Remember a few weeks ago, when the Conventional Wisdom was that the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria– because of its bold stance against Israel and the West– was exempt from the wave of uprisings sweeping North Africa and the Middle East?
That particular CW was voiced by George Galloway, who fancies himself as someone with his finger on the pulse of the Arab world.
Syria is the shoe which didn’t drop. And I have a theory for that. The Syrian regime is authoritarian, no doubt, freedoms personal and political, are, of course, scant, it is a one party state, and the father in this case successfully handed over power to the son. So on one level it is a candidate [for an uprising]. And yet it has not. And what is the reason for that? Well, here is my theory: the government of Syria for a long time has pursued a policy of Arab-ness. Of Arab nationalism, of Arab dignity, of support for the Palestinian cause, material support, material support for the resistance, rejection for the foreign occupation of Iraq. And a refusal to bow before the foreign powers. This is the perception, and it is largely the reality, though the perception is greater than the reality. And I think that has somehow inoculated the Bashar Al Assad regime from the kind of events we are seeing elsewhere. Of course Syria is not the richest place, and there are extreme divisions between the very rich and very poor, but most people support the government because of its stand on Arab issues and the West. They think that Bashar is heir to a tradition of which they are quite proud. These may be famous last words, but that is my take on it.
Of course Galloway’s take on Syria may be influenced by his years of sucking up to Assad and his regime. These may be famous last words, but that is my take on it.
Reuters reports today from the Syrian city of Deraa:
Thousands of mourners called on Saturday for “revolution” at the funeral of protesters killed by Syrian security forces, the boldest challenge to Syria’s rulers since uprisings began sweeping the Arab world.
Security forces responded by firing tear gas to disperse crowds in Deraa, a tribal region south of the capital where at least 10,000 people demonstrated on Saturday at the funeral of two protesters, among at least four who were killed on Friday.
“Revolution, revolution. Rise up Hauran,” chanted the mourners in Deraa, administrative capital of the strategic Hauran plateau, as they marched behind simple wood coffins of Wissam Ayyash and Mahmoud al-Jawabra.
“God, Syria, Freedom. Whoever kills his own people is a traitor,” they said. Some of the mourners exited a mosque and headed for the centre to protest.
The two were killed when security forces opened fire on Friday on civilians taking part in a peaceful protest demanding political freedoms and an end to corruption in Syria, which has been ruled under emergency laws by President Bashar al-Assad’s Baath Party for nearly half a century.
Enduring America has videos of protests and arrests in Deraa, Damascus, Banyas and Homs.
Update: Der Ez Zor (in northeast Syria) too:
DaveM adds:
Here are some further developments from Dera and elsewhere in Syria. The situation is developing very quickly.
Al-Arabiya reports:
“New calls have emerged from Syrian opposition websites urging Syrians to go out to the streets and protest peacefully in a number of cities demanding freedom.
“The website specified places to meet, one of which is a square in Damascus named Sham Diin which is in Rukn Ad-Diin which is known for having high concentration of Kurdish residents. And the website also gave instructions to demonstrators on how to deal with tear gas and beatings from the security forces. It also explained how to disperse (escape) in both the narrow alleys and the main streets.
“The calls come 2 days after the demonstrations in Dera in the south in which four people were killed, where it’s said that they were killed by the security forces.
“While Damascus was announcing the formation of an investigation committee looking into the regretable events which took place in Dera, the people of Dera gathered once again on Saturday for the funerals of the victims. However the funerals turned into cries attacking the government and vowing no more fear.
“And news from Saturday evening mentioned that communications (i.e. telephone, Internet etc.) to Dera have been cut and that a number of tanks and members of the republican guard have cordoned off the city. And some others have spoken of Dera’s mayor having fled the city and his house having been attacked.
“And with scarcity of official information the government accounts are still accusing the demonstrators of being a group of infiltrators agitating riots and being connected with foreign agendas.”
I just saw on the news that there are reports of demonstrations in Quneitra which is just on the border of the Golan.
This is significant as these are Druze areas, and the Druze have been traditionally close to the regime.
Also worth noting that Der Ez Zor, which has also witnessed protests is a very conservative Sunni area and for a long time soldiers from the area were used to put down demonstrations against the regime. For example the soldiers who brutally put down the Kurdish protests in Qamishli were reportedly from Der Ez Zor. And they’ve been referred to as the boots which Hafiz al Assad used to stamp on his opponents.
Now they along with others are protesting against the regime. This is a very significant development.
Also of significance is that Al Jazeera is reporting events. In the past and in my experience AJ has been very soft in its criticism of Syria, this reflecting the Qatar–Syria–Iran axis. But not in this case.
This is from yesterday:
“Attempt to revive demonstrator killed in Dera”
(WARNING: GRAPHIC FOOTAGE)
It sounds like there’s live gunfire being used on the demonstrators.
