Category: Democracy & Human Rights

First Step, Series Conclusion: A call for democratic change in Syria!

The following is the summary provided at the end of the 6th Episode of First Step, a reportage program produced by the Tharwa Foundation in 2009 to promote the cause of peaceful democratic change in Syria. I conceived the show after reviewing the YouTube videos prepared by our in-country activists showing the daily realities that people in Syria have to content with. the videos justified my faith in the possibility and necessity of the revolution, and that helped ut this summary together. The real heroes, of course, are the activists who risked their freedom and their lives to provide the videos.  Continue reading “First Step, Series Conclusion: A call for democratic change in Syria!” →

Their Audacity to Hope

Brave individuals who challenge the status quo in authoritarian societies—and expect our support

Mention in the Wall Street Journal

Mr. Muravchik might have said more about why Western states should support liberals, in all their vulnerability. Take the Syrian dissident Ammar Abdulhamid. Audacious and articulate, Mr. Abdulhamid abandoned a life of privilege in Syria (he is the son of a famous actress) and chose exile in the U.S. so that he could give full force to his criticism of the Assad regime. Yet like many of those described by Mr. Muravchik, he has committed himself to a liberal ideal, and sacrificed a great deal, in return for very little so far. When Western governments revert to so-called reasons of state — where “realism” and supposed self-interest often triumphs — Middle Eastern liberals become a vanguard easily discarded.

Obama’s Regional Tour

  1. The inability to see and believe the obvious reflects an equally obvious inability to envision an effective strategy for dealing with it. 3:17 AM Jul 6th
  2. U.S. policymakers refuse to see the obvious in our region: unfriendly regimes will always be unfriendly and will not be part of any solution 3:55 AM Jul 6th
  3. The status quo in our region is crumbling, but America won’t have any friends unless she invests herself fully in producing the alternatives 3:57 AM Jul 6th
  4. Fighting blood-thirsty tyrants with eloquent speeches, handshakes and assurances of respect make good PR but not a good foreign policy. 4:04 AM Jul 6th
  5. You cannot fend off vampires with lollypops. You cannot oppose tyrants with words. You cannot win respect by a show of weakness. 4:10 AM Jul 6th  Continue reading “Obama’s Regional Tour” →

On Syria

 

  1. Never judge a people by their government, be it democratic or authoritarian. Governments are always fucked up, and peoples decent and good. 7:15 PM Jul 4th
  2. Syria’s Princess Diana wannabe wants her people to be part of the solution and not just complain. Hmm. How sincere http://tinyurl.com/nbr52q 12:34 AM Jul 5th
  3. Meanwhile, not to be outdone, Syria’s ruler, God’s Most Perfect Moron, invites President Obama for a friendly chat http://tinyurl.com/klrpyx 12:36 AM Jul 5th
  4. I guess crackdowns and sham elections are meant as incentives to encourage popular participation in the national exercise in self-deception. 12:40 AM Jul 5th
  5. This time last year in Syria, scores of political prisoners were gunned down in the infamous prison of Saydnaya: http://tinyurl.com/nl9r86. 12:43 AM Jul 5th Continue reading “On Syria” →