Whether they are religious or secular in nature, ideological movements are always characterized by a very rigidly defined world view and a utopian longing to build that one, ideal society. The problem they all face, however, is how to implement their ideals once they are in power. The tactics initially employed come down to efforts to win the ‘hearts and minds’ of the population they have conquered, but in practice these exercises soon deteriorate into suppression and violence because most people’s ideas on how things should be organized tend to differ from those of the ones in power.
In the Reports from the Islamic State (IS) series, the split between ideology and practice is the central theme. ThePostOnline has come into contact with bloggers from the Syrian city of Raqqa, the would be capital of the Islamic State since January 2014. These bloggers include 23-year-old medical student Ibrahim al Raqawi, who was forced to flee from Raqqa and who is now living in another place, and with Abou Mohammed who still resides in Raqqa. They are two of the people behind the website Raqqa is being slaughtered in silence. Based on the interviews with Abou Ibrahim and Abou Mohammed, this series paints a picture of daily life in IS-conquered territory, each time focusing on a different theme or issue.
The editor of the series is Jan Jaap de Ruiter. ThePostOnline has copies of all the chat sessions, which were conducted in English and in Arabic. Click here for part 1 (on education), here for part 2 (on women), here for part 3 (on Christians), here for part 4 (Islamic state also needs to be governed) and here for part 5: The Fate of Infidels and here part 6 ‘Islamic State’s double economic policy’.
One glance at the map of Syria shown below is enough to evoke a feeling of total powerlessness. There are at least four parties controlling the country, and they are all at each other’s throats besides. The red and pink areas are controlled by dictator Assad, the green areas by the mixed bag making up the Free Syrian Army, the Kurds are in charge in the yellow areas, and the black parts represent the monochrome dominance of the Islamic State. Will things ever get back to normal again? Will we ever see a truly democratic reunified Syria rising from the ashes?
Het strijdtoneel in Syrië op 8 december 2014
Abu Mohammed, currently still living in Raqqa, and Abu Ibrahim, high on Islamic State’s hit list and consequently fled to a safe place outside of Syria, in spite of everything have not lost faith that in the end democracy will prevail. In their own words: ‘I’m sure of it. Syria will be a democracy again, because the Syrian people of tomorrow will no longer accept any form of extremism and terror. Eventually, the will of the Syrian people will prevail. (Ibrahim)’.
‘Now that Syrians have experienced what a dictatorship – Assad’s – is like, and now that they have seen the fanaticism of Islamic movements, now more than ever they realize that democracy is the solution. (Mohammed).’
Things being the way they are at the moment, these words strike me as being at least remarkable, but at the same time they are also impressive. Hardly anybody in the west still believes in democracy in the Middle East, let alone in Syria. The anti-democratic forces are so strong that getting the genie back in the bottle seems virtually impossible.
However, the two activists take a more optimistic view, and observe that Islamic State is already crumbling at the edges. ‘Daesh (= Islamitic State) can only exist thanks to terror, even among its own members. We already see them killing each other. As time goes by, disintegration will proceed faster and faster’, says Abu Mohammed, witnessing developments up close, because all he needs to do is look out the window of his house to see how Daesh is wreaking havoc, even among its own people. Abu Ibrahim too predicts increasing internal conflict. ‘Daesh includes all nationalities in the world, but the Syrian people simply do not want them on their territory. Islamic State will perish as result of its members fighting among themselves.‘
Before we got into discussing the future of Raqqa, the enormous variety of nationalities in the ranks of Daesh prompted me to ask Abu Ibrahim how he felt about Rotterdam mayor Aboutaleb’s point of view that would-be Jihadists should simply leave for Syria if they no longer liked it here in the Netherlands. Ibrahim’s reaction was extremely negative. Does the mayor not realize that these people bring death and destruction to the city and country of Mohammed and Ibrahim? ‘Throw them in jail, put them away in a psychiatric institution. Whatever you do, stop them!’, so Ibrahim urges the west.
The grand failure of the west
In any case, the two men do not spare the west in their criticism. In answer to my question what the biggest mistake is that the west has made, their unanimous response was one dominated by outrage at the west allowing dictator Assad to continue to wipe out all forces opposing his regime, thereby making Islamic State grow bigger and bigger, and ending up making Syria worse off than ever before.
Andy yet, to return to the subject of democracy, Ibrahim and Mohammed’s attitude does indeed turn out to be remarkably democratic. In answer to the question what a new and democratic Syria should do with those who supported Assad or Daesh, both of them replied that those who have committed crimes should be brought to trial. As regards those who do not have blood on their hands, Abu Mohammed said: ‘There will be people who supported them (Assad or Daesh, JJdR), and they have the right to do so, and that is why there should be a place in future Syria for them too.’ Entirely in line with these admirable political views, Abu Mohammed’s motto, as it is phrased in his Skype account (in Arabic, my translation), is: ‘Don’t worry. The sun will rise again over Raqqa.’
If the Middle East teaches us anything, it is that we cannot exclude any future scenario. Who knows, maybe one day the sun of democracy will shine, not just on Raqqa, but on all of Syria. Only time will tell.
Translated by Hans Verhulst
