Ahmad Jarba, President of the Syrian Coalition, stressed that “the worst kind of colonialism is the one practiced by internal hands disguised as patriotism in order to exercise the worst forms of political, social, and economic oppression under glittery and false slogans,” during a speech delivered to the Socialists Conference. Jarba reminded the attendees that their “responsibility is towards all oppressed people on one hand, and towards the Syrian people alone on the other because the Syrian people have been denied freedom and robbed of dignity and sources of livelihood for 43 years in the name of socialism, freedom and unity.” Jarba pointed out that “the Assad family adopted the slogan of socialism with its noble values and principles only to commit the biggest burglary, enslavement and oppression in the history of the Middle East. We are a people whose freedom and dignity have been confiscated in the name of socialism. We were in a country where 115 people, mostly members of one family, own 67% of the national wealth, practiced under the guise of socialism.” Jarba said that Syrian socialists have two tasks, the first is to “raise a collective voice and work with governments in all departments to support the brutally crushed people. The second is to redeem socialism itself corrupted by the hands of the Assad family to such a degree that Syrians began to see it as an evil thing and feel pessimistic when they hear the word ‘socialist’.” (Source: Syrian Coalition)
