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Syria strategical for Lebanon and Palestine

world media analysis

Photo by No Lands Too Foreign

Photo by No Lands Too Foreign

BBC diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus writes that Syria "make Libya appear a largely peripheral country". In fact Syria, where more than 200 people are missing due to recent crackdown, "is a key element in an alliance that brings together Iran, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in the Gaza Strip and other more radical Palestinian groups opposed to peace with Israel".

This while "Syria first" lobby in Israel may have been dealt a serious blow, as uncertainty surrounds so many of the country's Arab neighbours. Also, the US feels more and more at unease. If Jerusalem fears to find itself without a "predictable enemy", Washington no more knows if and for how long it can keep Damascus far from Tehran.

Scholars and leaders of the Arab spring

While the US lags behind and the West is run more and more by France, the Web is the most promising place for both searching for information about the unfolding of the Syrian events and the expression of dissent.

Both the BBC and the blog of French daily Le Monde Printemps arabe deal with the Web features of protests. In particular they refer to the Facebook page The Syrian Revolution 2011, with 120,000 visitors, where opposition members have asked: "Will the regime, which is rotten to the marrow, keep the promise of revoking emergency state or will it only change name to its usual repressive methods?".

The blog Syria comment of American professor Joshua Landis says Friday demonstrations "are held also to underline the participation of Christians to the struggle".

Prominent opponents
The protagonists of the revolt are though the Syrian youths, aged 20-40. Among them Wissam Tarif who traced down arbitrary arrests committed by Syrian security forces, and Rami Nakhle who under the pseudonym of Malath Aumran has since 2008 waged a battle against the most backward features of the regime, starting from honour crime.

Nakhle, who todate lives in Lebanon, was interrogated 40 times by the Syrian police seeking his avatar. He is the author, among else, of an e-mail campaign making people aware of how to elude censorship by using proxies. "The movement started via Facebook", he explains the journalists, "but Facebook is only 1% of it". Which is made by many young people like him who have undertaken a journey beyond mental, geographical, cultural and technological journey until a boy of their same age, Mohammed Bouazizi, set himself alight in a Tunisian town in past December and made them decide to gather in one major movement.

Syrian dissident Ammar Abdulhamid from his exile in Washington explains the hesitations of his fellow opponents against starting the rallies without a previous period of adequate training. His colleagues are mostly secular intellectuals opposing all traditional reference points including the Muslim Brotherhood.

A crucial point

Nowadays no one in Syria would define these movements as victorious. It remains uncertain whether there will be more rallies after the bloody crackdown covered by the media from all over the world. It is also important to see how Assad will behave, wither with an excessive use of force or by making more reform promises. But it is clear that Syria is a neuralgic point for the future of the Middle East.

Syrian tanks, soldiers lay siege to southern towns, by S. Wilson, The Washington Post, 26 April 2011
Syria's spontaneously organised protests by K. Ghattas, The BBC, 22 April 2011
Syria crisis could change face of the Middle East, by J. Marcus, The BBC, 19 April 2011
Pour la contestation syrienne la lévée de l'état d'urgence n'est pas gage de liberté] (For Syrian protesters revoke of emergency law doesn't mean freedom)], Printemps arabe, 20 April 2011
The Syrian Revolution Facebook page
Syria Comment, the blog by Joshua Landis




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