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In Damascus, calm at the eye of the storm

People shop in Bzourya market in old Damascus April 30, 2011. REUTERS/Khaled al-Hariri

People shop in Bzourya market in old Damascus April 30, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Khaled al-Hariri

Thu Jun 23, 2011 12:37pm EDT

The following story headlined “In Damascus, calm at the eye of the storm” was filed by a writer who has spent several weeks reporting in the Syrian capital during a period in which foreign journalists have been barred from entering the country.

The byline has been withheld to protect the writer and those interviewed for the story. Reuters correspondents were expelled from Syria shortly after unrest began in March.

(Reuters) – As Syria leads daily international headlines with thronging protests in the streets, besieged provincial towns and reports of human rights atrocities, Damascus feels like the eye of the storm, seemingly unaffected by the unrest surrounding it.

The largest demonstrations have taken place in impoverished towns and cities outside the capital, the power base of President Bashar al-Assad and his security forces. Anti-government protests in the city have been small compared to the provinces, rarely rising above a few hundred people.

Residents of Damascus, home to about one Syrian in 10, are wealthier on average than their 20 million fellow citizens. Many have profited since Assad succeeded his late father in 2000 and opened up the economy to substantial foreign investment.

Posters of the president remain in the windows of shop owners who sing accolades for Assad and a tense and eerie calm covers the city as life seems to play out as normal.

In the business district, men in suits and designer sunglasses drink espressos and chat boisterously at swanky coffee shops. In Old Damascus, young couples and veiled old women meander along the cobblestoned alleyways, browsing through ancient souks selling silks and sweets to the ringing chorus of the afternoon prayer, resonating from the gilded Umayyad Mosque.

But these tranquil scenes of stability hide the reality of panic that has built up in Damascus since protests ripped through the country, starting in March under the inspiration of the revolutions inTunisia and Egypt. Look a little closer and the signs of unrest are apparent.

The souks are full of men in leather jackets and beige trousers eyeing the shoppers — the not so secret police, or Mukhabarat, are a constant reminder to Syrians that government spies are ubiquitous, listening in for any dissent.

Activists estimate the number of secret police on the streets has more than doubled since protests started and a longstanding culture of fear of the authorities means Syrians are reluctant to express any revolutionary views openly.

ECONOMY SLOWING

The caffeinated businessmen spend their days drinking coffee instead of working because the country’s economy is grinding to a halt. Faced with uncertainty, foreign investors are pulling out of Syria and unemployment is rising sharply.

The expectation of encroaching turmoil is tangible.

“Most people in Damascus have been able to sit on the fence,” said a Syrian economist who, like everyone interviewed for this story, asked not to be named. “They have always known that the regime is corrupt and brutal, but they care most about their ability to pay rent and feed their children.

“Now the economy has been hit, they can’t do that and the government is losing its support base,” he added.

Once away from the snooping ears of the Mukhabarat and in the privacy of their own shops, traders in Damascus express their growing dissatisfaction with the regime.

“Since the unrest started, I haven’t been able to sell anything,” one souvenir shop owner said over a glass of sweet tea in the back room of his shop.

Tourism, once accounting for up to 15 percent of the entire economy, has shriveled in the past few months.

When demonstrations started, the shop owner blamed the protesters for the dip in business. But it is the vehement response of the Syrian government, he now says, that has ensured so many foreigners are too scared to visit the country.

Human rights groups in Syria report that President Assad’s violent reaction to the protests has left over 1,300 people dead and over 10,000 demonstrators imprisoned. The authorities, blaming radical Islamists with backing from abroad, say more than 200 of its security personnel have been killed.

Foreign journalists have been expelled or barred from entering the country, making it hard to verify reports. Personal accounts from released detainees, including a Reuters correspondent, paint a picture of systematic cruelty in jails.

STATE VIOLENCE

One activist, who asked to be referred to only as Mohammed, said that protests he has attended in the capital are immediately dispersed by baton-wielding “paid thugs,” who were brought in by security forces on buses. The leather-jacketed secret police, he says, film the protests using mobile phones to use as evidence to later identify demonstrators in prison.

“It is almost impossible gather as the security forces are everywhere in the capital,” Mohammed said. “We will normally wait for a Friday when we can assemble safely in the mosque for prayers to form a large group that provides some protection before we go out.”

But security forces are usually waiting outside, Mohammed says, and demonstrations turn into a mad race to escape the clutches of police.

Former prisoners say they face relentless beatings and humiliating interrogations. “The police strip you naked and give you electric shocks to force you to confess that you are part of an armed gang and not a peaceful protester,” one demonstrator, known as Hamza, said after he was released from detention.

Syrian state media has blamed the unrest on “armed gangs and terrorist groups” but even Assad supporters in Damascus concede that most anti-government demonstrations are peaceful.

“When I was imprisoned, our jailers wouldn’t let us sleep,” Hamza said. “The only people who got any rest were the ones who were beaten so badly that they fell into comas.”

Assad has spent the past 11 years sculpting an image of himself as a reformer willing to listen, in contrast to his father, Hafez al-Assad, who crushed an armed Islamist uprising in the central city of Hama in 1982, killing many thousands.

But as stories of state-endorsed viciousness are whispered in hushed tones across the capital, Damascus residents are starting to question if their current leader is any less vindictive than his father.

“Beneath the cool calm, there is a feeling of change in Damascus,” a Syrian journalist working in the capital said. “People are starting to question if the president is who they thought he was.”

DISSENT BUBBLES

Talking politics has long been taboo in Syria and dissenters say they expect jail time. But as protests grow around the country, activists in Damascus say they have “broken the wall of fear” that prevented them from speaking out against the regime.

The cracks in Assad’s powerhouse are starting to show.

Even in cafes around Damascus, conversations broaching politics can be overheard, something unheard of only a few months ago. Jump into a taxi and the driver will often start the conversation by asking: “What do you think of the protests?”

Questioning Syrian taxi drivers on their political views before the Arab Spring, which began six months ago, was normally met with a frown and a swift change of subject.

“The problem has become so big, that for people to publicly ignore it seems ridiculous,” the Syrian journalist said. “Syrians can speak about the protests even as they walk along the street without seeming too rebellious.”

Many activists have gone further and are openly denouncing the regime on Facebook profiles and Twitter accounts.

“At the start, I was too scared to speak out or attend protests but I now feel I have to do something when I hear about the horrific things the government is doing around the country,” a student at Damascus University said in a busy café, confident that the ambient noise of chatter would drown out her words.

“I know that if I protest, I will get arrested, tortured or even killed as this has happened to some of my friends,” she added quietly. “But the alternative of doing nothing as this man stays in power is worse.”

Long-serving diplomats in Damascus agree that there has been a significant shift of mood in capital. This Friday, as every week, attention will focus on crowds coming out of the city’s mosques.

“So far, the protesters have only be able to assemble in the suburbs of Damascus and are quickly dispersed by the police,” one Western diplomat said, on condition of anonymity.

“But it seems the protesters are now growing in numbers and gathering closer to the city center.”

(Editing by Alastair Macdonald)

source

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High Noon: Bashar El Assad’s Third Post-‘Revolution 2011’ Speech

21.6.11

Sophia from Les Politiques says :

This is his third speech since the start of the revolution 2011, different from the exuded confidence during the first and the measured confidence of the third. This speech is about a situation that has been deteriorating daily and El Assad seemed to be fully aware of this. The Main points:- A realistic assessment of the situation: but there is no going back, Syria must look to the future.
– A will to make the amnesty more inclusive without threatening the security of the people and the state, and there will be no concessions for the extremists who willingly kill and vandalise.
– The reforms will be articulated by the national dialogue process that is going on.  The national dialogue basis is the muhafazat because of the mosaic of the Syrian society.
– There is need for electoral reform and constitutional reform, the first must come first.
– Electoral reform will likely be decided soon, before the august elections.  And by the end of the year the consitutional reform will be initiated.
– Bashar nearly shocked when he mentioned the state of the Syrian economy and thanked all the people who are keeping their money in Syrian pounds even as little as 1000 pounds.
– Not once did he mention the sects or religions, he spoke in terms of the rich mosaic of the Syrian society.  He spoke only once of the painful events of the 1980s to illustrate that there is no going back for Syria.  This can be interpreted in two different ways and El Assad speaks in this way when he is under duress.  It can mean that reforms are coming but it can also mean that some people are trying to drag Syrians again in this hole but they won’t succeed, the second interpretation conveys more firmness, albeit a veiled one.

The applause was spontaneous at least on two occasions.  When he spoke about himself and his family and when he spoke about the connection between the people of Syria, a connection he felt during his many meetings with people from across the country.

Some would say that there was nothing new.  I would say that this speech was intended internally.  What we saw today is Bashar delivering in a very somber mood (he cracked only one joke) a reaslistic assessment of the situation and the steps that has been taken and will be undertaken in the future to remedy the situation.  This speech was in no way intended for the people who are calling him to step down.

This is significant because it means that the regime stands united.  Either they survive together or they are going down together.  I would say that there is a real connection there between the prsesident and his men.  The people who are betting on cracks in the regime stand no chance to seeing any cracks soon.

I think the speech was measured and grave but the only thing that worries me is that Bashar seemed uneasy and unassuming again as during his first years in office.  he appeared more than ever as the face of the regime. But the people who are directing their anger against him are hitting the bad target.  It doesn’t mean that he is powerless, it doesn’t diminshe him, it means that he took this responsibility against his will, that he will assume it until the end but that if he is to step down, nothing will change.  But if it is the entire regime the Syrian revolution 2011 want to bring down, then my understanding is that they will bring down the whole country and we will have an Iraq like scenario.  So either the people behind the Syrian revolution 2011 are naive or they are deceiving us.  Increasingly Bashar El Assad and his family are becoming the scapegoats for the discontent with the regime.  And the plan is ‘sacrifice the scapegoat‘ and everything will turn out to be fine. This is bad plan for Syria. This regime has been part of Syria for the last 40 years, so either the regime and the real revolutionaries work out something together or things will turn bad. the second option seems to be the goal of the Syrian revolution 2011.

Publié par Sophia à l’adresse 21.6.11
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Cracking the Syrian Regime

Click on image

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Reviled Tycoon, Assad’s Cousin, Resigns

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Syria’s most powerful businessman, a confidant and cousin of President Bashar al-Assad, announced on Thursday that he was quitting business and moving to charity work, Syrian television said. The move, if true, would suggest that Mr. Assad was so concerned about the continuing protests that he would sacrifice a relative to public anger.

Blakis Press/Abaca USA

Rami Makhlouf is closely entwined with the Syrian government.

The businessman, Rami Makhlouf, a 41-year-old tycoon who has emerged as a lightning rod in the three-month uprising against Mr. Assad’s rule, is almost synonymous with the excesses of the Syrian leadership. Offices of his mobile phone company, Syriatel, were burned in protests, and his name was chanted in denunciation in demonstrations.

Though opposition figures doubted the sincerity of the move, even a symbolic gesture may prove important, as Mr. Assad faces the gravest challenge to his 11-year rule. For the first time since the uprising began, analysts said, a figure deemed a pillar of the leadership was forced to at least publicly step aside, a startling concession for a tightknit ruling elite bound by family and clan loyalty.

“The government is now using another set of cards, one that directly addresses the protesters’ demands,” said Bassam Haddad, director of the Middle East Studies Program at George Mason University. “Makhlouf is a symbol of the corruption in the regime.” But, he added, “as a change of heart for the regime, the decision has come too late, and it’s not going to be accepted seriously by protesters.”

In a news conference carried by the Syrian state news agency, Mr. Makhlouf portrayed his move as an act of generosity, though it was unlikely that any such decision could take place without the consent and perhaps the insistence of Mr. Assad.

Mr. Makhlouf said that he would offer shares of Syriatel, Syria’s largest phone company, to the poor and that profits would go, in part, to families of people killed in the uprising. He said profits from his other endeavors would go to charitable and humanitarian work. He vowed not to enter into any new business that would bring him personal gain.

The move represented a humiliating moment for a man who is leery of the limelight, only rarely grants interviews and is described by detractors as the Assad family’s banker or Mr. Five Percent. The ascent of Mr. Makhlouf, at the intersection of power and privilege, mirrored the Assad family’s consolidation of power in Syria over the past four decades: his father Mohammed, Mr. Assad’s uncle, was a magnate in his own right, and Rami Makhlouf’s brother, Hafez, is the intelligence chief in Damascus.

Mr. Makhlouf’s supporters praise him for investment in Syria’s dilapidated infrastructure, and the sleek offices of Syriatel are a sought-after destination for the urban young and educated. But they are far outnumbered by detractors, who call him a thief, and his unpopularity rivals perhaps only that of Mr. Assad’s brother, Maher, a feared and reviled figure who commands the military’s Republican Guard and the elite Fourth Division.

Mr. Makhlouf’s influence is so great, and his connection to the leadership so deep, that opposition figures derided the move as propaganda. Others speculated that it was devised to avoid sanctions imposed on him by the European Union, which included him on a list of 13 figures subject to a freeze on assets and a ban on travel to the bloc.

The United States imposed sanctions on him in 2008, accusing him of manipulating the judicial system and using Syrian intelligence to intimidate rivals.

“There is no transparency in his declaration because we don’t know what he owns and how much money he has,” said Ammar Qurabi, head of the Syrian National Association for Human Rights. “It is a step designed for media consumption only.”

But diplomats have said that Mr. Assad himself was angered by an interview that Mr. Makhlouf gave The New York Times in May, which offered a rare insight into the thinking of an opaque government. The frank comments amounted to a public relations disaster for a government facing mounting international pressure over a ferocious crackdown that, by activists’ count, has left 1,300 dead and more than 10,000 in detention.

In the interview, he said the government would fight to the end in a struggle that could cast the Middle East into turmoil and even war, suggesting that the ruling family equated its survival with the existence of the minority sect that buttressed its power and that viewed the protests not as legitimate demands but as the seeds of civil war.

“If there is no stability here, there’s no way there will be stability in Israel,” he said in the interview. “No way, and nobody can guarantee what will happen after, God forbid, anything happens to this regime.”

Though Syrian officials quickly distanced themselves from the remarks, saying Mr. Makhlouf held no official position in the government, opposition figures and diplomats seized on the remarks as evidence of a government unwilling to change.

In some ways, the remarks were a candid take on a sentiment the government has sought to cultivate since the uprising erupted in March — us or chaos.

“They should know when we suffer, we will not suffer alone,” Mr. Makhlouf said.

Though prominent before Mr. Assad’s ascent in 2000, Mr. Makhlouf grew wealthier as he and Egyptian partners won one of two mobile phone contracts. His partners were eventually forced to sell. As Syria moved away from a state-led economy, he penetrated the economy’s most lucrative sectors: real estate, transportation, banking, insurance, construction, a five-star hotel in Damascus and duty-free shops at airports and the border.

He is the vice chairman of Cham Holding, set up in 2007 with 73 investors and $360 million in what many portrayed as an attempt to tether wealthy businessmen to the government. Syrian analysts say he is the company’s real power.

He was reported to have sold his duty-free shops to a Kuwaiti company in May, though some suggested that the move was intended to avoid sanctions.

The announcement by Mr. Makhlouf comes a day before weekly protests that have convened after Friday Prayer. Diplomats say Mr. Assad is also preparing a speech as early as Sunday that Syrian officials have described as significant, perhaps inaugurating a more serious government effort to engage the opposition in dialogue.

Nada Bakri contributed reporting.

source

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About the LCCS : who are they ?

Local Coordinating Committees of Syria (LCCSyria)
When the Syrian uprising began two months ago, local committees emerged in towns and cities across Syria.  These committees took responsibility for meeting, planning and organizing events on the ground within their own communities.

Over time, the committees have sought greater coordination between themselves, in order to synchronize their activities, movements on the ground and political positions.  Together the committees formed the Local Coordinating Committees of Syria, an umbrella organization with members from most cities and many smaller towns across Syria.

Local Committees under the LCCSyria

  • Committee  Dara
  • Committee  Homs
  • Committee  Banias
  • Committee  Saraqeb
  • Committee  Idleb
  • Committee  Hasaka
  • Committee  Qamishli
  • Committee  Der Ezzor
  • Committee  Syrian Coast
  • Committee  Hama
  • Committee  Raqqa
  • Committee  Swayda’
  • Committee  Damascus suburbs
  • Committee  Damascus
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Vision of the Local Coordination Committees (LCC) for a political solution in Syria

 

 

 

Three months have passed since the revolution in Syria sparked. Syrians are showing extraordinary bravery in their demand for freedom with more than one thousand and one hundred revolutionaries martyred, and more than ten thousand who have been detained in these past three months.

The way the regime is currently handling the protests is exactly what caused demonstrations to spread in the first place: Security forces detaining, torturing and killing citizens; The army – instead of being deployed in occupied Syrian land – has been put in confrontation with the people it’s supposed to protect; Playing the invalid card of sectarianism – thinking people will fall for it; And using national media outlets to demean the revolution and incite targeting peaceful protesters.

 

Now, the main concern of Syrian citizens is finding an exit from the current crisis which is created by the regime’s violent tactics in dealing with the nation-wide revolution. We see one of two exit scenarios:

 

1- A dialog-based peaceful transition towards a pluralist democracy based on: Free and independent elections; A transition towards eliminating the rule of one party; Eliminating unlimited presidential terms and re-elections; Eliminating the current monarch-like republic system; Removing immunity for intelligence and security agents; Removing the official cover from those who stole public funds; And reforming public media that distorts facts and incites hatred.

 

2- Heading to the unknown by maintaining the current tactics of using violence against peaceful demonstrations, and sacrificing the country for the sake of the survival of an immoral and disrespectful regime. This scenario carries the risks of allowing foreign intervention and civil conflict, in which case the regime takes the entire responsibility for what happens.

We refuse the demands to bring the current popular revolution to a halt just because the regime refuses to stop the current acts of murder and vandalism, we shall not accept giving an opportunity to leave Syria hostage to such an irresponsible regime.

We call upon Syrian citizens of all backgrounds, including pro-regime individuals who still have some dignity, to work together to prevent the plans which the ruling ‘elite’ have for the country, and call on everyone to make a stand that would save Syria and its people, and opens the  doors for better futures.

We would like to make it clear that the central issue and the main objective of the revolution is to change the political system, first through ending the terms of the current president who is politically and legally responsible for the crimes committed against Syrians. We believe that this will be the starting point for a healthy exit scenario, and that any other arrangements will only prolong the current crisis and threaten the future of Syria.

 

To avoid entering a dark tunnel, we recommend the following:

 

First, and as LCCSy mentioned in its two previous statements, there is an IMMEDIATE need for:

  • Putting an end to murder, violence, and the systematic targeting of protesters by security forces, militias and Shabiha (regime’s armed thugs).
  • Releasing all political prisoners.
  • Halting all acts of tracking and detaining revolutionaries.
  • Putting and end to local media propaganda which targets and incites hatred against protesters.
  • Allowing Arab and international media into Syria.

 

 

Peaceful protests shall not stop, and shall not seek permission and authorisation from the government, for it is the citizen’s tool to defend their rights.

 

Second: we support a call for a national conference aiming towards a transition into a pluralist democracy, based on freedom for the public as well as equal political and legal rights among Syrians.

 

The conference should:

– Guarantee a safe and peaceful transition from the current governing system and provide unanimous foundations for a new system based on freedom, equality, and the rule of law. The new system should leave no space for chaos and acts of revenge.

 

– Specify a transitional period of no longer than 6 months, where the country shall be governed by a transitional committee of civil and military figures. This period should pave the way to: Opening public media outlets to be a tool for the people and outlet for democratic political

 

activities; Dissolving security agencies and temporarily delegate handling security matters to the army; Separating Baath party from the government; Dissolving “communal organizations”; Allowing the freedom for political activities and activism and give real power back to unions; and Granting the people the right for peaceful assembly and gathering.

 

– An establishing committee is elected during the transitional period. This committee will prepare a new constitution including points that clearly outlines the authority of the president, limiting his/her mandate to a maximum of two 4 years terms, and putting an end to ousting and marginalizing ideologies and political parties that represent the Syrian nation.

 

– The conference should include politicians from the current regime, as long as they didn’t take a direct part in the killing and theft of the Syrian people, as well as representatives from the local and expat Syrian opposition, and representatives of both on-the-ground and logistical revolutionaries. The conference should be observed by independent media and international civil society representatives.

 

Third:

We look for the following principles to guide new Syria’s public life:

  • Syria is a civil republic that belongs to Syrians, not to an individual, a family, or a party. No place for the inheritance of power in the new Syria.
  • Syrians are all equal in rights and duties; none is privileged or stripped from his/her rights due to his/her ethnic, religion or sect.
  • All of Syria’s cultural and religious groups shall be respected and based on equality and

 

 

  • citizenship; none is privileged over the other. It is therefore necessary to completely put behind the shameful history of discrimination against Kurds and other groups, and making the necessary political and legal legislation to guarantee so.
  • Equality and tolerance, not revenge and vengeance, are the basis for conflict resolution among Syrians, if any.
  • Everyone is equal in front of the law, and everyone is accountable with no exceptions.
  • National resources belong to all Syrians, development should be directed towards improving the abilities and welfare of all Syrians, especially those in need.
  • The New Syria is free, independent and committed to international community conventions preserving its national rights and integrity.
  • All legitimate existing businesses and establishments shall remain untouched, but it is not acceptable for the government to protect unfair and unjust economical and political practices.

 

 

Fourth: The people’s revolution is the main source of political legitimacy, it will carry on until the nation’s aspirations for freedom, equality and dignity are met.

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Some personal thoughts on Syria by Sophia

I have not been posting on Syria because the state of this country is a very personal thing to me.   I grew up during the Lebanese civil war.  I saw the savagery of my fellow men and women.  I saw people who used to be friends denounce and kill each other out of fear and under coercion.  Militia in Lebanon were intent at destroying each other.  Only the presence of the Syrian army prevented one ethnic sect from annihilating the other.  Many Lebanese accuse Syrians of  having participated in their own way, with their intelligence and army, in the Lebanese civil war.  But Syria didn’t start the Lebanese civil war.  It was started by Lebanese.  Syria watched and made sure no sect triumphed.
It was in Baathist and secular Syria’s interest that Lebanon kept its religious mosaics.  I left Lebanon in 1982 and forgot about it, married a foreigner and threw myself in the pursuit of the ordinary life without ever thinking of even visiting Lebanon.  When in 2005 Rafic Hariri was assassinated, I told my husband and children that it was time to visit Lebanon because the country was probably going to enter a new period of unrest.  It was also time for me to face up to my repressed fears and my pain.
Memories came back.  Days and nights were spent with anxiety only at the thought of revisiting the country that I left ravaged by civil war.  To calm my fears, my husband decided to give this visit a context that will make it less stressful by including Cyprus and Syria in our itinerary before arriving to Lebanon.
We were in Cyprus when the London subway was bombed.  Greek Cypriots love Bashar El Assad as much as they hate Turks.  In Syria, despite the tensions on the Syrian Lebanese border, we were welcome.   I felt free, I felt secure.  I loved Damascus and the harmony between the communities.  All these years I was outside Lebanon and unable to think about it, it was there before my eyes.  I know this might seem an insult because many Syrians consider their government as opressive and themselves as lacking freedom.  But Syria in 2005 reminded very much of Lebanon before the civil war, it was my country lost and found again.
 Finally we went to Lebanon, and only because I visited Syria before and saw the possibility of different religions living together I was able to see Lebanon again without fear and negative feelings.  This is my personal connection to Syria.
I have not been posting on Syria on this blog because there is so much disinformation.  The revolution, in the beginning, seemed genuine to me. But also right from the beginning, there was evidence of lies and biases in Arab and western coverage of Syria.
The Guardian for instance has been misreprensenting the events, even though they pretend to have a reporter on site in Damascus. They had Katherine Marsh, and now they have Nidaa Hassan. For some reason, Brian Whitaker who has written well on the Middle east and the Arab world, has been openly anti Syrian regime right from the beginning of the events (Whitaker who is in charge of the middle east section at The Gaurdian wrote directly only rarely on Syria cince the beginning). The big elephant in this small room of information is Al-Jazeera who has been litteraly lashing out at the Syrian regime and not only presenting unreliable information from eyewitnesses but also manipulating the information.
There is also the gay girl in damascus story and it has come to represent the level of lies and manipulations in the information on the Syrian revolution 2011 to the point that soon enough Syrian auhtorities will be accused of the disappearance of a fictional character. This is kafkaesque!
Serious analyses are lacking.  The left leaning Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar has published some useful articles on Syria but they are not making their way into other news oultets and they are not cited.
Here are two of them that caught my attention:
And there are facts and analyses by journalists, political analysts and political scientists which were never mentioned in the blogs and Syria news aggregators that are read by Syrians anxious to find a way out to the turmoil in their country:
The weak foundations of Arab democracies: the author puts the blame on Islam and its inability to foster a vital civil society, a necessary condition for democracy, the real one, not the one that is being crafted by the neoliberal cons for Syria and the Arab world.
Understanding Syria’s unrests: the author mentions as early as April 11th, the danger of armed gangs
A third way on Syria is possible, but nobody is listening…
Nir Rosen: Prospects for the sectarian terrai in the middle east, part 1, part 2.
The Syrian Muslim Brotherhood by Gary Gambill (an article from 2006 but of some interest to what is happening today in Syria).
The Syrian Baath by Eric Rouleau (1967, English). Sometimes, it is useful to have a look back.
The confrontation in Syria has also changed rapidly. The so called Syrian revolution 2011 has mutated into an armed insurgency against the regime. They have strong elements from the neighbouring Muslim Brotherhood and from external powers including Israel who have stakes in fomenting a civil war in Syria. External powers, especially Israel, have no interest in the emergence of a vibrant Syrian economy and Syrian society, I wonder how those Syrians who are monitoring the Syrian revolution 2011 from Washington DC, Maryland, or Sweden cannot see this, but they are blinded by their hate for Assad. There is no opposition in Syria today if one means by opposition a unified assembly of people having common goals for the country, there is only chaos powered by hate for the Assads and organised by ennemies of Syria in which a minority of Syrians are participating taking hostage some 70% of the population in Damascus and Aleppo. This is not to say that there isn’t a need for genuine reforms in Syria and a transition to social justice and freedom (you will never hear the word democracy in my posts because the term, as it is promoted by Neo Liberal Cons and western powers as an excuse to invade Arab countries is now in disrepute), this is to say that the Syrian revolution 2011 is the perfect example of organised chaos, far from being a platform for reforms, social justice and individual freedoms.
One has to feel responsibility for the country and the people when trying to change the order of things. I am not seeing this in any known representative of the Syrian revolution 2011 and the people they are sending to protest are poor and desperate people. So far, this revolution is represented in the outside by people funded by external powers who are not friends of Syria and inside by disenfranchised people. There are no women, no families, no students, no businessmen, no professionals, no intellectuals in these protests. Meanwhile the traditional opposition sits silent and departs from its silence only to mention that it is up to the Shabab (youth) on the streets to assume the revolution.  It makes me sad,  these old revolutionaries would like to think that there is a real revolutionary spirit on the streets.   There is.  But sadly, there is also a foreign funded armed insurgency which nobody knows for sure how it will end.
Today is the ‘Day Of The Clans’ of the Syrian opposition who is hoping to rally the clans of Syria. Just the title makes me suspicious of this opposition. If  clanims is going to be part of the new Syria then you can say bye bye to reforms with this opposition (not to mention democracy of course, even their democracy and not mine). They are only going to topple Assad by replacing him with another dictatorship, fragilise the country’s ethnic mosaics, its economy,  put an end to the last secular regime in the Arab world, and open the door to a more docile Syria.  That’s the price of freedom, if only they would get their freedom, and if only it will end there but it won’t.  By ending secular governments in favour of sectarian and theocratic governments, the conditions are set for more tensions in the region.  I hope Syrians will find a way out of this mess and wish them well.
Publié par Sophia à l’adresse 11.6.11 
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Syria : the courage it takes

[youtube http://youtu.be/KaP0OuE9uIw?]

In Damascus at Shalan

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Syria : night protest at Daraa

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