How Judicious!

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 →

A Not So Flowery Revelation!

A flurry of conflicting reports about arrests, releases, harassments and hostage-takings against Syrian dissidents and their family members are streaming out of Syria.

Is this part of a new full-fledged crackdown? Or is it the usual round of intimidations and scare tactics? Well, it’s too early to tell really.

But, in view of the recently appointed hard-line cabinet, the former possibility seems to be the more likely one at this stage. Bashar & Co. seem to be consolidating their hold on the reigns of power in the country by way of preparing themselves for the worst. Continue reading “A Not So Flowery Revelation!” →

The Good Boycott!

The boycott against Danish goods by righteous believing Muslims all over the world, albeit hardly justifiable on any logical ground in this case, does, nonetheless, signal an interesting development that should in principle be encouraged.

For while we need to point out that resort to this procedure in this case may not be correct, the method itself, we should notes, is a very legitimate, effective and downright civilized manner for expressing discontent – one that is far superior morally and tactically to rioting and arson. Continue reading “The Good Boycott!” →

The Hamas Factor!

Hamas’ electoral victory, although billed as a “surprise” or a “shock” by many newspapers, did not really come as a major surprise to most observers of Palestinian politics. In fact, the whole reason why Abu Mazin seemed to have entertained postponing the elections for a while was directly related to his firm conviction that holding the elections at this point in time will result in a surrounding victory by Hamas. Continue reading →