By Dave Stockton
At the end of November, Syrian opposition fighters, predominantly from the Islamist Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), together with remaining units of the Free Syrian Army, captured Aleppo, Syria’s second city, with government ground forces beating a hasty retreat. Rebels tore down statues and other symbols of Bashar al-Assad’s brutal rule.
There are reports they have also advanced towards Hama, the country’s third city, and the town of Kafr Nabl, both places well known in the past for their opposition to the Assad regime.
In the civil war, Russian air power was crucial in crushing the pro-democracy forces. Hezbollah and Iranian ground forces also intervened to support the tottering Ba’athist state. Today, it is clear that the severe damage wrought to Hezbollah and Iran by Israeli attacks, plus Russia’s prolonged war in Ukraine, has created a window of opportunity for the HTS forces.
Though the HTS was once affiliated to Al-Qaeda, it broke with them in 2017–18 and has since waged a war against them. It has been pursuing what it calls ‘Syrianisation’, based on establishing a civilian administration that provides services and connects to humanitarian organisations in Idlib.
It coordinates with the Free Syrian Army, which is not an Islamist force. None of this stops Stalinist organs like Britain’s Morning Star from claiming that HTS is still tied to Al-Qaeda or that Assad and Putin’s regimes form part of some sort of anti-imperialist camp.
What attitude should genuine socialists take to this flare up in the Syrian civil war? Certainly, there is no reason to wish to see HTS replace Assad with any sort of Islamic regime. But if their coalition forces bring down the regime and are able to force the withdrawal of Russian imperialism’s murderous air forces, this could allow Syria’s refugees to return and the struggle for democracy, workers’ rights, and socialism to resume.
A potential problem is the role of Syria’s Kurds in Rojava, who are regularly attacked by Türkiye because of their links to the PKK. Since 2014, the US has provided air support for the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) as part of the fight against the Islamic State group (IS). The YPG stood aside from the Syrian revolution and the BBC reports that they may attack the HTS, objectively allying with Assad.
These destructive contradictions can only be finally and permanently overcome by a leadership which is founded on proletarian internationalism. The fight for equal democratic rights for oppressed nationalities, women, workers, all religions can become stepping stones to a socialist Syria within a federation of ocialist states of the Middle East.
Meanwhile all progressive forces living in both the ‘Eastern’ and ‘Western’ imperialist camps must fight for the withdrawal of their states’ forces from the region and the end of the fearful genocide in Gaza.
