The Western states are confirming their colonial character and racist perception of the Eastern populations, whether they are Muslims or Christians. Firstly, the experience of the offensive film towards the Prophet enhances this idea, after the Western adoption of the extremist terrorist groups exposed the United States’ and Europe’s treatment of the Christian presence in the East as a card that could be eliminated to renew Western hegemony, regardless of the price paid by the concerned people.

Recently, Nicolas Sarkozy was arguing with the patriarch of the Lebanese Maronites, Bechara al-Rahi, that the immigration of Christians of the region to Europe could be done, and was a practical project that could be implemented, as opposed to the positions adopted by the Eastern churches in their rejection of the project to destroy the Syrian state through extremist and terrorist gangs backed up by the United States and Europe, as well as by the Turkish and Gulf governments under the headline of spreading democracy.

And while the West is treating the Christians of the East as fuel for its wars and projects, it is renewing its hateful perception of Muslims and wagering on containing the reactions via the International Organization of the Muslim Brotherhood which reached power in the states of the so-called Arab spring, particularly in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and Yemen.    

Secondly, while dealing with the offensive film, the West used the pretext of media freedom. However, both the American and European laws prohibit the spread of hatred and offenses against religious beliefs, regardless of what they are. But the positions of the United States and European states’ governments reveal determination to protect the offense and its American and Israeli perpetrators, without any regard for the escalating reactions. Indeed, they are relying on a strong network of agents within some governments and Islamic political movements that can prevent the reactions from reaching a level which would seriously threaten the West’s interests.   

Thirdly, what is increasing this Western confidence in its safety network is the fact that the regional organizations – which held countless and urgent meetings upon American orders to escalate the pressures on and interferences against the Syrian state – did not deem it necessary to hold a session to discuss the discontinuation of the offense caused by the film. Hence, neither the Arab League acted upon the Lebanese respect at this level, nor did the Islamic Conference Organization find this issue worthy of a meeting or even a position.

Nonetheless, this does not deny the fact that popular awareness thwarted the actual purpose of this film, i.e. to trigger strife between Muslims and Christians and sabotage the visit of Pope Benedict to Lebanon. The angry people still headed to the United States’ embassies, and the American response was seen in the dispatch of its Marines forces. If a new racist incident were to be provoked by the West, the main question will surround the upcoming American step in the face of the American reactions during times of imperial inability to launch new wars.   

Popular transformation and direction of Syrian events

The winds of the ongoing transformations in Syria have reached the structure of coordination committees formed in many Syrian regions in order to organize the demonstrations and in some cases support the armed rebellion. In reality, these coordination committees constituted the main nerve through which turmoil was activated on the Syrian domestic arena.

Firstly, according to confirmed information, many coordination committees in Syrian areas have started to adopt positions calling for relinquishing of the weapons. Some of them are even trying to manage direct dialogue with the Syrian state and negotiate guarantees that could be offered to those who relinquish their arms in various towns and villages. Consequently, numerous operations took place in which arms were surrendered and the status of the armed men was arranged under the supervision of coordination committees in Rif Damascus, Edlib, Rif Hama, Homs and Aleppo. This reveals that a major transformation of the Syrian scene, and that signs of return from the climate of escalation, tension and turmoil are emerging.

Secondly, while attempting to understand the backdrop of this transformation, one should point to the state of tiredness and exhaustion suffered by ordinary Syrian citizens in light of events which blocked the economic wheel in numerous regions, affected properties, claimed lives and spread comprehensive anarchy due to the control of bandits and armed terrorist gangs that undermined social security and practiced oppression against the population. All this led to a serious turn in popular positions which were first sympathetic with the rebellion and are now clashing with it. Hence, people are now clearly expressing their wish to see the state re-imposing full control in the hope of regaining the missing stability.   

Thirdly, mobilization and tension prevail over the majority of Syrians who supported the state, the army and President Bashar al-Assad’s reformatory program. This solid bloc which represents a majority of the country’s social fabric extends beyond religions and regions and includes all Syrian components without exception. It is worth mentioning that during the last few days, Damascus’ streets were extremely busy, and this had not been seen throughout the last year and a half. At the same time, the sounds of some bombs were being heard, as the Syrian Arab army was proceeding with its attacks against the remaining terrorist pits in the capital’s Rif, without affecting life inside the city or provoking concerns among citizens who enjoyed safety and security in the presence of the army.

Fourthly, the overall Syrian popular mood points to real awareness vis-à-vis the nature and goals of the colonial Western attacks, and it is clear that ordinary citizens have learned about numerous facts related to the opposition movements domestically and abroad, as well as to the terrorist gangs, death squads and the Western projects to divide Syria and destroy its strength. This would explain the failure of all Western wagers on weakening popular support for the state through economic pressures and sanctions.

Syrians are taking pride in the fact that they relied on themselves throughout these incidents. More than two million people who left their homes in tense areas chose to resort to other locations inside the country instead of fleeing outside the border. Moreover, according to quasi-official information, the refugees are increasingly returning from neighboring countries like Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon, after the Syrian Arab forces were able to reinstate security and stability in more than one region, and in light of the suffering endured by those who fled abroad and were turned into bargaining cards in the hands of the implicated government and Syrian groups partaking in the Western-Gulf-Turkish plan.

Syria’s popular scene is signaling the reality of the direction of the events, and the imminent victory of the Syrian national state over the colonial plan despite the anticipation of a long war with individual terrorism and multinational Takfiri groups dispatched to Syria, along with large quantities of weapons and funds. Despite that, the state’s re-imposition of its control and its reinstatement of national stability does not seem to be a far-fetched goal in light of the ongoing transformations on the Syrian street.  

The author is a journalist