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Max Blumenthal, your Alternet article is beyond disappointing and shameful. I had for long considered you a friend and an ally, but you have irreparably hurt the Syrian people, and me, with what you've published here. When Palestinians seek amplification, you rightly channel their grievances. As Egyptians are wilting-away under Sisi and his goons, you stand on the side of justice. But do you think that just because you hold morally conscientious positions on these causes that I will ignore the fact that you are a sounding board for the Baathist amen corner in Syria? In the face of Syria's tragedies, you have done nothing but echo the exact same propaganda against revolutionaries, aid-workers, and their allies that the likes of Vanessa Beeley and Eva Bartlett constantly spew. Whether you realize it or not, you have committed a great injustice. You have contributed to the online compendium of propaganda against Syrians that continues to provide intellectual cover for their suffering. There is nothing morally courageous or intellectually novel about rehashing the exact same nonsense pro-Baathist outlets like Global Research have been spreading for years, and which Syrians and their allies in support of the revolution have been persistently discrediting.
I remember when you quit your job at Al-Akhbar over their pro-Assad work. What a principled thing to have done. And now look at you. One step forward, one-hundred steps back.
You talk about the dangers of regime change without taking into consideration the fact that the Syrian revolution is completely dependent on regime change, and that the overwhelming majority of Syrians are in favor of regime change, precisely because of the danger the continued existence of the status quo poses. You only inspect the merit of regime change, and the Syrian revolution more generally, through the prism of US interests. The proximity of the US government's activities--whether real or imagined--define the extent of your interest in Syria, and inform your horrendous biases. You speak about the potential disasters of regime change while you mitigate the severity of the current disaster on Syrian lives brought about by the continued existence of that very regime. Hundreds of thousands dead, and you want to talk about "potential disasters?"
What happened to internationalism? What happened to looking at popular liberation struggles through the eyes of those who define them? Or are the only causes worth supporting the secular ones, absent of all the beardy-weirdy Islamists and "jihadists" you seem to now fear so much? Just have a look at who is proudly sharing and endorsing your article on social media. Every single pro-Assad scumbag is lauding your piece with great enthusiasm. What does that say? More importantly, how should I interpret your close colleague Rania’s sudden agreeability on Syria with Max Abrahms, that filthy apologist for Israeli crimes? Or are you now willing to forget about that because he slanders Syria with the same fervor as you?
You must remember, Max, that you can never, at any moment or under any virtual circumstance, ever be anything more than an ally in the struggles of Arabs and Muslims--and even that designation now seems too much for you. By virtue of your White, secular, privileged identity, you will never be a mainstay of our causes no matter how much you desire to. You are not Palestinian, Syrian, or Arab, and you never will be. We are the gatekeepers of our causes and narratives, we decide who stays in and who stays out. Evidently, you have, through this horrendous article of yours, decided to willingly show yourself out. Good riddance. I swear to God Almighty and on the honor of Arab and Muslim liberation, when Palestine and Syria are finally free, your name will go completely unremembered--you will not have a place among us. I will sip tea on the shores of Yaffa, prostrate in the abode of Damascus, and take comfort in the knowledge of your absence.
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