To mark 100 days of the Syrian uprising, the following statement was prepared by a committee in support of the uprising, a group of left activists outside Syria.
The Syrian uprising has exceeded 100 days. Despite harsh repression, the protest movement is continuing and increasing. Since 15 March more than 1,500 civilians have been killed, including around 70 children and more than 10,000 people arrested, according to Syrian human rights groups.
The popular movement in Syria is protesting for its democratic and socio-economic rights. Protesters are increasingly demanding the overthrow of the regime.
The protesters represent the unity of the Syrian people and are against division. They were able to develop a feeling of national solidarity and social solidarity that transcends sectarianism and ethnic division. The popular movement has asked, for example, the release of all political prisoners, the lifting of the state of emergency, an end to secret service influence, as well as a multiparty democratic system. The demands also address socio-economic injustice by calling for accurate and transparent plans to eliminate poverty and unemployment in Syria.
The people of Syria have suffered from the neoliberal policies started by Bashar al Assad and his father Hafez al Assad in the 1990s, creating increasing inequality between people. The process of privatising public companies has been made for the benefit of a few individuals close to the regime and to the detriment of the majority.
Neoliberal policies undertaken by the regime have satisfied the upper class and foreign investors, especially from the Arabic Gulf, by liberalising the Syrian economy for their benefit. But this has been at the expense of the vast majority of Syrians, who are hit by the rising cost of living. In addition, Syria’s agricultural and public sectors are also declining and no effective strategy to strengthen them has been suggested. This decline could jeopardise the country’s autonomy and harm the population by constant food price rises and non-food basic needs.
The popular movement has refused any foreign military intervention in Syria and the help of imperialists.
As a reminder, it is this Syrian regime which arrested the people of Syria who struggled for the liberation of the Golan and Palestine for the past 30 years. This is the same regime that crushed the Palestinians and the progressive movements in Lebanon in 1976, while participating in the imperialist war against Iraq in 1991 with the coalition led by the US. The Syrian people are the true revolutionaries and anti-imperialists, and not the regime of Bashar al Assad. The victory of the Syrian Revolution will open a new resistant front against the imperialist powers, while its defeat will strengthen the latter.
The Syrian popular movement is struggling for democracy, social justice and anti imperialism. The Syrian people will not go back to their houses despite the repression and killings; they will continue to demonstrate until their demands are met. The Syrian people will not step down and attempts to divide the popular movement will not succeed.
