A Casual Exchange with a Young and Inquisitive Mind!

Over the last few days, with a young man from the good old country.

Can you elaborate on the recent decision by the Bush Administration to allocate 5 million USD to fund the activities of the Syrian opposition?

In general, the sum involved is too miniscule really to finance any serious effort at destabilizing the Syrian regime, but it could help finance some small-scale meetings, travels, and the production of some necessary literature to explain the opposition’s point of view. Continue reading “A Casual Exchange with a Young and Inquisitive Mind!” →

The Plight of Syria’s Young Activists!

Writing for Syria Comment, Joe Pace makes an excellent point about the plight of Syria’s young activists. Turned off by the not-too-surprising gap that separates them from the older generation of activists, and making more convenient victims for the predatory practices of the country’s security services, simply because they are unknown figures and their arrests fail to generate any international backlash, these people are the real risk-takers in the contemporary activist scene in Syria, and has been since the early days of independence. Continue reading →

أسطورة العصر الذهبي

(النسخة الإنكليزية)

يبدو أن إحدى الأساطير الرئيسة التي تعيق جميع مساعي تحديث المعتقدات الدينية، لاسيما الإسلامية، هي الإصرار على مفهوم العصر الذهبي. حيث تعزز هذه الأسطورة تركيز المسلمين في استشرافهم على الماضي. وبذلك يتم في أغلب الأحيان تصوير أي مسعى لتغيير وتحديث الإسلام على أنه محاولة لإحياء نقائه السابق.

يمكن إيجاز جوهر هذا الميل في مصطلح يكثر استخدامه هذه الأيام هو السلفية. إن الهدف الكلي للفكر السلفي هو استخلاص العبر من الماضي المقدس لمساعدتنا على الإبحار في البحار المضطربة للحاضر المدنس, والمضي نحو مستقبل يتمثل في بعث العصر الذهبي للأيام الخوالي ليس إلا.

6a00d8345160af69e200e54f4f9aa78833-800wi Continue reading “أسطورة العصر الذهبي” →

Another small step!

The Temporary Committee for the Damascus Declaration has announced plans to form a Permanent Committee that will include opposition figures from inside and outside the country. The new Committee will be made up of 23 members, eight of them will be chosen from the Syrian opposition abroad.

Although the Temporary Committee did not specify exactly what the new Permanent Committee is supposed to do, it will be interesting to see, nonetheless, what external opposition figures will be chosen in this regard. Continue reading “Another small step!” →