Did the visit of the new Secretary General of the Arab League, Nabil al-Arabi, to Damascus aim at supporting Al-Assad's regime, at consoling the Syrian people or at helping the “thugs” sever the limbs of the revolution? Did Al-Arabi go to Damascus shyly or did he arrive in haste? Why did he not find a useful sentence to say to the Syrian people – and the other “angry” Arab populations behind them – during his visit to Al-Assad, except for “the Arab League rejects any interference in the internal affairs of the Arab countries, and no one is entitled to divest any Arab leader of his legitimacy because that is up to the people to decide”? This was said in response to the statements of the White House which said Al-Assad “lost his legitimacy.” What was Al-Arabi hearing or watching on television and reading in the papers and the news outlets about the actions of Al-Assad's regime against the Syrian people and the demands of the protesters? Were they not demanding the departure of Al-Assad and his regime and the dismantlement of his party? Was Al-Arabi trying to ignore, outsmart or disregard what is happening in the Syrian cities and towns in terms of shedding innocent blood? Unfortunately, during his first visit to Damascus after having assumed his “pan-Arab” tasks in a League that is unable to do anything but talk, the new secretary general of the Arab League brandished the guns to the heads of the “peaceful” demonstrators in Syria. The Arab populations were expecting Al-Arabi to issue thought-through statements; to put forward a wise opinion that would stop the bloodshed and uphold the dignity; to defend the legitimate demands of the Syrian people and the other Arab populations and criticize the Baathist and absurd practices. However, he turned the situation upside down. Al-Arabi did not come to Damascus to stand alongside the popular demands, but to humor the Baath Party, disregard its oppressive and brutal practices, and register an official visit in form. “What decadence, Al-Arabi.” This was said by the demonstrators on the Syrian street to the new secretary general before he left the Damascus Airport, after they heard what he said and returned empty-handed. The Syrians were expecting Al-Arabi to ask Bashar al-Assad what they did wrong to deserve being killed, lynched, kicked and displaced, and to deserve having their homes destroyed over their heads and be thrown in prisons. However, he disregarded the “revolutionary” people and humored the ruling regime. “What decadence, Al-Arabi.” This will not be said to Al-Arabi solely, but to all those who do not value the people, their wishes, rights, security, dignity and freedom. Al-Arabi's “Arabism” is not shown through the promotion of the “drug” of the repetition of national slogans, at a time when the stomachs are empty and the rights are wasted. Moreover, history will not forgive the new secretary general for his humoring of Al-Assad's regime and his “silence” toward the thugs of this regime and the killing of the demonstrators. Was Al-Arabi not among those who raised their voices to criticize Hosni Mubarak's regime and condemn the killing of the demonstrators in his own country during the January 25 revolution? Why did he not do the same in Damascus? Does Al-Arabi not know that Mubarak's regime is “heaven” compared to that of Al-Assad? Moreover, why did he not condemn the statements of the White House officials when they called on Mubarak to immediately step down? In the Arab League's articles, is there any difference between the American interference in Cairo's affairs and the interference in Damascus' affairs? Are the American statements directed at the Arab republics not one and the same, despite the time and location differences and the degrees of precedence at the level of the cables of the Oval Office? Does Al-Arabi know how many innocent citizens Al-Assad's “thugs” have killed so far? Are they not by the hundreds and the wounded by the thousands, including women and children? Does he know how many displaced and refugees have eluded the hell of the military machine and the “regime's thugs”? Does he know how many are detained and being tortured inside the Syrian prisons in opinion cases? Does he know what the “thugs” of the regime did to the child Hamza al-Khatib and how they tortured him and mutilated his body along with other children? Does Al-Arabi know what Al-Assad's regime did to Ibrahim Qashoush's throat after he composed the song “Come On, Leave Leave Bashar,” and how he was slaughtered in a barbaric way, had his throat slit with a knife, and his body torn apart with bullets before being thrown in the Assi River? The oppressed and desperate Arab populations need all the support they can get in favor of their rights, freedom, dignity and pride, whether from the White House, the Elysee Palace, Downing Street or any other location – in light of the “silence” and “absence” of the Arab capitals. Indeed, the latter failed to condemn what is happening in Syria at the hands of a military and security machine and a regime without mercy that is killing its people, burning their skins, slitting their throats with daggers, digging graves for hundreds among them and opening its prisons for thousands. I believe that the least that could be said to Nabil al-Arabi by the “revolutionary” Syrian people in response to his recent position is “Shame on you.” You have failed in your task on your first official visit and must leave with those who are departing, as there is no need for those who humor oppressive regimes and adopt a rejectionist position in the face of the popular revolutions demanding reforms and freedoms against the sultans of oppression and tyranny.
