Syria: No More Fear

This is from a Reuters article regarding the popular mood in Syria, another country which has seen larger protests over the last few days



The preacher of the Saladin Mosque was reflecting on the joys of Mother's Day, his sermon straying far from dramatic protests now gripping Syria, when a young man jumped up to the pulpit and grabbed the microphone.


"Why are you talking about this in these circumstances? Tell us about the political situation!" shouted the youth, before secret police arrested him and hurried him away.


In Damascus, as in the provinces, a barrier of fear which had blocked dissent is breaking down. Uprisings across the Arab world have not stopped at the door of one of its most hardline administrations.


For the first time, placards other than those glorifying Syria's ruling elite and the "historic achievements" of the Baath Party are being raised in the towns of the strategic Hauran plain south of Damascus.


A single word is etched on them -- "Freedom."


The region,, has seen the first non-sectarian protests against the Baath Party since Assad's late father Hafez al-Assad crushed leftist and Islamist opponents in the 1980s.


"NO MORE FEAR"


In a sign of changing times, Montaha al-Atrash, whose father led a revolt against French rule in the 1920s, addressed Assad directly in an interview on BBC Television.


"Dr Bashar, listen to us. Non-stop pressure and repression will generate an explosion. You know, and you see how the region is boiling,"


Opposition figure Riad al-Turk, who spent 25 years as a political prisoner said Syrian leaders face "the moment of truth." 


"What is required is serious and clear steps to transform Syria from repression to democracy…. They are steps outlined repeatedly: release political prisoners, abolish the state of emergency, legalize a multi-party system, separation of powers, the independence of the judiciary, and scrap the clause that makes the Baath Party 'leader of state and society'," he said. "All I know today is that Syria will not remain the kingdom of silence. Fear will no longer suffocate, and my homeland will not remain a big prison."

I wonder what will happen in Syria over the coming weeks, f I can’t see Assad going without bathing in the blood of a lot of ordinary Syrians,


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