Reports | 25 05 2020
Rozana made a survey of the views of Syrian refugees in Jordan, on the Syrian opposition. Some of them justified the opposition’s weakness on the basis of its multiple components, or its presence outside Syria; others denied the existence of something called an ‘external’ opposition; while others yet believe the opposition to be weak, due to lack of its grass-roots existence, and the role of the Syrian regime in disabling its mobility.
"The opposition does not have established roots in Syrian society. Ever since the 1950s, it has been marginalized and emaciated; hence, it has been unable to keep up with the rising mobility," says one Syrian refugee, expressing views of the opposition.
Iqbal, another refugee, finds it likely that the opposition media has failed to play an adequate role, as he puts it. There is no media channel, around which all spectra of the Syrian people could rally to deliver of the Syrian issue to the whole world. Hassan on the other hand, opines that the opposition lacks the popular cadres, from the beginning of the mobilization; referring to the the role of the Syrian regime, in its absence for decades.
Rozana has not only surveyed the views of refugees; we also approached politicians and analysts. Secretary of the Syrian National Council [SNC], Abdel-Salam al-Bitar, is of the opinion that the opposition has been subject to a number of international pressures. These affected its decisions; but he believes that it was able to withstand them and persevere.
Syrian political affairs’ analyst Amer al-Sabaileh, on the other hand, confirms that international disputes; the divergent characters of opposition figures and their variety of international affiliations; were all causal factors in it coming to appear as a disingenuous phenomenon, as he puts it.