Archived: Alnusra under the civilian threatening

Fidaa Itani:

Alnusra under the civilian threatening

On Friday fourth of March, Alnusra front fighters (the Syrian branch of Al Qaeda organisation) attacked a civil demonstration in city of Idlib.
The demonstrations have come back to all Syrian villages and cities after the start of the American – Russian designed ceasefire, in a restoring of the beginning of the civilian Syrian revolution (2011). These demonstrations became more crowded on Friday the fourth of March (Friday is the beginning of the weekend in Syria and many other Arab countries and It’s also a day of communal prayer for muslims). The most significant fact that these demonstrations are flying the flag of revolution, with its three red stars.
Something moved Alnusra front to attack the demonstrators, and it wasn’t the first time, although Alnusra public figures consider the attacks a mistake, and tried to say that flying the flag of the revolution wasn’t a sign of blasphemy.
This is with a contrary to what Alnusra believe, simply and clearly Al Qaeda and all the Salafist groups consider any flag except the Islamic one (with the words of “no god except Allah”) is an infidel flag.
During the campaign against Alzabadany and the siege of Madaya (July 2015) something changed in the Syrian mindset. The flag of revolution started to show up in many places in rebels areas, while the islamic flags became less visible. Later on the Free Syrian Army became trusted, regained the support it had lost for a long time. Alnusra and other Salafist groups made some military actions toward the regime areas and specifically Alfoua and Kifraya villages to gain the populations support in a stiff competition with the FSA and the revolution flag.
Later, in the last winter, Alnusra group arrested many media activists, and the most well-known an activist from Kfarnoubol, a village we can easily describe as the civilian icon of the Syrian revolution.
For the fundamental Islamic groups the hoisting of the Syrian flag means the beginning of the rolling up of  its own.
And the conclusion of Alnusra isn’t far from reality, the rising – once again – of the green flag of revolution is a massive announcement that the Syrian population that support revolution want a united Syria under a secular state. Even if secular means infidel nowadays in Syria, the flag shows what the Syrians want.
Second point that we can conclude is that the Russian invasion and airstrikes concentrated on the FSA provoke a counter reaction, and brought the population to demonstrate supporting the FSA. This is a political failure for the Russian military strategy.
The third point tells us that the deep collective Syrian mind wants to get rid of the Syrian regime, and at any cost. So after four years of bloody fights all around the Syrian territories, and the death of 470 thousand most of them from the rebel side, and the mass migration, and massive destruction, the population even in areas like southern Damascus (which made a peaceful agreement with the Syrian Army two years ago) demonstrated with the flag of revolution.
The fourth point is exactly what made the fundamental Islamic groups react violently, the point is the military and media control didn’t mean much for the population, and in a few days this population showed another face of the Syrian revolution, and that face is not a fundamental  one at all.
Fifth point is: despite the mistakes and the possible financial and military crimes the FSA groups committed in the past few years, the majority is still supporting the FSA as a representative of the revolution and an alternative to the current regime.
And the last would be the peaceful trait of the revolution, regardless of the ceasefire is applied on one side, and the areas under the FSA control still under shelling and airstrikes, the activists come back to their old trait with civil demonstration with their same demand: Bashar Al Assad should leave and the regime must fall.

Alnusra under the civilian threatening