BERLIN – We, the undersigned democratic and secular Syrian writers, artists and journalists, have opposed the brutal regime of President Bashar al-Assad for years, even decades. We are participants in the struggle for democracy and justice in our country, in our region and in the world.
We unreservedly, and in the strongest language, condemn the Russian and U.S. approach of intervening in our internal Syrian affairs. At least since 2013, these two powers have been working to coopt the Syrian liberation struggle under the veil of the “war on terror.” This is a war that has failed to score a single success since its outset, and has led instead to the destruction of a number of countries.
Three years ago, the two nations signed a reprehensible deal on chemical weapons that seemed to resolve a problem for the United States, Israel and Russia, and even for the Assad regime, which had just murdered 1,466 of its people. The deal however did not resolve any of the problems facing the Syrian people. Rather, it gave free rein to an extremely criminal regime that kills Syrians, destroys their villages and communities and drives them into exile. The deal has also proved to be a priceless gift to Islamist extremist groups like ISIS and the group formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra.
Three years into this contemptible deal – with the death count estimated at nearly half a million Syrians – Russia and the U.S. agreed to freeze the current situation so that the two military powers could carry on their endless war against terror. The agreement does not address the untold number of detainees currently being held in brutal conditions, nor does it include a call for lifting the blockade on besieged areas, or the withdrawal of Iran, the Lebanese Hezbollah militia or any other sectarian militia. It is also devoid of any reference to the concept of a new and democratic Syria. Nor are Assad’s warplanes restrained from bombing areas that will ultimately be the subject of a later agreement between Russia and the U.S. Not only does this show a complete lack of a moral sense of justice on the part of the Russian and American negotiating teams, it also exposes the degradation of politics and the low standards of officials in the two most powerful nations in the world today.
Our anger over these agreements and their authors knows no bounds. We reject them absolutely. We are also disappointed in the United Nations, angered that, as was recently revealed, it has allegedly been financing the criminal regime of Assad and his allies.
As Syrian writers, artists and journalists, we see the world today heading toward an unprecedented numbing of ethics. Levels of fear and hatred escalate in parallel with the increasing visibility of politicians who invest in the same feelings of fear, hatred and isolationism. We see democracy in retreat around the world, while surveillance, control and fear are growing. We do not believe that our fate is defined by these conditions, but rather that these are a result of dangerous choices made by dangerous political elites, and that we must work together to voice our opposition to them, right now, wherever we may be.
A destroyed Syria is the symbol of the state of the world today. The Syrian revolution was broken against the solid wall of the international community, not only against the wall of the forces aligned with Assad. This international community allows politicians like U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin, along with their agents and clones – people lacking all sense of humanity – to take decisions that violate our right to self-determination as individuals and groups but also as a nation. We have not elected them, and we have no access to any mechanism that can hold them accountable. This is an unfair system that fiercely opposes democracy. It must change.
Unfortunately, there seems to be too little awareness of how hazardous reality has become. Many, especially in the West, prefer to hide behind fatalistic theories steeped in religion or culture – when they do not attribute events to climate change. This explains why a bad situation has become much worse and also absolves the powerful elite, including Assad and his forces, of their political responsibilities.
This world must change. In just five and a half years, it has allowed the destruction of one of the most ancient cradles of civilization. Today’s world is a Syrian problem just like Syria today is a world problem. And for the sake of this world, for all our sakes, we call for the condemnation of the politicians responsible for this disaster and for their exposure as murderers and terrorists, not dissimilar to their archrivals in the Islamic extremist camp.
The Signatories
Ibrahim al-Jabin, Novelist, journalist
Ahmad Barqawi, Philosopher
Ahmad Hasso, Journalist
Ahmad ʿOmar, Writer
Ahmad ʿIsha, Translator
Usama Muhammad, Film director, screenwriter
Usama Nassar, Journalist, activist
Asʿad al-ʿAshi
Islam Abu Shakir, Storyteller
Anas Yusef, Physician
Anwar al-ʿOmar
Anwar ʿOmran
Aws al-Mubarak, Writer
Iyad Hayatleh, Poet
Iyad Abdullah, Writer
Ilaf Yassin, Journalist
Iman Shaker
Aya al-Atassi, Journalist
Basil al-ʿAwdat, Journalist
Badr al-Din ʿArudaki, Writer, translator
Burhan Ghalyun, Writer, professor
Bakr Sidqi, Writer, journalist
Tammam Hunaydi, Poet
Jamal Saʿid, Writer
Jamil Nahra, Novelist
Jihad Yazaji, Economist
Hazim Kamal al-Din
Hazim Nahar, Writer
Hizam Zohur ʿUday, Writer, journalist
Husam al-Saʿd, Syrian academic
Husam al-Din Muhammad, Writer, journalist
Hasko Hasko, Artist
Hasan Shahut, Poet
Hala ʿOmran, Actress
Hikmat Shata, Engineer, artist
Khaled Sulayman al-Nasseri, Poet, film-maker
Khodor al-Agha, Writer
Khatib Badla, Writer
Khaldun al-Shamʿa, Literary critic
Khalaf Ali al-Khalaf, Poet
Khalil al-Haj Saleh, Translator
Khayri al-Zahabi, Writer, novelist
Dara al-Abdullah, Writer
Durayd al-Bayk, Journalist, engineer
Dima Wannus, Writer, journalist
Raed Wahsh, Poet
Ratib Shaʿbo, Writer, translator
Rashid Issa, Journalist
Rustom Mahmud, Syrian writer, researcher
Rasha Abbas, Storyteller
Rasha ʿOmran, Poet
Rashid al-Haj Saleh, Writer
Rosa Yassin Hasan, Writer
Rima Flayhan, Writer, activist
Zahir Omareen, Writer
Zoya Bustan, Journalist
Samer al-Ahmad, Journalist
Saʿd Haju, Caricaturist
Saʿid Ghazul, News editor
Samar Yazbek, Novelist
Samih Shqayr, Artist
Samih al-Safadi, Writer
Salam al-Kawakibi, Writer, researcher
Salam Muhammad, Screenwriter
Sulayman al-Buti
Charbel Kanun, Photographer
Sadiq Jalal al-ʿAzm, Thinker
Sadiq Abdul Rahman, Writer
Safi Alaʾ al-Din, Publisher
Subhi Hadidi, Writer, literary critic
Subhi Halima, Writer, journalist
Dahir ʿIta, Writer
Duha Hasan, Writer
Duha ʿAshour, Writer
Talib al-Ali, Writer
Talal Daqmaq, Photographer
ʿAdil al-ʿAyed, Journalist
ʿAsim al-Basha, Sculptor
ʿAsim Hamsho, Writer
Abdul Rahman Matar, Writer
Abdul Rahim Khalifa, Political and human rights activist
Abdul Aziz al-Tammo, Syrian Kurdish writer, politician
Abdullah Turkmani, Researcher
Abdullah Maksur, Novelist
ʿUrwa al-Ahmad, Journalist, actor
ʿAssaf al-ʿAssaf, Writer
Ali Dyab
Ali Safar, Writer, journalist
Ali al-ʿAʾid, Journalist
Imad Huriyyah, Theater critic
Imad ʿObayd, Artist
ʿAmmar al-Jumʿa, Poet
ʿAmmar Qat, Journalist
Omar al-Asʿad, Journalist
Omar Qaddur, Novelist
Omar Kush, Writer
Ghassan al-Muflih, Journalist
Ghayyath al-Madhun, Poet
Fadi Dyoub, Activist
Faris al-Helo, Actor
Faruq Mardam Bayk, Writer, publisher
Fayez al-Basha, Physician
Fayez al-ʿAbbas, Poet
Fadwa Kilani, Poet
Faraj Bayraqdar, Poet
Fuad Muhammad Fuad, Professor, poet
Qusay Assef al-Shuwaykh, Engineer
Karim al-ʿAfnan, Journalist
Luay Skaff, Engineer
Layla al-Safadi, Journalist
Lina ʿAtfa, Poet
Majid Rashid al-ʿOuayd, Novelist, writer
Majid Matrud, Poet, critic
Mazen Haddad, Engineer
Mazen Darwish, Human rights activist
Malik Daghistani, Writer
Maamun al-Shariʿ, Writer
Mahir Junaydi, Writer, journalist
Mahir Masʿud, Writer
Muhammad Haj Bakri, Economic researcher, writer
Muhammad al-Haj Saleh, Writer
Muhammad Khalifa, Writer, researcher
Muhammad al-Abdullah, Syrian lawyer, activist
Mohammad al-Attar, Playwright
Marwan al-Atrash, Engineer
Mustafa Sulayman, Artist
Muʿbid al-Hassun, Writer
Mufid Najm, Poet
Malaz al-Zuʿbi, Journalist
Mansur al-Sulti, Theater actor, director
Munhil Barish, Journalist
Munir al-Khatib, Writer
Maurice ʿAyiq, Writer
Musa Rammo, Artist
Maya Sharbaji, Artist
May Skaff, Actress
Michel Shammas, Lawyer, human rights activist
Mikhail Saʿd, Writer
Nahid Badawiyya, Writer
Najat Murshid, Teacher
Nashwan Atassi, Writer
Nuri al-Jarrah, Poet
Hala Muhammad, Poet, film director
Hala al-Abdullah, Film-maker
Hind Murʿi
Hushang Usi, Writer
Haytham Abdullah, Translator
Wael Tamimi, Journalist
Wael Marza, Writer
Wijdan Nassif, Writer
Wafaʾi Layla, Poet
Yara Badr, Journalist
Yassir Munif, Activist, academic
Yassin Suwayha, Writer
Yassin al-Haj Saleh, Writer
Yamin Hussein, Journalist
Yusef Dʿays, Writer, journalist
The views expressed in this article belong to the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of Refugees Deeply.