The transition from peace to peace
The transition from peace to peace
Nawras Al-Wadi – Busra
The Syrian revolution enters its twelfth year, during which many slogans were raised emphasizing the unity of the Syrian people despite their religious, ethnic, and political affiliations. The revolution advocates the unity of the people and the army, considering the army as a part of the people. It is a peaceful revolution against a repressive and bloody regime.
The peaceful movement faced bullets, tanks, and arrests affecting everyone, including women and children. Despite the excessive violence used by the regime against opposition demonstrations, the revolution maintained its peaceful nature for more than a year, according to the acknowledgment of the regime’s president, who stated that the revolution remained peaceful until mid-2012.
Perhaps what explains the peaceful nature of the movement in the face of bullets is the Syrians’ desire for a non-violent revolution, a revolution without bloodshed or killings based on sectarian or ethnic grounds. However, dictatorial regimes, as usual, attempted to create divisions and divide the one people based on those identities, excluding the unified Syrian identity that brings together all Syrians. The regime, through its security apparatus, fueled ethnic and sectarian tensions, encouraging the use of violence by framing Syria’s situation as a battle of destiny between sects. According to this narrative, the domination of one sect means the annihilation of the others, with minorities standing against the majority to preserve their existence as components of Syria’s social and religious fabric.
The systematic hostile rhetoric led to dozens of massacres across Syrian territories. Instead of healing the rift caused by the regime, violence and revenge escalated. Islamic factions entered the scene after a decree was issued to release thousands of radical detainees from the regime’s prisons in mid-2012.
Decisions like these contributed to escalation and the use of terrorism as a tool to thwart the Syrian people’s desire for change, diverting them from their main goals. The fight against terrorism became a dominant theme in the news less than three years after the start of the revolution.
However, the popular movement in the province of Suwayda, with its Druze minority, shattered the regime’s narrative. Suwayda’s movement restored the sparkle of the revolution and the authenticity of the Syrian people, who reject fragmentation, abhor violence, and seek to unite against an inclusive regime that fueled division. Relying on a colonial base that thrives on differentiation in exchange for absolute power and sovereignty.
The voices of Suwayda and the slogans they raised reached the coastal region, the regime’s stronghold and its human reservoir for years. Voices there began to cry out to stop the bleeding of Syrian blood and to change for a decent life in a homeland that unites sects and factions, forming a social fabric that rejects violence and stands against those who incite it.
Today, we can consider the movements in Suwayda and the activism on the Syrian coast through social media as one. It is the best evidence of the Syrians’ rejection of violence and the first step towards building a new future for the new Syria. A state of law, political and religious pluralism, and cultural diversity. The movement confirms the Syrians’ demands for change, rejects religious and ideological extremism, and seeks to build one state, one people, and one land, calling for peaceful coexistence for all Syrians.
