The Lesson the Syrians Have Not Learned

Enab Baladi Issue # 111 – Sun, Apr. 6, 2014 – Editorial

A few days ago a new campaign was launched on social media websites supporting the city of Aleppo which has been shelled by barrels of explosives. SAVE_ALEPPO was the slogan for the campaign that aimed at motivating the international and western public opinion in order to exert pressure to end, or at least alleviate, the suffering of the city by using a common hashtag on both Twitter and Facebook.

What was particularly striking is that each group of activists used its own version of what is supposed to be a common hashtag, causing the campaign to starch too thin as followers dispersed following several sub-campaigns; and thus the campaign lost its central aim of expressinga large-scale solidarity with the people of Aleppo.

Comparably, Assad supporters launched a similar campaign calling to SAVE_KASAB from alleged violations carried out by opposition fighters against Armanian and Christian civilians in the area. The campaign, though based on fabricated accusations, succeeded in sparking major upheaval in the international community and among various artists and politicians, only because it managed to focus and to mobilize support on one link.

The problem is not limited to the chaotic media campaigns, but it actually lies in the reality of revolutionary work on the ground where the opposition is divided into many fractions and groups adopting different strategies and pursuing different visions; whereas Al-Assad utilizes the power of all his supporters and allies including the foreign militias to implement one strategy set out and oriented by a unified command.

Unless the Syrians realize and acknowledge this flaw in their own strategy, it will soon bring their self-destruction.