Assad: A Friend of Israel and an Enemy of the Arab Popular Masses
By Michael Pröbsting,
Revolutionary Communist International Tendency (RCIT),
21.10.2013,
www.thecommunists.net
Syrians dictators Assad recently made some revealing statements in his mouthpiece newspaper Teshrine. Here are the quotes as they are reported by the Middle East Monitor. We reprint this report in its entirety:
“Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad has praised the Egyptian army and its so-called war on “terrorism” led by General Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, saying that Syria and Egypt both face ‘one enemy and that victory over this enemy is inevitable.’
On the anniversary of the October war, Assad told state newspaper Teshrine: ‘In 1973 the Syrian and the Egyptian armies united to fight one enemy: Israel. Today, the two armies also fight one enemy, but the enemy is no longer Israel. The enemy who currently fights the Syrian army and the Egyptian army is Arab and Muslim.’
Al-Assad further explained: ‘Many things have changed during the past forty years, with the passing of generations and circumstances, of course. We can say that forty years ago the Arab countries united in all sectors and in all aspects including the media, culturally, ideologically, morally, politically and militarily to unite against one enemy: Israel. Today we see that the Arab countries are united against Syria. The first and biggest victory today is to eliminate terrorism and extremism, which would mean eliminating the plans set out by foreign countries with the help of countries in our region to destroy Syria.” Assad condemned “those countries that follow the US agenda and Washington’s directions, mainly Saudi Arabia and Turkey, after Qatar had abandoned its role to Saudi Arabia.’” (1)
The Syrian dictator in cordial terms with his Egypt brother-in-arm General Sisi. This statement of Assad is highly interesting. It confirms – in the butchers own words – what we have said from the beginning: That both the Syrian dictatorship as well as Egypt military regime are sworn enemies of the Arab Revolution. (2) It is not accidently that they support each other since their common enemies are the workers and poor peasants in the Arab world. And it is this counter-revolutionary stand against the wave of democratic mass uprisings which earn them the support of the imperialist Great Powers.
In the case of Egypt, all imperialists are united in their support for General Sisi’s coup d’état. In the case of Syria the Western imperialists would prefer to expand their influence at the cost of their Russian (and Chinese) rivals for whom Assad serves as the local proconsul. However – as the recent joint efforts of the Obama administration and the Putin government for “Geneva-II” negotiations demonstrate – they have even here a common interest to liquidate the Syrian Revolution and to disarm the masses. (3)
“The enemy is no longer Israel“
The counter-revolutionary stand of the Assad regime is even more underlined by his open admission that his “enemy is no longer Israel”. The enemy both for the Egypt and the Syrian regime are rather the insurrectional masses. “The enemy who currently fights the Syrian army and the Egyptian army is Arab and Muslim.” One can hardly contradict the butchers own words. And Assad is also correct if he laments that he is anathema to the whole Arab world: “Today we see that the Arab countries are united against Syria”.
While those many sorry “socialist” friends of the Assad regime might continue to praise him as a staunch enemy of imperialism and Zionism, the ruling class in the USA and Israel knows better. As we have reported in the past General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated unambiguously that US imperialism has no interest to advance a victory of the Syrian mass uprising: “The Obama administration is opposed to even limited U.S. military intervention in Syria because it believes rebels fighting the Assad regime wouldn’t support American interests if they were to seize power right now.” (4)
Similarly does the Israeli government fear a victory of the revolution against Assad and would prefer him to stay in power: “Israel would prefer President Assad to survive his country’s bloody two-year insurgency if the alternative were a takeover by rebels infiltrated by Islamic extremists, Israeli officials said yesterday. Intelligence sources said that an intact, but weakened, Assad regime would be preferable for the country and the whole troubled region. ‘Better the devil we know than the demons we can only imagine if Syria falls into chaos and the extremists from across the Arab world gain a foothold there,’ one senior Israeli intelligence officer in the north of the country said.” (5)
For the same reason, by the way, did the Netanyahu government hail the coup d’état in Egypt on 3rd July. (6)
It can only be hoped that Assad’s interview is read and understood by those socialists who support the Syrian counter-revolution.
We urge all socialists and internationalists to study our “Open Letter on the Arab Revolution” and to draw the correct conclusions of this historic event. (7) These conclusions can only be:
* Victory to the Syrian Revolution! Down with the Assad Dictatorship!
* Down with the imperialist Geneva accord! Stop the Russian and Chinese support for the murderous Assad dictatorship! USA, UK, and France: No military attacks against Syria!
* For international solidarity with the Syrian rebel and popular movement! Military Aid without strings for the rebel movement!
* Down with the military dictatorship in Egypt! Defend the pro-Morsi demonstrations without giving political support to their leadership! For mass action committees to organize the resistance! For armed self-defense units! For a general strike against the military regime! Fight for a Revolutionary Constitutional Assembly elected and controlled by the working people and protected by armed popular militias!
* For international solidarity of the workers movement with their brothers and sisters in Egypt!
* Down with the Zionist Apartheid State! Solidarity with the Palestinian liberation struggle! For a Free, Red Palestine from the River to the Sea!
* For Workers and Peasants councils and militias! For a Workers Government allied with the Peasants and Urban Poor and based on local councils and militias!
* Forward in building a revolutionary parties in Egypt, Syria and internationally! For the revolutionary Fifth Workers’ International!
Footnotes
(4) Bradley Klapper: Dempsey: Syrian rebels wouldn’t back US interests, Associated Press, August 21, 2013. See also Michael Pröbsting: US Administration: “Rebels fighting the Assad regime wouldn’t support American interests if they were to seize power”, 22.8.2013; Yossi Schwartz: Class struggle and religious sectarianism in Syria, 12.6.2013; Yossi Schwartz: Syria: After the defeat in Qusayr and ahead of the Battle for Aleppo, 11.6.2013; ISL-Leaflet: Victory to the Revolution in Syria!
(5) Sheera Frenkel and Roger Boyes: Islamist fear drives Israel to support Assad survival, May 18 2013.
(6) See on this e.g. Yossi Schwartz: Israel and the Coup in Egypt, 21.8.2013.