A strategy adopted by Bashar Assad against the Syrian revolution has been to increase estrangement between the Syrian people using purely sectarian motives, deepening the feeling of “us and them” in a destruction of the Syrian persona.
In this context, a new militia formed by the Assad regime has emerged under the name 'The Ideological National Resistance'. Despite not being publically announced, a video has emerged showing fight scenes accompanied by sectarian songs set in what appears to be a military training field, and showing some of the faces of the militants.
The anthem starts with a reference to the 'Ard al-Taf,' where the martyr Hussein was killed, (may Allah be pleased with him), and 'Khyber', where Prophet Mohammed, (PBUH) defeated a group of Jews. The video also shows some fighters chanting phrases, such as 'Labayk ya Ali' and 'Labayk ya Hussain'.
Then the sectarian tone rises in this group’s anthem to reach as far as saying: "the revolution became remains, and the Ummayyad dream is over!'. Others proclaim the "Alawite glory has come!'.
These phrases, referring to important religious figures, who have high symbolism in the mind and conscience of every Muslim, but particularly Shiites, also accompany anthems shamlessly glorifying Bashar Assad as a "lion of our nation", saying "he is the leader and will never lose".
In a related context, Zaman al-Wasl has been informed that the branch of this militia in Masyaf, Hama, lost its first member, Mounzer Mohammed, right after the formation of the militia. He was killed in the town of Khattab.
The National Ideological Resistance has been inspired by the slogans and symbols of Lebanon's Hezbollah, adopting the same yellow color as the background for their flag, but with some slight differences, since it contains a combination of religious figures images, starting from Saleh Ali to Bashar Assad, Khomeini, Hafez Assad, Hassan Nasrallah and Khamenei.
For them, Hafez Assad is considered a saint, who has been raised to the ranks of the Sahaba companions. His name is always mentioned with the phrase "God bless him".
Since the beginning of the Syrian revolution, the regime has been eagerly working on agitating sectarian strife, attracting more people from abroad, whenever it has a shortage in numbers caused by the mounting numbers of dead in his troops to figh. Thus it used sectarianism, supported militarily, logistically and diplomatically, from other countries.
Falsely believing that the war in Syria is an epic war for the Shiite sect and its shrines, thousands of Shiite have been flocking to Syria from all over the word, coming mainly from Lebanon, Iran, Afghanistan, India, and Iraq to fight alongside Assad forces and fully supported by the main player Iran, which considers itself the leader of the Shiite world.
Translated and edited by The Syrian Observer
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