The Meeting at Samiramis Hotel in Damascus

Sharing is caring!

Older blog 29 June, 2011

A group of 200 persons met at Hotel Samiramis in Damascus for eight hours and issued a final statement in front of the cameras of the official Syrian TV and those of Dunia Channel (semi-official). The meeting was presented as a consultative one for “independent” personality from the “opposition”. Europeans and Americans were quick to support “the conference of the opposition”. Every thing about this meeting was vague and shrouded in mystery: the late announcement, participation by invitation, meeting happened behind closed doors, no pre-announced list of participants, no pre-announced schedule, no guidelines for the “discussions”, no clear idea who organized it, many rumors about who is and who is not participating, and even the epithet to be given (conference, meeting, discussion) to the meeting was not clear.
It transpired that Michel Kilo and Lu’ayy Husein “organized it” and Mundhir Khaddam “may have” presided over it. The LCC (Local Coordination Committees) condemned the meeting, and so did many opposition figures outside Syria.Personally, I think that such a meeting is highly inappropriate at this moment. First because it lacks transparency and consensus; second, it does not include representatives of the protesters and hence has no weight in the street where it matters; third, it gives an incorrect and undeserved “democratic” appearance to the regime; fourth, where would you get 200 “true” opposition figures in Syria who would dare speak out; finally, it de-legitimized the opposition living abroad, which made huge efforts to support the uprising internationally, by indirectly supporting the regime’s claim that the “true” opposition” must speak from the inside because everybody speaking from the outside is “a conspiratorial agent”.Many claimed that all sots of ways must be explored to resolve the stalemate in which the uprising has entered and fend off the serious specter or civil war that is currently hanging over Syria. Moreover, they claim, that they are exercising the freedom of speech which the protests have extracted from the regime. Sure, but there is still no real freedom of speech in Syria because the regime is still shooting at the protesters. By consequence, any act of protest that is not shot at becomes suspicious of “cooperation” with the regime. I personally think that many sincere voices participated in this meeting, but it is too soon to call it a “victory” like some did. Given the lack of representation of the “real” protesters, any meeting will be used by the regime to polish its international image and show the “reformist” face which it always claimed to have. The situation now is like a poker game with the regime having a weak hand but showing a strong face. The heavy price that the Syrian people paid for its freedom can and should get far more concessions from the regime if only the people win this waiting game.