Policies-Analysis

After the last crime of Suleiman Al Assad in Latakia

After the last crime of Suleiman Al Assad in Latakia.. The Syrian loyalists cross a red line.. The Syrian regime will lose anyway

It is the first time, the coast residents appear their angriness collectively. Showing solidarity – in a relative organized shape – with the victim’s family, whom has been killed by one of the new “Shabiha” of Assad family.
This event points to a change of the consciousness of the regime supportive ones, and of the relation between the power and its supporters.
In Set Zeineb, Shia people had protested questioning what was happening in Foo’a and Kafrieh villages after the progressing of al-Fateh army in that region. In Tartous, the families of soldiers ISIS besieges them in Kouires airbase in Aleppo, also protest.
In Latakia, people protest against the awful crime of killing the colonel “Hassan al-Sheikh ” in front of his family by one of the regime “Shabiha”.
A “pro- opposition” movement begins shaping up in “government Syria”, or an opposition movement under the roof of not changing the regime.
This paper centers on the last event, which is without any dout a part of the other Shabiha activities.

The crime of killing the colonel al – Sheikh and its consequences:
The aspects of “Suleiman al- Assad” crime – which he perpetrated in Latakia on 5-8-2015 – were unfold after the victim’s brother – who was in the car with his killed brother – depicted it.
In Dawar al-Azhari where the “the blue beach” highway passes, “Assads” come to it a lot in their visiting to Rotana Spa, the criminal killed his victim by a machine gun after a traffic problem, and after the victim defined himself as a colonel of the regime army.
The crime of killing the colonel “Hassan al – Sheikh” by the hands of the mentioned criminal, doesn’t differentiate from past crimes “Shabiha” have perpetrated. Weather these crimes have been done by the same criminal or previous “shabiha” of Assad family. Those crimes have passed away without penalty, because there were a previous general wide crime, the regime has perpetrated, we can name it – going with the line of Khalil Gibran’s say – “killing the soul” that the people don’t recognize. The killed soul can’t rise up for its dignity. The question today is: why do this crime cause a public reaction wider than the previous crimes?
And why was the regime forced to let its media denounce and attack one of the “Assads”?
Did the “supportive soul” rise up from its death? Is it possible to judge the criminal?
At the beginning we have to see that the crimes of Assad family, either the current or the previous, are the regime’s crime more than “Shabiha” who kill and violate. Because the simple question that comes to the mind is: what is this power the criminal has, to put his chair – for example – in middle of a public street and interrupt the traffic? Why no one of the residents has the courage to deter him from encroaching their owners and dignity? Why no one of the security services – which control all the Syrian life details – dares to arrest him or even prevent him from interrupting the road? Why escaping is the only thing people can do in front of this criminal who violates clearly their dignities? Where is the deep reason of the fear from him?
The answer is intuitive, in which the supportive people escape from answering. It is: who dares to deter this criminal – even though he is a chief of a security service’s branch, an official in charge of police or a governor – doesn’t avoid the high “Assad” authority ‘s revenge. The power of this person of “Shabiha” doesn’t come neither from his personality nor existing some his relatives in the head of the authority in Syria. It comes from his trust that his relatives will secure the protection to him always, and they consider that allowing to punish him or his similar, weakening the mentality of the family. This family must be not broken in the eyes of the people. This is the truth making “Shabiha” mere hands for the killing public regime. This is the truth, no one who tries to break the joint between the regime and this criminal, wants to see. Saying this criminal tarnishes the Syrian regime ‘s reputation.

What makes Suleiman Assad’s crime causing public movement?
Three elements make this crime moves the supportive public opinion:
The victim is one of the army’s commanders, whose position has raised in the view of the supportive people, considering him the power that faces the “jihadists”. Even the martial boot has changed into an icon. After falsification of the real reasons of the Syrian rising up, and boiling down it – in the mind of supportive people – to a conspiracy, sectarian jihadist movement and conscious seeking to destroy the state that the Syrian regime’s army protects. This elements played an active role to rise the people emotions up. The governor of Latakia tried to eliminate this element from his interview with (Sham FM Radio) when he protested against entering the rank and personality of the victim through the occasion, considering the killer did this crime without knowing the identity of the victim. But the victim’s brother declared over the same radio, that the victim identified his self to the killer, without any attention of the later. We suppose that the reaction would have been less sharpness if the victim had been a civilian.
In the consciousness of the supportive people, the Assad’s authority isn’t the same authority before Mars 2011. Before this date Assad the father, was the self- made one, who picked up the power by his own hands, and cleverness, which brings admission of Alawites, who had been suffering from religious and life marginalizing. ( the killer “Suleiman al- Assad mentioned that over his page on Facebook, threatening who have demonstrated against him, and called for his execution. “Assad Family who made you as people” he attacked them, meaning: Assad Family has evolved you to the rank of humanity). This “loan” was as a latent capital in the conscience of Alawites, Assad Family has been exploited it with the most ugly shapes of investment, benefiting from the pure force of the power (their power). Now the supportive people feel that the Assad authority is continuing because of them, and their sacrifices. And they became to feel that they are participants in the power in which they have paid a lot of blood and poverty as a price of its continuing. More than that, a lot of supportive people criticize the regime because it led them through non- insight facing that cost them a lot. Many times the regime seemed indifferent towards its soldiers, as it left them to a horrific death by the hands of jihadists either deliberately or by bad planning. In addition to the severe ignorance they are suffering in which the bad food and treating…etc. because of the corruption in the army institution.
What increases the bitterness in the supportive consciousness is the military defeating of the regime, after all that, even al- Fateh army matched the border of Latakia. The most of people in the castle of the regime- seized area (the coast), became under the line of poverty, and feeling security is semi-absent. The regime hasn’t had anything to encourage its audience, after the military defeats, declining the the level of life and random devastation changed Syria into the most miserable country. In light of this change (the supportive people’s recognition that they are participant in the authority whereby they paid ten thousands of victims to keep it continuing, the wide devastation and the high declining in the life level), Suleiman al- Assad seemed to cash a big cheque without account. So the bank (authority) funds the killer was embarrassed, and maybe it will find itself forced to punish him.

The regime’s interaction with the crime
It is obvious that the authority dealt with the event as it is made up by it. And it dealt with the killer as he is its son. Otherwise there is no meaning of high ranks of commanders’ coming to Latakia for consolation. And there is no meaning to rise the rank of the victim to brigadier and giving him a position of martyr…etc. If the criminal would have not been from Assad Family, the authority hadn’t found itself in this position. What dedicates the conviction that we are in front of de facto family rule. The authority has killed and the authority has tried to pick up the consequences of the crime. It is the real image of the view in Latakia today. When the mother said that her son is a sacrifice of the president, she says the president authority is the reason of killing in the same time.
It seems to burying the victim was in hurry before the news would diffuse, so the funeral was poor and limited. But the news has spread later, and the coast’s residents expressed their angriness through a protest they did in Dawar Zira’a. where they showed a relative independent willingness from the authority, but it remained an independence doesn’t break the circle of loyalty.
Acclaims were merely requiring and specialized just with the crime. The conflict in the supportive environment moves within the limits of non- falling down the regime. These limits will stay as long as the Islamic color stays over the opposition side. Even if it isn’t one of multifarious jihadist that is prevalent today. The enmity against the Islamic opposition, shapes up a common solid ground assembling the supportive audience and passing the internal conflicts among them.
How can the regime conduct with its crime? Can it make strict measures against the criminal or will it use its famous means by maneuvering and absorbing the indignation and passing the crime?
Boshra al- Assad’s initiative (sister of Bashar al – Assad) of sending his son to the victim family’s consolation, and bestowal of the “authoritarian” solidarity with them as commissioning the governor of Latakia to arrive the condolences of the president. That all assigns that the coming behavior goes towards to passing the issue and applying a lenient penalty to the criminal. The expected scenario is a judgment and imprisoning then escaping from the prison after some times and travelling out of Syria; to join with his relative Rif’at al – Assad. Who unhinged the columns of al- Assad the father’s authority, in the 1980s of the past century. In this way the regime used to solve its political family problems.

The Islamic Jihadist opposition’s interaction with the crime:
From the beginning, the Islamic jihadist opposition welcomed the crime using the principle (let potteries break themselves), and a page over Facebook has made up titled (thank you Suleiman Hilal al- Assad). If this opposition welcomes killing a commanders in any way, it doesn’t welcome rising up a movement among the supportive people demanding justice and aspiring emerging an independent public willingness.
This willingness will be independent from both the regime and the Islamic jihadist opposition too. That can threaten through creation a public attractive core against both the enemies ( because of hunger to oppression )– brother sides (in crime). Islamic jihadists don’t favor this type of developing, whereby they benefit from the criminal nature of the regime. exactly as the regime benefits from the criminal nature of this Islamic opposition. In the light of that, we can read the falling down of the “opposition” missiles on Latakia on (13 8 2015) as a type of participating of those Islamists in turning back who has just begun to protest from the supportive people into Assad’s side.

Conclusion
In any way, the regime can’t avoid the lose because of its crime. If it slacked with the criminal, it will increase its supportive people’s disarticulation from it. And it will feed their seek to shape up an independent willingness. If it will be strict and execute the criminal, as the law and the audience is calling for, it will unhinge the cohesion of the family. That maybe leave an important impact upon the cohesion of the authority because the family’s members hold the main joints of it.
The traditional Assad authority falls down in the consciousness of the supportive people. The Assad authority isn’t for the Assad and its family yet, after the big payment the supportive people have paid and still pay till now to preserve it. They realize that they have paid enough to make them deserving to look in the eyes of the decision’s owner and pass the previous forbidden barrier. They feel that they have the right to say their word, especially when the regime seems to be sunken in the bad management, miscalculation and in corruption reaching the limit of the crime.

Ratib SHA’BO

Dr. SHABO is a researcher at "The Democratic Republic Studies Center". He has published research and papers in the center. He is the author of two books: "What is beyond These Walls?" , a novel; and The World of the First Islamic Religion", a long study of the period of Prophet Mohammad. He spent 16 years as a political prisoner in Al- Assad regime prisons.