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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Normalisation is death of Arab sovereignty, Syria is the best example</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">Robert Inlakesh</div>
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<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time" dir="ltr">August 14, 2025</div>
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<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><p>Robert
Inlakesh argues that Syria\u2019s normalization with "Israel" has eroded its
sovereignty, deepened instability, and turned it into a tool of
US-Israeli policy; a cautionary tale for the Arab world.</p><div><ul id="gmail-content-slick-0"><div aria-hidden="false"><li>
<a href="https://alpha-en-media.almayadeen.net/media/image/2025/8/14/816d8cad-f8d6-4350-bbe9-001a660e3a75.png?width=1000" tabindex="0"><img src="https://alpha-en-media.almayadeen.net/media/image/2025/8/14/816d8cad-f8d6-4350-bbe9-001a660e3a75.png?width=1000&preset=w700" alt="The positions of the current regime in Syria are indefensible, not even from a selfish materialist perspective. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img"></a>
The positions of the current regime in Syria are
indefensible, not even from a selfish materialist perspective. (Al
Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)
</li></div></ul>
<p>We have reached the stage where it can no longer be denied that the
Syrian leadership is at the complete mercy of the US and its allies. Its
normalisation drive, whereby its officials meet with their Israeli
counterparts, are not negotiations but discussions aimed at achieving
the best implementation of Tel Aviv\u2019s orders. </p>
<p>When Arab states make the decision to capitulate to the Israeli-US
normalisation and neo-liberal economic model, they set themselves up for
a loss of sovereignty and to become at best a tool for policy makers in
Washington.</p>
<p>If we look at the Jordanian and Egyptian models, we see that their
agreements have not saved them from growing instability and economic
decline, particularly in Egypt\u2019s case. Once, it had become a big deal
when President Hosni Mubarak began selling gas to the Israelis, now,
Cairo purchases gas through its own pipelines that have reversed the
flow.</p>
<p>Turning our focus to the current predicament of Syria, it is not even
correct to assess it is based upon the Egypt model. In fact, despite
some similarities, it is in even worse a predicament than Sudan.</p>
<p>The Sudanese state, following the fall of its former leader Omar
Bashir, went into a transitional phase whereby the Army and Rapid
Support Forces (RSF) militia agreed upon a power-sharing phase. During
this time, the Zionist Entity swept in to take advantage of the
situation, fostering relations with both sides, but particularly with
notorious goldmine owning war-lord Hemedti\u2019s RSF.</p>
<p>Sudan, working closely with US President Donald Trump\u2019s
administration at the time, managed to get sanctions lifted, remove
itself from the State Sponsors of Terrorism List, receive sanctions
relief and aid, while almost paving the way to adopt a neo-liberal
economic model; seeking IMF and World Bank loans. </p>
<p>Khartoum had pledged that in exchange for these \u201cgifts\u201d from the US,
they would join the so-called \u201cAbraham Accords\u201d and began negotiations
behind closed doors with the Israelis. </p>
<p>Is this starting to sound familiar?</p>
<p>Then, in April of 2023, the Civil War erupted, and the Israelis swept
in to back both sides, after having covertly provided the RSF with
military capabilities that enabled it to balance the power on the
battlefield in the first place. While the Mossad supported the RSF, the
Israeli Foreign Ministry leaned towards the Sudanese Army.</p>
<p>In Syria, almost the exact same process has occurred. Yet most pretend as if we haven\u2019t seen this same story before. </p>
<p>The key difference, however, is that the new Syrian government of
Ahmad al-Sharaa has less control than when the RSF and Sudanese Army ran
an interim unity government. The recent sectarian bloodshed in Sweida
proved this without a shadow of a doubt.</p>
<p>There are now separatist militias in Sweida who actually coordinated
with Israeli-Druze army forces who had set up a joint communications
room to help locate targets during the latest round of bloodshed.
Meanwhile, the Syrian security forces had coordinated the entry of tanks
into Sweida with the Israelis, yet were bombed anyway, leading to as
many as 700 dead amongst their ranks.</p>
<p>While the majority of the Syrian Druze and wider Syrian public oppose
ties with the Israelis, the Zionist Entity finds inroads with both
sides and watches on as they slaughter each other, all in the interest
of further weakening the country. </p>
<p>Ahmad al-Sharaa was basically non-existent, as it appeared for over a
week that Syria was heading towards another civil war, only offering
brief statements before the US envoy announced a bizarre arrangement,
claiming that Damascus and Tel Aviv had agreed to a truce. </p>
<p>It was especially strange because the announcement didn\u2019t initially
come from the Syrians themselves, but also due to the fact that there
was no Syrian-Israeli war. What was happening was that Syrian forces
were getting blown to pieces and ordered to stand down. The only
relevance the Syrian government forces had was in their failed role
inside Sweida, where they went out of control and participated in
civilian massacres, alongside Bedouin tribal forces.</p>
<p>Never in the known history of war has a nation been invaded,
occupied, its capital repeatedly bombed and hundreds of its soldiers
blown to pieces, and the country being attacked did not respond in any
way. Not only have Ahmad al-Sharaa\u2019s forces failed to fire a single
bullet towards their occupiers, they have not even threatened the use of
force. </p>
<p>Even worse, rather than respond, they give the Israelis gifts like
infamous spy Eli Cohen\u2019s belongings, cracking down on the Palestinian
Resistance forces, and declaring fellow Muslims and Arabs their enemies,
despite them being the only ones willing to stand up for Syria.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, every minority group in the country is isolated, and every
community feels the need to bear arms and protect themselves, as nobody
trusts the ill-trained, unprofessional security forces.</p>
<p>This is what capitulation looks like, a leadership which exists more
so on Facebook, X [formerly Twitter], and Instagram than it does in real
life. A sectarian bloodbath, with no stability, no national unity, no
sovereignty, and whose leaders are collaborating with the genocidal
entity, in violation of all the regional, national, cultural, and
religious moral obligations. </p>
<p>This is normalisation. This is capitulation. This is what happens
when you worship at the feet of your occupiers. Syria is the worst case
of all, because there is no longer even a united nation or cause that it
embodies, which has, for the current moment, died.</p>
<p>Only through a unified resistance front will Syria liberate itself.
It may take time, but this is the only path, and historically, the
Syrian people had resisted the Ottomans, the French, and even got
themselves back on their feet after the CIA overthrew their government
in 1949. It can happen, but it will take the Syrian people to come
together in order to overcome their predicament.</p>
<p>There is no example of where normalisation with the Zionist regime,
or total capitulation to the US, saves a nation in turmoil. Even in the
cases where the US poured trillions into attempts to set up new regimes,
like what happened with Iraq and Afghanistan. The only examples of
where a regime has not yet declined or sacrificed its security
predicament due to normalisation, are in the cases of the UAE and
Bahrain, but both were already immensely rich, and nothing much changed
upon normalisation.</p>
<p>However, even in the cases of the UAE and Bahrain, their positioning
themselves as part of the Israeli-US regional anti-Iran alliance puts
them in the firing line and could risk national stability in the event
of a broader war.</p>
<p>The positions of the current regime in Syria are indefensible. Not
even from a selfish materialist perspective could you argue their case
without engaging in mental gymnastics. There is no strategic depth, nor a
demonstration of competent governance in the direction we see the
nation going, and at a time when unity is needed the most.</p></div></div></div>
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