Charles Laffiteau's Bigger Picture
Many people in Europe and America have strongly supported the ‘Arab Spring’ uprisings, in the mistaken belief that democracy would improve the lives of those living under the thumb of autocratic regimes in the Middle East. But as I have noted before, because these nations don’t have strong judicial systems that will protect the rights of minorities, it is more likely that democracy will actually lead to a new ‘tyranny of the majority’.
Although he tried to present himself as the ‘candidate of the revolution’, the newly elected President of Egypt, Mohamed Morsi, failed to win the support of the secular minded leaders of the Egyptian popular revolt, who decided to boycott the polls rather than vote for Morsi or the choice of Egypt’s generals, Ahmed Shafiq. But President Morsi has not allayed their concerns with his mixed messages since taking office.
As a reward for the support of Egypt’s Salafists, President Morsi initially wanted his Prime Minister, Hesham Qandil, to appoint the Salafist preacher Mohamed Yousry Ibrahim to head the Endowments Ministry responsible for Egypt’s mosques. However, many devout Sunni Muslims were alarmed by his nomination, believing he would use his position to allow the ultra-conservative Salafists to become the dominant influence in Egypt’s mosques. So when Morsi backed down and instead named a university professor as Endowments Minister, the Salafist Nour Party angrily announced it would refuse to take part in Egypt’s new cabinet.
The fact that Morsi was willing to give the Nour Party powerful positions in his cabinet is worrisome, because the Salafists have repeatedly staged violent armed attacks on Coptic Christians and moderate Muslims in an attempt to ensure their fundamentalist version of Islam will dominate Egypt. Just weeks ago they were involved in violent attacks on Coptic Christians in Dahshour, about 40km south of Cairo, which caused more than 100 Christian families to flee for their lives.
But the threat of an escalation in sectarian violence pales in comparison to the armed violence already being perpetrated in Syria by forces aligned with the Free Syrian Army. While the opposition group says it does not discriminate against Syria’s Christian and Alawite minorities, the actions of some associated rebels demonstrate otherwise.
Last month in the Syrian city of Qusayr, over 9,000 Christians were forced to flee after the local leader of the Free Syrian Army, Abdel Salam Harba, ordered the local mosques to announce from the minarets: “Christians must leave Qusayr within six days, which expires this Friday.” Two days before Harba’s Friday deadline, armed rebels underscored how serious they were by desecrating the Greek-Orthodox Church of St Elias in Qusayr.
But as scared as Syria’s Christians are of what the Islamists will do if they come to power, the country’s Muslim Alawites are truly terrified about what they will face if the Assad regime falls. Sheik Ali Yeral, a Turkish Alawite imam in Ekinci near the Syrian border, claims to have heard rebel forces chanting “Christians to Beirut, Alawites to the grave.” As a result of such threats, Sheik Yeral says: “We are convinced that if the regime implodes, there will be wide-scale massacres of the Alawi people and of Christians too.”
Nor is Sheik Yeral alone in his fears. For years Syria has been a refuge for Iraqi citizens who have fled the sectarian violence that continues to wrack that ‘democratic nation’. Furthermore, even anti-Assad activists have admitted that Christians and Alawites, as well as many Sunni Muslims living in Aleppo and Damascus, don’t want the Free Syrian Army to come into their neighbourhoods because of the death and injuries innocent civilians will surely suffer, as well as their fear of the foreign-born jihadists that often accompany the rebel forces.
Democracy can be a messy business, even in countries with strong democratic institutions like Ireland and the United States. However, too many of us in the west view democracy through the lens of our own long standing, as well as very strong legal protections for minority groups. So we don’t usually stop and consider the fact that democracy can also lead to a tyranny of the majority that will legally discriminate against minorities. So be careful what you wish for.
I hope I’m wrong, but I foresee years of bloody Christian, Alawite and Muslim sectarian conflict in Syria if the Free Syrian Army and its jihadist allies succeed in toppling the Assad regime.
Charles Laffiteau is a US Republican from Dallas, Texas who is pursuing a PhD in Public Policy and Political Economy. He previously lectured on Contemporary US Business & Society at DCU from 2009-2011.
