Syria 2011-2013: Revolution and Tyranny before the Mayhem

431 Pages·2022·8.495 MB·English

by  Azmi Bishara

Syria 2011–2013
Revolution and Tyranny before the Mayhem
With a Critical Account of Developments since 2013
i

Syria 2011–2013
Revolution and Tyranny before the Mayhem
With a Critical Account of Developments since 2013
Azmi Bishara
I.B. TAURIS
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
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BLOOMSBURY, I.B. TAURIS and the I.B. Tauris logo are trademarks
of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

First published in 2013 in Arabic under the title Suwriyyah: Darb A ¯ l- A¯ l a¯ m
Na h. wa A¯ l- H. urriyyah Muh . a¯ walah Fy A¯ l-T a¯ rykh A¯ l-Ra ¯ hin ( A¯ dh a¯ r/M a¯ ris 2011 – A¯ dh a¯ r/M a¯ ris
2013) by The Arab Center for Research & Policy Studies. Translation © [The
Arab Center for Research & Policy Studies (ACRPS)], 2022.

First published in Great Britain 2023

Copyright © Azmi Bishara, 2023

Azmi Bishara has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act, 1988, to be identifi ed as Author of this work.

Cover design by Adriana Brioso
Cover image © Sepia Times/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

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iv
CONTENTS
List of illustrations vi
List of abbreviations vii
List of Fridays ix
Preface xi
Recollections: An introduction to the English edition xii
Introduction 1
1 Th e bitter harvest: Th e fi rst ten years of Bashar al-Assad 15
2 From spark to fi re 39
3 Protests in the main squares 69
4 Masses in the cities: Th e revolutionary movement in Damascus
and Aleppo 85
5 An armed revolution 95
6 Th e regime’s strategy 115
7 Ruralization of the party and sectarianization of the army:
Th e origins of sectarian discourse and violence 139
8 Sectarian violence unleashed 167
9 Between revolutionary violence and remnants from previous eras 181
10 Th e opposition 199
11 New actors 221
12 Political solutions and international positions 233
13 Th e eff ect of economic sanctions on Syria’s macroeconomy 287
Conclusion 295
Supplement: A critical account of developments since 2013 303
Calculating the incalculable 369
Bibliography 377
Index 391
v
Illustrations
Figures
S.1 Actual and Counterfactual GDP change, 2011–2018 (per cent), and
real GDP loss, 2011–2018 (billion dollars) 372
Maps
0.1 Syria: Administrative Divisions x
C.1 Areas of Control 347
C.2 Regime-controlled Areas 348
C.3 SDF Areas of Control 355
C.4 North-Eastern Syria Oil Fields and Cross-Border Points
(15 November 2019) 356
C.5 Areas under SNA Control 360
C.6 Areas under HTS Control 364
Tables
7.1 Th e Origins of Military Committee Members 155
7.2 Syrian State Revenue Pre-2011 160
9.1 Nusra Front Fighters by Nationality 191
9.2 Crime Statistics in Syria 2001–6 196
C.1 Sources of Employment in the SDF-controlled Areas 359
C.2 Population of Eastern Syria by Average Monthly Income 359
C.3 Sources of Employment in Northern Aleppo, ar-Raqqa and al-Hasakeh 363
C.4 Population of Western Syria by Average Monthly Income 363
C.5 Sources of Employment in Idleb Governorate 367
vi
Abbreviations
AANES Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria
ACRPS Arab Centre for Research and Policy Studies
ACU Assistance Coordination Unit
AKP Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalk ı nma Partisi)
AOHRS Arab Organization for Human Rights in Syria
ASU (Arab) Socialist Union Party
CAP Communist Action (Labour) Party
CBS Central Bureau of Statistics
CDF Committees for Defense of Democratic Freedoms and
Human Rights in Syria
DAD Kurdish Organization for the Defense of Human Rights and Public
Freedoms in Syria
DD Damascus Declaration
ESCWA United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia
EU European Union
FAO United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization
FOB Free Offi cers’ Brigade
FSA Free Syrian Army
GCC General Consultative Council
GCSR General Commission of the Syrian Revolution
HDI Human Development Index
HNC Higher Negotiating Committee
HTS Hay ʾ at Tahrir al-Sham (new coalition dominated by Nusra)
IDF Israel Defence Forces
IF Islamic Front
IIC Independent Islamic Current
ISI Islamic State in Iraq (ISIS forerunner)
ISIS (Daʿesh) Th e Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham
KDP Kurdish Democratic Party
KNC Kurdish National Council
KRG Kurdistan Regional Government
LCCs Local Coordination Committees (tansiqiyat)
MAF Human Rights Organization in Syria
MOC Military Operations Command
MOM Joint Operations Centre (from its Turkish name M ü ş terek Operasyon
Merkezi)
NAG National Action Group
NCB National Coordination Body for Democratic Change
vii
viii Abbreviations
NCC National Command Council
NDC National Dialogue Conference
NDF National Defence Forces
NDR National Democratic Rally, also known as the National Democratic
Gathering (NDG)
NPF National Progressive Front
NSG National Salvation Government
Observer Kurdish Committee for Human Rights
OCHA United Nations Offi ce for the Coordination of Humanitarian Aff airs
PFLP Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
PKK Kurdistan Workers’ Party (Partiya Karker ê n Kurdistan)
PLO Palestinian Liberation Organization
PYD Democratic Union Party (Partiya Yek î tiya Demokrat)
RCC Regional Command Council
RMC Revolutionary Military Council
RPS Reform Party of Syria
SANA Syrian Arab News Agency
SCC Syrian Credit Company
SCIRI Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (Formerly the
Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq ISCI)
SDC Syrian Democratic Council
SDF Syrian Democratic Forces
SIF Syrian Islamic Front (was dissolved in 2013 and replaced by the
Islamic Front)
SILF Syrian Islamic Liberation Front
SMC Supreme Military Council (the highest military leadership of the FSA)
SNA Syrian National Army
SNC Syrian National Council
SNHR Syrian Network for Human Rights
SOC National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces
SQHC Syrian-Qatari Holding Company
SSNP Syrian Socialist Nationalist Party
SYRCU Syrian Revolution Coordinators Union
TNC Transitional National Council
UAE United Arab Emirates
UAR United Arab Republic
UN United Nations
UNSC United Nations Security Council
US United States
USSR Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
WHO World Health Organization
YPG People’s Defence Units (in Kurdish: Yek î ney ê n Parastina Gel)
YPJ Women’s Protection Units (in Kurdish: Yek î ney ê n Parastina Jin)
List of Fridays
13 January 2012
Support the FSA Friday
18 March 2011
Friday of Dignity
25 March 2011
Friday of Honour
1 April 2011
Friday of Martyrs
8 April 2011
Friday of Resilience
15 April 2011
Friday of Determination
22 April 2011
Good Friday
29 April 2011
Friday of Rage
6 May 2011
Friday of Defi ance
13 May 2011
Friday of Syria’s Women
20 May 2011
Azadi Friday
27 May 2011
Friday of the Protectors of the Homeland
3 June 2011
Friday of the Children of Freedom
8 June 2012
Friday of Merchants and Revolutionaries… Hand in hand towards Victory
10 June 2011
Friday of the Clans
1 July 2011
Get Out Friday
22 July 2011
Friday of the Sons of Khalid bin al-Waleed
29 July 2011
‘Your Silence Is Killing Us’ Friday
23 September 2012
Friday of Opposition Unity
ix