US embassy cable - 05DAMASCUS6395

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DAMASCUS 006395 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PARIS FOR ZEYA, LONDON FOR TSOU 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/08/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, SY, DRIP 
SUBJECT: HOISTING THE FLAG FOR SYRIA AND BASHAR, FOR 
CITIZEN AND SARG 
 
REF: DAM 5887 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Stephen A. Seche for reason 1.4 b/d 
 
1.  (C) Summary:  The Syrian flag and banners supporting 
Syria's President now crowd streets and squares leading to 
prominent Damascus neighborhoods, including the Old City and 
suburbs that are home to diplomats.  The Arabic and often 
English-language banners make frequent reference to President 
Bashar al Asad, the Syrian citizen and the nation, national 
dignity, and divine protection for Syria.  Common images 
include the President's portrait, the flag, clasped hands and 
children.  The banners have two aims: to convince Syrians of 
the link between the fate of the nation and that of the Asad 
regime, and to convince the world that Syrians are rallying 
behind their country.  End Summary. 
 
2.  (U) The Syrian flag and banners supporting Syria's 
president have sprung up in the past six weeks on major 
streets and squares leading to prominent Damascus 
neighborhoods, including the Old City and suburbs that are 
home to diplomats.  Banners offer up Arabic and often English 
words of support for President Asad, the citizen, and the 
nation.  "Free leader, free people, free homeland," read one 
such banner in Arabic in downtown Damascus.  There are also 
frequent references to God, as in another banner overlooking 
a square close to Asad's office, which read:  "We are all for 
you Syria our homeland, and we are with you Bashar our 
leader.  God protect us."  Another common theme is that of 
dignity, as in a banner hanging on Hamra Street, a major 
commercial thoroughfare, that read:  "Syria will remain 
honorable, dignified.  We are with you, leader of the 
homeland."  Common images on the banners include the portrait 
of the President, the flag, clasped hands and children. 
(Note:  The Ba'ath Party flag has almost completely 
disappeared giving way to the Syrian flag, a strong 
indication that the SARG wants to use nationalism to 
encourage people to identify with the regime.) 
 
3.  (U)  The banners and flags first began to appear shortly 
after the October release of UN investigator Detlev Mehlis' 
preliminary report on the assassination of former Lebanese PM 
Rafik Hariri.  In conjunction with late October protests 
against UN Resolution 1636 urging Syrian cooperation with the 
Mehlis investigation, the Syrian Public Relations 
Association, closely associated with the Ministry of 
Information, unfurled a several-story banner depicting the 
Syrian flag with the Arabic words "for the sake of Syria" in 
Rawda Square across from the Embassy. 
 
4.  (U) Following the November 10 speech by President Asad 
(reftel), prominent businessmen tied to the regime and unions 
with close ties to the Ba'ath Party joined the campaign, 
putting up banners with nationalistic slogans with their name 
or organization at the bottom.  For example, over bustling 
Baghdad Street in downtown Damascus, the Syndicate of Artists 
has strung up a banner that reads in Arabic and English: 
"President Bashar al-Asad and the Syrian people don't kneel 
to anyone except to God."  Businessman and crony Majd 
Suleiman, who is the son of former chief of internal security 
Lt. Gen. Bahjat Suleiman, began in November to wrap his 
weekly Damascus shopper newspaper in a full-page depiction of 
the Syrian flag with the words, "God Protect You, Oh (region 
of the) Sham" (the Syrian term for the region of Damascus). 
On the other side of the flag is a specially composed 
nationalistic song. (For preferred customers, Suleiman has 
distributed arm bands and a CD with the song).  Other 
individual and organizational banner sponsors include: 
businessman and Parliamentarian Hashem Akkad (who lives next 
door to the Asad family); wealthy businessman and 
Parliamentarian Mohammad Hamsho, who in the past has been a 
business partner with Maher Asad; businessman Samer Douba, 
son of former Intelligence Chief Lt. Gen. Ali Douba; the 
(Ba'athist) Student Union; and the (Ba'athist) General 
Federation of Women. 
 
5.  (C) Comment:  It is noteworthy that when President Asad 
came to office, he reportedly tried to discourage the posting 
of his likeness, a practice that flourished during his 
father's rule.  Now under international pressure, there are 
no indications the President is trying to discourage the 
practice.  It is clear that those close to the regime are 
jostling to indicate their loyalty. 
 
6.  (C) Comment continued:  Two other messages are clearly 
evident in the flags and banners.  The regime and its proxies 
want to convince the world that Syrians are rallying behind 
their country.  Perhaps more important, they want to link for 
the domestic audience the fate of the nation with that of the 
President, and the fate of the citizen with that of the 
regime. 
SECHE