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Friday, October 18, 2013

Every Friday: New Slogans of the People’s Revolution

Republished from Democratic Revolution, Syrian Style
18 October 2013

The democratic people’s revolution in Syria has accomplished something of world-historic importance: it has united both the imperialists and the anti-imperialists against it. Eastern imperialism led by Russia arms Bashar al-Assad to the teeth, Western imperialism led by the U.S. continues its heavy arms blockade on Assad’s opposition, and so-called anti-imperialists led by As’ad Abu Khalil, George Galloway, Rand Paul, Cynthia McKinney, Stop the War Coalition, and ANSWER Coalition relentlessly slander the uprising every step of the way in every conceivable way.

The near-total international isolation of the revolution — expressed by the fact that only Islamists have displayed any type of internationalism — is the inevitable result of imperialists and anti-imperialists the world over joining forces to ensure the revolution’s defeat, the former for reasons of state, the latter for reasons of ideology and pseudo-realpolitik. This imperialist-anti-imperialist alliance is why every major and minor channel, every corporate and anti-corporate newspaper, every large and small website, every worthy and worthless blogger, and every dominant and oppositional political force on the planet speaks with one voice, endlessly repeating a narrative on Syria that is so at odds with the truth: that extremists are the only/main actors in the Syrian opposition; that brutality, torture, sectarianism, and atrocities are the only/main activities of the opposition; that Saudia Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, and Israel are the only/main sponsors or beneficiaries of opposition activism; that U.S. president Barack Obama wants regime change in Damascus.
Despair

The imperialists and their anti-imperialists “opponents” agree on something fundamental: Syria is not a people’s revolution. It is not a popular uprising. It is not “the forcible entrance of the masses into the realm of rulership over their own destiny” (Trotsky).

But on this point, the facts are against the imperialists and the anti-imperialists, and overwhelmingly so.

“Truth is on the side of the oppressed today, it’s against the oppressor. You don’t need anything else.” (حاجّ مالك الشباز; El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz; Malcolm X).

One fact that exposes the falseness of the imperialist-anti-imperialist alliance narrative is how the revolution’s supporters choose the names of their weekly mass protests. These protests have taken place in cities and villages across Syria after Friday prayers on every Friday without exception since the revolution began on March 15, 2011; they are the pulse of the struggle, the voice of the formerly voiceless, a chronicle of each twist and turn their struggle for freedom has taken. According to Wael Tamimi, a Syrian journalist with the BBC’s Arabic Service:
“In the earlier days or month[s] of the uprising, the name was chosen by the admins of the Syrian Revolution page on Facebook, so the people did not used to vote on the name of the Friday. But actually, they complained to the admin. They told him, ‘We want a democratic Syria, so you have to give us a chance to vote for the name of the Friday.’ And actually, the admins of these pages responded positively.”
Anywhere between 14,000 and 30,000 people vote democratically for their preferred slogans. As Uri Friedman remarks, “What’s perhaps most amazing is that the winning Friday name really seems to wend its way from social media to the street.”




Sept. 13, 2013: “Friday of the Murderer Is
Under the International Community’s Protection”
in Hama (above) and Aleppo (below)

Yes, democracy, self-rule, and self-organization by the rebellious masses is a most amazing thing. In fact, it is the decisive thing. Hate him or love him, V.I. Lenin was absolutely right about that:
“[P]articular attention should be paid to Marx’s extremely profound remark that the destruction of the bureaucratic-military state machine is ‘the precondition for every real people’s revolution’. This idea of a ‘people’s revolution’ seems strange coming from Marx, so that the Russian Plekhanovites and Mensheviks, those followers of Struve who wish to be regarded as Marxists, might possibly declare such an expression to be a ‘slip of the pen’ on Marx’s part. They have reduced Marxism to such a state of wretchedly liberal distortion that nothing exists for them beyond the antithesis between bourgeois revolution and proletarian revolution, and even this antithesis they interpret in an utterly lifeless way.
“If we take the revolutions of the 20th century as examples we shall, of course, have to admit that the Portuguese and the Turkish revolutions are both bourgeois revolutions. Neither of them, however, is a ‘people’s’ revolution, since in neither does the mass of the people, their vast majority, come out actively, independently, with their own economic and political demands to any noticeable degree. By contrast, although the Russian bourgeois revolution of 1905-07 displayed no such ‘brilliant’ successes as at times fell to the Portuguese and Turkish revolutions, it was undoubtedly a ‘real people’s’ revolution, since the mass of the people, their majority, the very lowest social groups, crushed by oppression and exploitation, rose independently and stamped on the entire course of the revolution the imprint of their own demands, their attempt to build in their own way a new society in place of the old society that was being destroyed.”
In the spirit of this last sentence, out of respect for the over 100,000 who have paid the ultimate price for resisting Assad’s iron heel, here are the names of all the Friday protests in English. This list will be updated every 2-4 weeks until the sun rises over a free Syria, so bookmark, share, ‘like’, and Tweet it until that glorious day.

Protest No.

Slogan (“Friday of…”)

Date (d/m/yy)

135

Our Arms to the Front Lines, Not the Liberated Areas

11/10/13

134

Thank You Turkey

4/10/13

133

[referring to women held in regime prisons]

27/9/13

132

Only Syrians Will Free Syria

20/9/13

131

The Murderer Is Under the International Community’s Protection

13/9/13

130

Not Only with Chemical Weapons Does Assad Kill Our Children

6/9/13

129

Friday of Victory Is Only From Allah

30/8/13

128

The Terrorist Bashar Kills Civilians with Chemical Weapons While the World Watches

23/8/13

127

Supporting the Coast Rebels

16/8/13

126

The Champions of the Coast Are Coming

9/8/13

125

If Allah Gives You Victory Then No One Can Defeat You

2/8/13

124

The Sword of Allah

26/7/13

123

Ramadan: Month of Victory

19/7/13

122

Until We Change Ourselves

12/7/13

121

Be Aware and Wake Up, Oh Brigades

5/7/13

120

On Fire Revolution and Debilitating Opposition

28/6/13

119

Friday of Victory In Deeds, Not Words

21/6/13

118

Safavid [Persian] Project: a Threat to the Nation

14/6/13

117

Ghouta and Qusayr … A Will That Won’t Break

7/6/13

116

The Ideals of the Revolution Are Our Red Lines

31/5/13

115

Charlatan Resistance — Jerusalem Is Not in Homs
[a message directed at Hezbollah]

24/5/13

114


17/5/13

113

Banyas: Ethnic Cleansing and International Complicity

10/5/13

112

Syrians Are Being Killed with Your “Red Lines”

3/5/13

111

Protection of the Majority

26/4/13

110

Iran and Hezbollah, You Will be Defeated Along With Assad

19/4/13

109

Syria is Stronger Than Those Who Would Divide It

12/4/13

108

Refugees With Honor and Dignity

5/4/13

107

Giving Glad Tidings to Those Who are Patient

29/3/13

106

Your Chemical Weapons Will Not HaltOur Progress Towards Freedom

22/3/13

105

Two Years of Struggle and Our Revolution’s Victory is Near

15/3/13

104


8/3/13

103

One Nation. One Flag. One Fight.

22/2/13

102

Proud Al-Raqqa on the Road to Freedom

22/2/13

101

Allah is Sufficient as a Supporter

15/2/13

100

Remain United

8/2/13

99

The International Community Are Partners in the Massacre

1/2/13

98

Our Leader Forever Prophet Mohammad

25/1/13

97

Revolution Aleppo University: Engineering Martyrdom

18/1/13

96

Refugee Camps of Death

11/1/13

95

Homs Calls on the Free to Stop the Siege

4/1/13

94

Bread and Blood

28/12/12

93

Victory is Written on the Gates of Aleppo

21/12/12

92

There Is No Terrorism in Syria Except that of Assad

14/12/12

91

No to Peacekeeping Forces in Syria

7/12/12

90

Damascus’s Suburbs’ Victory Sign Shall Be Over the Presidential Palace

30/11/12

89

The Time of Victory is Near

23/11/12

88

In Support of the National Coalition

16/11/12

87

It’s Time to March to Damascus

9/11/12

86

Daraya Brothers in Grapes and Blood, Towards International Justice

2/11/12

85

Allah is Greater, Revolution Till Victory

26/10/12

84

America, Your Suspicious Silence is Killing Us

19/10/12

83

The Free Alawites Produce Victory

12/10/12

82

We Want Weapons, not Statements

5/10/12

81

Unifying the Free Syrian Army

28/9/12

80

Those Who the Prophet Loves Are Being Massacred in Syria

21/9/12

79

Idlib Bringing Down Planes and Symbolizing Victory

14/9/12

78

Homs Under Siege Is Calling You

7/9/12

77

Loyalty to Tripoli and the Free Lebanese

31/8/12

76

Daraa Don’t Be Sad, Allah Is with Us

24/8/12

75

Victory With United Free Army

17/8/12

74

Arm Us With Anti-Aircraft Weapons

10/8/12

73

Deir Ezzor Victory Coming from the East

3/8/12

72

Uprising of the Two Capitals

27/7/12

71

Ramadan Victory in Damascus

20/7/12

70

Step Down Annan, Servant of Assad and Iran

13/7/12

69

The Peoples’ Freedom War

6/7/12

68

We Are Sure Allah will Grant Us Victory

29/6/12

67

Governments Let Us Down, Where Are the People?

22/6/12

66

Total Readiness for Full Revolution

15/6/12

65

Rebels and Merchants Hand in Hand Until Victory

8/6/12

64

Houla Children … Victory Flares

1/6/12

63

Damascus, Our Date is Near

25/5/12

62

The Heroes of Aleppo University

18/5/12

61

Victory from Allah and Near Breakthrough

11/5/12

60

Our Salvation Is in Our Sincerity

4/5/12

59

God’s Order Has Come, So Don’t Hurry It

27/4/12

58

We Will Be Victorious and Al-Assad Will Be Defeated

20/4/12

57

Revolution for All Syrians

13/4/12

56

Who Has Prepared a Soldier has fought

6/4/12

55

The Arabs and Muslims have Let Us Down

30/3/12

54

Coming to Damascus

23/3/12

53

Immediate Military Intervention

16/3/12

52

Loyalty to the Kurdish Revolution

9/3/12

51

Providing Weapons for the Free Army

2/3/12

50

We Will Revolt for You Baba Amr

24/2/12

49

The People’s Resistance

17/2/12

48

Russia is Killing Our Children

10/2/12

47

Sorry Hama, Forgive Us

3/2/12

46

The Right of Self-Defense

27/1/12

45

Detainees of the Revolution

20/1/12

44

Support of the Free Syrian Army

13/1/12

43

If You Are with God, He Will Grant You Victory

6/1/12

42

Marching Towards Freedom Squares

30/12/11

41

the Protocol of Death

23/12/11

40

the Arab League is Killing Us

16/12/11

39

the Strike of Dignity

9/12/11

38

the Buffer Zone is Our Demand

2/12/11

37

the Free Army Protects Me

25/11/11

36

Expulsion of Ambassadors

18/11/11

35

Freezing Syrian Regime’s Membership [in the Arab League]

11/11/11

34

God is Greater than All Tyrants

4/11/11

33

The No-Fly Zone

28/10/11

32

The Martyr of Arab Grace Period

21/10/11

31

The Free Army

14/10/11

30

The National Council Represents Me

7/10/11

29

Victory to Syria and Yemen

30/9/11

28

The Unity of the Opposition

23/9/11

27

Continuing Until Victory

16/9/11

26

International Protection

9/9/11

25

Death Rather than Humiliation

2/9/11

24

Patience and Persistence

26/8/11

23

Signs of Victory

19/8/11

22

We Will Not Kneel Except to Allah

12/8/11

21

God Is with Us

5/8/11

20

Your Silence Is Killing Us

29/7/11

19

the Descendants of Khalid (ibn Alwalid)

22/7/11

18

Prisoners of Freedom

15/7/11

17

No to Dialogue

8/7/11

16

Leave [Bashar]

1/7/11

15

The Fall of Legitimacy

24/6/11

14

The Honorable

17/6/11

13

The Tribes

10/6/11

12

The Children of Freedom

3/6/11

11

Homeland Protectors [meaning Assad’s army]

27/5/11

10

Azadi [Freedom]

20/5/11

9

Friday for Women

13/5/11

8

Challenge

6/5/11

7

Rage

29/4/11

6

Greatness

22/4/11

5

Insistence

15/4/11

4

Withstand

8/4/11

3

Martyrs

1/4/11

2

Glory

25/3/11

1

Dignity

18/3/11
Sources:Have Islamists Hijacked Syria’s Democratic Revolution?“, Syrian Revolution Martyr Database, Yalla Souriya.
To see video footage of each Friday protest compiled from sources throughout Syria, click here.

Click here for a list of my other blogs on Syria

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