[This is part 2 of a longer interview, find part 1 here]
Your party and its youth wing (The Syrian Unified Communist Party and Syrian Democratic Youth Union) has been banned by the new authorities. What was the justification for this according to the newly established government? In your view, what is the real reason behind this? Have other political opposition groups, young worker organisations, and progressive forces been banned?
The Syrian Unified Communist Party and the Syrian Democratic youth union: well, there is a difference here. They (the new regime) didn’t announce clearly that they banned the Syrian Democratic Youth Union, but they announced the Syrian Unified Communist Party, along with the other members of the alliance with the leadership of the previous regime or the alliance with the National Progressive Front – so the members of the National progressive front – the parties that were in that coalition were claimed not as banned, but “dissolved”.
These people don’t know the basics of any legitimate procedures. They live in their own world that is not connected to reality. They don’t understand that a political party is not yet dissolved unless its own people or its own members or leaders, or the leading organ, decides to sign a declaration. They are so ignorant; they are disconnected so far from reality to that extent. Anyway, there is nothing better to expect from people who lack any experience in not only governing a country, but any basics.
Well, Nathan, this question is actually a very good question. In order to show you that they are ignorant of any of that, I will just give an example.
When they reached Aleppo, first they attacked the trade unions and their independence. We have always criticized Al-Baath (the ruling party in the previous regime) for doing so, for invading the independence of the trade unions: the worker trade unions, the syndicates, the unions of the lawyers, the doctors and so on. They imposed their own leadership on these trade unions, without even organising a masquerade of a conference or a congress of these unions. No, they just imposed a leader who has nothing to do with the work of the trade unions, and that’s it…
They’re just making sure that the money and the assets belonging to these trade unions are under their control now – that’s what they care about. They have frozen the finances of the workers trade unions. They have imposed a person who is incompetent, as the head of the workers trade unions in Damascus, I mean the General Federation of the Workers Trade Unions. They lack any experience. They lack any knowledge of the basics of how things go in modern societies, these “bawbags”! – excuse my anger, excuse my language. But I really feel it, when I just remember this, I feel sarcastic and angry at the same time. So basically, we were not banned. Well, the Communist Parties, the progressive parties, the nationalist progressive parties, were “dissolved”, and any organisations that are affiliated or connected to these parties are banned. So indirectly speaking, we are banned. But I will tell you something. Ever since the Bashar Al Assad regime, we (the SDYU) were not recognised as an official organisation that is acting in Syria. We have always had the same way we are acting now. But of course, because now we have a fascist regime, we work from undercover and illegally. We are now underground.
Some organisations or political parties that were not in the national progressive front are allowed to continue their political life, because those who were not in the National Progressive Front were banned by the previous regime. They are fresh in the political arena here, and they are not doing as well. There are lots of New Left-wing movements, organisations, youth groups, that have appeared from underground as well, and these “left wing” groups are sticking to reformation. We have been here in Syria for over 100 years, and we are not going to give up our struggle or fall into the pit of reformation like they have. We are not going to give up our struggle. The Marxist-Leninist ideas, ideological force, will not be stopped by any stupid regime that lacks any basic knowledge of anything, we know that even if we all got killed, the ideas will find new ears, new brains, new minds, to continue the struggle for justice, for socialism, against imperialism, and for the working class.
The struggle will continue, even if we perish. But we will try our best not to. We will try our best to keep the struggle going on with us.
Clearly your organisation, other progressive forces, and workers in Syria face a tough future as the new government has stated that a transitional period without elections will last five years. What can and must the international Communist movement, especially those from the imperialist core, do to help you and fellow workers in Syria?
As far as the international, or the internationalist, role of the Comrades of Communist parties and youth organisations of WFDY (the World Federation of Democratic Youth); or the members of the International Meeting of the Communist and Worker Parties; and other internationalist groups, federations, organisations, Communist parties… They will have a major role in supporting us, in supporting the Communists of Syria, in supporting the progressive movement in Syria, in supporting all the progressive political parties, the secular movements. This is a dark era for Syrian history, but mainly we count on you in spreading the truth, in circulating our statements and position, and conducting interviews like these. Because, you can see how difficult it is for us to have this talk and to get me to answer these questions. And honestly, speaking, I am taking a big risk now, and I am breaking some safety rules by doing this, but I will continue doing it, because it’s my duty. It’s my political, patriotic class duty to do what I am doing right now, sending you these messages, trying to answer questions, clarifying things, expressing what is in our minds here. By circulating this, by continuing the great job that you have done in circulating our statements, and by reporting on what happened in the coastal area – then we can hope to draw new Comrades into our struggle and supporting us, in the case any of our Comrades is endangered by being detained or threatened to be killed. We want our Comrades around the world to support us, to tell the truth, to speak out for us in general, to express your solidarity.
Of course, we want the workers trade union in Syria to be freed from the control of these hyenas, jackals. [Freed from] these criminals and to be independent, and we want the international movement of the trade unions, the World Federation of Trade Unions, to reach out and to put pressure on the Syrian General Federation of the Trade Unions, for trade unions to be independent once more.
We count on this. The Syrian working people do not understand nowadays how important their role is. We are here to educate our working people, who have been under the mercy of the previous regime who stole their independence, and things are continuing the same way. So we also count on your support here in this area, which is something major, something big. I think this is very important now to mention that we are very grateful to our Comrades in the Young Communist League in Britain, especially you guys in Scotland and what you are trying to do. Generally speaking, we understand that our Comrades in the [Young] Communist League in Britain are very helpful and supportive, and we have seen that previously before, when you supported us during the period when we had those horrible earthquakes, and your support, the fundraising to help our people, to help our humanitarian campaigns, here were extremely appreciated. We should not forget this help, this support and what you have always done. So this is very important to mention here.
Self-described “left-wing” organisations have fallen into the trap of linking arms with Western governments and NATO in congratulating the achievement of United States foreign policy aims with the establishment of this new regime in Syria. How can the anti-war movement be shaken up to rectify this error?
Well, the famous Russian saying concerning this is “only a grave can straighten a hunchback”. I don’t think that these so-called left-wing organisations are capable of taking the right position – the correct position – as they have already taken the right-wing position in linking arms with the Western governments and NATO. So I don’t expect any anything fruitful from many. I will not generalise but if they are “left-wing” then they can be rectified, and can criticise themselves, for their previous positions, and take the correct position and rectify their errors like you said. We will be more than happy having comrades joining the struggle, to take the correct position AND we will not lose hope. We are revolutionaries. But I think many of these “left-wingers” are nothing but satellites of the US, satellites of the imperialists. They just try to deceive the working people, the oppressed people around the world, and mislead them. This is their task; this is their function from the very beginning of their establishment.
In the view of Syria’s Communist youth, what is the way forward for Syria in the face of US/British imperialism and state sanctioned religious extremism — how can a future for young Syrians be secured?
In the view of Syrian Communist youth, what is the way forward? Well, in facing the US and British imperialism and the extremism in Syria, this struggle is one struggle, and this one struggle is the struggle of all of us in each country: the working people, the Communists, the Trade Unions, the youth organisations, and the progressive student organisations – mainly the Communist Youth organisations. All of us have this same enemy, Western imperialism and its followers. Its satellites. We don’t see the extremist religious regime, the fundamentalist obscurantists here, as anything other than the satellites of the Western imperialist policy. We will struggle altogether against them. We have nothing but this goal currently.
As Syrian young Communists, we know that Syria has been defeated as a progressive country, and now it’s in the rear of the reactionary countries in the region, and maybe in the whole world. This leaves us with some big tasks, major tasks, to think about, to work for this defeat. But it has also relieved us in other ways, in that now we can reorganise our forces and start working in using other tactics to gain more sympathy from the popular masses, from the youth, the students, and the progressive students that are now left without anyone to represent them. The peasants in Syria are left with without anyone to represent them either. The trade unions are not doing their major role, and the workers are not represented properly. So we have a lot of tasks to fulfil, to work on, and I think this is our duty, to just continue the fight, to continue the work, to grow bigger now, to call for many young people in Syria to join us.
We extend our hands and call for more new members to work with us, and we are doing well concerning this – I cannot speak much about it, but we are doing well, and I assure you, Comrades, that nothing can, and nothing will, stop the Syrian Communists – the Syrian Young Communists, the Syrian Democratic Youth Union – from its duties. No one can stop us. No one will stop us. We will give our blood for that task, for that goal to be achieved, and we know that our Comrades will be there, standing by us and supporting us and speaking for us and opening the eyes of everyone in the world on what is going on here.
So thank you very much, Comrade for these really nice questions. I enjoyed answering them, and I enjoyed thinking about what you asked, it just inspired me to think more.
Thank you so much, Nathan, for this opportunity to just speak out.
Greetings, and salutes, to the Young Communist League of Britain. Greetings and salutes to our Communist Comrades in the Communist Party in Britain. And salutes to the working people of Britain.
We appreciate your support.
Nathan Hennebry is a member of the YCL’s Glasgow branch
