"They may want stability, but we don't want this kind of stability,"

Tuesday 14 August 2012

"They may want stability, but we don't want this kind of stability,"

Via FLC

"... As the fighting intensifies in a city once regarded as immune to the violence racking much of Syria, some opposition activists are concerned that those who have taken up arms against Assad have made a serious miscalculation here. They fear that the offensive is creating a humanitarian crisis they are ill-equipped to handle and turning many of those affected against the rebels.

"The military campaign for Aleppo came too, too early," said Marcell Shehwaro, a dentistry graduate and a prominent activist. "Because people here didn't see the government violence that would make them believe the Free Syrian Army was needed."

Even now, weeks into the battle for Aleppo, the traffic of everyday routines still snarls roundabouts in safer parts of the city. Syria's national flag still flies freely here, and the walls are devoid of antigovernment graffiti that festoon rebel-held areas. Pricey restaurants in nice neighborhoods open — expectantly — every night.

So, the amalgam of militias fighting Assad, decided that, if the People of Aleppo did not see the 'government violence' because there was none, they decided to make it happen.

Abdulaziz "Abu Jumuah" Salameh, who heads a coalition of dozens of militias called the Al Tawheed Brigade, acknowledged that the city may not have wanted the rebel offensive to begin so soon. But that didn't matter: "You could wait 100 years, and Aleppo still won't be ready."

Even as rebels continue to stream into Aleppo, there is bitter disagreement over whether they can win over its residents......

"For so long, Aleppo residents said, 'Nothing is happening, nothing is happening.' They can't say that anymore," Ali, a rebel said as he walked past homes missing chunks of concrete and surrounded by piles of reeking garbage.

Activist Shehwaro, a member of the Christian minority, which has tended to view Assad as a protector, said that many of the internally displaced refugees she talks to blame the rebels for their situation. Others agree with that assessment.

"Seventy percent of the refugees here are pro-regime, or at least pro-stability," said the director of a school being used to house the displaced. "We are helping people who are still supporting the regime.".................

He believes that only by witnessing wanton destruction by forces loyal to Assad in their own backyard — rather than just watching propaganda on state television — will Aleppo's residents fully support the rebels.

But it doesn't help that the majority of the rebels now making the streets their battlefield and squatting in schools and empty homes aren't sons of the city but rather come from the suburbs... Salameh, the Al Tawheed Brigade commander, is dismissive of the reluctant Aleppo residents, underscoring the feeling that this battle is in part about the countryside trying to force its will on the city. People from the towns and villages, who have borne the brunt of the violence, appear to think it is time for Aleppo to share their pain.

"They may want stability, but we don't want this kind of stability," said Salameh, speaking of the city dwellers from his headquarters 20 miles away. "We can't allow for people to be slaughtered in other neighborhoods as they are still sitting."..."