Shlicha Corner
Talk by Syrian opposition leader, Farid Ghadry, in Tel Aviv (June, 2007)
By Revital Yona
Farid Ghadry, president of the Reform Party of Syria, visited Israel last June, and I was privileged to attend one of his talks. Talking to university students from four different Israeli campuses at the Tel-Aviv Carlton Hotel, Ghadry pictured nowadays Syrian life as a reality of oppression, poverty, terror and continuous despair. Having been exiled with his family from his homeland in his early teens and grown up in Europe, Ghadry's vision of the Middle East is that of a region with open borders and free trade, of cooperation, competition and friendship between the people of Syria and the other peoples of the region, including the people of Israel.
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Israeli students anticipated with curiosity their meeting last June with the self-appointed head of the Syrian opposition based in the U.S., Mr. Farid Ghadry. Mr. Ghadry, accompanied by a German nuclear physicist of Syrian-Kurdish origin, Dr. Hussein Saado, expressed his gratitude for having this opportunity to speak with the future leaders of the State of Israel and said that his country has a lot to learn from them and from their country, and that his vision for his fellow Syrians is a life similar to life in Israel, where instead of terror and hopelessness, there will be Nobel prize winning scientific achievements.
Starting with a general description of the Syrian reality of our days, Ghadry said that with soaring unemployment rates and government induced oppression, even young educated people have a tremendously hard time getting a job, which leads many of them to despair and to participation in terror activities. Ghadry said the hope for the Syrian people comes from the new generation's exposure to bloggers and internet users from other parts of the world, where through mutual exchange of information they broaden their perspective and are less inclined to accept unquestioningly what the Syrian authorities say. Ghadry encouraged the Israeli students to get in touch with as many Syrian bloggers as possible, with the hope that through friendship formed between the people themselves, peace will ensue between their countries.
Ghadry said that in the Israelis he sees his vision for his people, in which choice and freedom of mind are the key elements in a future of peace and prosperity. Ghadry's vision for Syria is that of a full democracy, in which each of the numerous ethnic and religious minorities in the country would have a proper representation in the government. "Israel should demand of Syria that each of the Syrian minority groups will be adequately represented in the Syrian team for the peace talks, this way the chances for peace will increase dramatically, but I'm sure Assad will not allow that", said Ghadry and added, "I promise you today that peace with the Syrians is possible and that I'll do everything in my power to ensure that our two peoples will coexist and live in harmony, total sincerity and open borders, and I promise you that I'll live to see the day in which my people will look you in the eyes and say thank you, just as I thank you".
According to Dr. Hussein Saado young Syrian university graduates who want to apply for a job have to get a permission from 4 different bodies: the military muhabarat (intelligence), the Civil muhabarat, the Political muhabarat and the Baath party. "Try to imagine yourselves trying to apply for a job after graduation and having to ask for a special permission from the Shin-Beth, the Mossad and the political party in control, and all this just to be able to apply for a job", said Saado. And it doesn't stop there. "Young people who belong to the Baath party can be admitted to med-school and other university departments with much lower grades than those who do not belong to the party".
On the lack of democracy in Syria Dr. Saado said, "Assad does everything he wants in Syria and no one can say a word against him. Just like his father, he cares only for his own interests on the expense of the well-being of the Syrian people. The power goes from father to son in the Assad family, which has turned Syria from a republic into a monarchy. What we need is peace that will last for generations after us, we need security and freedom. 65% of Syrian population is made up of different ethnic and religious minorities which want to live peacefully with all of their neighbours, including Iraq, Lebanon and Israel".
Citing the Kurdish demonstrations in different towns of Syria on March 12, 2004, Dr. Saado said that the only true way for achieving peace is to gather these minority groups together, create a government in exile and mobilize people from within Syria to conduct quiet, peaceful demonstrations against the authorities. "If through the help of the US, the EU, Israel and the UN there will be a demilitarized zone in Syria, the government in exile could work from there and would be able to protect itself, as many of the Syrian army soldiers are our sympathizers and will come to our help", said Dr. Saado. "All we need is for the Powers to protect our skies, as we are afraid of being bombed. It might take 10 years or more, but eventually it will work. When the Syrian people will understand that Israel and the US do not support Assad, they will not resist this".
Next, students asked questions and the guests gave their answers.
Q: What makes you so sure that democracy in Syria won't bring about the reign of Islamic fundamentalism, just as it did in Gaza?
Ghadry: Most Syrians are Suphies, which is a very moderate branch of Islam. They separate religion from politics, that's why they haven't been heard so far, which has helped Assad sound credible when he says that it's either him or the Islamic fundamentalists. There are many secular sectors in Syria. It's a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic society. Don't be afraid to check it for yourselves, many Syrian-Suphies will be happy to be in touch with you.
Q: Is there an activity from within Syria to try and change the situation?
Ghadry: There have been peaceful attempts to change things, but every attempt has been harshly put down by the authorities. People were thrown in jail for trying to do human-rights activity".
Q: How are you going to change things and what makes you so optimistic that things will actually change?
Ghadry: The Syrian People has suffered enough, and that's why they will adopt democracy.
Dr. Saado: Things should be changed one thing at a time. We have to learn the lesson from the tragedy in Iraq. We'll first act to disassemble the muhabarat, and then we'll make sure that people get paying jobs, even those that were once employed by the muhabarat. Sure enough, we'll also bring the bad guys to justice".
Q: How do you envision peace with Israel?
Ghadry: The Golan Heights is a Syrian land. Trust is the key to peace, and the Golan will be the trust-test. If we don't pass this test, there won't be any peace. Trust will provide security. The Golan is part of my identity as a Syrian, part of my pride. I'm sure we can build this trust. I'm sure that if you make peace with Assad he will put half a million Syrians in the Golan and will make all the sewage waste water flow to the Sea of Galillee. What you've done in the Golan in terms of businesses is amazing and blissful. When we'll have peace, Israelis will still be able to have their businesses there, but they'll have to pay tax for it, of course. This is a token of co-existence. You will also be able to get Syrian businesses on Israeli soil. The Golan has the same value for us as security has for you. No Syrian will ever give up the Golan Heights".
Dr. Sa'ado: We will give the citizens of the Golan a double-citizenship, a Syrian one and an Israeli one, and it will be a demilitarized zone.
Q: What can you say about the role of education in Syria in mobilizing the population this way or another in terms of the Middle-East current situation?
Ghadry: I was taught to hate Jews as a child. I was told that Jews have horns and tails; but when I was 13 I experienced a life-changing experience. I was exiled to Munich with my parents and while there, I visited the Dachau concentration camp and that changed everything for me. Educating people about what happened to the Jews is very important. I take it as a great achievement that the Syrian based Tishrin newspaper published in big letters in the front page that I want to build a holocaust museum in Damascus. This is how they see it.
Q: How do you intend to deal with terror if and when you're elected to presidency?
Ghadry: I'll shut down all the terror sources without shutting my ears to what minorities like Shi'ites and Druze have to say. I am opposed to any form of resistance to co-existence. The Palestinians have resisted for 60 years, and where has it taken them? They have got nothing. I don't want any more resistance or terror, but rather open borders and open trade. We have a lot to learn from you, Israelis, just as you have a lot to learn from us, and in order to achieve it, we have to stop the terror machine, no matter who runs it. At the same time it's important that we respect the minorities.
Q: How many followers do you really have in Syria?
Ghadry: I'm a Muslim Suni and you won't believe how many sympathizers I have. We learned the lesson from Iraq, from Hamas and from the fundamental Islamists in Egypt, and we have a plan of action, but for now I can't speak about it.
Towards the end of his talk I asked him the following question:
Q: How possible is a real, genuine peace between our two peoples as long as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is still going on? It's true that formally we have peace with Egypt and Jordan, but the simple citizen on the street feels a lot of animosity towards Israel because of the situation. What makes you think that in Syria things will be different?
Ghadry: As Syrians we've been educated to support the Palestinian cause as an Arab cause. Assad doesn't want people to see his shortcomings and that's why he blames the lack of democracy and all the emergency regulations on what happens with the Palestinians. I know poor people in Syria, living on bread and olive oil, who cry over the suffering of the Palestinians, as if they don't have suffering of their own to cry about. Try to imagine Hamas without any support, moral or other, from Syria. Through peace there will be a sense of commitment between the Israelis and the Palestinians. When Syria quits supporting terror, it would cause the level of violence in Gaza to plummet and it will have a positive effect which would possibly be a model for Palestinians to emulate. I can't guarantee that, but this is my vision.
Students left the lecture room feeling hopeful on the one hand, but having strong doubts as to the feasibility of Ghadry's agenda on the other. For one, as a Syrian that has lived most of his adult life in Europe getting Western education, his point of view is undoubtedly different from that of his fellow people that have lived all of their lives in Syria. Also, not having visited Syria for decades now, many question the reliability of his information as to the real state of things in Israel's northern neighbour.
This way or another, listening to both Ghadry and Dr. Saado was a refreshing experience which left many of us with a glimpse of hope for the future relations of the two countries and the entire region.