“Damascus has fallen, Syria is liberated”. From the last couple of days, these statements are coming from left, right and centre. Every other news channel no matter how big or small is reporting the ongoing siege in the Syrian capital. But the question that strikes the mind is, from whom Syria got its freedom? Who were the Al-Assads and what role did the Western and Asian powers play in Syria?
Hafez-al-Assad, an airforce officer, rose to power in the early 60s when the Ba’ath party staged a successful coup in Syria and seized control of Damascus. Elder Assad, being a staunch supporter of the Ba’ath party, was rewarded generously and given the command of the Syrian Air Force. It was an era of great stress for the Arab world due to the presence of Israel in the Middle East. Despite the Arab world being divided on so many levels and in contrast in so many issues, the threat of Israel was one common business that bound the Arabs together.
This led to the war of 1967 when Arabs took arms against west-backed Israel for one last time. However, the sophisticated resources of Israel and the lack of coordination between the Arab nations resulted in Arabs losing the war and eventually losing Syria’s Golan Heights to Israel. This loss caused a rift between the Ba’athist members, Al-Assad who was the defence minister at that time blamed his rival party members for this loss. In 1970, through political manoeuvring and military might, he ousted the sitting president of Syria and other rivals in a bloodless coup and took full control of Syria.
Henry Kissinger’s shuttle diplomacy unleashed the demons that devoured most of the Arab world; leaving it in rags and tatters.
Assad solidified his rule in Syria creating an authoritarian system through a combination of patronage, military control and ruthless repression. Now that the control has been solidified, it is the time to fulfil the promises on which he rode to power. One of the major promises was taking back the Golan Heights from Israel and as a result, the Yom Kippur war of 1973 started when Egypt and Syria attacked Israel in the middle of the night to claim back their territories. Not an inch of the land was recovered from Israel but the ongoing conflict created a troubled atmosphere in the entire region.
It was the peak of the Cold War and Syria was in the Soviet camp. Henry Kissinger, a hardcore realist with no place for emotions, saw an opportunity during this crisis. He held talks with Hafez-al-Assad in 1974, not to resolve the crisis of Golan Heights but as a part of the bigger strategy for America in the Middle East.
He persuaded the Syrian president to a ceasefire and a demilitarised buffer zone was created between Syria and Israel monitored by UNDOF. Syria regained a small strip of the territory and Al-Assad displayed it as a symbolic victory against Israel and the West. Israel eventually retained the control of Golan Heights and Kissinger succeeded in creating a delicate balance of power in the Middle East where all the countries would keep each other in check while Israel remained secure in its strategic position.
One of the resolutions of this ceasefire on which both parties agreed was that Palestinian refugees in Syria and Jordan would be allowed to go back to their areas. But, Kissinger didn’t want to displease Israel as well so the Palestinians going back to their homelands was out of the question. This along with Israel’s control of Golan Heights infuriated Al-Assad.
He, who once wanted to become the elder brother of the Arab world, and a strong supporter of Arab unity and progress, now wants revenge from America and Israel. Henry Kissinger’s shuttle diplomacy unleashed the demons hidden under the Arab world and devoured most of the Arab world leaving it in rags and tatters.
Hafez-al-Assad like Daedalus, the cunning genius from Greek mythology whose ambitions imprisoned the son and father on the island of Crete in the first place, created an authoritarian system to withstand external and internal pressures which he thought would bring peace and stability to the next generations but no matter how much force and control you use, the sun will always burn your feathers.
(To be Concluded)
The writer is a student.