“We win or we die”

The “Arab Spring” has changed the Middle Eastern map beyond recognition. Sparking off in Tunisia, after a fruit vendor set himself alight in protest at the way he was treated by the police, protests have spread like wildfire through Algeria, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, Libya, and Syria. Although each country is unique, all these protests point towards the discontent and dissatisfaction many Arabs feel after living most, if not all, their lives under the same dictatorial, autocratic, and oppressive regimes.

For many political analysts the uprising in Syria, which started on the 15th of March, was a huge surprise. The Syrian regime is one of the most oppressive regimes in the Middle East and the people knew that any rebellion would be met with brutal force.

Ruling since 1963, the Baath party came to power through a military coup and quickly placed Syria under emergency law. This took away the Syrian people’s human rights and ruthlessly protected the position of the ruling Baath party. Hafez Al-Assad, father of the current president Bashar, took over through another military coup in 1970. He started his reign by clearing the scene of any perceived threats to him. During the late 1970s, when the Syrian people rebelled against his rule, they were met with vicious attacks to control them and keep order. However, things began to get out of control and his brother Rifaat destroyed the city of Hama in 1982 during an army operation which killed over 40,000 people. Hafez, driven by the fear he installed in the Syrian people, wanted to make himself the ultimate and eternal ruler of Syria. Statues and pictures appeared all over Syria and children were made to chant slogans at schools. By the time of his death in 2000, Hafez had killed, imprisoned, and expelled hundreds of thousands of Syrians and left those who survived scarred for life.

Many people thought Bashar Al-Assad would be different to his father, having lived and studied in London. But it fast became apparent that he was truly his father’s son. Although he began opening Syria up to the world this was done for financial gain, which is evident looking at the ownership of all major technological, oil and trading companies.

Seeing the effects of the revolutions across the Middle East installed a sense of hope in the Syrian people. This led a few children, all under 11 years of age, to paint anti-government slogans on walls in the city of Deraa. They were all arrested and spray cans were made illegal by the government. The parents of the children went to ask for their release but were told to forget about them and make new children. Unsurprisingly this sparked protests across the region, protests that were met with violence from the Syrian security forces resulting in the death of many of the protesters.

Cities all over Syria, outraged at the killing of peaceful protesters, came out to protest in support of Deraa, but they too were repressed. Doma, a suburb of the capital Damascus was the first area outside Deraa to feel the wrath of the security forces. They killed and injured dozens of its people and have had installed a large security presence there since.

Just as they rose to support Deraa, the Syrian people rose again to support Doma. This time Homs, Latakia and Banyas were the areas worst affected by the security crackdown. The most shocking footage came out from Bayda, a village near Banyas, where the security forces gathered the men in the village square and began stepping on and humiliating them.

As ever, the more repressive the Syrian security forces became the more determined the people became. The people of Homs rose to defend the people of Deraa, Doma, Latakia, and Banyas. They were met with great oppression over three days, the last of which saw a large death toll, which led to a large open ended protest that turned bloody when the security forces attacked at 2 am on the 19th April. The death toll for that night is unknown as security forces took the bodies to hide their crimes.

Under pressure from the growing waves of protests, the government began an army offensive on areas with heavy protests, this led to Deraa being placed under siege and anyone trying to break it, even to supply people with food, was killed. Other areas that have also experienced increasing military presence include Homs, Banyas and some of the suburbs of Damascus including Doma and Moudamya.

However these plans, rather than scare people into submission, have made them more determined than ever to overthrow the regime. Which has led it to its final option- all out war on its own people. This led to military operations in Deraa, Banyas, Homs and its surrounding towns, Hama, Jisr Al-Shogour in Idlib and many other cities, towns and villages. Mass graves are being discovered all over Syria and soldiers who refuse to obey orders to kill protesters are killed themselves by the cold blooded security forces. No one has escaped the brutality of the security forces. However, the most shocking and heartbreaking case is of the 13-year-old Hamza Al-Khatib who was kidnapped by security forces during a protest. A month later his body was handed back to his family, neck broken, knees shattered, penis severed, body beaten badly and covered with cigarette burns. However, sadly he was not the only case of torture among children.

These operations have fuelled the protests and helped them spread to areas which the government thought were out of reach- the centres of Damascus and Aleppo, the second largest city in the country. Furthermore, the protests that were once weekly are now a daily occurence.

Rather amusing in all of this, is the Syrian state channels who have blamed these protests on anyone but the government. Israel, America, Islamic extremists and traitors have all been blamed. It seems that somehow the whole world has put its standing quarrels aside and has decided to attack the great and magnificent Syrian regime.

Finally, I am often asked what I believe will happen in Syria. Although I am no fortune teller I am in contact with people in Syria who repeatedly say that having tasted freedom they will never back down. They use the popular Arabic saying of the great Libyan rebel Omar Al-Mukhtar “We will never surrender, we win or we die.”