When Al Qaeda jihadists are good

PASCUAL SERRANO

The militiamen of the so-called The Levant Liberation Organization (HTS) has seized power by force in Syria and overthrown President Al Assad, who was forced to flee the country.

HTS is an offshoot of Al Qaeda led by Abu Mohammad Al Jawlani. This jihadist fought in the ranks of Al Qaeda in Iraq against the United States after the invasion in 2003. He later moved to Syria and created Al Nusra, Al Qaeda's franchise in Syria. There he received support from the Islamic State's top leader, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi.

In July 2016, Al Jawlani dissolved Al Nusra and founded HTS in coalition with four other Salafi jihadist groups in the region. UN Security Council reports in 2018 continued to reflect links between Al Aqeda and HTS.

In fact, HTS is considered a terrorist organization by the UN Security Council and by countries such as the United States, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the European Union. The American embassy in Syria announced in 2017 a $10 million reward for Al Jawlani's capture.

Today, a jihadist group from Al Qaeda has just violently seized power in a country that shares the Mediterranean coast with us, is two hours by plane from the EU and borders NATO. It does not seem like good news, but they are not going to present this Syrian splinter group of Al Qaeda or its leader Al Jawlani to us like this.

The reason that justifies this military coup in the eyes of the West is that the overthrown government of Al Assad was a partner of Russia, Lebanon and Iran, so now Islamic terrorists are seen in a different light in the West. It is time to launch the appropriate campaign to whitewash them. According to the newspaper El País, Al Qaeda has done nothing but liberate Syria, and they headline: Voices from liberated Syria: “After 14 years of oppression and torture, we did it”. On Eldiario.es, “Syrian insurgents have put an end to more than 13 years of civil war”. Which would be like saying that in Spain, in 1939, Franco's insurgents put an end to three years of civil war.

As for the figures of progressive journalism, everyone is joining in the joy of the arrival of the jihadists to the government of Syria. “The idea was that [the whole family] would all meet there [in Germany] and leave Assad's Syria behind. From today, the plan might change and who knows if he ends up returning to his family.”, says Fer González Gonzo, referring to a Syrian teenager he met in Belgrade.

Íñigo S. Ugarte, former director of Eldiario.es, does not hide his joy and hope: “The future of Syria is something impossible to know now. The first thing is to think of all those who died in the repression, were imprisoned or had to flee into exile. They have the right to think that they will have a better country.”.

In public, Leila Nachawati sells them to us like this"HTS emphasizes the search for unity and appeals to concepts of justice, freedom and dignity, evoking the revolutionary aspirations of 2011. They also highlight calls to "guarantee the security and stability of the liberated areas, avoiding acts of revenge," and to practice "compassion, forgiveness and humane treatment towards prisoners and the wounded."

As for political reactions in Spain, I have searched the social networks of the PSOE, PP, Sumar and Vox and there is no mention of what is happening in Syria, it seems irrelevant to them, or silence gives consent.

For its part, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement expressing its wishes that “the historic events that the country is experiencing will lead to a peaceful and inclusive political transition”. Using the term transition presupposes accepting and legitimizing the jihadist militants as the new government of Syria. Also striking is the use of the euphemism “historic event” for the seizure of power by force, overthrow and flight of the previous president.

Interviewed by RTVE, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, has focused on the fact that “the Spanish community in Syria is fine” and stated that “he trusts that Syria will be a stable country and that it will not become Balkanized”. He does not mention democracy, human rights and other issues that Al Qaeda is not very knowledgeable about.

And as for the UN, the UN special envoy forto Syria, Geir Pedersen, expressed his wish for Establish stable transitional arrangements and inclusion in the Arab country, after the fall of the Bashar al-Assad government.

It is amazing how difficult it is for some leaders to get the West and the UN to recognise their electoral victories, and how easy it is for others to be recognised when they come to power riding in a tank and carrying a rifle.

We should not be surprised if the European Union soon begins to lift the sanctions it has imposed on Syria.

The whitewashing of the HTS Islamists is such that even feminist voices appear on social networks claiming that now, without Bashar al-Assad, Syria is free and that “Syrian women celebrate the fall of the satrap Bashar al-Assad with great emotion”We could never have imagined the women of a country celebrating the seizure of power by Al Qaeda.

In fact, among the fine print of the chronicles, we observe that “In Aleppo they have already established a morality police to ensure that women cover their hair”. A complete transition, as stated by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Our Western leaders, outraged by Orban's misogyny and homophobia, have made no reference to the Syrian mujahideen's opinion of women and homosexuals. How different it is when the homophobe is pro-Russian or anti-Russian.

Another element to be analysed is the relationship of this situation with Israel. The first thing that stands out is that, of all the enemies of Zionism, they have gone to overthrow precisely the secular one. Neither Hamas, nor Hezbollah, nor Iran; it was the socialist pan-Arabist Al Assad who they have overthrown.

We might think that an Islamic government in Syria is not a good thing for Israeli Judaism but, you see, because after the arrival of the jihadists, the Israeli army has consolidated positions in the zone occupied by Israel in Syrian territory, in the Golan Heights. Until Israeli soldiers have advanced into Syrian territory and have been photographed on Mount HermonAnd this is in an area where Israeli presence is not internationally recognised and where there are UN Blue Helmets.

This text is not about defending Al Assad, but rather about not believing that Salafists from the ranks of Al Qaeda are liberating Syria.

The conclusion is simple. Western hypocrisy and cynicism is such that being a terrorist branch of Al Qaeda is not a problem if it serves to confront Russia, Palestine or Iran. Just as in the 1980s the United States financed the Taliban to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan, now we do not hesitate to support similar Islamists because they serve against the Russians and Iranians. And if the audience needs to be convinced that they are “rebels” and “freedom fighters” for Syria, then so be it. The issue of human rights and especially women’s rights is a small matter; it is Trump who attacks them at rallies, not these Syrian Islamists.

Of course, we already saw how feeding Al Qaeda in Afghanistan turned out.

Pascual Serrano He is a journalist and writer. His last book is "Forbidden to doubt. The ten weeks in which Ukraine changed the world”