Which way will al-Julani take?

Adam Smith, ISL – RCIT section in Israel/Occupied Palestine, 16.12.2024

Abu Mohammad al-Julani(referring to the Golan Heights) has decided to emphasize his old name Ahmed al-Sharaa in order to signal to Israel that he is willing to compromise on this issue, despite formally committing to the “territorial integrity of Syria”. 

“Julani said, “Israel’s excuses for entering Syria no longer exist. After the Iranians’ departure, there are no more justifications for any foreign intervention in Syria.” “The exhausted Syrian situation after years of war and conflicts does not allow for entering into any new conflicts.”

Julani called on the international community to intervene and take responsibility for preventing escalation and respecting Syrian sovereignty. He stressed that diplomatic solutions are the only way to ensure security and stability, away from any ill-considered military adventures.

Despite dodging any provocation question about Russia, Julani said that the revolution was an “opportunity to re-evaluate the [Russian] relationship with Syria in a way that serves common interests.”

Julani differentiated between the Kurdish community and the PKK, a Kurdish terrorist organization, signaling the realignment of the mostly Kurdish SDF with the rest of the Syrian opposition.

Julani confirmed that the Syrian Defense Ministry would be dissolving all armed factions and that all weapons would be under the authority of the Syrian state.” [i]

From this we can learn several things, namely, that he is ready to compromise with Israel, Russia, Turkey, and the United States. In a tacit agreement by pressure of Turkey, Syrian rebels let Russia withdraw their equipment from Tartus and Latakia “peacefully”.

“In a move that has drawn some international condemnation, Israel also entered a United Nations-patrolled buffer zone on the Golan Heights just hours after the rebels, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, took Damascus. Israel has said it will not become involved in the conflict in Syria and that its seizure of the buffer zone established in 1974 was a defensive move and a temporary one until it can guarantee security along the frontier.”

In a video message to the new regime taking shape in Syria, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that the IDF bombed military strategic capabilities left by the Syrian military of the ousted Assad regime “so that they won’t fall into the hands of the jihadists.”

He added that Israel was ready to establish relations with the new rulers but won’t hesitate to attack if they threaten the Jewish state or allow Iran to reestablish itself in Syria.” [ii]

Israel is the gendarmerie of the middle east – the fact that Israel is willing under the right conditions to establish relations with the new rulers shows a lot about them, but at the same time Israel is sending tanks to watch over Damascus to make sure the revolution does not go too far.

“Syrian rebel leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammad al-Julani, has said that the new Syrian regime will operate according to Sharia Law.

Speaking in Damascus, al-Julani said that the regime’s morality police will operate under the Minister of Internal Affairs and be under the supervision of religious clerics and mullahs.

The morality police’s job will be to ensure that the public implements Sharia Law, and in doing so, it will prioritize the path of “dawah,” proselytization and education, instead of operating through force.” [iii]

While saying he will respect minorities’ rights, al-Julani also talks about establishing morality police – even if it will only apply to Sunni Muslims, this is not a step in the direction of a democratic revolution. So far the minorities (as well as women) remain skeptical rather than fully supporting his leadership.

“He accused the Assad dynasty of building a feudal tax farm designed to extract wealth from its subjects instead of supporting them. “There was a systematic destruction of the agricultural, industrial, and banking sectors. The regime did not build a state, but rather a farm, and the extent of the thefts was large. Documents will be presented to prove this.” [iv]

The other task of the democratic revolution is agrarian reform and industrialization. This will also be impossible without a socialist leadership. This is a textbook example of theory of the permanent revolution – in the imperial age, a national-democratic bourgeois cannot accomplish the tasks of the democratic revolution – national liberation against foreign agents(Israel, Russia, Turkey, etc), industrialization and agrarian reform, and a democratic constitution with equal rights for all.

Down with Israel’s creeping occupation of Syria! For a return of the Golan Heights to Syria!

Down with foreign interference in Syria!

For a democratic constituent assembly in Syria!

Endnotes:

[i] https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-833432

[ii] https://www.timesofisrael.com/syrian-rebel-leader-israel-has-no-more-excuses-to-strike-we-dont-seek-conflict/

[iii] https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/400727

[iv] https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-833432

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