http://www.syria-today.com/index.php/politics/21310-falling-out-of-favour-
Falling Out of Favour
November 2012
The Syrian uprising is contesting the definition of resistance and
forging new popular perceptions of its former axis.
By Abdulhamid Qabbani
Photo Adel Samara
From peak popularity six years ago, the axis of resistance is now in
decline. The Arab Spring— particularly its bloody incarnation in Syria—has
challenged the Middle East’s anti-Western powers— Iran, Syria, and the armed
resistance groups Hezbollah and Hamas—with grave consequences for the region’s
future alignments.
Victories
“I used to view [Hezbollah’s Hassan] Nasrallah as an Arab hero and would
turn on the TV whenever he gave speeches,”said Ali, a 30-year-old from Aleppo.
Now, however, Ali’s views have radically changed: he says the Hezbollah leader
and his party “showed their true colours during the Syrian revolution by
sending fighters to kill Syrian people who wanted reform.”
The axis members had gained the Arab World’s support as defenders of Arab
rights and supporters of the Palestinian issue. This staunch anti-Israeli and
anti-western colonialism stance stood in stark contrast to that of the moderate
Arab countries—Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Hosni Mubarak’s Egypt—which normalised
relations with Israel.
Following the 2006 Israel–Hezbollah War, the axis’ popularity grew
enormously, although Hezbollah’s victory in the 34-day military conflict was
largely symbolic.
“Hezbollah came out with a political victory. Despite being defeated
militarily, it still gained the Arabs’ public opinion as rallies took place to
support it,” Akram Husam, an expert with the Cairo-based National Center for
Middle Eastern Studies, told Syria Today.
This victory was supported by Iran and Syria, which also earned points
from it with the Syrian street. Posters showing Nasrallah alongside the current
and former Syrian presidents were displayed widely, and Hezbollah’s Lebanese TV
channel Al-Manar drew a large audience.
The December 2008 Israeli assault on the Hamascontrolled Gaza strip
likewise stirred Arabs’ sympathy and support for the Palestinian movement. Many
viewed Hamas’ endurance of the three-week war as a victory for retaining the
ability to launch missile attacks on Israel, since stopping Hamas’ rockets was
considered the main goal of the Israeli assault.
“The 2006 and 2008 [wars] were well-employed by Syria and Iran…to promote
this axis [of resistance],” Husam observed.
Backlash
When the Arab Spring uprisings broke out, however, the axis’
contradictory stances towards these popular movements proved its breaking
point.
Iran initially described the Arab Spring as an Islamic awakening. At a
large state-sponsored rally celebrating the 32nd anniversary of Iran’s Islamic
revolution on February 11 last year, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hailed the Libyan and
Egyptian uprisings as inspired by his country’s struggle against Western
powers.
The Syrian uprising, however, is depicted by Iran as a foreign plot to
destroy the axis of resistance. It is not “an internal issue but a conflict
between [this axis] on the one hand, and [its] regional and global enemies…on
the other”, announced Saeed Jalili, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National
Security Council, during an August 7 visit to Damascus.
He further emphasised the Islamic Republic’s support for the Syrian
regime: “Iran will never allow the resistance axis – of which Syria is an
essential pillar – to break.”
Echoing Iran’s stance, Hezbollah has stood by the Syrian regime and
stands accused of sending snipers and troops as well as logistical support for
the embattled regime. A YouTube video published on August 5 shows 48 Iranians
captured by the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in Damascus, one of whom rebels alleged
was an officer in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) with a permit
allowing him to carry arms. Though Iran’s official Islamic Republic News Agency
reported that the Iranians were pilgrims, the rebels’ claim gained credence
when Commander-in-chief Mohammad Ali Jafari said in a statement on September 16
that members of Revolutionary Guards are providing non-military assistance in
Syria.
American daily the Wall Street Journal reported on August 27 that in
addition to money and weapons, Iran is also sending “commanders and hundreds of
elite soldiers to Damascus.”
“Today we are involved in fighting…a military [war] in Syria,” Gen. Salar
Abnoush, commander of IRGC’s Saheb al-Amr unit, told volunteer trainees,
according to the daily, contradicting earlier statements by Iranian officials
that their country was not involved militarily in the conflict.
Therefore, many have lost faith in the notion of resistance. Muhammad, a
28-year-old Damascus-based journalist, observed that “people have lost faith in
this axis, and the future of the resistance is catastrophic.”
Protestors have burned Hezbollah posters and the Iranian flag in
anti-regime demonstrations as they chanted slogans denouncing the party for its
suspected complicity in over 19 months of violence. A YouTube video from July 1
this year shows posters of Ahmadinejad and Nasrallah being burned in Homs.
However, while pro-regime political analysts admit that public support
for the axis decreased “at the beginning”, they believe it has recently swung
back.
“The Syrian people’s suffering, the loss of security and stability, and
acts of killing and violence pushed those [who stopped supporting the axis] to
retreat from their former positions and back Hezbollah,” Humaidi al-Abdallah, a
pro-government Syrian political analyst, told Syria Today.
Calling his support for Hezbollah “a matter of principle more that
realism”, a 22-year-old student in Damascus who requested anonymity told Syria
Today that he supports the party “from the position of resisting the Zionist
enemy.” He further explained that the party sided with the regime “because of
the stupidity of the Syrian opposition, as they inserted Hezbollah’s name in
the beginning of the events in Syria to motivate sectarian emotions [among
protestors].”
Breakaway
In contrast to Hezbollah, Hamas distanced itself from the Syrian regime
and remained largely silent about the Syrian conflict. Only on February 24 did
its leader, Ismail Haniyeh, speak out, telling worshipers at Cairo’s Al-Azhar
mosque: “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.”
Consequently, Hamas left Syria, moving its headquarters to Qatar, and is
withdrawing from the Iran-Syria-Hezbollah alliance. The fact that Hamas did not
side with the Syrian regime greatly disappointed its former ally. “Hamas was
expected to follow suit like Hezbollah and stand by the [Syrian] regime which
in the past offered a lot of support to Hamas,” Abdallah said.
Ali Bakeer, a Lebanese journalist and political analyst, argued that
“ultimately, the Syrian people’s case is about rights. And because Hamas like
other movements represents the case of wronged and disenfranchised peoples, it
was natural for it to leave and distance itself from Assad.” He further
expressed hope that Hamas would not be tempted by other calculations, like
“some movements who pretend to be ‘resistance’ at a time that they are
completely involved in the blood of the Syrian people.”
Indeed, Hamas’ ability to appear to ally itself with the Syrian people’s
demands seems to have allowed it to save face with its Arabs supporters.
Mohammed argues that Hamas is “different because it didn’t support the regime
or send fighters into Syria, which makes it a true resistance [organisation],
not a political hypocrite to Syrians.”
But Hamas’ association with the Syrian regime has nevertheless put the
movement in a bind. “Obviously, the outbreak of the Syrian revolution exposed
Hamas and Hezbollah to severe embarrassment,” Husam commented.
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