In the northern Lebanese village of Wadi Khalid, Syrian refugees from the Syrian border village of Tel Kallack are taking shelter. Beginning last month, “Shabiha” or gangs of Alawites—the sect from which the Assad regime hails—began terrorizing Tell Kallack residents in their homes. Tel Kallack is located amidst a constellation of Alawite villages loyal to the Assad regime just north of Lebanon’s border. Tel Kallack’s residents are primarily Sunni, and have participated in the protests against the Assad regime over the last three months. As the Shabiha closed in, most if not all of the village’s residents fled into Wadi Khalid to take safe haven amidst the community’s Sunni residents.
The refugees say that they have nothing against the Alawites and are only opposed to the Assad regime. Wadi Khalid is located in the northern-most tip of Lebanon, a pocket of grassy fields separated from Syria by the Great River. The local economy is driven primarily by diesel fuel smuggling from Syria, where regime subsides keep prices per liter far lower than prices in Lebanon. As they fled with their belongings across the smugglers’ trails, the refugees say that Shabiha forces made chase, shooting them as they crossed the river from Syria.
The refugees say they will remain in Wadi Khalid until the unrest subsides, but most do not believe they will be able to return home anytime soon. With protests now raging along Syria’s border with Turkey, driven by reports and videos of regime atrocities, including the torture and dismemberment of children, few believe that the regime of Bashar al-Assad will stop the slaughter, let alone “reform.”
Syrian activists in Beirut are not holding their breath on this point either and are taking matters into their own hands by organizing their brethren in Syria via the internet. Two young activists in particular have been instrumental in forming “Local Coordination Committees,” which help in gathering protestors every Friday in over 15 cities throughout Syria. Syrian youth in their 20s and early 30s, born during decades of repression when Syria had one of the highest population growth rates in the world, are key drivers of the Syrian protest movement.
Using internet encryption software, VPNs and Skype, these activists have thus far been able to avoid detection by the regime’s European designed and built internet firewall. They have also formed online discussion forums that allow protest organizers to coordinate and share ideas on which direction to take the struggle against the Assad regime.
When I asked the organizers why they felt they would prevail, they all looked at me with astonishment. “Do you really think a regime like this can govern so many young people for much longer,” one of them said. “Assad can’t last.”
Andrew Tabler is a Next Generation fellow in the Program on Arab Politics at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, where he is an expert on Syria and U.S. policy toward Syria.
The refugees say that they have nothing against the Alawites and are only opposed to the Assad regime. Wadi Khalid is located in the northern-most tip of Lebanon, a pocket of grassy fields separated from Syria by the Great River. The local economy is driven primarily by diesel fuel smuggling from Syria, where regime subsides keep prices per liter far lower than prices in Lebanon. As they fled with their belongings across the smugglers’ trails, the refugees say that Shabiha forces made chase, shooting them as they crossed the river from Syria.
The refugees say they will remain in Wadi Khalid until the unrest subsides, but most do not believe they will be able to return home anytime soon. With protests now raging along Syria’s border with Turkey, driven by reports and videos of regime atrocities, including the torture and dismemberment of children, few believe that the regime of Bashar al-Assad will stop the slaughter, let alone “reform.”
Syrian activists in Beirut are not holding their breath on this point either and are taking matters into their own hands by organizing their brethren in Syria via the internet. Two young activists in particular have been instrumental in forming “Local Coordination Committees,” which help in gathering protestors every Friday in over 15 cities throughout Syria. Syrian youth in their 20s and early 30s, born during decades of repression when Syria had one of the highest population growth rates in the world, are key drivers of the Syrian protest movement.
Using internet encryption software, VPNs and Skype, these activists have thus far been able to avoid detection by the regime’s European designed and built internet firewall. They have also formed online discussion forums that allow protest organizers to coordinate and share ideas on which direction to take the struggle against the Assad regime.
When I asked the organizers why they felt they would prevail, they all looked at me with astonishment. “Do you really think a regime like this can govern so many young people for much longer,” one of them said. “Assad can’t last.”
Andrew Tabler is a Next Generation fellow in the Program on Arab Politics at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, where he is an expert on Syria and U.S. policy toward Syria.
on this article