| Political Islam Revisited |
| August 2012 |
| As Islamists emerge as winners in Arab Spring countries, Syrians are debating whether the long-banned movement could gain a political future in their country. By Abdulhamid Qabbani and Alma Hassoun
Many other Syrians were also glued to their TVs watching the first democratically elected Egyptian president get voted in eight months after Tunisia's free elections also brought Islamists to power. Far from being merely curious, many Syrians were wondering if the results in Egypt would affect the Syrian uprising, given the countries' common history. "History has taught me that we [Syria] and Egypt are always together at any time," Samer explained. Indeed, both countries were led for decades by similar secular political regimes; during the short-lived union of 1958, they even became one state with a shared flag. In 1973, they jointly launched the October War on Israel, after each lost territory in the 1967 Israeli offensive. Now, media reports claim that Syrian Muslim Brothers plan to meet with Morsi, who pledged in his first speech as president to "spare no effort" to support Syrian rebels' struggle against the regime. Years of exclusion
Indeed, membership in the Syrian branch of the pan-Islamic movement, established in Syria by Moustapha Siba'i 17 years after its founding in Egypt, was not only banned but, with the introduction of Emergency Law 49 of 1980, was punishable by a mandatory death sentence. Two years after this law was passed, many members were exiled or killed when the army besieged Hama, then a Brotherhood stronghold, resulting in the deaths of up to 25,000 people from all sides, according a 2012 Amnesty International report. Until 2000, millions of public school students were taught to chant against the organisation as an agent and criminal tool of "imperialism, Zionism, and backwardness." "Generations of Syrians have been brought up to hate the Brotherhood," a university professor who requested anonymity said. Many Syrians also revile the Muslim Brotherhood's history of violence. "Algeria, Egypt and Syria, for instance, were targeted by terrorist attacks [orchestrated by the brotherhood]," Hussein al-Odat, a member of the opposition National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change, told Syria Today. Political Islam is back The Brotherhood currently holds a quarter of the 310 seats in the Syrian National Council (SNC), giving it the most clout in this opposition umbrella, according to the US-funded Carnegie Middle East Center. Crucially, it has "gained control of the SNC's aid division and military bureau," – committees which distribute money and aid to anti-regime rebels – Fawaz al-Tello, a veteran opposition figure, told Reuters. Seven years before the Syrian uprising started, the Brotherhood published on its website a detailed political project for a "future Syria" aimed at establishing a "modern Islamic state" guaranteeing "individual freedoms" allowing people to choose their leaders and enjoy political pluralism. This March, the organisation published a manifesto pledging to establish a modern, democratic state based on a civil constitution, to guarantee human rights and to reject terrorism. "The Syrian [Muslim] Brotherhood's program is more progressive than that of Egypt's," Odat argued. But although the phrase "Islamic state" does not appear in its new proposal for Syria, this has not alleviated everyone's fears. "I am afraid of religious rule because it stirs sectarianism," Rana, 27, from Homs said. "How can you guarantee that the Brotherhood would treat people equally?" Rana, a devout Muslim whose modest dress includes a headscarf, said she would not vote for this party for fear it could impose fundamentalist interpretations of Islamic principles, such as gender segregation in schools, the restriction of women's movement, and mandatory face veiling. However, Sawsan Zakzak, a political and women's rights activist, played down such fears, arguing that as Syrian women do not enjoy equality under the current regime, they do not stand to lose much if the Brotherhood came to power. "Syria hasn't achieved any legal gains [in women rights]. We don't fear losing something we don't have in the first place." Zakzak added that while Egyptian law prevents underage women from marrying and allows children to receive their mothers' nationality, no such legislation exists in Syria. Nevertheless, many Syrians remain wary of the Muslim Brotherhood due to the memory of assassinations of prominent officers and public servants in the late seventies and early eighties, and a massacre at the Aleppo Artillery School in 1979, all attributed to the Muslim Brotherhood by the regime. Others feel reassured by the organisation's avowed political platform. "I used to be terrified by the mere thought that the Brotherhood would rule Syria," said Abdullah, a fourth-year undergraduate. "However, after reading their programme, I changed my mind." Future prospects Although many see them as a well organised political party, some say the Syrian Brotherhood's lack of promotional tools lessens their chances of advancement, arguing that the Egyptian Brotherhood's years of charity work is what earned them popularity and ultimately political success. In Syria, by contrast, the anonymous professor said, their political isolation has prevented them from earning any public support. Odat concurred. "Although the [Syrian] Brotherhood is distributing aid in northern Syria, as the Egyptian Brotherhood did for long years which made them popular, a year won't change [Syrian] people's opinion [about them]." Many from the younger generations driving the Arab Spring have a different take on the political future. "People are fed up with corruption, communism, and autocratic regimes – the only new trend is the Islamic movement, which has always been an opposition," Abdullah declared. |
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