Syrians living abroad say it is too late to accept any reforms from Assad

The bloodshed and the brutality directed against protesters in Syria make it impossible to accept any promises of reform from the country’s regime, Syrians living abroad say.

“It is far too late to accept reforms, especially after the fall of 3,000 martyrs,” said Maram, a 35-year-old Syrian Canadian who lives in Windsor, Ontario.

Maram, who posts many videos online of the violent crackdown against protestors, said the majority of Syrians are eager to end the rule of Basher al-Assad.

A Syrian-American woman, who because she plans to visit her homeland soon did not want to disclose her name, said the protesters in Syria are “heroes.”

She added that that the majority of Syrians living in California, her place of residence, are against the Assad regime and dream of its defeat.

She said she knew of only two Syrian women – she described them as oddballs – who were pro-Assad, and one of them had recently shifted sides.

One of the women, she said, is a distant relative of the Syrian president’s wife, Asmaa, and the other is a former supporter who during a recent visit to the country changed her allegiance after witnessing the violence directed against protesters.

Meanwhile, another Dubai resident, an expatriate who left Syria 20 years ago, estimated that half of Syrians are pro-Assad and the other half are not, and that there is no such thing as a “conspicuous majority.”

Samir’s first impression upon seeing the brutality of the Assad regime was shock. “At first when I was watching TV I couldn’t believe that there is such a government that kills its people,” he said.

But during a phone call with his relatives in Damascus, his hometown, Samir’s concern and worries eased. (Samir asked that his last name not be used.) “My relatives in Syria told me not to watch TV, they told me it is exaggerated and to not worry,” he said.

Samir pointed out that Syria is located between Lebanon, Israel and Iraq, and that a change of the Syrian regime could bring about dire security repercussions in the country. At the same time, however, he concurred with other Syrians who have said that development in the country has been anemic during Assad’s rule.

But Samir’s undecided attitude changed when his 21-year-old son, who lives in Syria, said that he is pro-Assad. “I was surprised, and my son is a good person.”

Samir now no longer watches TV programs about the situation in Syria, and has doubts about what would take Assad’s place.
“Who says if the regime falls there will be a new democratic government? And there is no clear opposition yet.”

At first when I was watching TV I couldn’t believe that there is such a government that kills its people

Samir, a Syrian citizen living in the UAE

Silent majority

According to most of the Syrians interviewed for this article, there is a silent majority that is against the regime, but that group is afraid to publicly support the protesters.

“We have a silent majority that does not know the truth, and even if they try to know they will reject the truth out of fear,” said Ayman Abdel Nour, editor in chief of the All4Syria, a website. “There are people who do not accept that there is still some Shabiha.”

Shabiha is a group that gained notoriety when Hafez al-Assad, Basher’s father, ruled the country. Some Syrians claim that the Shabiha era is over, but witnesses said that they are back helping the regime by killing and torturing dissenters and protestors.

“For the past four decades, the Assad regime has almost brainwashed people’s thinking; they used the Arab-Israeli struggle as an excuse to stunt any growth in the county and to secure party officials’ positions,” Nour said. “The regime has tightened their grip and controlled the media,” Nour said.

Like many Syrians, Nour says his country has “the natural and human resources to be a successful country, but the regime has pillaged Syria.”

One of the reasons the silent majority in Syria do not proclaim its opposition to the regime is because of fears that Islamists would take over or that the country would explode in sectarian violence.

“Islamists are only used as a scarecrow by the regime, although we cannot deny their existence,” said one Syrian expat, who wished to remain anonymous.

“The reason why Damascus was late [in showing its protests against the regime] is because the city is basically like a full-security apparatus brigade.”
The Syrian arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, like its Egyptian counterpart, did not demand that Syria be made into an Islamic state, but asked that it be a civil one.

The Syrian expat interviewed for this article who wished to remain fully anonymous said he has heard reports from reliable sources that members of the Syrian military have also been on the receiving end of the regime’s violence.

“From direct sources I know that soldiers who do not shoot against protesters will be shot at,” he said.

“All I can say is that that there is a consensus among Syrians that there is corruption in the country,” Nour said. “The regime is playing sectarianism as a card, saying if the regime is toppled then Christians, Allawites, and Druze will be killed.”

There is also an agreement among anti-Assad individuals that the Syrian regime is using the “Islamist” alarm in an effort to shore up support among the country’s minorities and secular groups.

The scare tactic is also used with merchants and businessmen, Nour said, who have been warned of higher taxes if Assad falls from power.
“Syria is different from Lebanon, but the regime tries to use it as a pretext,” said Nour.

For Maram, it is not religion or a certain background that is creating an incentive for Syrians to protest against the regime, corruption and the state’s “terrorism.”

She also said that despite Sunnis being the majority in the country, each minority group would be be represented through its leaders, a view that is also shared by the American-Syrian woman.

“We do not have sectarianism in Syria…We have seen churches turning into hospitals to treat the wounded, for example,” Maram added.

“Syrians are an intelligent and mature nation,” said the man who insisted upon full anonymity, a view that other interviewed shared. They all insist that there can be peaceful co-existence in the country post-Assad.

Islamists are only used as a scarecrow by the regime, although we cannot deny their existence

A Syrian expat in Dubai