A visit by a delegation from the Alternative for Germany party – the German right-wing party – to Syria and their meeting with many prominent Syrian figures close to the Syrian decision-making center constitutes a slap in the face of every Syrian patriot, a setback for every Arab nationalist, a betrayal to all Syria lovers, and to everyone who stood in recent years alongside the Syrian people, its steadfast leadership, and its authentic Arab army, supporting their defensive war against the partition of Syria waged by more than eighty countries against Syria’s people, leadership, and army.
I do not know how this slip and diplomatic mistake happened and who was responsible for arranging or initiating the visit… but it is clear that the Syrian leadership’s advisors failed miserably by not informing the leadership about the identities of the figures who visited Syria, their party’s ideological identity, their position in the German and European political space, the history of such meetings in the Middle East, their repercussions on the region’s peoples, and their political status in the international system.
This party, which embraces within its ranks Nazi racist individuals, movements, and groups hostile to foreigners and boasting of Nazi racial theory and harboring enmity towards everything Eastern and Muslim… was received by a prominent, gentle figure respected by both enemy and friend alike, such as the Grand Mufti of the Syrian Arab Republic… What a blunder and what a shame.
No, Syria… this is not how you eat the shoulder! The reactionary Eastern principle “The enemy of my enemy is my friend” is a principle followed by the weak and political novices… You have proven to the world over the past seven years how politics and strategy are done. You slipped on a cheap paper and bad propaganda against Syria, its people, and its history.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time an Arab regime or Arab national movement falls into the trap of the equation “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” The history of the Middle East and its political and revolutionary movements is full of such slips that have stained the history of some movements and some regimes.
This failed tactic, based on a reactionary, submissive rural saying – ‘One hits with you, but ten hit you’ – began in the 1930s when the Palestinian Mufti Sheikh Amin al-Husseini visited Nazi fascist Germany, imagining that they would stand with him against the “Jews”… The Mufti misjudged and failed miserably, bringing a stain of shame upon the entire Palestinian people and their struggle, a stain that still clings to him to this day… Promoters of this approach and this vile strategy forget that, for example, an authentic Arab proverb says ‘The ungrateful son brings disgrace to his family’ and the saying ‘Tell me who your friends are, and I will tell you who you are’ is wiser, more aware, and more prudent than the strategy of ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend’…
The factions of the Palestine Liberation Organization, especially its left wing, did not learn from the Palestinian Mufti’s mistake and repeated the scenario even worse by supporting European terrorist movements under the banner of the “Red Star,” convinced that the Palestinian people’s struggle against Zionism and its colonialism is part of the socialist struggle against capitalism… This romantic revolutionary blindness has cost the Palestinian people dearly and they continue to pay the price for this strategic slip to this day.
Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq continued these failed alliances when it received the far-right party leader hostile to Muslims and their culture, Jörg Haider, and the Iraqi regime boasted about this fascist visit, forgetting that politics is the art of gain and loss… The visit of the fascist right, regardless of its color or national affiliation, to Arab countries is, strategically, a major loss, and the expected gain from such meetings is a great illusion. It indicates the great deficiency of Arab leaderships in understanding the Western reality and the stance of the peoples of this region.
Syria’s leadership and prominent figures misjudged by receiving members of the German far-right party and unfortunately proved that they have not learned from others’ past mistakes… Every Syria lover has the right to ask those who met the German delegation: How can you receive such extremists while you have been burning for years with the fire of extremism? How can you receive a delegation many of whom attended Trump’s victory party in the American elections… this racist who is tampering with the security and unity of the Syrian Arab Republic?
Yes, Syria, you made a major strategic mistake at a time when you most needed to consolidate the principle of friendship and distinguished political support. Your friends have countries and organizations whose friendship and loyalty you can be proud of… And here you are, playing with this treasure by receiving a far-right group unrelated to their struggle and your war for Syria as a state and people… Now all that remains is to try to leak the mistake by retracting this shameful act, apologizing to all your lovers worldwide, and announcing the severance of ties with such fascist organizations and parties.
