{"id":173,"date":"2014-04-30T10:12:04","date_gmt":"2014-04-30T10:12:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.di4sr.com\/en\/?p=173"},"modified":"2014-04-30T10:12:04","modified_gmt":"2014-04-30T10:12:04","slug":"israel-last-hope-indicates-syrian-dissident","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.di4sr.com\/en\/israel-last-hope-indicates-syrian-dissident\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel is our last hope, indicates Syrian dissident"},"content":{"rendered":"

The West and the Arabs have created a \u2018fake\u2019 Syrian opposition to keep Assad in power, says veteran oppositionist Kamal Labwani<\/span><\/p>\n

When Syrian dissident Kamal Al-Labwani was nearing the end of his tenth year in Adra Prison outside Damascus, he met a teenager from his hometown of Zabadani who had just been incarcerated by the Assad regime. It was June 2011<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was crying. I asked him: \u2018Were you beaten? Were you broken?\u2019 He said: \u2018What right did state security have to sexually violate me? I only demonstrated.\u2019 A month later he was carrying arms.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

The Syrian revolution did not have to turn violent, Labwani told The Times of Israel in a telephone conversation from Amman, Jordan, recalling the early days of the uprising, which erupted in the southern city of Daraa in March 2011. Syrians took up arms, he said, after the Assad regime treated the population in a \u201ccriminal, unacceptable way.\u201d Now, he asserted,\u00a0there\u2019s no going back on toppling Bashar Assad by all possible means.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cOur dispute with Assad is not political. It\u2019s criminal. The man perpetrated the crimes of corruption and authoritarianism \u2014 all this is trivial. But he intentionally humiliated people and killed them in cold blood. This is why the revolution began.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Syrian<\/a>

Syrian President Bashar Assad, center, speaks with Syrian citizens during his visit to Ain al-Tineh village, near Damascus, Syria, April 20, 2014. (photo credit: AP\/SANA)<\/p><\/div>\n

It is extremely rare for a Syrian dissident to speak openly with Israeli media, but Labwani, who has sought political asylum in Sweden, believes the Syrian uprising has shattered many Arab taboos, including the cultural Arab taboo on engaging Israel.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI am not the only one [who speaks to Israelis]; there are many others like me. Three years of revolution have destroyed many intellectual and cultural principles,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople today have begun thinking outside the box, exploring two fundamental things: changing ourselves and seeking help.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u2018Seeking help\u2019<\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

Labwani is angry both with the West and with the Arab world. Both camps, he feels, have failed the Syrian people, depriving moderate opposition forces fighting Assad of weapons essential to toppling the regime. Politically, Arab states \u2014 along with Western superpowers \u2014 have appointed corrupt Syrian expatriates to represent the opposition in exile, depriving it of all legitimacy with the broad Syrian public.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Discouraged by the opposition\u2019s traditional allies, Labwani now believes Israel is the Syrians\u2019 best hope. The Jewish state has both the military capacity to help the Syrian opposition and the strategic incentive to do so.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>

A wounded Syrian child and her father at the Western Galilee Hospital in Nahariya, March 11, 2014 (photo credit: courtesy\/Western Galilee Hospital)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cIsrael is able to change the international mood,\u201d he said. \u201cYou have ties with all decision-making centers in neighboring countries, and could change opinions if you would be convinced to.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Many in the West are glad to view Syria as a battleground for Hezbollah and al-Qaeda to shed each other\u2019s blood, in a\u00a0seemingly\u00a0endless war of attrition. But Labwani believes that mode of thinking is misguided; Israel stands to suffer from a protracted civil war, and is the only country capable of convincing the world to let Assad go.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is the moderate forces which are being eroded, while the extremist powers are growing stronger. Hezbollah is much stronger today, holding strategic weapons. Half the chemical weapons owned by the [Assad] regime were given to it. Areas which [Hezbollah] occupies today are either being inhabited by Iraqi Shiites or converted to Shiism \u2026 this is a great danger not just for me, but for you [Israel] as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you want to befriend the Syrians, send a message of friendship. I tell you, my people are ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"In<\/a>

In this Friday, Jan. 6, 2012 photo, Kamal al-Labwani, 54, speaks to a crowd during an anti-Assad rally in Amman, Jordan (photo credit: AP\/Mohammad Hannon)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

The field hospital established by the IDF on the Syrian border<\/a>\u00a0has had a significant positive impact on Israel\u2019s image among the population of southern Syria, Labwani said. Nevertheless, most Syrians are still convinced that Israel is backing Bashar Assad, a sentiment that can be changed through a clear Israeli stance.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIf today 90 percent of Syrians believe you support Assad, what have you gained? Nothing. In my opinion, a clear political declaration from Israel saying Assad is a criminal will have a very important impact. Today, we hear conflicting statements.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But a moral position by Israel is not enough. Israel must extend military assistance to Syrian forces fighting Assad, based on the internationally recognized \u201cresponsibility to protect,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Israelis<\/a>

Israelis and tourists look at a fire caused by fighting in Syria from an observation point on Mt. Bental in the Golan Heights, near the border between Israel and Syria (photo credit: AP\/Sebastian Scheiner)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cIf you only helped us intercept low-flying [regime] helicopters by providing a limited amount of antiaircraft weapons, with American approval, it would have a huge effect, morally and militarily,\u201d Labwani said. \u201cThere are a million ways such weapons can be given to recognized people [in the opposition]. These weapons have \u2018fingerprints\u2019 and deactivation modes.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Alternatively, he said, Israel could declare a no-fly zone in southern Syria, as NATO did in Libya in its bid to topple Muammar Gaddafi. Such a move would immediately cause a large segment of Syrian society to support peace and normalization with Israel.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

An interview published with Labwani last month, in which he reportedly\u00a0offered Israel control over the Golan Heights in return for militarily supporting the Syrian opposition<\/a>, triggered a flurry of Arab comments accusing him of selling out to the Jewish state. But the Syrian dissident told The Times of Israel that he was misquoted, merely proposing negotiations over the disputed territory, which was captured by Israel in 1967.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIf it were a matter of selling [the Golan], I would sell it to Jordan if it were willing to buy,\u201d he joked, but then added more seriously: \u201cWe could open universities, industrial zones, parks. The Golan could be used as a peace resort \u2026 the area could be administered in a way that would alleviate the fears of both sides.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

\u2018I fear that if [Israel] does not respond \u2026 [the Syrian] people will not want to do anything for many years\u2019<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

A window of opportunity currently allows hope for cooperation between Israel and the Syrian public, but that window will not stay open forever, Labwani warned.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI fear that if [Israel] does not respond \u2026 [the Syrian] people will not want to do anything for many years.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Labwani has conveyed these messages to Israeli decision-makers, whom he said have been receptive. But he is interested in communicating directly with the Israeli public, trying to create a broad support base for his ideas.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u2018Changing ourselves\u2019<\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

In January, Labwani resigned from the political committee of the Syrian National Coalition, an opposition group established in Qatar in late 2012 and currently headed by Ahmad Al-Jarba. The immediate reason for his resignation was the opposition\u2019s willingness to take part in the Geneva II negotiations with the Assad regime in February.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI believed Geneva was a move to rebuild the [Assad] regime,\u201d Labwani said. \u201cWe created the [Opposition] Coalition to topple the regime, not engage in dialogue with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Western and Arab teams entrusted with overseeing deliberations in Geneva were \u201cextremely stupid,\u201d Labwani said, accusing them of ignoring Syria\u2019s reality.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Saudis were the worst, followed by the French, the British and the Americans. They worked in a very bad manner, leading to a catastrophe in Syria which could have been averted.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Rather than build the capacity of Syrian institutions, Western negotiators appointed their own \u201cagents or collaborators,\u201d mostly associated with the Muslim Brotherhood, hoping they would become Syria\u2019s legitimate opposition. They have also appointed \u201cfake\u201d representatives of Syria\u2019s minorities with no grassroots support inside the country, marginalizing Syrians \u201cwho fought and were deported\u201d from the decision-making process.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Burhan<\/a>

Burhan Ghalioun, leader of the opposition Syrian National Council (SNC), left, shakes hands with one of the attendees during the meeting of the General Assembly of the Syrian National Council in Doha, Qatar, Sunday, November 4, 2012 (photo credit: AP\/Osama Faisal)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMore than once I\u2019ve heard Americans say that \u2018the Brotherhood must lead this stage.\u2019 We told them: \u2018The Brotherhood are extremists, not moderates. This is not Islam which is appropriate for civilization. There should be another reading of the Islamic faith, which hasn\u2019t emerged yet, but help us foster it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

According to Labwani, Arab states are not interested in Syrian democracy but only in weakening Iran. The West, for its part, seeks stability through maintaining the Assad regime or its \u201cdeep state.\u201d Labwani accuses the United States in particular of harboring racist sentiments toward Syrians.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

\u2018More than once I\u2019ve heard Americans say that \u2018the Brotherhood must lead this stage.\u2019 We told them: \u2018The Brotherhood are extremists, not moderates\u2019<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve sensed not only misunderstanding [by the Americans] but also racist thinking. There\u2019s no solidarity, no sense that we are a people with a different identity, who have the right to express it \u2026 Until now, the American team is unsympathetic to the Syrian people. It is tasked with protecting us, but doesn\u2019t like us. There\u2019s a certain contradiction \u2026 I believe that thwarting the opposition was a strategic goal in order to maintain the [Assad] regime.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Labwani himself was used as part of the Western attempt to legitimize the opposition as authentic. He was named as a member of the Syrian National Council (SNC) while still in prison in 2011, without his knowledge.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThey utilized my name to claim they have support on the inside, that they have objectors on their side,\u201d said the dissident, freed from jail eight months into the Syrian uprising as a result of massive pressure from the Arab League\u00a0and international rights groups<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cLook how wise they were,\u201d he adds sarcastically, referring to his association with an opposition organization while he was still serving time for subversive activities. \u201cThey [the opposition] had no problem with the regime executing me or keeping me in jail, as long as they used my name.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Labwani was released from jail in November 2011, only to discover that the SNC \u201chad no leadership, no connection to Syria, and no idea of what\u2019s happening inside.\u201d He voiced his grievances to Burhan Ghalioun, a France-based sociology professor appointed as the first head of the SNC, but was disappointed by his response.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Kamal<\/a>

Kamal Al-Labwani (left), attends a meeting at the European Parliament in Brussels, June 2012 (photo credit: AP\/Yves Logghe)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c[Ghalioun] didn\u2019t want to listen. All he cared about was personal gains, hotels, traveling and photo opportunities. The SNC was nothing more than a secular cover for the Muslim Brotherhood, which operated secretly behind the scenes and was to lead a single-party state, like the Baath party.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Syrian National Coalition was created in November 2012 by the Jordanians, Lebanese and Saudis, wishing to form a counterbalance to the Islamist-dominated SNC which was backed by Qatar and Turkey. To Labwani\u2019s chagrin, that organization too lost its independence to the West, as well as to Qatar and Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI left it, and began working on my own,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Today, Labwani travels between Turkey, Jordan and Europe; trying to garner support for his\u00a0idiosyncratic\u00a0ideas. Asked whether he planned to return to practicing medicine, Labwani\u00a0laughed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think so. I was forced to work on more important issues,\u201d he said. \u201cUltimately, my work is a form of medicine: healing my society.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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