How the West Stole Democracy from the Arabs: The Syrian Congress of 1920 and the Destruction of its Historic Liberal-Islamic Alliance

The western authors and academicians are the best in writing about the Western guilt. Day by day, I am building a kind of belief that it is part of their culture to carry several guilts and show remorse and regret after decades of denial. I am just highlighting shadows of a behavior that is worthy of studying in the future. However, it is no longer accepted to come late and consider it better than never; the better is not to do it at all in the first place. The irony here is that I am finishing now this book while the West is supporting war crimes in Gaza blatantly, on which media and public figures are involved in doing publicity for, refusing to call ceasefire, but rather calling for ethnical cleansing of the Palestinian people. It is silly how history repeat itself, echoed the waves of white man serenade of taking other people's lands and considering such an action a form of civilization. It was in Syria 100 years ago. it is now in Palestine. It starts with a burden, and then, after seas of our bloods, turns into a guilt. In this book, I have read the history of a critical moment in the creation of my country, Syria. Although I was aware about many things mentioned in the history, but the author has managed to bring up great deal of context, by showing long recounts of meeting minutes, memories, media coverage, and contents of loads of documents from several archives. This books has built a comprehensive narrative about the kingdom of Syria and Lebanon, diving deep in details from both the West and newly formed Arab political parties. The image this book has framed about Syria is fairly clear, focusing on the democracy that was established back then, and how it was demolished by French, British, and American, stressing a relationship between Muslims and Christians, and between liberals and conservatives. One could feel bored because of these details had he or she not drawn to the history of the Middle East. Overall, it is still the responsibility of the Syrian people to continue their struggle to gain freedom, as the influence of the West on the course of events, whether in the past or now, is not an excuse. A national movement, that unifies the Syrian people, is duly required these days. The current demonstrations in As Suwayda could be the seed of this movement. As well as, a better understanding of history should also be channeled to Syrians of all ages, as the next wave of change is undoubtedly coming. Finally, I am grateful to the people who recommended this book to me, especially my friend Dr. Anas Saad. I know it took me long time to finish it, but because of the details, I had to take several pauses. Six-stars book!