Enab Baladi Issue # 94 – Sun, Dec. 8, 2013 – Editorial

Ever since the outbreak of the Syrian Revolution the West has been especially concerned with the rights of minorities in Syria, always warning about aggression against them as if the Syrian people have been fed sectarianism already and are waiting to seize the first chance to bare hidden intentions. While it is more appropriate for the West to call for Assad to end the shelling of Ma’loula’s monasteries instead of attacking the Free Army which is doing its duty by protecting the sisters and nuns and helping them move away from the shelling of Martaqla Monastery.

A question arises, why these same western countries do not condemn –singing the same tone- the atrocious massacre committed against women and children in Al Nabk by Iraqi fighters filled with sectarian hate celebrating their atrocities over the burned and slaughtered bodies.

Damascus, the city that has always been a home for Muslims, Christians, and Jews, is brimming over with sectarian slogans calling for revenge and reprisal, speaking out aloud about a new sectarian project in the area. Meanwhile, the West is developing new bonds with Tahran, the sponsor of the sectarian project.

The destruction of more than 1500 mosques was not enough for western society to demand ending the systematic “ethnic cleansing” in Syria, nor was the detention of thousands of men of religion for over than two years in Assad’s underground detention for western officials to mention them, let alone calling for their release.

The double standards prescribed by the west are the actual incentive for sectarianism among the Syrian people since it is leaving them with the feeling of being neglected, unjustly treated, and of being under deliberate media blackout; a feeling that threatens to destroy the fabric of the Syrian society.