by Ghassan Kadi for The Saker Blog
As the observers and analysts of events in the Middle East were busy looking at the aftermath of the downing of the IL-20 and the deployment of the S-300 in Syria, a great new danger is now looming.
President Assad issued a legislative decree (Decree No 16) and which is intended to reform the ministry of Awqaf (Religious Endowments). The “Awqaf” is a Sunni Muslim tradition that has been around for centuries, and its role is to manage the funds of family trusts. After the dismembering of the Ottoman Empire, the new states separated their own “Awqaf” and established their own religious bodies to manage these affairs and funds.
Much has been said in the Arab World about Presidential Decree No. 16, but in reality, nothing has been said about its actual contents and context. When I began reading criticisms of it, they gave the impression that the Decree is handing over the executive authority of Syria to the Sunni Clergy. Videos made and posted by Syrian activists expressed grave concern about Syria following the footsteps of Saudi Arabia in imposing Shariah law on the streets of Syria. There are countless posts reiterating that they are against the imposition of Shariah dress on Syrian women and other similar concerns and linking this to the Decree. There was also confusion about the origin of the Decree and a great deal of criticism of the Minister of Awqaf as the man allegedly being behind it all.
This soon developed into a wave of paranoia and fury that dragged in many normally sombre and serious analysts and activists into supporting the outrage and expressing deep concern and even anger against the government.
I observed all these developments with great concern, not knowing if they were based on any reasonable foundations because I did not really see the actual wording of the Decree in question. The confusion relating to the origin of the Decree, among other things, made it difficult to Google, however I finally managed to find it.
To begin with, and contrary to the statements of many its critics, it is a Presidential Decree and not one originating from the Minister as these critics claimed. It is a 37 page document comprised of 7 sections and each section is divided into chapters. As I sat down to read it, I began to doubt if it was the actual document that the whole uproar was about. I therefore decided to write an Arabic extract of the main and relevant points it mentioned. The extract was quote-unquote based so that I do not use my own words. The emphasis was on matters of political power and religious power, whilst matters relating to financial management and the like were skimmed through very briefly. The link provided herein is for the Arabic post I made. https://intibahwakeup.blogspot.com/2018/10/3-october-2018.html I am not going to translate this to English and I apologize for that. Those who are interested in an English translation can use online translators and whilst these services have their limitations, they are nonetheless good enough to relay the main underlying context.
In brief, the Decree does not separate the State from the Sunni Muslim institution, this is true. However, it puts the religious institution under the hand and authority of the Civil Government. This, in my humble view, is a bold Presidential step towards full secularism. The Decree imposes regulations on religious activities, teaching, preaching and other related matters, to ensure that extremism namely Wahhabism and the Muslim Brotherhood are kept out and that Muslims are taught that they can be good Muslims and good Syrian citizens at the same time.
Sadly, experience has taught us that if Sunni religious institutions are left alone, they can be infiltrated by prejudiced fanatic zealots who can in the future, potentially reignite the fire. If anything, Decree no. 16 takes precautionary measures to ensure this doesn’t happen.
I did not see in the Decree any allusion to the imposition of Shariah code dress on women, and quite frankly, I did not see anything in it that justifies the outrage.
As I was in the beginning wondering if I was reading the actual document that had caused the outrage, I ended up wondering if the ones doing the outrage have read it at all or even bothered to try to Google it and find it.
The War on Syria has not finished and, over the years I have written many articles about directions that the enemies of Syria took it in order to morph the war and reshape it in their favour. What Syria now needs is rationality and education. It’s a good start to have faith and confidence in the leadership and Decrees of the President, but this trust can be further bolstered by actually looking at facts and discussing the Decree for what it says and not by attributing it to the words of some extremist clerics and making judgements made on totally irrelevant criteria.
However, the current voices of dissent in Syria are led by supporters of the Syrian Government in its war, they are led by alleged “reformers” and scholars, who are twisting facts and feeding the public with disinformation alleging that the said decree is a sell out to the Islamists. With the great help of Intibah (my wife) I have caught them out, and was able to demonstrate that they are either lying deliberately, or that they have issued statements about the decree without reading it.
Those stirrers are trying hard, and very hard, to give the educated secular youth the impression that the government is intent to allow their sacrifices to go in vain. The campaign is spearheaded by some scholars and a member of the Popular Assembly (Parliament) by the name of Nabil Saleh. Saleh is an independent MP who has placed himself against the war on Syria, but not in support of the politics of the Government. He identifies himself as a reformer, a fighter for justice and rationality. However, the campaign of disinformation he is leading does not seem to be based on any rationality at all, but rather on deliberate twists and misinterpretations of Decree No 16. All the while the Grand Mufti Hassoun seems to be keeping silent.
The campaign is splitting the victors of the war on a very basic issue. Even the grass-root constituencies that have supported the Assad legacy for decades are getting inflamed and angry. What is really dangerous here is that as this campaign is giving the false impression that fundamentalist Sunni Islam is winning the battle of government legislation, confused members of other religions are now asking what is in it for them and why did they make all those sacrifices?
My fear is that if this wave of disinformation grows, it will (God forbid) produce the real civil war that Syria did not have. In my Arabic writings, I have been urging readers to develop informed views and asking for calm, but my voice does not travel as far and as loud as the voices of the stirrers.
Now, Syrians have been “asked” to wear red at 4 pm on Tuesday (the 9th of October) in protest to the Decree. Sounds familiar?
Everything about this current hysteria, beginning with disinformation, fearmongering and ending with “Red Tuesday”, are all hallmarks of a Soros-sponsored colour revolution. Did the Western infiltrators who penetrated Syria’s security defences (and whom I and others have warned about repeatedly) establish sleeper cells that have been now activated? Incidentally, the colour red is considered by fundamentalist Muslims as lustful and provocative for women to wear. The choice of the colour perhaps underlies a subtle statement to this effect.
This is spiralling out of control, and the way I see it, President Assad has a few options:
- Charge the provocateurs with maliciously spreading disinformation and causing civil strife. This option will however turn Saleh and others in living martyrs and may intensify the situation further.
- Ignore the public anger in the hope that it will recede and go away, but such an action may anger the protestors even more and push them to escalate their action.
- Or simply to withdraw Decree No 16 even though it is a very good piece of legislation. Such a withdrawal will hopefully absorb the current hysteria and provides the Government with time to deal with whom and what was behind it.
The S-300 may now be giving Syria security in the skies, but those who are stirring the mud are creating a new grave danger on the streets.
I do think there is nothing to fear about Syria education especially in History and Geography.
Andre Vlteck wrote an article about the syria school curriculum in response to israel issuing a whole report on it being propaganda to brainwash the syrian masses.
Here is a excerpt
This information is very timely. The US-Israel-Saudi anti-Iran strategy includes keeping Assad from gaining full power over all of Syria. Nothing better than to drive wedges between sectors of Syrian society Assad is trying to heal.
There also is planning, and signs of it, that the trio and their Intel services are promulgating an insurgency war for Assad to fight everywhere in Syria.
Social unrest, armed resistance and terror bombings don’t sound much different than the past seven years, but they are a new evolution born from the anti-Iran plans.
The Syrian War v. 2.0 is underway.
hard to believe that Syria has to suffer so much – his wife undergoing chemo too. btw – I heard Duterte also may have cancer – bioweaponry you think ?
Duterte would be a prime target for US to get out of office. I’ve thought of that since his appearance as President. He embraces China and Russia. He wants to be part of Eurasia-BRI. Without those ports and bases, the US is limited to Okinawa and Guam, quite a distance from the Philippine Sea next to the South China Sea where the US Navy intends to block in the Chinese navy (PLAN) and its commercial fleets (shipping and fishing).
If he’s taken out, US will install another puppet and reverse Duterte’s momentum toward sovereignty.
Yes, US commentators apply the hypocritical standard that Duterte eliminated many members of a dangerous drug subculture by killing them and describe him as therefore a dangerous baby Hitler or some such.
This is disgustingly hypocritical in light of (1) what the USA has done historically to the Philippines and Filipinos—Americans are in NO position to judge their victims, and (2) the record of the USA in its own harsh treatment of members of drug subcutlures, with the “three strikes and you are out” edict, with harsh prison sentences for mainly black americans, etc, with its “blame shifting” of the blame for the drug crisis in the USA on the suppliers instead of on the society that apparently drives so many into a drug culture.
Duterte has told the Americans to eff off out of his country.
I would be surprised if he is allowed to live.
Katherine
Larch, I was actually surprised when I heard of his visit to Washington (year or so ago). I guess he was ordered to do it, but I thought that he was setting himself up for “Chavez” treatment.
The fact that a Syrian uses an expression like “google it” is precisely the problem. Has the culture been so overtaken that there’s no turning back? You can’t “google it” and still have a future.
A few years ago, when it looked like the monsters were at the gates of Damascus, I had the misfortune to listen to an interview with a Syrian woman. She said she had studied in London, and loved London, itty bitty britian, shakespear, all that. “I love london, why doesn’t london love me?” Finally, this very woman may be to blame for all of the destruction. This is Eve, who went for the Serpent.
It’s clear Islam is no match for Liberalism. Assad will be right to do something. But this time, do it fast and hard.
Human rights are human rites.
It is very easy to avoid the “Do no Harm” (sarc) Google. I personally use both Yandex and DuckDuckGo to search the internet and neither seem to be censored like Google.
A timely warning by Ghassan Kadi. And a headline with a name to watch out for — Soros. George Soros the Jew who, after being the Nazis’ right hand Judas-goat in Hungary, is now Rothschild’s right hand man in the U$A. It was Soros who conceived and funded the very successful “attack on the Left from the Left”. All sorts of shady Fake Leftist organizations are funded by Soros. Colour revolutions among them: stir up discontent in the name of Human Rights, Liberty and Progress; then bring in a few snipers to shoot at both sides and use the chaos to seize power. The Controlled Opposition. The rebels with a cause: to increase the obscene wealth of Soros and Rothschild.
Another writer on this site has already exposed another Fake Left site which tries to undermine Dr.Assad’s outstandingly humanitarian government on behalf of Anglo Zio Capitalist countries warring to destroy Syria; that Fake Left site calls itself World Socialist Web Site.
Soros did all this work for the Nazis as their main collaborator in Hungary when he was 12-13 years old.
@Anonymous: “Soros did all this work for the Nazis as their main collaborator in Hungary when he was 12-13 years old.” !
Thanks for correcting my cheap smear which was based on nothing more than ignorance, prejudice and hearsay. Having read the accounts by Soros and his father, I can understand their plight because there were similar cases where Jews survived by “Masquarade” and forced compliance during the Nazi extermination campaign.
I hope further information will correct my bad opinion of the adult Soros as an agent of the AZC.
@Dr NG Maroudas
With all due respect, I think the qualifier Fake had better be dropped, since the (political) concepts of Left and Right are totally bogus, at least in the West where these ludicrous buzzwords were coined. Still, however, I think it’s fair to say that the extremists do have quite genuine differences, with the ’right-wing’ variety being fuelled by reactionary hallucinations and paranoia and the ’left-wing’ variety being fuelled by compassion and outrage in view of all the evil and suffering deliberately visited upon the overwhelming global majority, like in Syria.
In this light, ’Leftist’ garbage such as The World Socialist Web Site simply demonstrates what the Western ’Left’ has always been — totally pro-imperialist and ultimately morally tonedeaf. It has never liberated anybody; nor will it ever. Assad, Nasrallah, Kadyrov, Putin etc. are just despicable ’authoritarians’ to them — Soros told them so.
Well, Ghassan I totally agree with your statement that you did not translate your Arabic pages. This war is about people’s minds in Syria and not the westerners.
Also, while this is debatable, I believe that there has to be some control gained over the Whabis’ and other groups that caused 7 years of grief and suffering in Syria. So, if those groups call themselves “religious” yet demend political power by subversive means than president Assad has all the right and responsibility to Syrian people to enforce control over those groups, or the people will continue to suffer.
And yes, internet seems to be the method goons like Soros and the likes use to pervert people’s minds. They tried in 2011 they will continue this action as long as there is no reply from Syrian government, which should be firm.
Now, interestingly enough you used the name “Google” as it’s pushed by the MSM. You should never mention the name Google or use it for Internet Searches. Use other search engine to do your Internet Searches. They are just as good or better. Duck-Duck-Go is but one example. So, to finish let me say “You never Google but always Search the Net”. Googles and the likes support the suffering of Syrian people.
Duck Duck Go uses underlying Google engine and always has. Why do people keep pushing it? There are plenty of completely unconnected search engines to be found.
More to the point, though,is that you do not need a search engine at all to search the internet and home in on exaactly what one seeks. Perhaps we oldies are fortunate, to some extent, that we were using the internet to the utmost before the web came along (and brought very little extra), and we learnt how to search and find anything anywhere w/o using engines (there were early engines, even then).
Can you provide more specific information?
I am also an oldie, not non-techie oldie.
I have no idea how to search the internet withoit a search engine.
Katherine
Do you have an alternative to google besides duck duck go?
Alternative search engines
https://www.lifewire.com/best-search-engines-2483352
https://www.yandex.com
https://www.yandex.ru
https://www.torproject.org/projects/torbrowser.html.en
Well torbrowser uses duck-duck-go by default. Also Duck-duck-go claims not to track your searches. Also in your browser you can turn off java scripts, by installing a “NoScript” add-on. If NoScript is used, then duck-duck-go goes into non-java mode, which protects your searches as well. There are other search engines used in the world of Linux, Debian used to have one as well, but I found their searches to be somewhat limited, I must admit that I haven’t tried them in a while. I never used Yandex, so I can’t say anything about that one. Never used Bing either. Be warned though, that if you use NoScript accessing some sites becomes painful as everybody and his brother is enabled through google-monopoly. So, to make it short, you might have enable some or all the idiotic spying (like your location, keystrokes, etc, etc) if you must use some sites.
https://www.startpage.com/
https://searx.me/
Of Startpage I know that they don’t stack your IP address. And you can use a proxy function when entering web pages.
Cheers, Rob
——————
[Please Folks, take any further discussion on search engines to the Moveable Feast Cafe.
The Mod.]
DDG is a meta search engine. Google sees it as coming from DDG not from you. It claims to hold no history, does not provide google a pattern so it can do search bubbling, etc.
I do not know the particular of state and private media in Syria, but surely there is a fourth option of using the media to expose the deliberate distortions and then turn popular opinion against the disinformation insurrectionists without throwing them in prison or confiscating their property. The present problem sounds exactly like George Soros channeling Gene Sharp. Using athe media to set the public straight will not for Saleh and others “make them martyrs” but expose them as frauds and trouble-makers of the West. If, as in Venezuela, the media is owned by the West-backed opposition, then the media needs to be seized, nationalized, and the people taught a long slow lesson about what Decree No.16 actually says and does, and why it was implemented. Otherwise the Syrians with drown in a sea of Skripalesque revelations and there will be a “political” solution but it will be written by the imperialists.
I noticed the lack of that or a similar option in the ones presented. You can debate its value, but it should be an option.
That said, I agree with you that the siria gov should be using information back.
And if nationalizing may be too much because of risk public opinion backfires, for sure they ahould create their own channels of information.
Sowing internal discord has been a military strategy since forever.
The examples are too numerous to list, and i am not enough of a historian to provide a comprehensive list.
But just in my recent reading is mention of the fact that in WW1 the German high command knowingly sowed rebellion, insurrection, and encouraged political upheaval in Russia as a way to weaken their enemy.
Even though the tsar was Wilhelm’s II’s cousin.
So, it is no surprise if the USA, and/or Soros, are using the same tactic within Syria.
The battle of ideas encompasses not only the “ideas” themselves but the insight and comprehension of the techniques used to insert them. So that preventive measures—some kind of mental inoculation—can be undertaken.
How to unmask the propaganda-ists, as the chemical weapon false flag was unmasked before the trigger was pulled.
Does Syria have an NGO law such as Russia’s?
Katherine
In some ways, the Neoliberal wing of the American Empire is even more dangerous than the Neoconservative wing of the American Empire, as the former is more disguised and employs the Machiavellian manipulation of “democracy and human rights” propaganda to subjugated a targeted nation.
America’s so-called Color Revolution/Coup d’etat is a weapon of political mass destruction just as surely as a US nuclear bomb.
http://colorrevolutionsandgeopolitics.blogspot.com/2011/04/from-archives-jonathan-mowat-new-gladio.html
When it was mentioned to wear red, yes that did ring a bell. It is Soros and his ilk stirring up trouble in another country using paid agitators. I would be surprised that the people of Syria who support Assad by a huge majority would so easily be fooled. They know him. They know he does not support extreme views. But, given the suffering they have experienced over these past years I can imagine they are fed up to say the least. Assad only need to publicly address the issue. Show the document and tell them what it says exactly, and what it does not say. Then they must decide what to do with the main characters who are trying to cause strife.
What if Assad announced an address to the nation in which he specifically calls out this red-wearing as a tactic by outside forces to sow discord within Syria by spreading lies about his regime and creating anxiety?
Kind of like deflating the chemical attack threat (threat of retribution fro supposed chem attack) by calling it out in advance and taking the wind out of the sails of the groups behind the spurious activity?
Could Assad set up a series on online “town halls” to explain the actual thrust of the decree?
Seems like bad info must be challenged and pushed out by good info.
Or, at least an attempt must be made to do so.
Silence = consent.
Katherine
Hi Katherine, despite rumours of the government concealing the Presidential Decree and not informing the citizens about what it entails, on 2 Oct, the government published a very good explanation about it with direct quotes from the actual decree. Here is the link.
https://www.facebook.com/dimashq.now/videos/350044238902236/?t=3
The other day in one of the local news outlets this post talked about not wearing red and that engaging in this could lead to arrest. Looks a litle strange but there it is.
https://www.facebook.com/Jaramana.N.N/posts/1856265047775314?__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARDlNaHefm0Uux2y_ZL4TM84bBlFZy650PG7PRCBEHrbUAPXHv2-YELq4Ecv-Qi2QKjD9NvZAeFmIfCSBQatvue7NbNhPGT7fHHZuT2NY4vLF1AIU-hd4EkNTbqjKM6ftvmb3rCSGVIBW1meEPm8ZlHkjqCPjfE3jDBIEpPGLFC1JJxYgOV1dA&__tn__=-R
It’s probably a better option than any of the above!
From what I’ve read about present situation in government held areas in Syria, there should be a huge number of young people that have turned against religion traditions on the grounds of what jihadists made Syrians gone through in last years. Isn’t there a possibility that a certain part of Syrian society wants to get rid of Islam as a whole? Even if it is based on wrong understanding of new presidental decree. Must there always be a conspiracy with ugly evil Jew behind? Isn’t that possible that certain number of people just learned that “color” techniques of protest in the past, that they just use them again for lack of better expression?
I’m not saying that some foreign groups are not desperately trying to use any form of citizen’s outrage for their own goals, which are in short to divide and rule. But to label any form of citizens protest as a foreign conspiracy is helping the same goal from the other side. Modern society should be able to withstand some discontent within itself and while some smart people here will be for sure convinced that it is not modern society, what Syria needs to be I would argue, that it is simply not possible to get back to traditional one. Especially after the war has torn all traditional values. Want to teach people the traditional values? Start with your own wider family!
Like it or not, there is a new Syria forming and Assads ability to survive peace will be much about understanding all changes that were Syrians gone through. Contrary to surviving the war, no foreign power could help him with such task and I think that surviving the peace would be as difficult as was the war.
Ilya, where is the evidence for your suggestion? Why should people abandon their religion when attacked? The Syrian war is not a civil war between religions (as claimed by Western propaganda). It is a war for survival of _all_ Syrians against NATZO and its ISIS mercenaries. And I bet you that Syrians of _all_ religions know this, and are thankful for the way that Dr.Assad has held the country together; and for the way he foiled NATZO by his skilful alliance with Muslim Hezb’Allah, Muslim Iran and Christian Russia.
Dr.Assad has won the war against NATZO, the military arm of Anglo Zio Capitalism. I think he and his people will win the peace by shining the light of truth on Soros and his _agents provocateurs_ of the AZC. Learn about the high awareness of young Syrians because of their superior socio-political education compared to Western youngsters (see the post by Occidontosis at the beginning of this thread).
Dear Dr. NG Maroudas,
as I’ve pointed out my opinion is based on reports I’ve read without any first- hand experience. We have in our country a very profound Syria reporter, who is traveling there quite often (she is hated by mainstream media very much for her constant truth seeking with all ugly labels placed upon her) and she is always trying to bring her living experience in understandable and accurate form. In this article from april: http://literarky.cz/blogy/tereza-spencerova/26127-z-damaku-koho-vlastn-zajima-chemicky-utok (unfortunately you will probably not understand- it’s in Czech) she is describing that to her surprise she met in Damascus many young people speaking about religion with disrespect and she is accounting this damaging of the image of Islam to actions of terroristic groups during the war. She is acknowledging the generally positive image of Dr. Assad within Syria, while suggesting, that secular element of the Syrian society might grow stronger in near future.
And I think she might be truth, so I assume that the war has changed Syrian society very much, and later on it will be necessary to deal with it. And this might be a sign of changes to come- maybe there is really a group of people who are generally loyal to Syrian government, but they would seek the departure from close ties between administration and church to their separation. And they of course would see new decree as a move in opposite direction. So maybe all of them are not necessary enemies, just new voice in dialogue. I’m fully convinced, that “real” enemies will use and using any animosity within colorful Syrian society to their goals, but nevertheless sometimes the best way how to deal with different voices is to let them sound.
I saw the quote of Andre Vltchek in the beginning of the thread and while Vltchek is having a lot of my respect for his publications in this case I see his evaluation of superb Syrian socio-political education as a kind of wishful thinking. No insult to Syrian youngsters intended I’m only thinking that this is mostly matter of each individual student / teacher. Only experience which makes Syrian youngsters unique is their first hand experience with the war – very valuable one but also very heavily paid.
Ilya, after reading your full and courteous reply, I think we are basically in agreement but from different perspectives. I see a Syria at war, where unity is essential. You envision a postwar Syria where a new generation has new ideas. I say that is very natural and to be welcomed. In return you say one must nevertheless guard against hostile forces tearing the country apart from the inside, in the name of freedom. Both of us wish Syria well though neither of us are Syrian.
” Isn’t there a possibility that a certain part of Syrian society wants to get rid of Islam as a whole?”
I thought that syria was, pre-crisis, a “secular” society in which all reilgions, ikncluding ancient Christian groups, etc. could practice their religion as they pleased. I wasn’t aware the Syria had a “state” or established religion, only that the Assad family are Alawites.
In fact, I thought that one of the huge ironies of the demonization by the “separation of church and state” USA of both Iraq and Syria and their leaders was that both of these countries were basically “secular” Islamic countries.
If that understanding is correct, then surely young people or others can go their own way, aside from whatever pressures come from their family or immediate social group.
Not arguing with the idea that Assad must also “win the peace” in the sense that this crisis has surely wrought many changes and created new situations that must be dealt with. But surely, bsically, Assad and Syrians generally would like to getbe able to on with their private and collective lives and rebuild their nation’s physical infrastructure and civic institutions (schools, libraries, hospitals, transport infrastructure, administration, etc.).
Katherine
Why is the very large banner (about removing the Syrian “regime” in english?