Another protest demonstration took place in Damascus yesterday, this time it involved a groups of judges protesting the President’s decision to lay them off, a move that had been billed in the media at the time as part of anti-corruption campaign targeting the country’s infamous judiciary system. The constitutionality of the President’s decree in this regard has always been suspect as it infringed on the separation of powers instituted by the Baath Constitution itself. Continue reading “How Judicious!”
Author: Ammar
A Syrian dreamer & dissident, not necessarily in that order.
Setting Up Priorities!
It is not clear to me yet whether all this grandstanding by the US and Israel vis-à-vis Hamas will actually amount to a full-fledged boycott. I hope not. Because moving against Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria and Iran at the same time is simply untenable. The US has to prioritize, and has to prioritize right.
Hamas and Hezbollah (and Muqtada al-Sadr too, for he represents a part of the extremists’ alliance) can be neutralized through developments in the internal affairs of their countries, so that the focus should remain on Syria and, more importantly, Iran. Continue reading “Setting Up Priorities!”
Managing our way through! – A few thoughts on the nature of our current dilemma
First posted on my short-lived blog Tharwalizations
Interest, principle, reality and time. What do we do when all these things conflict, and begin to push and pull us in different directions? How can we manage the crises that emanate from the complex interactions of these basic facts of our daily subsistence, our historical journey, our ongoing quest to know who we are, our continuing experimentation with the fabric of life and existence, in a desperate attempt at self-actuation and self-actualization? Continue reading “Managing our way through! – A few thoughts on the nature of our current dilemma”
الأقباط، والنساء، والبيرة
في مؤتمر حول الحوار المدني جرى قبل عدة سنوات، ناقش المؤتمرون إمكانية إجراء حوار جدي بين الإسلاميين والعلمانيين. أتذكر أنني في ذلك الوقت، ورداً على زميل مصري دعا إلى الحوار مع الأخوان المسلمين في بلده، توصلت إلى مصطلح “الأقباط، النساء والبيرة” للإشارة إلى ثلاث قضايا رئيسية تحتاج للمناقشة، وهي: قضايا التنوع، قضايا الجنس وقضية الخصوصية. ولكن ربما تنتهي القضايا الرئيسية الثلاث إلى قضية رئيسية حقاً: قضية الحدود ونقاط الالتقاء بين العام والخاص. فطالما ينزع الإسلاميون إلى توسيع حدود العام على حساب الخاص، سيعاني العلمانيون من مشكلة كبيرة. لا يعد شعار “القرآن هو دستورنا” مشكلة بحد ذاته. المشكلة هي في كيفية تحديد الإسلاميين لضمير “نا”.
