Salam Kawakibi: "The manipulation of the message of Islam has been one of the main culprits of the Syrian war"

A decade has passed since the outbreak of the Syrian war and the situation is still far from being resolved. The economic situation, but above all the humanitarian situation, is at a catastrophic point. Since the beginning of the conflict, the Syrian currency has devalued by 99%, and already, far from dying because of the war itself, the Syrian population is starving to death due to the scarcity of resources. One of the root causes that has brought the war to this point is the manipulation of the Islamist message by the most radical sectors, according to the director of the Arab Centre for Research and Policy Studies in Paris (CAREP), Salam Kawakibi. 

Kawakibi gave a talk organised by Casa Árabe and moderated by its International Relations Coordinator, Karim Hauser, who emphasised the imbalance of the conflict and the fundamental role that foreign interference has played - and continues to play - and will continue to play. This interest is largely motivated by Syria's strong geopolitical position, which has attracted the interest of many states. One of these, unsurprisingly, is Russia, which Professor Kawakibi has highlighted because of the position it has taken in the conflict itself, ignoring the terrorist groups and focusing its military efforts against the revolutionary groups fighting the regime.

That regime against which the various revolutionary groups are now fighting, according to the director of the Arab Centre for Research and Policy Studies in Paris; they were not always against the regime. In the beginning, society demanded reforms, changes within what they had, not regime change. It was repression and killings by state forces that led to anti-government protests. According to Salam Kawakibi, "the problem in Syria has never been the constitution, but how it is applied". The rules and laws contained in the Constitution, which should be responsible for protecting the Syrian people who have been helpless for years, have been disregarded for years. 

Precisely one of the basic aspects that should ensure democracy in Syria - something that, unfortunately, has been conspicuous by its absence for years - is the existence of political parties in the country. However, the repression and persecution of anyone who opposes the regime makes it impossible for opposing forces to see the light of day. Their only possibility is reduced to clandestinity and the hope that the United Nations and other Western countries will do their part to put an end to a regime that has so far claimed more than half a million lives. 

Salam Kawakibi emphasised the importance of the manipulation of the religious message in the Syrian war, believing that "Syrian Islam is far removed from radicalism". The power of a distorted idea of what is understood in Syria has led to an escalation of the clashes and a radicalisation of a large part of the population, generating a situation that is increasingly tense and far removed from the goal of peace. 

Although it is very difficult to redirect the situation and emerge from more than ten years of conflict, it is hoped that at least the population will be able to improve their conditions or, at least, be able to leave the country, as more than 6 million Syrians have already done. The hope, from the West, he says, lies in a dialogue that the most pessimistic views see as insufficient. What seems clearer is that the torment that the Syrian people have been suffering for a decade is still far from emerging from the pit of war.