Recently, Lebanese figures close to the Syrian regime have begun to speak out openly against Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. On May 23, 2011, Talal Salman, owner of the pro-Syrian Lebanese daily Al-Safir, published an article calling on Assad to end the violent suppression of protests in his country, to launch a sincere dialogue with the opposition, and to enact extensive reforms rather than merely paying lip service to them. Similar criticism was voiced the same day by Druze leader Walid Jumblatt in his weekly column in Al-Anbaa, the newspaper of the Progressive Socialist Party that he heads, and in a May 31 article by editorial board director Sati' Nur Al-Din.
It should be noted that on May 30, the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar reported that Hizbullah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah had met with President Al-Assad several times and that the two had discussed reform in Syria.[1]
Following are excerpts from the three articles.
Salman: Assad Must Implement Real Reform
Al-Safir owner Talal Salman wrote: "The sound of gunfire in Syria has almost drowned out talk of the reform which President Bashar Al-Assad promised to implement. It is also putting an end to the [national] dialogue for which he established a presidential committee – [a committee] that has [yet] to publish anything regarding its work plan, regarding who has been invited to participate in [its deliberations], or regarding a clear deadline for completing its work.
"The security events overshadow all others, and relations between the two sides have [deteriorated]. The rumbling of the tanks and the echo of the protestors' chants continue to grow louder, while the regime is busy staging impressive funerals for officers, soldiers, and security personnel, widely covered on Syrian TV.
"At the same time, the Arab television channels of the oil states, one after the other, broadcast the cries of the protestors, the number of their dead, and blurred pictures [of their faces] and their banners...
"In the official [Syrian] media, the epithets 'soldiers of the civil war,' 'criminals,' 'armed thugs,' 'deceivers,' and 'tricksters' – and worse – are repeated time and again. But who are they exactly? Who is [allegedly] inciting them and dispatching them throughout Syria?
"[According to the official Syrian media,] 'the conspiracy is manifest to all,' but no one knows the identity of the conspirators, whose numbers and areas of operation increase every Friday – along with their growing temerity, [manifest in their] attacks on [state] institutions throughout almost all of Syria...
The Gunfire Is Killing the Dialogue
"The most important question is: Where is Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad?... Why doesn't he adopt a series of measures that will prove he is serious about granting general freedoms and reforming the regime to meet the people's aspirations?...
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"Why shoot to kill in Der'a, when, with a bit of sense, matters could have been settled [peacefully]?... Syria today is immersed in an anarchy of blood. The gunfire is killing the dialogue rather than opening the gates for reform, nor do the funeral processions bring [Syria] any closer to these gates, which are blocked by tanks.
"[Assad] filled the air with promises of reform, [but] they are obscured by the stench of gunpowder. Despite all this, 'the young president' has not appealed to the wounded [Syrian] people. He meets [only] with those with whom the '[security] agencies' advise him [to meet]... He listens to them, and they hear from him promises that the crisis will end soon. Then, after Friday prayers, the gunshots ring out, the promises instantly fall [apart], and the hope for change fades.
"[This also] opens the gates wide open to foreign intervention, at first under slogans of humanism, which immediately change into political condemnations and economic [sanctions, in an effort to] create an impression that the 'foreigner' has more compassion for the Syrian people and is more concerned with reform and human rights than the state itself...
"It is obvious that there will be more and more questions highlighting the severity of the crisis and its danger: Where is the 'young president?' Why doesn't he come out and appeal to the people with a practical plan for reform? Why does he allow the [public sphere to be dominated by] bloody clashes between the security forces and the 'riotous elements,' or by small-scale consultations with those who are incapable of dealing with the people and convincing them that there is, indeed, a serious resolution on the horizon? Why doesn't [he] stop the gunfire in the squares, in order to create the most basic atmosphere necessary in order to begin the longed-for dialogue, as a first step toward resolving the problem that is raging and progressing toward a civil war?..."
Violence Is Only Leading the Opposition to Increase Its Demands
"The original demands are well known, but the ongoing oppression has been raising the level of these demands, which [now] involve the regime itself... It is Bashar Al-Assad who now has the floor, on the condition that he makes haste and presents the people with his promises for reform in the form of a work plan, drawn up by all the forces operating within Syrian society... Where is he, and why doesn't he turn to the Syrian people and present his plan for dealing with the crises?...
"This is a dangerous political crisis – the crisis of a regime that has taken great interest in foreign [affairs] while ignoring domestic [affairs]... This is a fateful crisis which the military cannot resolve; on the contrary, the use of [military] force will only complicate matters and put the future of the entire regime to the test...
"The young president, Bashar Al-Assad, now has the floor, on condition that he not tarry long and that, rather than being 'tendentious,' [his] declarations be decisive and committed to reform – [a reform that] does not need the eternal leadership of the [Ba'ath] party... in order to draft the plan and its clauses and to determine a timetable for its implementation. [It is Assad who] must make a decision, and no one else..."[2]
Jumblatt: Assad Must Drastically Change His Approach to Syria's Current Situation
In his weekly column in Al-Anbaa, Walid Jumblatt wrote: "...Out of concern for Syria, its national security and unity, its internal stability and its strength, out of [a desire] to preserve its political influence in the region and its leading role in confronting the [Western] plans to divide [the countries of the region], [out of consideration] of the great challenges facing the Arab world, in light of the sensitive political state of the Arab-Israeli conflict, and out of a desire to continue the policy of breaking Syria out of the [international] isolation to which it was subjected after 2005... I reiterate the importance of launching a dialogue with all sectors [of Syrian society], and of avoiding violence and escalation of tensions.
"[This can only be achieved] through a serious and immediate investigation into the [recent] series of events, through the release of prisoners, and through the enactment of the most essential reforms [needed] to emerge from the current crisis.
"I call on President Bashar Al-Assad – who is endowed with the greatest courage and who, over the years, has dealt with tremendous political pressures and has succeeded in breaking Syria out of the blockade imposed upon it – to quickly initiate steps that will ensure extensive change in [his] approach to the current situation and the challenges Syria is facing. This will [launch] a new approach that will enable [Assad] to meet the legitimate demands [of the people], without Syria deteriorating into division and attrition, as many hope [it will]..."[3]
Nur Al-Din: Ignoring the Opposition May Pave the Way For a Western Invasion
Al-Safir editorial board director Sati' Nur Al-Din noted that "to denounce the summit [of the Syrian opposition, held in Turkey on May 31] as part of the plot against Syria and its regime, [and to call] its participants foreign agents, [is] to miss the only opportunity for the regime and the street to extricate themselves from the impasse [they are currently in]...
"[It may] pave the way for the opposition to hold new summits in Paris, London, Brussels, or Washington – [summits] reminiscent of those held by the Iraqi opposition before the [Western] invasion in 2003."[4]
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