Barometrically Yours!

A second round of investigation by the Military Security Apparatus took place earlier today. It lasted for only one hour. It did not include a meeting with the Brigadier General, as had been scheduled, because he was busy again. Instead, the meeting will have to take place tomorrow at 9:00 am. What a fortuitous start for an average Syrian day! Continue reading →

A Liberal in Damascus

The New York Times Magazine – Encounter
By LEE SMITH

When I first met Ammar Abdulhamid in Washington in the fall, the 38-year-old Syrian novelist, poet and liberal dissident had Damascus on his mind. He had received word from his wife back in Syria that the political situation at home was becoming more precarious for rights activists like himself. As a fellow at the Brookings Institution, he’d been meeting with leading figures in the Bush administration and writing articles in the Arab and Western presses that were sharply critical of the Syrian government; he simply didn’t know what to expect on his return. Now, sitting here in a Damascus coffeehouse in late January a week after his return, he is telling me that he had found reason for optimism about the country’s future in the least likely of places. Continue reading “A Liberal in Damascus” →

A political arabesque in Iraq

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.

Arab Liberals: the last hope for reform

Special to The Daily Star

An interesting phenomenon has been taking place of late: coverage in the international media of the activities of Arab and Muslim terrorists has given way, for a short while at least, to a consideration of Arab liberal intellectuals and activists and their potential role in the longed-for reform process in the Arab world. Continue reading “Arab Liberals: the last hope for reform” →