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Palestine, Syria and elsewhere. Hence its interests at this moment coincide with those of US. He added that “US officials never refer to ‘Arab’ countries, only to nationalities and religious groups, reflecting their strategy setting one group against another in the Arab would”. He also recalled that “in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq workers, including several million of Palestinians and Egyptians, were the highest paid in the Arab world. Iraq led the Arab world in higher education and tens of thousands from across the region studied engineering, medicine, science and social science there”. Looking at the basis of the NCP’s anti-imperialist position in relation to the Arab world, Andy said “our attitude to Iraq, Iran, Libya, Syria and Sudan is based on the view that at this time US imperialism is the main enemy of the world’s people, and any country which comes into contradiction with US imperialism should be supported. This is not a long-term political principle but a strategic position. “Thus, although the Islamic regime in Iran is based on Shia fundamentalism, on the basis of its national interests it sees the US as the country’s greatest enemy and calls it ‘the great Satan’, while it describes Russia as ‘the little Satan’. Giving historical examples of this position, Andy pointed to the defence of Ethiopia when it was invaded by Mussolini’s Italy in 1935 by the Soviet Union and the Comintern, “despite the fact that Ethiopia under Haile Selassie was a backward, slave-owning feudal monarchy”. “Similarly, Cuba under Fidel Castro sided against with Argentina in the Falklands War – along with most of the Latin American countries - despite the fact that the ruling generals there were crushing the communists and the left. He concluded by saying that “it is impossible to be a Marxist-Leninist without understanding this fundamental principle in the era of imperialism”. This detailed Marxist-Leninist analysis of the situation on Syria provides a strong basis for establishing the priorities of international solidarity with Syria at a time when many in the political left and centre, who nine years ago were united against the plan to invade Iraq, have been duped by the Tsunami of sophisticated Western ‘human rights’ propaganda, first in Libya and now in Syria. While the peace and solidarity movement in Britain is at a relatively low ebb compared to 2003, and despite the recent tragic defeats suffered by small and defenceless countries at the hands of imperialism, it is still vitally important to uphold that political solidarity. Today the people of Syria, like the people of Libya in 2011, are paying in blood and lives for the agression of imperialism and its opportunist allies. _______________________________________________ Marxist-Leninist-List mailing list Marxist-Leninist-List@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxist-leninist-list
