PUBLISHED IN THE WASHINGTON POST ON SEP14,2016
Mr. President
On June the 20th, 2011, in an address to his supporters, Assad referred to the peaceful demonstrators calling for freedom, dignity and economic equality as “bacteria” needing elimination.
Shortly after Assad inherited presidency, the ” new” and ” youthful” tyrant, surpassed his father’s legacy, with his slick support for terrorism and oppressive practices. Human Rights Watch called his first ten years as president “the wasted decade”.
When calls for freedom and dignity spread to every corner of Syria, Assad ordered his loyal commanders and thugs to kill, torture, besiege, starve and expel his own people. Their terrorizing slogan was: “Assad or Syria burns”.
Almost immediately, the Iranian government joined in, providing Assad with direct military, intelligence and political support, and resurrecting ages-old theological dispute that had never divided Syrians before. Together, they attempted fear mongering and played sectarian agenda. Syrians celebrate their diversity. The Iranian government fears it.
Compounding this tragedy was the entrance of Mr. Putin with an ideology that despises democracy and sees human beings as mere obedient creatures to a “state” operated by invisible forces, fueled by deceit and mockery for human dignity. For Mr. Putin, the manipulation of a country’s constitution and ignoring human rights is just another day at the office.
Mr. President, Syria is not a multi-ethnic country like others, where civil wars have erupted. Syria is a crossroads of all civilization. It is a ten-thousand-year old nation, where Abraham, St. Paul, and Mohammad had walked. The Syrian people are the definition of tolerance and diversity. Syria is a country where people offer you their loaf of bread before taking a bite.
The orchestrated efforts by Putin and Assad are not- as many think- a “realistic approach” to a deeply divided country. It is a relentless devotion to destroying any dream of victory of human spirit. Putin and Assad are destroying thousand-year-old towns, starving populations into submission and forcing them to leave. Their homes and properties are given away as rewards to thugs and killers. All of this has resulted in a sinister de-facto demographic changes that amount to ethnic cleansing.
Mr. President, the suffering in Syria will define your legacy, how would you like it to be written?
Mr. President, please put an end to this cruel international game of chess of systematic displacement and extermination of millions of innocent Syrians who have become helpless victims of unspeakable atrocities tantamount to crimes against humanity and genocide.
Mr. President, “political realism” is a not applicable, nor acceptable, when what‘s at stake is a whole nation and its people! Stop the partition of Syria immediately, by calling for a United Nations resolution, forbidding the partition of Syria by any entity or state, banning demographic changes, preserving the pre-2011 ownership of land and property, and protecting the rights of Syrian refugees inside and outside Syria to return to their homes.
Please contact Unitedsyriaforever@gmail.com for more information.
المصدر: An open letter From Syrian Americans to President Barack Obama
