What's Really Happening in Syria?

Questions we should ask ourselves regarding events in Syria in particular, and the MENA (Middle East & North Africa) in general to understand what's really happening:


1) Who are those appearing in foreign media as taking to the streets protesting against Syrian Govt?
2) Where are these protests taking place in Syria?
3) What are they calling for?
4) What are their means when protesting?
5) Who supports them?
6) Why they have an unchallenged priority in coverage above other could be more important news?


First we need to know that Syria is a very diversitified society that has a minority of every ethnic or religious sect known to the wider region, we should also keep in mind that the Syrians have seen most of the aggressors during history and managed to get their independence hence they became ulta-sensitive towards any foreign intervention in their internal matters, they'll simply regather, forget their differences and fight the foreign intervention.


Let's try to answer these questions.


1) Who are those appearing in foreign media as taking to the streets protesting against Syrian Govt? 
Daily so many news channels show footage of large numbers of crowds protesting in several cities in Syria against the govt, many of these news channels took on its shoulders to keep posting these protests all day, all week and rebroadcast it several times, and in many times keep the 'Live' symbol appearing to give an illusion that these are live endless protests. 


By the look at the protesters, most of them will not show faces, recording their protests from behind, or from a distance, but in case we believe that these protesters are Syrians and are actually in Syria, who are they?


Based on the narrations while broadcasting these protests it hints that it covers most of the Syrian territories making it appear like a mass popular movement. Obviously those participating in the protests are from poor and poorest areas based on their looks, cloth and neighborhoods. So these are poor people protesting, and not educated elite or organized political parties or unions.


2) Where are these protests taking place in Syria?
As in our above answer (1), we hinted that it meant to show that it covers all over Syria, but does it? For the past 5 months, ie after the famous Hama 900,000 protesters (number refuted by logic and many media analysts since the entire population doesn't exceed 2 million all over the province) we stopped seeing mass protests in known cities, or centers of provinces. The only reported protests are taking place in remote villages with names like: Kafr Nibl (كفر نبل), Ibtaa (ابطع), Bayyada (بياضة), Dael (داعل).. Now thanks to Google and their revolutionary product: Google Maps, I invite the readers to locate these protest hotbeds on the map.


As we see, remote villages, mostly near borders with other countries, with extremely low populations -not exceeding 5,000 in most cases- are seeing protests demanding the change of the regime!


In a 'Democracy' that's absurd, because they don't stand a chance in a country of 23 million population, in a 'Republic' their rights will be respected, their voices will not be heard. 


3) What are they calling for?
What are these 'protests' demanding? To take to the streets against an 'oppressing brutal regime' there should be grieve demands to allow undesirable consequences that pushes people to protest, so in this case their demands should be very much life touching to take the chance of losing life for?!


At the beginning of protests in March, when events in Syria started unfolding, people were asking for the replacement of the governor and a security chief in Daraa city to the south of Syria, near Jordanian borders. The governor was replaced, the security chief was replaced, but protests turned violent, the court house after replacing the governor was attacked, torched, public and security buildings attacked, rioters used sniper rifles and pump-actions to attack army & security posts in the city, demands increased and the ousting of the president started to be heard with the infamous slogan: "The People Demand the Downfall of the Regime" "الشعب يريد إسقاط النظام".. the same slogan used all over the 'Arab Spring' affected countries from Egypt to Tunisia to Libya to Yemen..


To demand the downfall of the 'regime' requires grave reasons and mass protests and not to start with small local issues and tiny protests accompanied with violent riots.


If we add over 9 million Syrians rallying in support of the president during the month November in the main cities of Syria, to add that many cities never witnessed a single protest, not even with a 100 person protesting, something is wrong about labeling it popular protests. We should know that Damascus, Aleppo, Latakia, Tartous, Al Rigga, Hasaka Suwaida, Qunaitra didn't witness any anti-govt protest, that's a huge indication justifying the doubtful reasons behind 'anti-govt protests'. Keep in mind that Damascus and Aleppo by themselves have about half of the population of the whole of Syria.


Yet, president Assad took brave and very substantial steps towards reforming the entire political system in Syria, starting with dismissing the previous government, forming a new one, forming committees that introduced new laws governing Media, Parties, Constitution, Elections, Local Administration.. etc. Most finished their work and the progress in others is admirable.


So what do these people really want, protesting in small numbers in remote cities, mostly close to the borders? Should their demands of the downfall of the entire 'regime' be taking seriously? Name a country that does so, and we'll look into their experience.


4) What are their means when protesting? 
A protest is known to be peaceful, but when weapons from kitchen knives to AK47 rifles and more, that is called violent riots and their participants could be referred to as armed gangs.


Placards calling for better politics/ life enhancing slogans can be found in a peaceful protest, placards calling for the hanging of the president of a country, is a provocative criminal call.


Marching in a number throughout a road in a city calling for demands can be called a peaceful protest, not mentioning the requirement of a license from authorities, while gathering in groups then attacking an army base, a public building, destroying properties, killing police officers cannot be seen as a 'peaceful protest', it should be called: A Terrorist Act, or in a softer note: An armed mafia attack.


5) Who supports them?
As we said earlier above, Syrians are ultra sensitive to foreigners meddling with their internal country matters, think of an enemy state supporting riots in Syria?!


Whatever the cause of protests can be understood, but when it comes to be supported by weapons, money and covered in media by enemy states, especially in Syria that's seen as a terrorist plot, conspiracy theories will come on mind, because it is not thought of a Syrian taking aide from an enemy state to topple his own regime for whatsoever reason, except under the perspective of a conspiracy plot to invade his country.


The United States of America is not considered a friendly country in Syria keeping in mind its decades long support of israel that occupies Syrian land among other Arab lands, and oppress Syrians among oppressing other Arabs in its apartheid policies. Thus any support by the USA to any group or individuals in Syria is looked upon with suspicion of spying to helping in invading. Syrians also saw what the USA has down for 8 years after invading Iraq to devastating the entire country, killing a million Iraqi and displacing over 4 millions, they also saw what happened when USA and friends in NATO protected Libyans by securing their way to heavens in a genocide. 


6) Why they have an unchallenged priority in coverage above other could be more important news? 
Syria is a very important geopolitical country, its stance against israel, thus imperialism, makes it the most important part of a chain of countries that still stands out of the USA hegemony. Destroying Syria is to USA as destroying Nazi Germany to the Allies during WWII.


Al Jazeera was chosen to be a mouthpiece for NATO backed 'revolutions' in the Arab World, dubbed the 'Arab Spring', for its built up credibility over 11 years, and its acceptance by most of the Arabs as a trustworthy news source, add to it the proclaimed role it had in anti-Mubarak of Egypt protests and others. The role of Al Jazeera was essential to continue the chain of countries split and visited by the 'Arab Spring'. Its role was defaced by Syrians and namely a private-owned satellite channel in Syria 'Addounia' that also was subject to an unprecedented sanction by the EU to block its satellite broadcasting on the European Satellites just because it was able to deface the Al Jazeera and show the warmongering and propaganda it was spreading in order to achieve the biggest goal, 'The New Middle East' by a "creative chaos" that will lead to the New World Order, eventually.


Foreign and other Arab based media started quoting Al Jazeera for news, which Al Jazeera was quoting vague unknown 'Activist' mostly based in Europe telling events and 'brutality' of the Syrian government and security forces 'oppressing' the 'peaceful protesters'. So much of credibility falls when you just follow the line of reporting. Some news houses had to apologize for misinformation and wrong reporting more than once, then they were forced to just follow the leader 'Al Jazeera' which also follows its leaders in the US Secretary of State Near East Office under the official Jefferey Feltman. Among those news houses complicit we can find: Reuters (and what it represents in the media world), CNN, FoxNews (of course), Washington Post, LA Times, NY Post and many others. Al Arabiya pan Arab news channel is just a smaller clone of Al Jazeera.


Same could be applied to tools used by the US Administration that it can have access to.


From all of the above, we come to the concluding question: Is what's happening in Syria peaceful protests against demanding better political contribution against a brutal regime? Or if we look down from an upper level, it is a plot to destroy and slice those countries not fully under the US hegemony and replace their existing governments with ones that are puppets used by the US administrations? 

I'll leave the answer to you.