Abigail Fielding-Smith guardian.co.uk
“The smell of freedom is in the air,” announced a Newsnight correspondent in a recent report from Lebanon. The overthrow of the Iraqi regime and the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon have led to talk of a domino effect in the Middle East, and all eyes are now on the ancien regime in Damascus. Continue reading “Long road to reform in Damascus”
Quote in: The Star, MITCH POTTER MIDDLE EAST BUREAU
“I’m still waiting for him to be presidential. We need to hear his vision while there is still time,” Syrian dissident Ammar Abdulhamid told the Star.
“Either he will come out with a real re-creation of the entire modus operandi of this government, or he will pave the way for international sanctions and internal dissent, leading to implosion, eventually,” added Abdulhamid, the leader of a minority rights project who has been banned from travelling aboard.
Abdulhamid scoffs at what he views as lost decades dedicated to pan-Arab hopes.
“We have Palestinian refugees in Syria but no success to show for it. We have a half million Iraqis now, and prices for everything are going up. We spent 30 years in Lebanon and all we get is hatred,” Abdulhamid said. “Syria has always been the heartbeat of Arab nationalism, and where has it got us?”
But for all its problems, Assad’s Syria feels nowhere near as claustrophobic as Saddam’s Iraq. Here, mobile phones are everywhere, and rooftop dishes draw down satellite television on a scale that would have led to mass arrests in Baathist Iraq. And while the estimated 500 Internet cafes in Syria remain subject to state surveillance, young Syrians have become experts at improvising their way onto sites banned by the government.
By Nicholas Blanford and Gretchen Peters, The Christian Science Monitor
In a surprise announcement Saturday, Egypt’s long-ruling president, Hosni Mubarak, ordered constitutional changes that would open the door for the first-ever multiparty presidential elections in the world’s most populous Arab country. The move is the latest indication of a cautious democratic shift under way in the Arab world. Continue reading “New openings for Arab democracy”
New York Times
By THOMAS L FRIEDMAN
…Yes, the US invasion of Iraq made America some new enemies, but it also has triggered a huge debate about reform in the Arab world, said Ammar Abdulhamid, who helps run DarEmar, a pro-reform NGO in Syria. ‘‘For some people it forced the reform issue, because they said, ‘Let’s change ourselves before the Americans change us’,’’ noted Abdulhamid. Some Arab liberals want to use the US presence to pressure their governments. Some regimes are feeling very vulnerable and believe the only way to stave off the Americans is to be seen as working on reforms. But one way or another, ‘‘the Iraqi issue is forcing the issue of reform on everyone,’’ Abdulhamid said.
The Ammar Abdulhamid Archive 