In footage of the recent demonstrations against the Assad regime in Syria it
appears that in several cases the protesters wave the old [1932-1958]
Syrian flag (green-white-black horizontal stripes, with three five-pointed red stars on the white stripe). Luca Peliti, 10 September 2011
I have seen this too, but only in one news report (so far). The old flag does not
appear to have enjoyed the widespread spontaneous acceptance that the
royal-era Libyan flag did among anti-Qadaffi protesters. Eugene Ipavec, 11 September 2011
Today's picture shows deserters from the Syrian army who have joined the opposition;
they have an old flag on the wall behind them and are holding what seems to be a handmade
version. Wikipedia shows protesters holding what seems to be a sign painted to look like it. Nachum Lamm, 17 November 2011
In recent television reports showing Syrian dissidents there does seem to be an
increasingly large number of old-style Syrian flags, but not consistently so. Kenneth Fraser, 18 November 2011
Recent news photos consistently show the pro-Assad groups waving the current flag,
and the resistance (including the Free Syrian Army) are waving the gree-white-black banner.
The old flag seems to be on its way to being the official resistance banner, in the same way
the old Libyan flag was adopted by the NTC. J. Tate, 25 November 2011
In a number of pictures, the stars seem to be upside-down, but that may just be the homemade
quality of some of the flags. All Egyptian factions seem to be sticking
with the same flag, but we'll see.
Nachum Lamm, 27 November 2011
On 20 November 2011, members of the "France Syrie Démocratie" association
have draped the facade of the Arab World Institute in Paris (France) with a huge
"Syrian revolution flag". A video footage of the event can be seen on
YouTube. The event's place was not randomly chosen. The Arab World Institute is a foundation
established on 14 October 1980 by the governments of France and of
22 Arab countries. To promote the Arab culture in Europe, the Arab World Institute aims
at "building bridges between the Arab and European cultures". Designed by the architect
Jean Nouvel and built close to the Jussieu University, the Arab World Institute was
inaugurated on 30 November 1987 by President François Mitterrand. The Institute,
especially under the direction of Dominique Baudis (2007-2011), has often been
criticized as a "showroom" conveniently used by the dictators of the region. Ivan Sache, 29 November 2011
The Syrian uprising began in Deera, when 15 teenagers from the
same
family (Al-Abazeed) were arrested in early March 2011 for writing an
anti-regime slogan on the wall of their school. After attempts to
negotiate the release of the children were rejected by the local
government, a few hundred protesters gathered in front of al-Omari
Mosque on March 18, 2011 calling for reforms and end of corruption.
Soon after the gathering increased in size and it is reported that
over 3000 people protested on the first day. According to activists,
this protest was faced with Syrian security forces opening fire on the
protesters killing 3 people. Protests continued daily and on the 20th
of March, 7 police men were killed as well as least 4 protesters.
During this time the local courthouse, the Ba'ath party headquarters
in the city, and the Syriatel building owned by Rami Makhlouf, a
cousin of President Assad, were set on fire. Between 25 April and 5
May 2011, the fourth armoured division of the Syrian Army, led by
Maher al-Assad (brother of Bashar), besieged Daraa. Then other cities
followed military attacks, like Homs, Hama, Damascus, etc. escalating
violence throughout the whole country.
The Free Syrian Army (Arabic: الجيش السوري الحر, al-Jaysh as-Sūrī
al-Ḥurr, FSA) is a group of defected
Syrian Armed Forces officers and soldiers,
which was founded after the escalation of violence afterwards, on, 29
July 2011. It was founded by five (or seven) defected Syrian
officers. The group defined "all security forces attacking civilians"
as their enemies, and said its goal to be "to bring down the system"
or "to bring this regime down".
On September 23, 2011, the Free Syrian Army merged with the Free
Officers Movement (Arabic: حركة الضباط الأحرار, Ḥarakat aḑ-Ḑubbāṭ
al-Aḥrār).
The FSA coordinated with the
Syrian National Council starting in
December 2011, and supported the
National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces after the coalition's November 2012 creation. Between July 2012 and
July 2013, ill-discipline and infighting weakened FSA, while jihadist
groups entered northern Syria and became more effective than FSA. In
April 2013, the US promised $123 million aid to rebels, to be funneled
through the then leader of the FSA, Salim Idriss. A coalition of
moderate Muslim rebel groups fighting under the Supreme Military
Council of Syria, which includes the FSA, on 25 September 2014 allied
with a predominantly Christian coalition called
Syriac Military
Council, to
unite their fight against the Assad government and
ISIS.
The Free Syrian Army has adopted the configuration and tactics of a
guerrilla force. There are five deputy chief of staffs who are in
charge of five different regions of Syria. The field units are under
the direct command of nine regional commanders.
As of January 2012, the army had around
37 named battalion units, 17–23 of which appeared to be engaged in combat.
In October 2013, some 66 units fighting with the FSA in the south
seceded to join the new
Southern Front
Sources:
http://www.longwarjournal.org).
Esteban Rivera, 20 November 2014
As the revolutionary wave commonly referred to as the
Arab Spring began
to take shape in early 2011, Syrian protesters began consolidating opposition
councils. The Civil uprising began in the city of Deera, capital of the Deera
Governorate, in early March, 2011. After the government siege of this city by
military means, and other cities as well as mass protests began to take place
throughout the country, the first armed groups started to emerge, such as the
FSA (Free Syrian Army).
However it should be noted that before this general violence erupted, there was
indeed a true political and civil opposition to the
Ba'athist regime
much long before the protests, into what is called the Syrian
opposition. The Syrian opposition (Arabic: المعارضة السورية
-
Al-Mu'aradah Al-Suriyah) is an umbrella term for groups and
individuals calling for regime change in Syria and who oppose its
Ba'athist government. The term "opposition" (Arabic "mu'araDah") is
typically used to refer to traditional political actors; that is,
groups and individuals who have a history of dissent against the
Syrian state, rather than to describe all participants in the uprising
against Assad rule in Syria. The first structures to form in the
Syrian uprising were local protest-organizing committees. These formed
in April, 2011, as protesters graduated from spontaneous protests to
protests organized by meetings beforehand.
"The core of the grassroots civil opposition is the youth, mainly from
the working and middle-classes, in which women and diverse religious
and ethnic groups play active roles. Many of these activists remain
non-affiliated to traditional political ideologies but are motivated
by concerns for freedom, dignity, social justice and basic human
rights."
The first phase of the Syrian Revolution, from March 2011 until the
start of August 2011, was characterized by a consensus for nonviolent
struggle among the uprising's participants. Thus the conflict cannot
be characterized as a "civil war" until the organization of armed
struggle began on the anti-government side. This occurred on 29 July
2011, the date when the FSA announced its formation, allowing the
conflict to meet the international political definition of "civil
war."
Opposition groups in Syria took a new turn in 2011 during the Syrian
Civil War as they united to form the Syrian National Council (SNC),
which has received significant international support and recognition
as a partner for dialogue. The Syrian National Council has been
recognised or supported in some capacity by at least 17 member states
of the United Nations, with three of those (France,
United Kingdom and the
United States being permanent members
of the Security Council. A new opposition umbrella group — the
National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces —
was formed in November 2012 and has gained recognition as the
"legitimate representative of the Syrian people" by the
Cooperation
Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (CCASG) and as a
"representative of aspirations of Syrian people" by the
Arab League.
Both the Syrian National Council and the the National Coalition for
Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces use this flag (as already
mention here)
Currently the opposing forces to the Ba'athist government are:
National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces
(see separate page)
Muslim Brotherhood
(official websites: http://www.ikhwanonline.com/ and
http://www.ikhwanweb.com/ ) is and Islamist party founded in 1930. The
brotherhood was behind the Islamic uprising in Syria between 1976
until 1982. The party is banned in Syria and membership became a
capital offence in 1980. The current Ba'athist government of Bashar al
Assad has accused the Muslim Brotherhood of being key players in the
Syrian uprising that escalated into a civil war. Other sources have
described the group as having "risen from the ashes", "resurrected
itself" to be a dominant force in the uprising.
Coalition of Secular and Democratic Syrians or Syrian Coalition of
Secular and Democratic Forces (Arabic الائتلاف العلماني الديموقراطي
السوري) is the nucleus of a Syrian secular and democratic opposition that
appeared during the 2011–2012 Syrian uprising. It was created by the
union of a dozen Muslim and Christian, Arab and Kurd parties, who
called the minorities of Syria to support the fight against the regime
of Bashar al-Assad. The Coalition has also called for military
intervention in Syria, under the form of a no-fly zone, with a safe
zone and cities. The president of the coalition is also a member of
the Syrian National Council.
Damascus Declaration (Arabic: إعلان دمشق) was a statement of unity
by Syrian opposition figures issued in October 2005 signed by more
than 250 opposition figures, criticizing the Syrian government as
"authoritarian, totalitarian and cliquish," and called for "peaceful,
gradual," reform "founded on accord, and based on dialogue and
recognition of the other.
The "five small opposition groups" signing
the declaration were:
The
Movement for Justice and Development in Syria (MJD) (official website) also subscribes to the
Damascus Declaration. In a series of splits 2007-2009, most members left the
Damascus Declaration, leaving the MJD and SDPP (Syrian Democratic People's
Party) SDPP as the only remaining factions of any consequence, along with a
number of independents:
Assyrian Democratic Organization (ADO), (Syriac:
ܡܛܟܣܬܐ ܐܬܘܪܝܬܐ
ܕܝܡܩܪܛܝܬܐ; Arabic:
المنظمة الآثورية الديمقراطية) also known as
"Mtakasta/Mtakasto" (the Syrian
section), founded in Syria in 1957, is the largest Assyrian political
organization in Syria and Europe. The Syrian government has banned it
from political life in Syria and restricted its activities in Syria.
Syrian Turkmen Assembly, (also called Syrian Turkmen Platform)
(Wikipedia
article) (official
website), is a recently formed
Turkmen organisation to form a coalition of Turkmen parties and groups
constituted during the second organisation of Syrian Turkmen Platform
on 30 March 2013, and that became the joining point of Syrian Turkmen
National Bloc and Syrian Democratic Turkmen Movement, which are two
different political movements to assume the leadership of Syrian
Turkmens. The military wing of the assembly is
Syrian Turkmen Brigades
(flag), and they are against the partition of Syria after the collapse of
Baath regime.
Syrian Turkmen National Bloc,
(Wikipedia
article) (also called Syrian Turkmen Bloc)
(Arabic: الكتلة الوطنية التركمانية السورية) is a
political party in Syria, based amongst the Turkmen minority. The
party was founded in Istanbul in February 15, 2012 and after its
foundation, the party joined the National Change Current (a coalition
of smaller opposition parties).
Local Coordination Committees of Syria (Arabic:
لجان التنسيق المحلية
في سوريا: LCC Syria or LCCs) (official website) are a network of local groups
that organise and report on protests as part of the Syrian uprising. It was described as the main organization behind the civil protests
when the revolt started in 2011. The network supported civil
disobedience and opposed local armed resistance and international
military intervention as methods of opposing the Syrian government.
FSA (Free Syrian Army) (flag) which at the
beginning was the first and most important military force opposing the
Ba'athist regime.
Islamic opposition groups, which are the following:
Hizb ut-Tahrir (Arabic: حزب التحرير
Ḥizb at-Taḥrīr; Party of
Liberation) (official website) (the Syrian section) is an
international pan-Islamic political organisation. They are commonly
associated with the goal of all Muslim countries unifying as an
Islamic state or caliphate ruled by Islamic law (sharia) and with a
caliph head of state elected by Muslims.
Syrian Islamic Front (SIF) (Arabic:
الجبهة الإسلامية السورية al-Jabhah al-Islāmiyya as-Sūriyyah) was a Salafist
umbrella organisation of Islamist rebel groups fighting the Bashar
al-Assad government in Syria during the Syrian civil war formed on
December 21, 2012. Its largest group was the Salafist Ahrar ash-Sham,
which reportedly "lead" and "dominated" the Front. The group was
founded by eleven Islamist rebel groups on 21 December 2012:
Syrian Islamic Liberation Front (SILF) (Arabic: جبهة تحرير سوريا
الإسلامية, Jabhat Tahrīr Sūriyā al-Islāmiyyah) (official website) (the
flag
features their
logo), was a coalition of Islamist rebel brigades who fought against the
Bashar al-Assad government in the Syrian civil war. By late 2012, it
was one of the strongest armed coalitions in Syria, representing up to
half of Bashar al-Assad's armed opponents. In late November 2013,
Suqour al-Sham, Al-Tawhid Brigade and Jaysh al-Islam, the largest and
most influential members of the Front, announced that they were
joining the Islamic Front. On 25 November 2013, a statement appeared
on the SILF website announcing that the group was ceasing all
operations. The group did not include the jihadist Al-Nusra Front, and
Ahrar ash-Sham withdrew from the group in protest at the killing of a
jihadist leader by one of the other groups. It was composed of the
following:
Suqour al-Sham Brigade
Jaysh al-Islam
Al-Tawhid Brigade
Farouq Brigades
Ansar al-Islam Gathering Council
Liwa al-Fath, Battalion of Conquest, (Aleppo)
Deir ez-Zor Revolutionary Council
Tajamo Ansar al-Islam
Amr Ibn al-Aas Brigade
al-Naser Salaheddin Brigade
Liwa Dawud
Hawks Sham brigades
Farouq Islamic Brigades
Banner of Islam
Unification Brigade
Deir ez-Zor Revolutionary Council
Furqan Brigade (Damascus)
Furqan Brigade (Al-Quneitra)
Ahrar al-Shamal Brigades (Idlib, Hama)
Ebad Idlib al-Rahman Brigades of Maarat al-Naaman
Open Brigade (Aleppo)
Brigade of Homs (Homs)
Mohammed bin Abdullah Brigade (Homs)
Return of the Martyr Ahmed Battalion (Homs)
National Liberation Movement (Homs)
Household Brigade (Hama)
Brigades of God (Lattakia)
Izz ibn Abd al-Salam Brigades (Lattakia)
Council of Banias (Tartous)
Tartous Military Council (Tartous)[184]
Amr Ibn al-Aas Brigades
Fateh Brigades
Kurdish Suqour Brigades
Iman Brigades
Independence Gathering
(the SILF then ceased to exist and turned into the Islamic Front with
the strongest factions uniting).
Islamic Front (Arabic: الجبهة الإسلامية, al-Jabhat al-Islāmiyyah)
(official website) was formed
on November 22, 2013 as a coalition of major rebel groups in Syria. The coalition is comprised of:
Harakat Ahrar as-Sham
Suqur as-Sham
Liwa at-Tawhid
Jaysh al-Islam
Jabhat al-Kurdiyya
Liwa al-Haqq
Ahrar as-Sham
This new coalition is not to be confused with the Syrian Islamic Front
(SIF) or the Syrian Islamic Liberation Front (SLF/SILF). The same day
The Syrian Islamic Front (SIF), which was formed in December 2012, was
dissolved by Harakat Ahrar as-Sham’s Hassan Abboud in favor of the new
Islamic Front. It should also be known that there is an established
Kashmiri group with the same name but no affilitation with the Syrian
Islamic Front whatsoever. Source:
http://www.trackingterrorism.org/group/islamic-front-syria
ISIS: ISIS was
preceded by the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), that was established
during October 2006, and comprised of various insurgent groups, most
significantly the original Al Qaeda Organization in the Land of the
Two Rivers (AQI) organization, al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia - led by
Abu
Musab al-Zarqawi, the Mujahedeen
Shura Council in Iraq, and Jund al-Sahhaba (Soldiers of the Prophet’s
Companions), which was integrated into the ISI. ISIS members'
allegiance was given to the ISI commander and not
al-Qaeda central command.
The organisation known as the ISIS was formed during April 2013 and
has evolved in one of the main jihadist groups fighting government
forces in Syria and Iraq.
Other opposition groups, which are mainly secular groups, and they are:
National Coordination Committee for the Forces of Democratic Change
(NCC or NCB, for National Coordination Bureau) (official website) an opposition bloc chaired
by Hassan Abdel Azim consisting of about 13 mostly left-leaning
political parties and independent political activists, including three
Kurdish political parties, and youth activists, operating within Syria
and abroad.
Syria Martyrs' Brigade (or Idlib Martyrs' Brigade or Liwa Shuhada’
Idlib) first operated under the name Syrian Liberation Army, but had
renamed itself by June 2012. It is an armed insurgent group fighting
against the Syrian government in the Idlib province of Syria.It is a
loose coalition of localized forces, mostly composed of armed Syrian
civilians who have joined the uprising.
Syrian National Democratic Council: formed in Paris on 13 November
2011 during the Syrian civil war by Rifaat al-Assad, uncle of Bashar
al-Assad. Rifaat has his own political organisation, the United
National Democratic Rally.
Syrian Revolution General Commission:
Syrian coalition of 40 Syrian opposition groups to unite their efforts
during the Syrian civil war that was announced on 19 August 2011 in
Istanbul.
There's also Kurd opposition, in the form of:
Kurdish Supreme Committee, which is the governing body of
Kurdish-held regions in Syria founded by the
Kurdish Democratic Union
Party and Kurdish
National Council following
cooperation agreement between the two sides, signed on 12 July of
2012, in Erbil under auspice of the Iraqi Kurdistan president Massoud
Barzani.
Popular Protection Units: Paramilitary fighting against the Syrian
government in Syrian Kurdistan. The group was founded by the Kurdish
Democratic Union Party and Kurdish National Council and is responsible
for maintaining order and protecting the lives of residents in Kurdish
neighbourhoods.
Parliamentary opposition, represented by several factions calling
for either a change of direction under Assad, or for the replacement
of Assad and the continuation of the Ba'athist government, which are
the following:
Other minor parties and political movements that were allowed to be
established in 2012 as peaceful and loyal opposition groups, but in
recent events have actully shifted towards the opposition itself (A
new law on political parties was enacted along with constitutional
reforms in 2012, allowing for new parties outside the National
Progressive Front and thus officially permitting opposition to the
government. New parties were subsequently licensed: the National
Development Party, Al-Ansar Party, People's Party, Solidarity Party,
Syria the Homeland Party (Souria al-Watan), Democratic Vanguard Party,
Syrian Democratic Party, Syrian National Youth Party for Justice and
Development, Syrian National Youth Party, and Arab Democratic
Solidarity Party. It is thought the new parties would function as
"loyal opposition", although those that took part enjoyed little
success in the 2012 parliamentary election. Some, such as the National
Development Party and Al-Ansar, have subsequently shifted towards an
anti- government stance, including talks with groups closer to the
SNC). So, all in all, the Syrian opposition can be classified as the
following (and sometimes they have had armed confrontations among some
of them.
National Defence Force is a branch of Syrian Armed Forces, formed after summer
2012 as a part-time volunteer reserve component of the Syrian military,
organized by the Syrian government during the Syrian Civil War.
The Syrian Resistance formerly known as the
"Popular Front for the Liberation of the Sanjak of Iskandarun"; c. 2015.
Al-Quds Brigade
is a predominantly Palestinians in Syria brigade that operates as a part
of pro-Syrian government forces in the Syrian Civil War (since 2013).
Esteban Rivera, 23 October 2023
![[2011/2012 Anti-Assad Revolt (Syria)]](../images/s/sy-1946.gif)
image by Eugene Ipavec, 09 May 2007
