Category: Democracy & Human Rights

Syrians have broken the fear barrier

February’s ‘day of anger’ fizzled out, but protests in Deraa show Syria’s revolutionary spirit is now gathering pace.

, guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 22 March 2011 11.36 GMT

What a difference six weeks make. Back in early February I was asked whether Syria would be next on the growing list of countries to witness a popular revolution. My answer, which came in the form of an article published on Comment is free, was, in essence, “not yet”. Continue reading “Syrians have broken the fear barrier” →

Time for Revolution, and Planning

Yeah, this is the time for revolutions and change: the peaceful variety. This is both exciting and exhausting. And since I am an advocate of patience and careful planning, and of leaving things in the hands of grassroots activists on the ground to guide us and decide on the right time for the move, I have to put up with all different sorts of accusations coming from my more hotheaded colleagues, those who champion revolutionary rhetoric but think that revolutionary action is nothing more than spontaneous social combustion instigated by repeated shouts of Allahu Akbar and Down With the Regime.

Syria is not ready for an uprising

The groundwork for Egypt and Tunisia’s days of rage took years. In isolated Syria, there is much grassroots work to be done.

, guardian.co.uk, Monday 7 February 2011 11.00 GMT.

A “day of rage” called for by Syrian opposition members living abroad and scheduled for last Friday and Saturday came and went: the only mass presence detected on the streets of major cities in Syria was that of security forces. Continue reading “Syria is not ready for an uprising” →

Tweeting the Egyptian Revolution (4)

A selection of tweets related to the Egyptian Revolution, I have excluded most retweets as well as tweets in Arabic or tweets that simply link to articles and news reports. Most tweets reflect personal thoughts of information obtained from monitoring reports from the ground sent by in-country activists and journalists.

  1. What’s Behind Demonstrations in #Egypt? http://goo.gl/tqa12 – Desire 4 Freedom 4 Dignity 4 Better Future than they’re preparing 4 us #jan25 2011-01-28T00:00:54Z
  2. They want power. We want freedom. They have guns. We have cellphones. They’re ready 2 kill. We’re willing 2 die 4 better tomorrow #jan25 2011-01-28T00:05:21Z
  3. #Egyptian unrest may set off vicious economic cycle http://goo.gl/5vxlu – Little price 2 pay 4 ppl willing 2 shed own blood 4 freedom #jan25 2011-01-28T00:20:05Z
  4. Egyptian authorities seem to be encouraging thugs 2 burn cars loot shops in order 2 smear protesters decrease potential turnout tmrrw #jan25 2011-01-28T00:25:54Z
  5. Reports of videos, pictures, status updates getting deleted from Facebook pages supporting protesters, FB new battle front now #jan25 2011-01-28T00:29:33Z Continue reading “Tweeting the Egyptian Revolution (4)” →