The repeated attacks on Damascus and its people by certain content creators affiliated with the regime, whom ordinary people call "the mouthpiece of the new government," are incomprehensible. This is where the danger lies.
The rhetoric began with attacks on the Kurdish community, then moved to mocking Syrian rituals and personal customs. Today, it has reached the point of targeting Damascus, its security, and its people. The situation is no longer tolerable. What is happening appears to be an internal dismantling of what the new Syria is trying to build.
Perhaps the new regime hasn't yet noticed these individuals, nor realized that they present themselves as its representatives. Their negative influence is clear. Their posts during every crisis and every incident damage state institutions before they damage the people. They promote a discourse that suggests "these are the orders," fueling division instead of containing it.
How can we accept language that degrades people's dignity and uses crude descriptions that wouldn't even be uttered in private, let alone on public platforms followed by hundreds of thousands? This kind of discourse doesn't build a state. It destroys trust. It weakens national unity.
Damascus and its people were at the forefront of the revolution. They paid a heavy price. Thousands of young men from Qaboun, Rukn al-Din, Jobar, and other areas were killed under torture between 2011 and 2014 for their principled stances, just as happened in other Syrian cities. Damascus was not a bystander. It shared in the pain and the responsibility.
The demand is clear: state intervention. Holding accountable those who abuse the people and incite division. Protecting the public sphere from hate speech and political bullying. This is not a luxury. It is a prerequisite for stability.
A word to the president who loves Damascus:
Nothing has harmed the new regime as much as the dozens of sycophants on social media. These people are a political and media burden. Their continued presence means continued attrition.
Hussein al-Shishakli
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