In Syria, Demonstrations Are Few and Brief
DAMASCUS, Syria — For a moment, you might almost have thought you were in Cairo, or Tunis. Five brave young men stood in this city’s ancient Hamidiya market and began chanting, “We sacrifice our blood and souls for you, Syria!” Soon, a crowd of about 150 had gathered, and the call was heard: “The revolution has started!”
But it had not.
Within minutes, Syrian security men beat and dispersed the protesters, arresting several. That was Tuesday. On Wednesday, some 200 people gathered in front of the Interior Ministry building here. They included relatives of longtime political prisoners as well as activists and students, and they began calling for the release of those in custody.
Once again, a large force of armed officers — more numerous than the protesters — charged the group, and arrested 36 people, witnesses and human rights activists said. Among those arrested was Hannibal al-Hasan, the 10-year-old son of Ragda al-Hasan, a political prisoner.
After three months of uprisings across the Arab world, Syria has seen scarcely any protests. In a police state where emergency laws have banned public gatherings since 1963, few dare to challenge the state, which proved its willingness to massacre its own citizens in the early 1980s. The battles of that time, with armed members of the Muslim Brotherhood, have cast a long shadow.
Like those in many other Arab countries, the rulers here are unwilling to even acknowledge the protests or to confer any legitimacy on them. On Wednesday, the Syrian Interior Ministry denied that arrests had taken place, according to the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency. The agency said on its Web site that “some outsiders infiltrated” a group of families visiting the ministry to present requests for the release of their sons and “exploited” their gathering “to call for demonstration through uttering some provocative slogans”
Many witnesses disputed that account. “I only saw Syrians, families asking for the release of their loved ones,” said Mazen Darweesh, head of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression in an interview with Orient TV, a private Syrian channel run from Dubai.
Abdulaziz al-Khear, a well-known Syrian dissident and former political prisoner, said, “With the climate in the region things have got to change or we are going to witness more of these protests.” But Mr. Khear conceded that the environment in Syria was more difficult and that the slowing momentum of protests elsewhere had had an effect. “What is happening in Libya had discouraged people a bit,” he said, referring to the rebels’ struggle there.
Syrian protesters created a Facebook page called “The Syrian Revolution 2011,” calling on people to demonstrate against corruption and repression, and have gained more than 47,000 supporters.
The government has repeatedly been ferocious in quelling protests. Security forces chased and beat young people who gathered for a vigil on Feb. 23 to show solidarity with the Libyan people. They arrested 14 participants, releasing them hours later.
Gatherings less political in nature have elicited a milder response. On Feb. 16, more than 500 gathered spontaneously in the Harika district here after a policeman hit a man in an argument over a minor traffic violation. Defying the security forces and the police, citizens stayed there more than three hours.
“The Syrian people won’t tolerate humiliation,” the crowd chanted. It dispersed only after Interior Minister Saed Samour showed up and promised to punish the policeman.
The potential for protest is complicated by Syria’s ethnic and religious composition. The country is run by members of the Alawite religious minority, though the majority of Syrians are Sunni Muslims. There is also a restive Kurdish minority centered in the north. Syrians largely support the government’s foreign policy, including its refusal to sign a peace treaty with Israel and its support of the militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah. But the lack of basic freedoms — a key grievance of protesters in other countries — is as bad in Syria as in Egypt, or worse, many activists and human rights groups say.
Syrian state-run television welcomed the fall of the Egyptian government, calling it “the collapse of the Camp David” peace accords between Egypt and Israel. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal in January, the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, expressed confidence in his rule, which he said represented the people, and dismissed the possibility of protests.
Most Syrians seem to have only begun to grasp the concept of public protest. By contrast, Mr. Khear noted that Egyptians had protested often over the past five years. Still, he said, “people know what they are entitled to now, and there is no taking that away.”
Again and again, Arab leaders have accused those who have risen against them of being traitors. But the few determined Syrians who showed up on Wednesday took a different view.
“The traitor is the one who kills his people,” they shouted. ”The traitor is the one who oppresses, bankrupts, intimidates, humiliates and imprisons his people.”
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published: March 16, 2011
DAMASCUS, Syria — For a moment, you might almost have thought you were in Cairo, or Tunis. Five brave young men stood in this city’s ancient Hamidiya market and began chanting, “We sacrifice our blood and souls for you, Syria!” Soon, a crowd of about 150 had gathered, and the call was heard: “The revolution has started!”
But it had not.
Within minutes, Syrian security men beat and dispersed the protesters, arresting several. That was Tuesday. On Wednesday, some 200 people gathered in front of the Interior Ministry building here. They included relatives of longtime political prisoners as well as activists and students, and they began calling for the release of those in custody.
Once again, a large force of armed officers — more numerous than the protesters — charged the group, and arrested 36 people, witnesses and human rights activists said. Among those arrested was Hannibal al-Hasan, the 10-year-old son of Ragda al-Hasan, a political prisoner.
After three months of uprisings across the Arab world, Syria has seen scarcely any protests. In a police state where emergency laws have banned public gatherings since 1963, few dare to challenge the state, which proved its willingness to massacre its own citizens in the early 1980s. The battles of that time, with armed members of the Muslim Brotherhood, have cast a long shadow.
Like those in many other Arab countries, the rulers here are unwilling to even acknowledge the protests or to confer any legitimacy on them. On Wednesday, the Syrian Interior Ministry denied that arrests had taken place, according to the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency. The agency said on its Web site that “some outsiders infiltrated” a group of families visiting the ministry to present requests for the release of their sons and “exploited” their gathering “to call for demonstration through uttering some provocative slogans”
Many witnesses disputed that account. “I only saw Syrians, families asking for the release of their loved ones,” said Mazen Darweesh, head of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression in an interview with Orient TV, a private Syrian channel run from Dubai.
Abdulaziz al-Khear, a well-known Syrian dissident and former political prisoner, said, “With the climate in the region things have got to change or we are going to witness more of these protests.” But Mr. Khear conceded that the environment in Syria was more difficult and that the slowing momentum of protests elsewhere had had an effect. “What is happening in Libya had discouraged people a bit,” he said, referring to the rebels’ struggle there.
Syrian protesters created a Facebook page called “The Syrian Revolution 2011,” calling on people to demonstrate against corruption and repression, and have gained more than 47,000 supporters.
The government has repeatedly been ferocious in quelling protests. Security forces chased and beat young people who gathered for a vigil on Feb. 23 to show solidarity with the Libyan people. They arrested 14 participants, releasing them hours later.
Gatherings less political in nature have elicited a milder response. On Feb. 16, more than 500 gathered spontaneously in the Harika district here after a policeman hit a man in an argument over a minor traffic violation. Defying the security forces and the police, citizens stayed there more than three hours.
“The Syrian people won’t tolerate humiliation,” the crowd chanted. It dispersed only after Interior Minister Saed Samour showed up and promised to punish the policeman.
The potential for protest is complicated by Syria’s ethnic and religious composition. The country is run by members of the Alawite religious minority, though the majority of Syrians are Sunni Muslims. There is also a restive Kurdish minority centered in the north. Syrians largely support the government’s foreign policy, including its refusal to sign a peace treaty with Israel and its support of the militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah. But the lack of basic freedoms — a key grievance of protesters in other countries — is as bad in Syria as in Egypt, or worse, many activists and human rights groups say.
Syrian state-run television welcomed the fall of the Egyptian government, calling it “the collapse of the Camp David” peace accords between Egypt and Israel. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal in January, the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, expressed confidence in his rule, which he said represented the people, and dismissed the possibility of protests.
Most Syrians seem to have only begun to grasp the concept of public protest. By contrast, Mr. Khear noted that Egyptians had protested often over the past five years. Still, he said, “people know what they are entitled to now, and there is no taking that away.”
Again and again, Arab leaders have accused those who have risen against them of being traitors. But the few determined Syrians who showed up on Wednesday took a different view.
“The traitor is the one who kills his people,” they shouted. ”The traitor is the one who oppresses, bankrupts, intimidates, humiliates and imprisons his people.”
(source: the newyork times)
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