Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from election observers who traveled to Syria.

This independent delegation was assembled to witness the May 26, 2021 presidential election in Syria and to investigate on-the-ground conditions of Syrian life in the current period. Activists and journalists from Palestine, Syria, South Africa, France, Canada, and the United States joined this delegation on the invitation of the Syria Solidarity Movement and Arab Americans 4 Syria. This joint statement summarizes our findings on the election and what it means for Syrians.

On election day, our delegation traveled to neighborhoods that had been outside of government control when the last presidential elections took place in 2014. Notably, we visited polling places in the towns of Arbeen and Douma, in the hard-hit Eastern Ghouta region southeast of Damascus where residents are returning and beginning to rebuild their homes, some after years of seeking refuge elsewhere. We witnessed Syrians cast secret ballots in polling places where monitors from opposition parties were present alongside election officials, in accordance with the Constitution of the Syrian Arab Republic. We saw nothing to indicate unfairness or coercion in the casting of ballots.

We also conducted extensive interviews with members of the Syrian general public. We were not inhibited in any way from conducting these interviews and could freely do so outside the presence of government officials.

We overwhelmingly found that Syrian people place tremendous significance on this election. During and after the election we observed huge enthusiasm. It appeared genuine and widespread. For many Syrians, the election represents the imminent ending of the war, the defeat of foreign plots, and hope for the future. For young people, it encapsulates the first period of relative stability they have experienced in their living memory. Many expressed that they were not simply casting votes for their preferred candidate, but for a sovereign, unified Syria, free from imperialist interference. For them, the presidential election was a referendum on the right of the Syrian people to determine their own future.

It is the unanimous conclusion of the undersigned representatives of the International Delegation to the 2021 Syrian Presidential Election that the re-election of President Bashar al-Assad, of the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party and the National Progressive Front, is the legitimate, democratic expression of the Syrian people.

Ted Kelly

International Action Center

Co-Editor, Tear Down the Walls!

Wyatt Miller

MN Anti-War Committee, USA

Kobi Guillory

Co-chair, Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression

Amal Wahdan

Coordinator, One Democratic State Assembly

Steering Committee, Syria Solidarity Movement

Ramallah, Palestine

Mpho Masemola

Secretary General, Ex Political Prisoner's Veterans Association of South Africa (EPPA)

Member, Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), African National Congress military wing

Johnny Achi, E.E.

Co-founder, Arab Americans for Syria

Daniel Kovalik

Adjunct Professor of International Human Rights, University of Pittsburgh School of Law

Alain Corvez

Adviser in international strategy, France

Rick Sterling

Journalist, USA

Paul Larudee

Retired Academic and Unretired NGO Administrator & Piano Technician

#Syria #MiddleEast #PeoplesStruggles #Assad #2021SyrianPresidentialElection

Damascus, Syria – On Wednesday, May 26, election day in Syria, crowds flocked to polling places to cast their votes. A delegation of observers from the U.S., South Africa, France and Palestine visited polling locations east of Damascus in the war-torn Ghouta region to witness the voting and celebrations taking place. Occupied by U.S. and Saudi-backed contras for over six years, civilians there were unable to vote in the last presidential election, and many more have only recently returned to finally rebuild their homes. Within Ghouta, the delegation observed voting in the town of Arbin and the city of Douma.

The morning of election day, an antique store owner in Damascus told Fight Back! “I am going to vote as soon as I close the store. It's my right and there are polling places everywhere.” He pointed to the place he planned to vote, a few blocks away from the souq (market) in which his store is located.

Election officials reported that Douma, a city with 70,000 residents, had 20 polling sites. The election boasted a total of 12,000 voting stations around the country and in Syrian embassies that are still open.

In spite of the abundance of voting stations, officials had trouble with the sheer number of voters. The polls were originally set to be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., but the large crowds forced officials to keep the polls open until midnight. An observer in Douma from the office of opposition candidate Abdullah Abdullah said more than 1500 people had voted at that site by 2 p.m. This location was also where incumbent president Bashar al Assad had cast his vote that morning.

Hundreds of Syrians, including many young people, rallied outside every polling site. Crowds waved Syrian flags and raised pictures of Assad while chanting “Allah! Souriya! Bashar ou bas!” (God! Syria! Bashar! Nothing else!) among other chants in favor of the incumbent. A man celebrating outside a Douma voting station said in English, “We want Dr. Bashar because there are no more terrorists!”

The man continued in Arabic, “It was miserable during the occupation. There was no food, water or electricity. People were killed for smoking. Women were killed for not covering up.” His town was occupied by Saudi-backed terrorist organization Jaish al Islam from 2012 until 2018, when it was liberated by the Syrian Arab Army.

Young people showed off the ink on their fingers, the mark used to indicate that they had already voted, preventing people from voting more than once. An 18-year-old casting his vote for the first time said of himself and his friends, “We want to be doctors and engineers so we can help rebuild Syria.”

Yara Saleh, a Syrian reporter who was kidnapped by terrorists for six days in 2012, stressed the importance of this election for the youth. “The young people grew up during the war,” she said, adding that the youth deserve safety and stability that they were denied for so long. “Every Syrian family has a story like mine,” Saleh added.

The following night, tens of thousands of people gathered in and around Umayyad Square in central Damascus to await and celebrate the results. 19-year-old Aya Jamal Abbas danced with her friends in the crowd, a Syrian flag painted on her face.

“I'm very happy that we're all together. We voted for Bashar and we're waiting for the results,” Abbas said. “This is our victory. We won this war.”

Her sentiment was echoed by people of all ages and diverse backgrounds. Abeer Ali Naif, a Palestinian woman who Fight Back! spoke to outside her home in the war-torn Yarmouk refugee camp, invited the delegation to celebrate the results in her home with her family the morning after the election. “Bashar is a great man,” Naif added.

Many people in Umayyad Square described their feelings of joy. “Damascus deserves joy for all the people who are no longer with us today,” said Aasma Rahme, 27, a lawyer.

“There is joy in Syria,” said Ahmed al Ali, 42. “Everyone around is happy. It's infectious. Congratulate the Syrian people for this joy.”

Deafening cheers erupted throughout the square when the results were announced. Fireworks lit up the sky and celebratory gunshots went off all over Damascus.

Mpho Masemola, member of the delegation and secretary general of the South African Ex Political Prisoners Association, likened the celebrations to those that happened during the 1994 election of Nelson Mandela.

President Assad was re-elected with an overwhelming 95.1% of the vote. Reportedly, 14.2 million people voted out of 18.1 million eligible citizens in Syria and internationally.

The 78.6% voter turnout might have been higher if all Syrians were able to vote where they live. Some areas of Syria are still under occupation by U.S. and Turkish troops and various mercenaries they support. Many Syrians living internationally could not vote due to the Syrian embassies in their countries of residence being closed.

One such Syrian is Johnny Achi, who has lived in the United States for over 30 years. Achi voted in Douma, where he said, “As long as the Syrian embassy in the U.S. is closed, I will travel here to exercise my right and duty as a Syrian citizen.”

Tamer al Jadoua, 33, told Fight Back! in Umayyad Square that he traveled from Kuwait to cast his vote. Al Jadoua and al Ali were celebrating together and responded to questions about the claims in U.S. and allied media that the election was fake and celebrators were forced.

“We are the ones who voted for Bashar because we like him,” al-Ali said. “No one forced all these people to be here. Many came from very far away.”

“When you see all the people come here voluntarily, you see the people of Syria say, 'Bashar is our choice,’” Husam Ayazra said in English. “We don't need anyone to impose anything on us. We want just Bashar. No one else.”

A group of men initially refused to be interviewed by this U.S. based Fight Back! reporter. “You will go back and tell lies about us,” one man said. After some discussion, the man said, “All these people are not being forced to be here. They're here because they support Bashar with their blood and soul.”

The man used phrasing from the ubiquitous chant: “Bi ruh, bi dam, nafiq ya Bashar!” (With blood, with the soul, we are with you Bashar!) The man continued, “These are not just words to us. You have to say them with your soul.”

Accusations of a faked election are another in a long list of slander against Syria in the U.S., UK, Israeli, Qatari and other imperialist-aligned media. Earlier in the day, Naif cited those same governments as being responsible for the destruction of her home in Yarmouk, as well as the ongoing occupation of the land from which her family was forcefully removed in 1948.

When asked what message she has for America, Naif replied, “Leave us alone.”

In response to the same question, Ayazra implored Americans and other people of the world to watch out for misinformation in the media. “I want every journalist to be honest,” Ayazra said. “Ask yourself if you want another country to destroy your country. Why do they do that to us? There is democracy in Syria. They want to destroy it with lies.”

One of the men, who did not want to be named, told Fight Back!, “Tell the truth about what you saw here. And make Joe Biden lift the sanctions.”

The man was referring to the sanctions imposed by the U.S. on Syria through the Caesar Civilian Protection Act of 2019. The Caesar Act put a chokehold on the Syrian economy, causing a currency collapse that inflated the price of basic goods and restricting access to medicine and the construction materials needed to rebuild Syria after the war, among other vital resources.

The man added that it is the responsibility of the American people to fight against their government when it attacks other countries.

The election marks a victory of the Syrian people against imperialism, but imperialism is still detrimental to their lives and the lives of people around the world. The system of imperialism will stay alive until the people living under imperialism rise up and kill it.

#DamascusSyria #Damascus #MiddleEast #PeoplesStruggles #Syria #Assad #HandsOffSyria

Homs, Syria – In an emotional day, mixed with sadness for the loss of life and a celebration of victory, the people of Homs, Syria came out to vote in their presidential election, June 3. Outside many polling places, hundreds of people gathered to rally, chant and dance dabke, the traditional dance of Syria, Lebanon and Palestine. The celebratory mood was because in the past month, the armies backed by the U.S., NATO, Israel and the Gulf states that had been fighting in the Old City of Homs were finally driven out.

There were three candidates on the ballot: Maher Abd Al-Hafiz Hajjar, Hassan Abdullah al-Nouri and Bashar al-Assad, but in Homs, there was no doubt that President Bashar al Assad was going to win the election. When our delegation of election observers from the U.S., Ireland, Canada, India and Malaysia asked voters their presidential candidate, over and again they said, “Bashar al Assad.” The explanation was the same as well: because he has led the country to defeat the dreaded and murderous foreign-led armies.

As had happened in Beirut over the weekend, the numbers of those wanting to vote overwhelmed the polling places. The same thing happened in the 9601 precincts around the country. Scheduled to close at 7:00 p.m., the polls had to stay open until midnight to accommodate all those standing in line.

900 faces of martyrs on a wall

The horror of what the community here has faced over the past three years was driven home at every turn. On the wall on a main street, there were photos of 900 of the people who had died at the hands of the foreign-backed armies. Many of the photos showed men in uniform. This didn’t come as a surprise to our delegation. The previous day, Speaker of the People’s Assembly Dr. Jihad Al Lahham had told our delegation that 80,000 of the 160,000 dead in the war are members of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), or the National Defense Force (NDF). The second largest number of deaths, according to the pro-rebel Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, are civilians. The smallest numbers are the rebels themselves. Over the past year, the percent of foreign rebel casualties has grown. By April, it was one out of every three of their 35,000 deaths.

A regional parliamentarian in Homs said, “The NDF is modeled after the National Liberation Front in Vietnam.” He explained that the NDF was formed out of need to deal with the suddenness and ferocity of the armed assaults on the country when they begin in 2011. “During the day I wear a suit and tie for work, but in my house, I have a Kalashnikov rifle for when the takfiri attack my neighborhood.” Takfiri is the word for the Muslim extremists that are the main force among the right wing rebels.

We also spoke with the sister of a man killed by the rebels, and her moving account had everyone at the polling place in tears. Several soldiers came to vote limping or on crutches.

The Old City

At the end of five hours of visiting multiple precincts, meetings with priests in Syrian Catholic and Orthodox churches and multiple high energy rallies, we were taken on a trip to a polling place in the Old City of Homs. We drove through several miles of the Old City to get there, through block after block of ancient buildings pockmarked by bullet holes and the collapsing ruins of those that had been destroyed by explosions.

The head of the election commission at this poll, a man named Robel who has lived many years in Los Angeles, California, took us for a tour of the Um al-Zennar Church of the Virgin's Girdle, built in 1852. It was bombed by the right-wing army that had occupied it. The bombing didn’t destroy the building, but it caused damage to the church that we were led to 20 feet below the floor of Um al-Zennar. That church, which was only a grotto carved into stone, dated from the year 59 AD.

Sana, the English speaking woman who was the leader of the parliamentarians who were our hosts, said, “We open this poll in the Old City, although there are only a few people in this precinct, because it was important to the people here. It is a symbol of the victory over the attackers.” The elected officials chose this poll to cast their votes and dip their fingers into the blue ink that indicated that one had voted.

The members of our delegation were given permission to dye our own fingers in the bowl of ink as a sign of “sawa.” Sawa is the Arabic word for “together.” Eyad, the Syrian liaison for our delegation, explained, “This is the slogan of the election, meaning the Syrian people are united to overcome the enemy and rebuild our country; all candidates and all political parties are united in the same; and the people are united in support of President Bashar al Assad, who has led us to victory.” This support for Assad was unmistakable: everywhere in Homs, on the streets of Damascus and in carloads of young people driving on the road to Damascus, the chant was heard, “Bi rouhh, bi dam, nafdeek ya Bashar!” It translates to, “With our blood and soul, we are with you, Bashar!”

#HomsSyria #Homs #Syria #Assad #MiddleEast

Chicago, IL – Dr. Matar speaks for the Syrian American Forum July 2, as people gathered here, for a third week in a row of protests, to say, “Hands off Syria! No new wars!”

The Anti-War Committee-Chicago (AWC), the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition, the March 19th Coalition and the Syrian American Forum are organizing the rallies. Kait McIntyre of AWC announced that this week and again next, “Chicago’s protests are part of a national coordinated effort called by the United National Antiwar Coalition, A.N.S.W.E.R., United for Peace and Justice and over a hundred other groups.”

#ChicagoIllinois #ChicagoIL #Syria #antiimperialism #ChicagoAntiWar #DrMatar #Assad #MiddleEast