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Working class and democratic forces across the world should celebrate with the Syrian people the overthrow of the brutal dictator Bashir al-Assad. Not only was the fallen regime responsible for between 500,000 and one million deaths in the Syrian civil war of 2011–24, the Assad family’s 54 year dictatorship has heaped misery, starvation and murder on the Syrian people for decades.
Hands off Syria
However, the response of the neighbouring regimes and their imperialist backers, the USA and the UK, is aimed at securing their own influence and denying real self-determination for the Syrian and Kurdish people.
Israel has invaded the south of the country, occupying the strategic position of Mount Hermon, just 30km from the capital Damascus and destroyed much of Syria’s military hardware. The expansionist Zionist state may even attempt to make its occupation permanent as when it illegally annexed the Golan Heights in 1967.
Turkey too has resumed its war with the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces in the north, while the US has carried out airstrikes against Isis positions in the east. Russian airforces flattened Syria’s towns during the revolution; now it has granted asylum to Assad and yet still hopes to maintain its military bases in the country.
These powers have no right to interfere with the Syrian people’s revolution, especially after what they have done to Gaza, Iraq, Afghanistan and Ukraine.
We call on all external powers immediately to withdraw their forces and cease their military campaigns in Syria.
We condemn Labour’s Minister for Intergovernmental Relations Pat McFadden’s defence of Benjamin Netanyahu’s invasion as ‘Israel’s right to defend itself’. We call on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to denounce these comments and rescind all weapons licenses destined for Israel, including components for the F-35 bomber jets.
Aid not deportations
In a breathtaking act of hypocrisy the UK and many EU governments rushed to ‘pause’ all asylum applications by Syrians within hours of Assad’s downfall, while at the same time continuing its sanctions against Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), designating it a ‘terrorist’ organisation (along with the Kurdish PKK).
While the claims of HTS should not be taken at face value given its record of suppressing popular protest and democratic movements in Idlib, the European imperialists, sponsors of the Zionist genocide, have no business designating any popular movement as terrorists.
Therefore, without giving an ounce of support to HTS and its goal of an Islamic, capitalist state, we demand the UK and other governments immediately unban the HTS and recognise the provisional government.
We demand that Syrian and all other asylum seekers are granted permanent leave to remain in the UK with full citizenship rights, including the right to vote.
Furthermore we demand the UK and others deliver much needed humanitarian aid to the Syrian government and peoples. Likewise they should demand from Israel access for the delivery of aid to Gaza.
Extend the revolution
The fate of Syria, Palestine, the Middle East as a whole and indeed the entire world are intricately intertwined.
Thanks to the victory of the Syrian revolutionary forces, the road is now open to fight for a constituent assembly elected by committees of workers and farmers, to guarantee full democratic rights, including for the Kurds, and to take real power into the hands of the people by extending the revolution against the landlords and capitalists who have exploited the people.
For this reason all trade unionists and socialists must build a solidarity movement to demand:
