KNOWLEDGE PROGRAMME CIVIL SOCIETY IN WEST Knowledge Programme Civil Society in West Asia Special Bulletin 2, April 2013 Edited by SALAM KAWAKIBI SYRIAN VOICES FROM PRE -REVOLUTION SYRIA : CIVIL SOCIETY AGAINST ALL ODDS Colophon First published in April 2013 by the Knowledge Programme Civil society in West Asia. Humanist Institute for Co-operation with Developing Countries P.O. Box 85565 | 2508 CG The Hague | The Netherlands www.hivos.net / www.hivos.org Design: Tangerine –Design @ Communicatie advies, Rotterdam, The Netherlands Cover photo: A special symposium of the Syrian filmmaker, director and activist Halla Al Alabdallah in which she discusses one of her films with eminent Syrian intellectuals and artists in 2009 in Damascus. The publisher encourages fair use of this material provided proper citation is made. 2| Syrian Voices from Pre-Revolution Syria Salam Kawakibi | 2013 Table of Contents Introduction: Civil Society Against All Odds 5 Salam Kawakibi en Bassma Kodmani Chapter 1: The Emergence and Evolution of Syria’s Civil Society 9 Salam Kawakibi and Wael Sawah Chapter 2: Reinforcing Values of Citizenship 17 Hassan Abbas Chapter 3: Feminist Websites and Civil Society Experience 23 Yahya Al Aous Chapter 4: Syrian Charities at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century: Their History, Situation, Frames and Challenges 29 Laura Ruiz De Elvira Chapter 5: A Tale of “Community-Civic” Work in Salamiyah: The Experience of “Friends of Salamiyah” Society 34 Mohamed Aldbiyat Chapter 6: Syrian Cinema and Civil Society 40 Fadel Al-Kawakibi Chapter 7: Civil Society and the Gender Issue 49 Nawal Yaziji Chapter 8: The Health Sector and Civil Society 58 Fouad Mohammad Fouad Chapter 9: Syria’s Very Governmental Non-Governmental Organisations 64 Salam Kawakibi 3| Syrian Voices from Pre-Revolution Syria Salam Kawakibi | 2013 4| Syrian Voices from Pre-Revolution Syria Salam Kawakibi | 2013 Introduction: Civil Society negative sense, affect our options for the future. Against All Odds Between 2010 and 2011, Syrian participants met at several occasions to share their views on and Salam Kawakibi en Bassma Kodmani experiences in civil engagement, many of them meeting for the first time. This resulted in the With mass protests in Syria in full swing, and violence collection of papers we are now able to present to a reaching unprecedented levels, it may at first seem Syrian and a wider international readership. We peculiar to release a volume of papers that document would like to thank Hivos, the Dutch humanist and analyse the inner workings and fate of Syria’s organisation that helped facilitate these meetings and civil society as it manifested itself on the eve of the our initiative, for the invaluable support it granted us uprising in early 2011. The current clashes between within the framework of its Knowledge Programme armed groups and the regime, their sad trail of Civil Society in West Asia. human casualties and suffering, and the regional and international intrigues affecting Syria’s current plight Syrian Civil Society’s (Re-)Birth Pangs all appear to be deserving our more immediate Governance and civil society are commonly viewed attention. Yet whatever the outcomes of the current as forming a pair in support of each other. In a uprising and confrontation may be, the role of Syria’s context where civil society is recognised as a civil society will be crucial. The country’s legitimate actor by the government, the latter reconstruction, in any possible political scenario, will provides the legal framework; the enabling rely on the nation’s brightest, most experienced and environment with the necessary rules and procedures engaged citizens who, in one way or another, that allow civil society organisations to develop. In managed to build a track record of civil engagement turn, the government relies on civil society to mobilize and development work. We are confident that the talents, knowledge, entrepreneurship, and capacities future social and political conditions that may emerge within the country. In short, the former protects the out of the current conflict, whatever their exact nature latter and, in turn, civil society organisations generate is, will bring about new opportunities to (re-)build our actors and groups contributing to social development country. In such a daunting exercise new social in ways that enhance the quality of governance. In actors are bound to present themselves as the contrast, in an authoritarian system, none of this current uprising has not only witnessed the applies. Such has been the case in Syria for over half proliferation of violence and inflicted scars on Syria’s a century. In the forty years prior to Bashar Al social constitution, but also generated an impressive Assad’s ascendance to power, indeed since the early level of mutual solidarity, new grassroots initiatives 1960s, the regime dealt with society as a whole as if and unprecedented forms of collective action to cope it was its worst enemy. It sought to contain it, under excruciatingly difficult circumstances and to disempower its (political, social and religious) help those most seriously affected by the conflict. Yet institutions, and strip available social forces of their new future opportunities should not be confused with vitality. It then sought to restructure society in ways a tabula rasa approach wherein everything and that maintained façade institutions with subservient everybody will be viewed as constituting a break with leaders at their helm. Since the year 2000 and the the past. Syrians’ past experiences in building a civil succession of Bashar Al Assad who prolonged this society of active and participatory citizenship, and system built by his father in the 1970s, the regime their achievements, against all odds and prior to the evolved, primarily in two ways. First, it sought to build uprising, will help determine the prospects for and for itself an image of modernity, and in some but viability of any future effort directed at reconstruction, limited cases it introduced genuine measures of reconciliation and development. It is against this reform in order to reap the benefits of globalization. background that we believe it timely to present our Introducing advanced information technology, for collection of papers on --and written by-- Syrian civil example, was treated as a priority. Yet the strategy society activists about their experiences, was designed to bring as much technology as perspectives, dilemmas and achievements. In doing possible, without meaningfully improving citizens’ so, we provide a rare but, we think, much needed access to information. The regime then understood platform for Syrian voices in the debate on their own that the West was keen to see and promote Syria’s country’s future. At the same time we contend that civil society, to which the regime responded by the current collection of papers --a civic anthology of seizing the opportunity to strengthen its own image sorts-- is testimony to the fact that a Syrian civil through carefully promoting certain types of NGOs, society, despite its shortcomings and the many which ultimately served to strengthen its control over challenges it faces, exists --and will mature if given a society. This way the Assad regime surfed on the genuine chance and a degree of freedom to develop. wave of civil society promotion, and basically We of course realise that recently conditions in Syria extended the same rationale it had been applying to have changed rapidly, and in some respects perfect its control over society. Rarely have such dramatically so. Yet the paths and repertoires Syrian modern means been deployed to serve the narrow civil society activists have chosen and developed in interests of an authoritarian regime, putting liberal the recent and distant past will, both in a positive and clothing on what essentially remained a totalitarian 5| Syrian Voices from Pre-Revolution Syria Salam Kawakibi | 2013 system. Societal forces, although disempowered for and organised networks of corruption involving so many years, also sought to take advantage of governors, security officers and government outside interest in supporting civil society, and simply employees throughout the country. There was no took the regime up to its word when it declared its proper management of agriculture, nor was there any intention to allow NGOs to develop. In so doing, civil planned investment strategy for the country’s industry society actors engaged in genuine efforts to occupy to improve its productivity, or proper urban planning. the limited spaces that the regime seemed to open up This negligence triggered efforts from within society to them. The result, perhaps predictably, was that on to try and take care of itself. New initiatives such as the eve of the uprising in 2011, Syria’s civil society those by community associations took advantage of still struggled to emerge. Yet, inadvertently or not, the the emphasis put on local development by the five- regime’s ambivalent approach had allowed civil year Plan of 2006-2010 to create the Friends of activists to make some gains and energetically Salamiyah Society, as described in Mohamed embark on new initiatives which are essential in any Aldbiyat’s contribution. The Society sought to cover a future steps to genuinely and decisively turn to broad area defined as environmental, developmental society’s empowerment. It is their stories that are and cultural, and this way managed to assert its central to this anthology of Syria’s civil society. presence in local civil society. The extraordinary expansion of charities is the strongest indicator of Operating Under a Low Ceiling Syrian society’s dynamism and its ability to take care of itself. They reflect the strong solidarity ties within In the year 2000, Bashar Al Assad was quick to society as well as efforts to compensate for the failure signal that the change of person at the head of the of the governance system.