On Sunday, September 1, 2024, celebrating the first anniversary of the start of the national movement in Sweida, the Association Alsace-Syrie in France held a panel discussion in Strasbourg that focused on the Sweida movement. Dr. Yahya Alaridi and Mr. Jabr al-Shoufi participated in the discussion before a small group of Syrians and the association’s president Nazeeh Kaseebi, focusing on the movement’s relevance to the fate of Syria. The session was moderated by engineer Ibrahim Alloush and was broadcast live on the association’s Facebook page.
Both panelists provided insights into the factors contributing to the movement’s resilience, its impacts, and the prospects for its development. In response to a question, Dr. Alaridi, a former professor at Damascus University, expressed his optimism that the regime and its supporting forces will not be able to impose their agenda of international “rehabilitation.”
When asked about the importance of overcoming the sectarian strife in Syria, and when our common Syrian citizenship will mean more than our being members of sects or tribes, Dr. Alaridi said: “The entity that benefits most from this narrative and the sectarian and identity-based conflict, is the authoritarian regime. Our story is not about sects in Syria”.
“Rehabilitating this regime is impossible despite all attempts by Turkey, Russia, and the normalization efforts by Arab countries. Iran insists on having a seat at the decision-making table. The economy is collapsing, and people are in a state of misery and desolation.”
Dr. Yahya Alaridi
Dr. Alaridi also emphasized that the movement in Sweida is distinctly Syrian and represents an opportunity for all Syrians to renew their revolution.
When asked about the rationale for his optimistic view that the regime and its supporting forces will not be able to impose their agenda of “rehabilitation,” Dr. Alaridi said: “Rehabilitating this regime is impossible despite all attempts by Turkey, Russia, and the normalization efforts by Arab countries. Iran insists on having a seat at the decision-making table. The economy is collapsing, and people are in a state of misery and desolation. All these factors make me optimistic, which is why the Sweida movement is important and its continuation is crucial.”
Mr. al-Shoufi discussed the role of political entities, which alongside civil society raise political slogans and demands for a sustainable livelihood, saying that these actions are neither wrong nor unreasonable.
Like Dr. Alaridi, Mr. al-Shoufi is also a native of the Sweida province. He is also a former member of the “Syrian Communist Party,” who lived in Aleppo. A former detainee of the Assad regime, Mr. al-Shoufi was one of the first signatories of the 2005 Damascus Declaration and is currently residing outside Syria. Mr. al-Shoufi discussed the role of political entities, which alongside civil society raise political slogans and demands for a sustainable livelihood, saying that these actions are neither wrong nor unreasonable.
Dr. Mohamad Amin al-Midani, a Human Rights Professor at the University of Strasbourg, also spoke with the attendees, stating that the West must inevitably take a fair and humane stance toward Syria and the Syrian people’s cause to hold Assad accountable regarding all the violations and atrocities towards the Syrian people in as much as their human rights were, and still are, being violated by the Assad regime.
These meetings and dialogues empower and assist Syrians in the diaspora to unite in their decisions and vision regarding Syria and to work towards return and liberation from the tyrants.
In addition to the subject matter being discussed, this approach to dialogue, the exchange of ideas, and the honesty and openness with which the discussion was conducted with all participants created a broad space that inspires hope for the reviving of dialogue, effectiveness, and national maturity that Syrians have lost in determining the fate of their country under the oppressive regime.
Wherever Syrians find themselves living today, it is the shared burden of the Syrian national crisis that brings all free Syrians together in the diaspora. No longer living in a country where children were taught from an early age that “the walls have ears”, the barrier of fear and silence has been broken. These meetings and dialogues empower and assist Syrians in the diaspora to unite in their decisions and vision regarding Syria and to work towards return and liberation from the tyrants.
