by Hans Khalil | 9 May 2025
In the novel One Hundred Years of Solitude, all the residents of Macondo are afflicted with a disease of insomnia that deprives them of sleep for weeks, affecting their memory. They begin to forget the names of things, forcing José to hang signs on everything: pole, apple tree, flower, door, etc.
We, in this region, are stricken with memory loss without the need for insomnia or a virus. We are, essentially, unknown beings unworthy of being called human—and it would be unfair to animals to compare us to them. Where is our loyalty compared to that of dogs? Show me any animal that betrays its own herd and delivers it to wolves and predators. Show me any animal, bird, or insect that demanded its kind cut off their claws and pull out their fangs to offer them to the wolves, because they had promised to become vegetarians once they got them!
Show me any nation on Earth that accepted being ruled by a butcher of unknown origin and identity, with a history stained by the blood of thousands of victims—victims he himself admitted to killing in audio recordings still online.
Show me a chicken or cow that would accept being guarded by wild wolves like those roaming around Syria under the name “General Security”!
Let’s set all this aside. Treachery is one of the traits of Arabs, like generosity and others. They betrayed their own Prophet and his pure family, and cursed Ali in their mosques for forty years—so how could martyr Gaddafi escape their treachery? Gaddafi, who provided them with free housing, water, electricity, and aid to anyone who wanted to get married. The Great Man-Made River Project alone is a miracle. True, it wasn’t from his own pocket, but unlike the emperors of Africa and the Arab kings and presidents, he didn’t build golden palaces, and his women didn’t wear shoes adorned with gemstones. He remained the son of the tent and the desert. The real tragedy is that no one in Libya today is willing to say, “Sorry, Mr. President.”
How could the late Hafez al-Assad escape their betrayal? Syria before him was absolutely nothing—no education, no healthcare, no development, no army, no security. It was a playground for the great powers, to the extent that the wretched Adnan Menderes, then Prime Minister of Turkey, conspired with Ben-Gurion to invade Syria from the north and south and divide it between them. Were it not for the intervention of the late leader Nasser, Syrians today would be speaking Hebrew and Turkish—and this is, in any case, what is happening and will continue to happen under the butcher al-Jolani.
In just three years after coming to power, Hafez al-Assad built an army that fought the “invincible” Zionist entity. If not for Sadat’s betrayal, the war and its results would have had a very different story.
I won’t go on too much longer, but I’ll ask those afflicted with amnesia:
When, in history, did the poor—especially rural folks—become doctors, engineers, or even educated in the first place? When did such people become ministers and officials or even have the right to enter governments that were reserved for bourgeoisie, feudal lords, and wealthy elites?
And after all this, the only thing the heartless, mindless people saw in him was that he was Alawite?! It’s fine for a Sunni president from their own sect to humiliate them, rape their women, and rule them cruelly—but for an Alawite to elevate them is unacceptable, and they will fight and topple him no matter what he does!
By the way, this was Hafez al-Assad’s complex more than it was a Sunni one—though the criminal Muslim Brotherhood helped deepen and cement it in their followers’ minds. I am certain that if a Sunni had been in power, the Alawites’ situation would have been a thousand times better, because Hafez al-Assad was so careful not to allow any development in the coastal region to be interpreted as favoritism toward his sect at the expense of Sunnis. In short, it was an inferiority complex and an effort to deflect any sectarian accusations.
By the way, in 1982, a delegation of Alawite sheikhs met with President Assad and asked to be included in the Ministry of Religious Endowments (Awqaf) and to receive salaries like other preachers and mosque imams across the country. Assad responded that the Ministry of Awqaf is a Sunni endowment and belongs solely to the Sunnis, not all sects. It wasn’t in his hands or under his authority. If they wanted a source of income, they could volunteer for the army, and he could assign them to their regions to continue their religious service. And that’s what happened. Most Alawite sheikhs volunteered at the rank of sergeant—even those with university degrees—and many retired as senior sergeants. Because if they volunteered as officers, they’d have to serve in military units, and it wouldn’t make sense for a mosque imam to hold the rank of brigadier general, for example.
Hafez al-Assad was aware of the whispers on the street about him, and he made sure to hear every joke circulating about him and the government. He used them to shape his positions. That’s why he was so keen to ensure the government was made up of Sunnis, as well as the top military commanders—like the Minister of Defense, Chief of Staff, and directors of departments in the General Staff—most of whom were Sunnis, Druze, or Kurds. Naturally, some Alawites were present too—that is their right, after all. So all the rumors about Alawite control of the army and security branches are worthless. Let anyone with proof bring me names—I have archives and rely on facts. I’m not defending anyone, just speaking a word of truth in the face of an unjust and oppressive people.
0 Comments