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الثورة المستحيلة: الثورة، الحرب الأهلية، والحرب العامة في سورية

ياسين الحاج صالح

4.11 · Rating details · 152 ratings · 26 reviews

كانت الدولة الأسدية انبنت على أن تستحيل الثورة ويمتنع التغيير ويسود الأبد. جرى تفخيخ المجتمع بالمخابرات والمخاوف الطائفية، بحيث يمكن تحويل تمرد السكان على «الدولة» إلى تفجر المجتمع على نفسه. وعملت الدولة الأسدية طوال عقود على أن تكون ركيزة للاستقرار والأمن في الشرق الأوسط بحيث تتوسع دائرة المتضررين من أي تغير سوري محتمل، ويكثر الحريصون على بقاء الحال. وجرى احتلال الدولة ال ...more

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228 pages

Published March 30th 2017

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جاسوس من أجل لا أحد by صنيب، باسل محمد روحي. ‏باسل...

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Sep 20, 2017 Murtaza rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Yassin Hajj Saleh is one of the few truly heroic public intellectuals still living and working today. He spent 18 years in the jails of Ba'athist Syria for his left-wing political activism before taking part in the 2011 revolution, where he was one of its most able and informed underground chroniclers. In 2013, his wife was kidnapped by militia groups in the Damascus suburbs and Yassin was forced to join the exodus of millions of Syrians who have become refugees in Turkey, where he lives today.

T Yassin Hajj Saleh is one of the few truly heroic public intellectuals still living and working today. He spent 18 years in the jails of Ba'athist Syria for his left-wing political activism before taking part in the 2011 revolution, where he was one of its most able and informed underground chroniclers. In 2013, his wife was kidnapped by militia groups in the Damascus suburbs and Yassin was forced to join the exodus of millions of Syrians who have become refugees in Turkey, where he lives today.

This book is a set of essays written by Yassin over the course of the revolution. Although they deal with a range of themes, they are arranged in a way that provides a rough chronology of the rise and fall of Syrian society over the past six years. I was familiar with his writing over much of this time and had also interviewed him at length for a major news publication a few months ago, so a lot of what is in this book was not necessarily new to me.

One argument from the book stood out to me though: Yassin's articulation of the process of Salafi-Jihadist radicalization as a form of "nihilism" similar to other forms of world-denying nihilisms that have arisen over the past century. Within Islam there is a concept of the "dunya," or material world, that most Muslims reconcile themselves with. Those who reconcile often tend naturally to be the ones for whom the material world itself is more comfortable, reasonable and bearable. But the propensity to deny the value of the dunya can have a negative side, leading to the extreme where the physical world itself is seen as lacking merit or value and thus any type of insane act can be justified against it and its inhabitants. It is generally seen as a positive thing among practicing Muslims to negate material possessions in favor about spiritualism, but in the wrong hands this denigration of materialism can become dangerous.

For Muslims who embrace the nihilistic viewpoint that the world is meaningless (as the 19th and 20th century European nihilists did before them for altogether different reasons) the earth simply becomes a debased realm for acting out their internal lives, holding no value as a place to negotiate with or cherish. In this we can see the type of mentality that led Islamic State to blow up the historic al-Nouri Mosque in Mosul, technically cherished to Sunni Muslims like them, but a place that holds no sentimental meaning for those who have completely divorced themselves from the corrupted earth long ago. Coupled with a maniacal focus on tawheed, a lionization of an early Golden Era to the exclusion of all other history and a general spiritual and educational impoverishment, it is clear how this could become a potent and dangerous ideology. This explanation of what animates"radical Islam" is both novel and intellectually satisfying for those of us who know something about how Islam is actually practiced and conceptualized within the world.

As usual Yassin is principled and insightful on everything he discusses. The vast majority of his ire is directed at the "neo-Sultanic" state of the Assad family which he blames for the destruction of Syrian society, whereas the jihadists and foreign interventionists function as epiphenomena of the Assad's gruesome misrule. He also eloquently excoriates the crimes and excesses of the Western powers, including the function of their loathsome "terrorism discourse" that has now been appropriated by the fascistic Assad regime.

I recommend anything Yassin writes, and would say that this book is a must-read for students of revolutions and the modern Middle East in particular. His online essays are also a great education on the subject of Syria and can help demystify what, at least on its surface, has become one of the most complex conflicts in recent history.

(There is also my interview with him which I think is an education in itself: https://theintercept.com/2016/10/26/s...) ...more

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Jun 16, 2018 Abdulsattar rated it it was amazing

الكتاب ممتاز , عبارة عن 12 مقالة تأريخية لما حدث في سوريا بين 2011 و 2016 .
أكثر المقالات التي أعجبتني هي العاشرة بعنوان من الثورة الى الحرب : الأرياف السورية تحمل السلاح , يليها مقالة الشبيحة و التشبيح و صعود العدمية المقاتلة .
جميل دوما أن تقرأ عما كنت تعيشه يوميا من وجهة نظر مراقب يرى الصورة بشكل أوسع .

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Feb 25, 2018 Steffi rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2018

'The Impossible Revolution. Making Sense of the Syrian Tragedy' (2017) consists of
10 or so essays written between spring 2011 and February 2015. The author is not some Western (-educated) pundit on the payroll of a transatlantic think tank but a Syrian journalist and former member of the Syrian Communist Party (and who was already a poltical prisoner from 1980 to 1996). Given the ideological battle over the Syria narrative (security discourse, blind anti-imperialism, regime change R2P crap etc), 'The Impossible Revolution. Making Sense of the Syrian Tragedy' (2017) consists of
10 or so essays written between spring 2011 and February 2015. The author is not some Western (-educated) pundit on the payroll of a transatlantic think tank but a Syrian journalist and former member of the Syrian Communist Party (and who was already a poltical prisoner from 1980 to 1996). Given the ideological battle over the Syria narrative (security discourse, blind anti-imperialism, regime change R2P crap etc), I don't need to explain why that matters SO MUCH.

I was looking for exactly this kind of book which provides an analysis of ideology, class and power in Syria. Obviously, there's no point in making sense of the uprising (any uprising) without understanding the constellation of social forces in contemporary Syrian society and the (past and present) material and ideological base of the Assad oligarchy and various oppositional forces. The essay on 'the roots of Syrian fascism' was fairly enlightening in this sense.

While it's always convenient to lump these uprisings together under the Arab spring narrative - oppressed people rising up against brutal dictator - this 'framework' (or lack thereof) cant account for the internal dynamics and very unique trajectories of the uprisings within each country. Obviously, geopolitics is key to these revolutions and whether or not a dictator stays or goes depends on whether or not the P5 want him (ugh. Still no female Middle Eastern dictator in the 21st century!) stay or gone.

I guess it's part of the Western arrogance (and lack of Arabic language skills) to disregard the complexities of internal ideological and political struggles and to reduce these revolutions to what's comfortable to the Western mind: the good ones who want (our kind of liberal) democracy and free market capitalism, the brown people, especially women we need to save with the pen (thanks, Malala) and a little bit of NATO weaponry, and the bad ones, radical Islamists and brutal dictators who kill civilians (NATO doesnt). The outcome of this good versus evil struggle ultimately depends on whether we, the good ones (West, NATO, UN), get the upper hand or the global dictator backing axis of evil (Russia, Iran, North Korea etc). There's very little room for Syrian agency and potential post-Assad political formations that do not include a Western chosen government (formed in London or Geneva).

So yeah, essays like these are helpful to making a little more sense of the 'Syrian tragedy' but also point to the fact that a) the very last thing this conflict needs is (more) foreign military intervention and b) that the post-war road to peace of whatever will then be part of Syria will be very long and difficult. Duh.
...more

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Jun 06, 2018 Brian Sergi rated it really liked it · review of another edition

A remarkable account of the evolution of the Syrian revolution and ensuing conflict. This collection of essays really helped me understand the nuances behind the political situation in the country, such as the use of sectarianism as a tool to divide or the fact that there is a wide range of solutions for the international community that lie between military intervention and doing nothing. While I hoped for a bit more tying together of the ideas introduced in the various essays, I would highly re ...more

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Jun 21, 2018 Matt rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: philosophy-history-politics

Equal parts historical analysis, political commentary, moral interrogation of the uses of violence and the nature of sectarianism and fascism, and above else a prescient plea to the world, Yassin's series of essays provides a very personal account of Ba'athist Syria and the roots of the civil war.

By the end one of his ten essays, one is left with a sense of sorrow and anger. As he puts it, the world has come to adopt the shabiha's logic 'Assad, or the country burns' (the rhetoric of regime chang ...more

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Nov 07, 2020 Clif rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This book delivers on its title.

My knowledge of Syria was deepened considerably by this excellent collection of essays, each a chapter. In the first chapters the author reports on the status of the revolution starting in 2011. Thus are the facts established. Then in the final essay comes a comprehensive analysis of the Syrian situation as it has developed from the time of Hafez al-Assad's ascent to power by way of no less than three coups in 1963, 1966 and 1971. This final chapter explains why t ...more

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Oct 25, 2017 Barney rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2017, middle-east, nonfiction, nowadays, z-atlas-syria

I’ve paused this one for the time being. Very academic and well-written, and the story of the Syrian revolution and the consequent calamity deserves to be heard - it seems to be a subject that in the West we’ve both hardened our hearts to and resolutely refused to even to try to understand properly.

However, I know very little about the complexities of the crisis and I mistakenly picked this up thinking it was a history of it. It’s not, it’s a selection of academic political science essays which ...more

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Apr 29, 2019 n rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: genre-non-fiction, syria, sectarianism, political-instability, history

This book was actually hard for me to read, mostly in terms of the writing style. There were a lot of places that needed an editor (spelling, duplicated words, weird spacing, inconsistent spellings, flow of language), but that didn't detract from the message or the interest.

It also repeats quite frequently, but I think that's largely because this is a chronological compilation of translated articles; it felt like I was being reminded of the same few things (meanings of words, structures of power ...more

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Aug 03, 2017 Muhammad Ahmad rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: syria, sociology, middle-east, history, human-rights, war, religion, politics

In its lucidity, erudition, range and percipience, the book is worthy of a Gramsci. In its method, rigour and predictions, it is an intellectual achievement of extraordinary significance. The book honours the revolution by describing with precision its causes and aspirations and recording with complexity its challenges and achievements. It is the living chronicle of a revolution, a sustained diagnosis, a prophecy and a 'J'accuse'.

Yassin al-Haj Saleh, one of Syria's most celebrated intellectuals, ...more

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Apr 16, 2019 Nicole aka FromReading2Dreaming rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: college-freshman, nonfiction, political, religious

This was an amazing book about examining why the Syrian Revolution and the fascism that exists in the country. I truly loved it and would recommend it to anyone who wants to know more on the topic.

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Feb 06, 2018 Ed rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: mideast, non-fiction, social-criticism, kampf-dem-kapital

Phenomenal writing and deep, rare insights into Syrian politics and pain. Indispensable eye-witness testimony and analysis of remarkable clarity, both of which counter the grimy geopolitical conspiracy narratives popular across the political spectrum in the West. This book is an enormous contribution to a defiant cultural and historical legacy, one that is still being written -- that of the Syrian people.

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Nov 19, 2019 Basma rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: arabish, non-fiction, politics-sj, translated-nonfic

Very interesting, though some things went over my head; I’m still learning.

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Oct 10, 2018 Farzat AL Chayah rated it really liked it

يناقش الكاتب في مجموعة مقالاته الثورة السورية وتطوراتها وتحولها إلى حرب أهلية سنية شيعيه.
اهم المقالات في رأيي الشخصي هي الحادية والثانية عشرة.

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Nov 02, 2017 كهيعص rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: i-own

I chose to read this book in English (vs. Arabic) to expand my vocabulary in politics.
Yassin Alhaj Saleh is a true inspiration and someone I turn to when I feel overwhelmed and disappointed from the situation in Syria. I learn many things from this great man.

His recent articles are featured in English on this outstanding Syrian platform: https://www.aljumhuriya.net/en/author... ...more

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Aug 23, 2018 Brian Bean rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Reading this tremendous, expansive, and lyrical selection of essays about the Syrian Revolution I was struck by two things. The first is how so dead-on some of Saleh’s predictions and warnings cams to pass. As the essays are written over the years of the revolution, from 2011 to 2016 you can read his thinking through concretely the challenges the revolution faced, from the militarization of the struggle, sectarianism, and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism.

Secondly I was struck by in his descri ...more

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Sep 15, 2019 Christine Hallak rated it it was amazing

ياسين المثقف الراقي كما هو دوماً, الصامد رغم غياب سميرة، المؤرّخ السرّي للثورة السورية.
يستحق جائزة على هذا الانجاز الفكري الجبّار، ليس فقط على المعلومات و طريقته في توصيلها بل يستحقها أكثر على الجهد المبذول لمشاركة القرّاء هذا الإرث الثقافي التاريخي عن طريق مجموعة من المقالات المكتوبة ما بين عام ٢٠١١ و ٢٠١٦، مع المراجع و الروابط و الاثباتات التي تنحت في عقولنا و قلوبنا أسباب استحالة ثورتنا المنحولة.

المقولة التاريخية: "الأسد، أو نحرق البلد"، لكن فعلياً الأسد حرق البلد و أخذها و أصبحنا نحن منفيين ...more

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Jun 24, 2018 Montse rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: politica, middle-east

Colección de artículos sobre el tema que da título al libro. Muy interesante para quien quiera un análisis en profundidad y con conocimiento de causa, no sólo del conflicto sirio y de su evolución desde marzo de 2011 hasta el año 2017 (fecha en que está datado el último de los artículos), sino también de los mecanismos que han permitido al régimen actual mantenerse en el poder y de las consecuencias que éstos han tenido y tienen sobre la sociedad siria actual. También, por supuesto, analiza el p ...more

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Sep 01, 2019 Paolo Kh rated it really liked it

كتاب تحليلي عميق ينحو نحو علم الاجتماع في تحليل الظواهر و التفاعلات التي اختلطت في مرجل الثورة السورية

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Oct 24, 2017 Shireen Rummana rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: syria

My review of The Impossible Revolution, written Nov. 2017, is posted here: https://isreview.org/issue/108/roots-...

Yassin al-Haj Saleh’s Impossible Revolution appears in print at the very same time Bashar al-Assad’s regime and its backers seem closer than ever to defeating the last vestiges of the Syrian Revolution. From 2011 to 2013, revolutionary forces had scored big victories, liberating cities and territory from the regime. But over the last four years, Assad’s counterrevolutionary alliance ...more

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Aug 21, 2020 Abby rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: history, essays, nonfiction

This is a 2017 collection of essays by a Syrian intellectual and activist, characterizing the regime of Bashar al-Assad and reflecting on the revolution and its possible future. If you're an academic, then yes, read this whole book. If you're looking for a treatment of this topic more for the general reader, you might look at No Turning Back: Life, Loss, and Hope in Wartime Syria.

The Assad regime claims "a monopoly on power, wealth, and patriotism." Under Assad, the Syrian people have suffered “ ...more

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Jun 02, 2018 Therese rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Who better than Yassin al-Haz Saleh to attempt to make sense of the Syrian tragedy, the eponymous Impossible Revolution? He spent 16 years in the jails of Hafez alAssad, brutal father of his even more brutal son Bashar. The author's wife Samira AlKhalil, a prominent human rights campaigner, was arrested along with three of her colleagues in 2013 by an Islamist group. The Douma Four are still missing, their whereabouts unknown. His brother Firas is believed to be in the custody of ISIS. Yassin al ...more

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Sep 28, 2017 Joseph rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: history, memoirs-journals, philosophy, politics-and-economics, social-studies

This is a collection of essays by a leading Syrian writer and dissident who has witnessed the revolution and its effects up close. Although the essays are arranged chronologically, this is not so much a linear history of the conflict as the author's take on Syrian history, the Assad family, sectarianism, and the usefulness of revolutions. The longest essay in the book, The Neo-Sultanic State, is impressive and details how the Assad family effectively created a sultanate in Syria, with all the us ...more

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Apr 16, 2020 Mimi rated it liked it · review of another edition

this was a hard one, a series of essays written between 2011-2015 about the Syrian regime and revolution, because it was different essays, there was much repetition, plus I needed to constantly google terms I wasn't familiar with. It is a good introduction to the horrible dictatorial savage Assad regime which shouldn't be allowed to continue in power. The writing is very academic and dense. ...more

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Nov 01, 2017 Daniel Oterhals rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

3.5

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Nov 30, 2018 Diala K rated it it was amazing

أنصح به جداً لكل مهتم بالمسألة السورية بعيداً عن تسطيحات الإعلام.

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Apr 24, 2018 Alfonso rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Magnífica recopilación de artículos (cada uno de ellos es un ensayo) de la voz más preclara de la revolución siria, Yassin Al-Haj Saleh. Lectura imprescindible.

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Foz Hamzah rated it it was ok
Apr 14, 2018

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About ياسين الحاج صالح

ياسين الحاج صالح

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كاتب سوري معارض وسجين سياسي سابق. ولد في الرقة 1961 واعتقل 16 سنة منذ 1980 بسبب نشاطه الجامعي الحزبي. يعتبر من من أبرز نقّاد النظام السوري والمشتغلين بالشؤون السورية، إلى جانب اهتمامه بقضايا الثقافة والعلمانية ونقد الإسلام المعاصِر ونقد نقده.
انتقل أثناء الثورة إلى غوطة دمشق وغطّى بعض جوانب الحياة هناك قبل أن يسافر إلى الرقة ويغادر إلى اسطنبول مع خريف 2013. عضو مؤسس في هامش - البيت الثقافي السوري ف

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