Syria’s Assad willing to lift emergency law

The Christian Science Monitor thinks I might be going too far for many Syrians by insisting on Assad’s departure. Admittedly such a call might be too early for some, but, knowing Assad and the nature of his regime, I am reading ahead:

But for many Syrians, any compromise that keeps Assad in power is not enough. Exiled Syrian dissident and activist Ammar Abdulhamid said that after numerous human rights abuses, the current Syrian regime has lost all legitimacy, and it has failed to deliver on its promises of reform for more than a decade. Continue reading “Syria’s Assad willing to lift emergency law” →

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.

Ammar Abdulhamid, 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.

Tweeting the Egyptian Revolution (1)

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.

Let’s help support the Egyptian Revolution and make it a reality by adopting this hashtag #jan25 #sidibouzid #optunisia #algeria #jo #syria 2011-01-25T01:07:58Z
@monaeltahawy @yslaise Counting the hours, minutes and seconds. Let’s kick the ass of that false pharaoh, and restore some dignity #jan25 2011-01-25T04:22:12Z
Egypt’s frustrated young dream of revolution | They’re doing more than dreaming, they’re putting lives on line http://goo.gl/7wKrw #jan25 2011-01-25T04:38:44Z
Lebanese Egyptians will demonstrate anger tomorrow Business as usual Manipulation of popular will No longer acceptable: change afoot #jan25 2011-01-25T05:09:13Z
Tunisia Did! Egypt Will! Yemen Will! Let’s make history #jan25 #sidibouzid 2011-01-25T06:55:46Z Continue reading “Tweeting the Egyptian Revolution (1)” →