'They are calling for you Damascus"

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"The truth is that the State is a conspiracy designed not only to exploit, but above all to corrupt its citizens ... Henceforth, I shall never serve any government anywhere."

Leo Tolstoy .

Protests and vigils in London supporting the Syrian Revolution

Candle light vigils are being held in Trafalgar Square for Syria almost every Friday. The atmosphere is beautiful, friendly and extremely welcoming. Unfortunately the clarity suffers due to the bad light conditions.

Some of the demonstrators gather to sing the Syrian national anthem. In another clip (below) they all gather to hold a large Syrian flag as it is unfolded and made to flutter.

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Demonstration from the 14th of May in front of the Syrian Embassy in London. The Syrian embassy routinely films and ID's every single person who is demonstrating in front of it. About 15 metres away is a counter, pro-government, demonstration. In between the two demonstrations is a heavy police presence to prevent altercations that frequently occurred. Both sides would throw sticks, bottles and eggs at each other occasionally. .

I thought of the thousands of people in Syrian prisons, and how they endured solitary confinement and constant degradation, many for decades. I thought of Russians I had read about in Siberian exile, and about the meaning of freedom, for Syrians and for other Arabs living under autocrats across the region.

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Nasrallah and Events in Syria

Many people, including myself, have been very disappointed that Iran and Hezbullah have sided completely with the Syrian regime whilst also proclaiming themselves to be against Israeli and American oppression in the Middle East. At the same time, in London, I have heard news that the Bahraini opposition has sided with the Syrian pro-government 'protestors' and the Libyan pro-government protestors. So what do we make of all this?

Two Camps in the Middle East

As I've mentioned on previous posts, the revolutions in the region are not happening in a vacuum. There are two camps in the region, the pro-Western 'moderate' camp and the Iranian led 'resistance' camp. Whilst the Arab awakening has affected both camps, it is clear that each camp is only eager to support revolutions and unrest in the separate camp. So Iran, Syria, Hezbullah and Shia Iraqi's are eagerly supporting the Bahraini revolution and backing the Gaddafi regime, whilst the Gulf States, Jordan and the United States are supportive of the Benghazi government in Libya and the protestors in Syria. All of this means that what started off as a legitimate wave of Arab revolutions is now at serious risk of being subverted and manipulated.

Protestors in Syria are, quite rightly, becoming strongly anti-Iranian and anti-Hezbullah whilst you find intellectuals such as al Jazeera's Ghassan Bin Jeddo and popular leaders like Nasrallah are now siding clearly with oppressive regimes because it is far more important to them that the United States and Israel be resisted and defeated than that their people live dignified and decent lives. Nasrallah's recent speech was like a slap in the face for many Syrians who deeply respected him. But was it really necessary for him to comment about events in Syria? No, that was a bad move, just like his comments regarding what is happening in Bahrain. He should have kept quiet.

Resistance or a Decent life - Mutually Exclusive?

Obama, now emboldened after his soldiers killed Osama Bin Laden, now feels ready to start turning the tide in the Middle East. Ambitious financial packages for Tunisia and Egypt, a strengthened committment to the Israeli state (in spite of his '1967 borders' claim in his recent speech) and a belligerent Netanyahu who has made it very clear how the Israelis will continue to do business. Coupling this with the admission of the Moroccans and the Jordanians into the GCC can give the GCC a projection force of 10,000 additional soldiers and now means that the Gulf Cooperation Council is a club for the Arabian monarchies. We can see this confident Saudi-led foreign policy with their involvement in crushing the revolt in Bahrain.

Naturally this is making the 'resistance' countries of the region extremely nervous. But frankly this can never justify the repression of their own people's legitimate demands and grievances. There can be no reforms whilst people are getting shot in the street, imprisoned and tortured, and harassed by security services and paramilitary thugs. The clumsy reaction of the Syrian regime is tragic, and now there are 1,100 people who have been murdered, with an additional 10,000 Syrians being imprisoned and tortured in the name of resistance and national security. It didn't need to be that way and this will not be forgotten by the people. If the 'resistance' countries think they will make any progress against Israel or American-led designs for the region, they are mistaken if they believe that people will put up with corruption, a lack of dignity and police brutality in the name of resistance. By ignoring this very simple fact, they risk losing everything - and they will.

Universal Opposition to the Arab Awakening

One thing we can be certain of is that both the 'moderate' and the 'resistance' camps, as well as Israel, the United States and Tehran, are all deeply worried about the Arab Awakening, and will do everything possible to stop it. I don't think this is something they will be able to do. We are in for a very long period of unrest, surprises and revolution. The result will be virtually unrecognisable and there will sadly be a lot of suffering and bloodshed. This is only the beginning.

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It's all a conspiracy...

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An Announcement

Rejoice, for you are in a land where you are free to do anything except pursue the truth. This is a land where you must fear the truth, where you will be crushed not for telling a lie, but for telling the truth.

If you tell us lies, we will lay garlands upon your head, and perfume you. We will give you honours, title and lands. You will be praised and respected. But if you tell the truth, we will place upon your head a crown of thorns and crucify you. You will be rejected and ridiculed, shunned by all. We will send our children after you in the streets, where they will insult you and throw stones upon you. Our women will put burning bushes in your path wherever you walk.

Do not call for your god, there is no god here. We killed him a long time ago with our lies. So if you will worship, worship the Lie. That is all that we will allow.

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Despicable Lies

This morning I saw a video of three men who had their brains blown out. They had been trying to smuggle tins of food. The man filming them was making fun of them, making fun of the fact that they were trying to hide cans of food with them. He was speaking whilst holding the camera phone as if this was all a joke. But none of this ever happened. The man filming all this was never there, the dead men with their brains blown out of their skulls have no names, because they do not exist. I did not even watch this film, because I don't know who I am so how can I know that it was me who was ever watching it in the first place? That's the liar, he is so manipulative that he is trying to get me to doubt myself. To get into my head so that I can never even formulate a thought, let alone act upon it.

I tell the liar that he is a liar, he says he is not a liar. I say "there you go! You are a liar". But the liar looks at me, smiling cruelly, and says, "I am not a liar".

I want to hold a gun up to his head and shoot him. When I pull the trigger, his skull fragments into a million pieces. But those pieces grow into more liars. The more I shoot, the more of them there are. They keep smiling that horrible smile. I know why they are smiling, it is because they are never going anywhere. They are going to stay right there on my chest, suffocating me, stepping on my face with their heels as they grit their teeth in satisfaction. I am being buried in lies as they attack me, burying me beneath them.

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The Terror of Being a Moral Human Being

It is often said that finding the truth is a difficult, if not impossible, thing to achieve. That there is so much confusion and misinformation shrouding everything that it is simply not worth the effort to try the truth. The people who rest comfortably behind such a veil of cynicism can only be referred to as cowards. It is not impossible, nor is it difficult to find the truth. No, what terrifies the coward is following the truth, staring at it in all its terrible beauty, and freeing themselves through it, with it.

When the entire population of a country decides to put its head in the sand rather than stare at the ugly truth, when these same people wilfully choose to ignore murder, oppression and death on a mass scale, what kind of a claim to morality can they ever make? None whatsoever. A mother raises her child to never lie, to never steal and to never cheat. Yet incredibly, she also expects her child to grow up living a lie, to accept that her entire country has been stolen, and to be cheated out of a future. The child grows up living a lie, becoming a lie. This way, the entire god-damn country has become a lie.

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تصبحون على وطن - مارسال خليفة

Thinking of Syria...

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I have only been able to understand this properly today

First they came for the communists,



and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.






Then they came for the trade unionists,


and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.






Then they came for the Jews,


and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.






Then they came for me


and there was no one left to speak out for me.

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احمد فؤاد نجم يوجه رسالة لحسن نصرالله عن سوريا

Akkh ya Syria. Ahmad Fouad Najm sends a message to Sayid Hassan Nasrallah about what is happening in Syria. He asks him, "I love you with all my heart, but can you honestly condone what is happening in that country? The killing of people with tanks?"

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خالد الهبر .. ابانا الذي في السما

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If you tremble with indignation at every injustice then you are a comrade of mine.

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I sometimes cringe when I read things I wrote a few years ago, and am often tempted about going back and changing posts, comments or thoughts that I jotted down here. Yet I keep them on mainly because it helps me see how my thinking and attitude has developed, and how I have grown over the years. One thing I have noticed is how much more relaxed and open I am with people I disagree with or whose actions I do not approve of. It is a qualitative leap in thought when you start to realise that another's difference does not affect you, but in fact enriches your own differences.

Another thing I have started to really appreciate is the universality of human dignity. The more I tried to look into ethics, philosophy and justice in my background and culture, the more I found parallels with other people of different backgrounds. There are things which are admired as good, noble and courageous in all cultures. Coming to realise that is a journey in itself, and it is worth keeping a note of the key milestones.

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Personal Reflection on the Events in Syria

As an outsider to Syria, I have never felt it my place to encourage the protests or call for the fall of any government. Instead, I placed myself in a position that was solely against government brutality and killing. Yet it seems that there is no room for such a position. Syrian society remains deeply divided over what is happening there and this is something which is sadly becoming worse over time. I myself have been removed from Facebook by many friends and relatives who either disagree with what I have to say, or fear trouble from the security services. This is astonishing because I do not belong to, nor do I support, any of the idiotic Syrian political parties, either in government or in exile, and am very clear in my independent position. In the same way that I refuse to have somebody from the Muslim Brotherhood try insult my intelligence or co-opt me, I rejected the lies and stupidity coming to me from regime apologists.

I have been to a few of the protests that took place in front of the Syrian embassy, and  that were taking place against the brutal treatment of the civilian protestors. It is now confirmed to me that everybody at the demonstration has been filmed and identified by the Syrian security services, not that this concerns me in the slightest as a British citizen within the United Kingdom, but I could see that some people were quite visibly nervous and insisted on covering their faces. This is a tragic state of affairs and puts very large question marks over the Syrian government's claims to be only targeting 'Salafist' saboteurs or that it is open to discussion. At the protests, what I also found were pitiful opposition figures who haggled and argued with one another over who gets to speak to the press, set against thuggish pro-government protestors - one of whom verbally abused me and behaved threateningly towards me simply for standing next to some people who were having a discussion with pro-government protestors.

The pro-camp was clearly a minority here, but they were vociferous in their criticism and menacing against anybody who was not with them. I was also distraught to see one so-called Iraqi journalist in the "anti" camp go on a diatribe against Iran and Hezbullah, and praising the work Hariri did for Lebanon. I told him exactly what I thought about Hariri but there was no use getting into the debate with the fool. Another doddering old man I had seen previously give an interview on the Mustakillah channel was also there, and he was very keen to get seen on television.

On another point, the pro-Syrian camp were already heavily assisting the Bahraini protests taking place across the square where we were. This was where I was verbally abused by a pro-government thug who tried to push me away. The crowd were visibly uncomfortable with people from the protest camp joining them, and one man came and asked a friend of mine why we were supporting them. I picked up a distinctly sectarian atmosphere and we were not made to feel very welcome. We quickly left, but the episode left me with much to think about.

In conclusion, things are going to get extremely nasty for many people, especially those who have burnt their bridges or are only away from Syria on a temporary basis. The regime and its apologists no longer pretend to be open to dialogue and discussion. They simply cut away anybody who disagrees. When it comes to an opposition then those who feel that what is happening in Syria is intolerable find this opposition movement to be severely lacking in every manner. Not only that, but there is a very real danger that opportunists can take advantage of what is happening and redirect the whole thing politically.

This is not over by any stretch, and whilst the regime remains firmly in control, it is apparent to me each day that the barrier of fear has been broken. It is simply impossible that things will ever return to the iron-fisted rule of the eighties. Instead normal people who are not benefitting from the regime are saying what is on their mind and loudly condemning the stupidity of the state security services. The state television propaganda is idiotic and panicked, doing far more harm than good to the government. Everybody is being forced to decide between one side or another, there is no ground for discussion, no rational debate, no intelligence. Only a vicious propaganda war and bullets, plenty and plenty of bullets. I feel sad for this beautiful country.

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The UAE Blackwater story

I don't understand what all the fuss is about this mercenary army being formed in the United Arab Emirates. Gulf states have paid foreign soldiers to do their work for decades. Pakistan has an entire battalian ready to be deployed at a moments notice for the Saudis. In the Emirates, there are entire bases filled with Morrocan soldiers to operate the French planes and equipment for the UAE army. In Saudi Arabia, the United States was rewarded handsomely for repelling the threat of Saddam Hussein's Iraq in 1991. So why is it odd that, at a time of widespread discontent, some rulers are taking additional measures to protect their position? Blackwater, or R2 as they are now known, are not the sinister villain here. There have always been mercenaries as long as there has been war, so get over it.

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The Arab Revolution and Nakba Day

The first Nakba day to take place following the Arab Awakening has been dramatic. I was particularly surprised to thousands of Syrian and Palestinian demonstrators rushing across the fences and mine fields into the occupied Golan Heights, under fire from the Israeli army. As is known, the Syrian side of the borders has been Israel's quietest since the Golan Heights were occupied in 1967. That doesn't mean that Syrians don't care about the Palestinian cause, in fact the regime's pro-resistance credentials are impeccable, but many will be cynical at what they believe is a publicity ploy by a regime intent on diverting attention away from the unrest it faces at home. A visit to the Syrian/Israeli border is simply not possible for average Syrians, and unthinkable for average Palestinian refugees, without countless security checks and clearance.

The interesting thing about the unrest that we saw on the Syrian, Lebanese and Gazan side of Israel's borders is that these three areas are all managed centrally from Damascus. Nothing could have happened spontaneously without the approval of the Syrian security services, Hezbullah and Hamas. Coming so soon after Rami Makhlouf's statements to the New York Times, that instability to Israel is tied to instability in Syria, this appears to the cynic to be a confirmation of that warning. But, supposing that this is a totally spontaneous expression of popular yearning to liberate Palestine, does this show that the Syrian regime is incapable of policing its border with its enemy? Of course not, but it can start looking that way. And when things start looking that way, something which people believed was invincible might just start to look vulnerable.

Israel might have an army that can defeat a conventional Arab army, but it has performed dismally against a popular and well dug-in militia. It will be even more difficult to stop individuals from crossing over alone or in massive groups without getting people killed, meaning that Israel's image will suffer immensely. But the flip-side to this story shows us that organised, centrally managed and state-focused, Arab initiatives to help the resistance have been execrable. Countries such as Syria, which focus their resistance agendas, can no longer be seen as the most effective form of resistance when popular groups that can no longer be controlled and manipulated are putting far better pressure on the Israeli state than they could ever wish for. Whilst the borders might usually be heavily guarded, this desparate act could be a genie let out of the bottle. At a time when the entire Arab world is erupting against tyranny, this is a dangerous game to play.

One thing that must be understood about the Arab revolution is that it is sweeping away both pro-Western and Resistance rulers alike. The entire political map of the region is being redrawn radically in a way that has not been seen since the 1970's. More importantly, it is not just Arab rulers that must fear what is happening but also the Israeli state. The people of the region cannot be manipulated along sectarian, ethnic and nationalist lines anymore. Instead, they have erupted angrily and will continue to do so until they get justice. It is a wise ruler who recognises this and begins to respond to the will of the people instead of just shooting them. .

هدية للشعب السوري الثائر - 2011

اهدي هذه الاغنية للشعب السوري الثائر في وجه الطغيان و الاستبداد و للمساجين اقول لهم, في الليلة الظلماء يفتقد البدر

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The Syrian Connection

As far as interviews go, the latest interview given by a member of the Syrian 'establishment' is sure to send ripples across the political spectrum. Rami Makhlouf, the presidents cousin and one of the richest men in Syria, with interests in all the major industries and firms that run the country, has given an interview to the New York Times where has made some alarming statements about the Syrian regime. For one thing, he's promised that the regime will 'fight to the end'. There is no mention of stupid conspiracies, Salafis or even Bandar bin Sultan. Instead we hear it straight 'from the horses mouth' - so to speak - that the regime is here to stay and will do whatever it takes to survive.

Perhaps more alarmingly, he has linked stability in Israel with stability in Syria. That is quite confusing because most people thought that Syria has been in a state of war with Israel for the past 63 years. It seems, like with Egypt and Libya, that the Syrian regime is more interested in the stability of Israel, and in maintaining a status quo in the area for the United States, than in responding to the political aspirations of their own people. But let us not deceive ourselves, this interview was not intended for the Syrian people, or anybody who speaks Arabic. This interview aims at sending a message to the Americans, a warning not to meddle, and an enticement of future cooperation if the protests are put down successfully. That is the only explanation for it, because usually Makhlouf is extremely secretive and camera-shy.

The Syrian revolution may or may not succeed, but one thing is for certain and that is that the masks have all come off in 2011.

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No Comment

Today's cartoon by my favourite Syrian cartoonist, Ali Ferzat.

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عبد الباري عطوان يظهر حقيقة النظام السوري Syria

Very interesting interview with Abdul Bari Atwan about the situation in Syria. It's old, but it's very useful to get his perspective and analysis, which is usually very good(Arabic).

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Syria - Update

Bouthaina Shaaban, the advisor to Syria's Assad, has said in a recent interview with the New York Times that the country is now past the danger phase and that the recent troubles can be seen as an opportunity for the country in spite of the sanctions that have now started taking effect. What is interesting is that the New York Times journalist who interviewed her was given permission to enter Syria for only a few hours before having to leave the country. Foreign journalists are not allowed into Syria, and al Jazeera's correspondent Dorothy Parvez has been incarcerated for over a week now. There are several other members of the foreign press that are also being held by the Assad regime, and it is unclear when they will be released or for what reason they are being held.

Summary
It is interesting to note that Shaaban is now making an appearance. She last appeared at the start of the protests and back then I noticed how visibly shaken and overwhelmed she appeared. Yet throughout the revolution she has not been seen at all and her re-emergence might mean that the regime now thinks it is over the worst. I say might, because although there are now thousands of people incarcerated, and over 500 people killed, the wave of protests that swept through Syria might be far from over. As in other Arab countries, we should look to Friday to see what happens. Until then, treat anything that the regime says with extreme suspicion.

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We're now in the first real hiatus since the Arab revolution first started off in Tunisia. Who would believe that all this flux began only in January of this year, that five months ago nobody would have imagined an Arab world without dictatorship or oppression? As things grind to a halt in Libya, Yemen and Syria, one could be forgiven for starting to feel despondent. That somehow the ride is over. But it is not over. In spite of all the lies and confusion that is being deliberately spread by the regimes, change is coming. I write this to cheer my mood, to give myself hope that the future will be bright. It will be, it must be. To give up hope is to give up life.

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Latest proof of Salafist terror cells operating in Syria.

It is good to see the legendary Syrian humour in the face of adversity and oppression making a come-back. I'm especially impressed with the focus on the sling-shot at the end of the clip.

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"Team Syria" get a boost from Spin-Doctor

Or in other words: بدو يكحلها آم عماها

I felt dismayed reading Camille Otrakji's interview on the Lebanese Political Blog, Qifa Nabki. Camille has long been known amongst Syrian bloggers, analysts and political commentators for his efforts in promoting dialogue about Syria. I've criticised him severely before about projects of his, such as Onemideast.org, and have also had the opportunity to present my views on his own websites - often to much controversy from visitors.

Yet that does not mean I ever intend to spare him from scathing criticism when it is due, for the same freedom which allows him to defend the inexcusable actions of the Syrian regime are also those which will allow me to highlight some of the fallacies he made in the interview. Far from being a 'lone voice in the wilderness' he risks being dismissed as just another regime apologist who uses a cloak of respectability to make benevolent dictatorship appear legitimate.

Camille is a sophisticated and urbane individual, highly literate and intelligent. Therefore whenever I view his articles, comments or discussions I know that there is a structure underlying his argument, and a deliberate statement he intends to deliver, that give his position coherence and force. But that does not mean that what he says is right, merely that it is logically valid. Whether the string of logically valid arguments he gives are consistent is another matter, and I think that this is where he has failed miserably. This is not an exhaustive critique of all he said, but simply a highlight on some of the more interesting things that he mentioned.

Firstly he uses statistics which are based on facts that he does not make known. Statistics hold an unusually powerful sway over readers because numbers are generally thought to never lie. They are facts, simple and clear. Yet statistics can be notoriously easy to falsify, and even mislead. Anybody who has read the now famous book, "How To Lie With Statistics" knows how easy it is to say that anything can be true. One commentator on the blog draws an interesting parallel to Camille's argument and points out that the same holds true in Egypt, and Egypt had a successful revolution with the same statistical figures. Unfortunately Camille does himself no favours by using such a weak argument and appears to not know the popular adage, "72.5% of all statistics are made up on the spot".

Underlying Theme

The underlying message that Camille want's to deliver is as follows: that not all Syrians approve of the revolt; that the grievances are legitimate; that the government is honest about its intentions to reform; and that there are foreign elements, from billionaire Syrian business men such as Khaddam and Ribal al Assad, Bandar bin Sultan, and Saad Hariri, who are all bent on exploiting the legitimate grievances of the people to destroy Syria's regional position as a key geopolitical player.

This narrative is the standard one being delivered by Syrian state media and has been constantly drummed into the population's minds. Apparently no foreign media are considered impartial enough to be given the privilege of reporting directly from Syria, and grainy mobile phone footage is dismissed as part of an elaborate hoax. Camille even gives an amusing example of what he thinks can be achieved by someone with enough tech-savvy to edit videos and sound. Frankly I don't buy any of what he said and most people in the world don't either. The onus is on him, and the Syrian government, to allow enough transparency for the world and, more importantly, the Syrian people to decide what is really happening.

My response

The crisis of legitimacy that the Syrian regime faces is largely of its own doing, and there is no reason why they should be given the benefit of the doubt. The crisis has been mis-handled from the start and instead of providing transparency and paying attention to what even the president of the country says were legitimate grievances, the Syrian regime decided to play the conspiracy card. All foreign journalists were banned from reporting and one al Jazeera journalist with American, Canadian and Iranian nationality is still missing after landing in Damascus Airport over four days ago.

Then there is the issue that the Syrian government is trying to show that it has always intended for these reforms to take place. That somehow this popular pressure is not the reason it has decided to pursue this course of action. This is shameful and ludicrous, and the fact that Camille wishes to give the regime 'a chance' till 'the next election' beggars belief that the government can be trusted at all. In fact, he would do well to note that the protests accomplished in four weeks what 40 (or 11 depending on when you think reforms began) years could not. It is also interesting to note that the Syrian government behaves as if relenting to pressure from the Syrian people is a sign of weakness and shame, rather than something to be proud of. The gulf between the rulers and the ruled is thus clearly defined.

There is the issue of the extreme violence that faces anybody wishing to protest. Unarmed, innocent protestors are being arrested, shot at, beaten and harrassed. The fact that the government considers their demonstrations to be 'illegitimate' is not acceptable. Using the bogey man of salafi inspired armed groups is also unacceptable. If it were true then why are the security people shooting unarmed protestors and not shooting bearded fanatics with explosive belts and machine guns? But this is a question that should not even be debated, so clearly fallacious, and so popular has it been, with other dictatorships that have fallen, or are about to fall, in the region that it can be given no credence whatsoever.

Next we are given an outrageous statement comparing Syria's Alawites to the Jews of Israel or the Kurds and Kurdistan. That somehow Syria is the only country in the world where they can have a say in their own affairs. Well, Camille, you do need to make your mind up whether Syria is an Alawite state or a secular state. Or is it a secular state that happens to be Alawite, regardless of the fact that Alawites are a minority there? Or do you not realise that most Alawite's are not actually in the regime and have suffered just as much from the regime's corruption and repression as the rest of the population. Or do you not realise that you are giving legitimacy to the illegal settlement of Palestinian lands by using such an argument, and in so doing you undermine the entire supposed raison d'être of the Syrian regime. Or is it alright to use this argument for some people and not for others? Why has this statement been made and what do you mean by it?

At one point, Camille asks "What are you talking about when you say 'the Syrian regime'?" That is a very good question, and one which he himself needs to ponder over especially considering the question I raised above. At this point I thought he would give an interesting answer, but what follows next is a long rambling history lesson on the geo-politics of the region. We are told that democracy cannot happen the way we want it to in Syria, and we are given a convoluted and irrelevant argument using examples from Lebanon and Iraq. 

Camille, in essence, appears to me to be saying that in the Middle East, we cannot have democracy as is commonly understood; That the region has unique challenges and problems and only Syria is capable of pulling off the steady development curve needed. What Camille neglects to say is that Syria has a large hand in the lack of stability in both Lebanon and Iraq. I have written numerous articles highlighting Syria's formidable and highly successfuly foreign policy, but I won't sit back and allow him to ignore what he knows very well to be true, that Syria is itself a factor in the destabilisation of those governments. Of course that doesn't mean I oppose the intervention - for we live in a 'rough neighbourhood' - and in Iraq the government was imposed by an American occupation whilst in Lebanon it was a Western backed government which was quite happy to see Israel destroy half of Lebanon in order to eliminate the Lebanese resistance.

The argument that democracy cannot work in the case of Syria does not gel. What we have are Syrians of all sects and ethnicities asking for a bit of dignity and respect, they didn't even ask for 'one man-one vote democracy' but for freedom. The initial slogans people called out were that "The Syrian people cannot be humiliated". This freedom is freedom from arbitrary laws, police brutality, torture and the freedom to say what is on your mind without fear of arrest or harrassment. Besides, the finer points of democratic elections are not the focus of the discussion and we all know that most democracies now have elaborate systems that go beyond one man, one vote elections. Camille is here, and in fact throughout the entire interview, creating an artificial argument, and does not go towards addressing the real issues that have angered Syrians enough for them to go out onto the streets and risk death. He just wants them to stop demonstrating, to believe a regime that is killing them when it says that it will give up power to the people willingly, and that it will reform itself out of existence - Because this is what these reforms actually mean, whether they take effect in 5, 10 or 20 years.

Conclusion

Camille concludes that only Syria, or those who rule it, are capable of understanding the challenges of the region, otherwise we would all risk instability. But this is precisely the argument that Bin Ali, Mubarak and Gaddafi have used to convince the West that they can keep their people in check. But perhaps that is a bit of a Freudian slip? There has been nothing more catastrophic in recent Arab history than the repression of the people of the Middle East at the hands of their own rulers. Even Arafat was, in the end, kept in power by the Israelis to keep his people on a tight leash and not because he had their best interests at heart. Is this the kind of Middle East that Camille believes we should preserve? It seems that the Arab people (in all their sects, ethnicities and religions) have already answered that question: الشعب يريد اسقاط النظام

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"Let us now relieve the Romans of their fears by the death of a feeble old man."

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