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The "Two Sides" in Syria are Oppressors and Oppressed By Sam Hamad https://www.facebook.com/RadioFreeSyria/photos/a.382885705129976.91927.363889943696219/1647851718633362/?type=3&theater&ifg=1 05-03-2018: Articles about Ghouta that have at the heart of them 'both sides' narratives are lapped up by Assad and Russia- even if such articles decry the crimes of the Assad regime They're happy with 'both sides' - Israel is happy for people to see Hamas as its equal, even in vague terms. But no Syrian rebel force in East Ghouta has carried out anything close to the kind of crimes carried out by Assad. And they never will. It's not in their nature. This isn't a silly argument. One side is committing genocide, the other is not. One side deliberately targets and massacres civilians the better to cleanse them, the other does not. One side has two airforces, one of which is technically the second most powerful airforce on earth, the other has none. One side has two sovereign states fighting on its behalf, one a world superpower and the other a regional superpower, the other does not. One side runs extermination camps, the other does not. One side has genocide as its purpose, the other has liberation (with all the contained contradictions that might arise) as its goal. But genocide is how it Assad aims 'win' this war. One of the problems here is the old dynamic that we saw in Egypt - the one that saw rich, privileged, leftist 'activists' side with counter-revolution. You have people from a certain social class or a certain background viewing the Syrian revolution through a fantasy lens, one where 'The Revolution' that occurred in 2011 was some utopian event that had nothing to with bearded Muslims- it was actually all about westernised left-liberals etc. etc. It's perhaps a comforting fantasy to some, but it's not the reality - they were marginal from day one. Syrians are bearded Muslims. They are hijab-wearing women. They are in general quite poor and haven't had access to western-style education. They aren't all liberals and photogenic Good Arabs. Sorry. This belief obscures everything and reflects an internalised racism and Islamophobia. For the majority of the population, like Egyptians or Jordanians or Tunisians etc., their default point of orientation in life, coexisting with other points of belief, is their faith. The armed revolutionaries to a huge extent reflect this because they *are* Syrians. They aren't from Mars. They're overwhelmingly from Syria - most of them took up arms to fight for Syria. It's why since day one the armed revolutionaries have been, whether defected SAA or otherwise, a combination of Syrian nationalism and moderate Islamism (that's what it would be termed as such was the stifling of meaningful opposition in Baathist Syria, there's no political group or coherent 'Islamist' ideology that truly suffices). Even the less moderate Islamists have gone on a huge journey of moderation (see Ahrar ash-Sham, as the biggest and best example). These groups have been fighting a revolutionary war. Have they carried out 'crimes'? Yes, but the crimes of the oppressed can never be equated with the criminals. The crimes of the partisans cannot be equated either in quality or quantity with the crimes of the Nazis. There is no equality in force or intent. People shouldn't obscure this by saying otherwise _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
