Issue # 72 – Sunday July 7, 2013

Disconsolate Egypt; Saudi Arabia Look No Further

The National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces finished off its meetings with electing Sheikh Ahmed Assi Al Jarba the new leader, Badr Jamous the secretary General, and other three deputies.

The competition between Al Jarba, the Saudi-backed candidate, and Mustafa Al Sabbagh allied by Qatar, was “fierce”, according to attendees of the meetings. Al Jabra, supported by the alliance of “democratic” and Islamic parties, won the fierce competition over Qatari forces, which includes both democratic and Islamic parties as well.

We are all aware that the Coalition’s role has come to an end long ago; besides, any possible qualitative weapon supplies would come through the general staff under the leadership of Salim Idriss. However, what happened, and what is still happening, in the Coalition is a disgrace to the Revolution as well as to the sacrifices and pains of the Syrian people.

The Arab Spring has been deformed by the dismal performance of the political elite, who regard the region-wide revolutions as a means of their ascent and as political gains, rather than historical moments or unique opportunities to win liberty and emancipation, and to remove both internal and external restraints.

The general public in Egypt would have never taken part in a rally in support of the military coup d’ e’tat against its first democratically elected president had it not been for the elite’s part in convincing people that the military rule is better off than a fake democracy built on antagonism and hostility.

What happened in Egypt, not to mention what is happening in Syria, confirms that the elite committed a crime against their peoples and against history, a crime that the coming generations will not acquit them of, indeed.