These days mark the 11th anniversary of the great Syrian revolution against the criminal Assad regime, which has ruled the country for more than half a century. This anniversary comes in the context of the continuous collapse of the living, economic, and security conditions of the Syrian people.
The anniversary passes, with millions of Syrians displaced between shelters, migrants, and prisons, in addition to hundreds of thousands of martyrs, missing persons, and disabled individuals who have endured the most dangerous and vile genocide in recent decades.
This anniversary passes, and the sovereignty of the Syrian people is usurped by many countries that are fighting for influence in the region, using the lives and resources of the Syrians as ammunition in their endless wars, all under the silence of a client regime that has turned Syrian soil into an open military base for the Russians and Iranians, and a shooting range for the Israeli enemy and its allies. All of this is to keep Assad as a subservient president of a people who despise him and long for freedom and liberation.
This anniversary comes, and millions of Syrian children, the foundation of the future, are deprived of education and the most basic medical services in shelters and cities within Syria. This is amid the destruction of nearly half of the country’s schools and three-quarters of its hospitals and clinics. Poverty rates are reaching alarming levels, inflation is soaring, and prices of essential goods have skyrocketed.
This anniversary coincides with the ongoing war in Ukraine, which has revealed the hypocrisy of Western regimes and the international system that practice all forms of bias, selectivity, and double standards in dealing with the Russian aggressor, while treating refugees differently. Despite the fact that the aggressor is the same, and the crime is identical.
On this occasion, the Arab Council expresses its full support for the Syrian people’s right to self-determination, to be rid of dictatorship, and for their freedom, dignity, and sovereignty. The Council calls on the Syrians to hold fast to the principles of their revolution and its eternal values. It also calls on the international community to awaken its conscience and take a serious stance to stop the Assad/foreign aggression against the Syrian people, to end the refugee crisis, and to enable all Syrians to return to their cities and homes without fear of any persecution or retaliation.
The Arab Council affirms that the laws of history require the downfall of injustice and the victory of truth, as long as there are those who defend it and free individuals who support it.
And surely, the night will end.
On behalf of the Arab Council
President: Mohamed Moncef Marzouki
