[antimedia] antimedia: Inside Syria....

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Posted by antimedia:
Inside Syria....
http://www.antimedia.us/posts/1179193088.shtml


   ....[1]cracks in the facade are beginning to emerge.

     The April 22-23, 2007 parliamentary elections in Syria were held
     amid reports of electoral fraud. [1] In the Al-Rakka district in
     the east of the country, this even led to violent demonstrations,
     with over 530 citizens arrested by the Syrian security services.
     [2] In addition, numerous reports from opposition sources claimed
     that the Syrian regime had rigged "ghost lists" in some districts,
     i.e., lists of supposedly independent candidates who were, in fact,
     affiliated with the regime. [3]
     The election results, as announced by the Syrian interior minister
     on April 26, 2007, sparked fierce protest on the part of the Syrian
     opposition, which called on the international community and on Arab
     and international organizations not to recognize the new Syrian
     parliament and its decisions.
     The Syrian government press joined the criticism, emphasizing that
     the voter turnout would have been higher had the Syrian parliament
     been more effective in performing its functions. The articles
     expressed the hope that the new parliament would not disappoint the
     Syrian citizens as its predecessors had.

   As more and more Arabs realize that Al Qaeda supports killing and
   suppressing Muslims who don't agree with them, [2]opposition to the
   idea of a caliphate is beginning to emerge.

     Syrian author Nidhal Naisa: "The people who go and blow themselves
     up here and there, and try to kill themselves here and there, are a
     bunch of employed people. My colleague talked about university
     graduates... The university produces jobless people who go from the
     gates of the university to the gates of the foreign embassies - the
     embassies of 'the infidels,' 'the Crusaders,' and 'the descendents
     of apes and pigs,' whom my colleague wants to fight.
     "If you gave these young people a salary of $500, a home, and a
     wife, they wouldn't blow themselves up, and might not even read the
     first chapter of the Koran." [...]
     "Among the 500 Leading Universities in the World, There Is No Arab
     University... These Are Not Universities"
     "The pan-Arab movements that have taken over the Arab nation forced
     a certain ideology upon the Arab citizens, upon the Arab youth, and
     they follow this ideology like sheep. When the youth encountered
     globalization, they found themselves new breathing space. The Arab
     youth runs away from confronting [reality]. They run away to the
     virtual worlds of reality TV and the Internet."
     [...]
     "Don't you feel ashamed that out of the 500 leading universities
     worldwide, there isn't a single Arab university? What are you
     people doing about this? Among the 500 leading universities in the
     world, there is no Arab university, no Arab institute."
     [...]
     "These are not universities. In the words of my friend Faysal,
     these are taming cages, corrals in which you confine people and
     teach them some slogans, and they clap their hands, and that's it."

   The same thing that is happening in Iraq is happening elsewhere in the
   mideast. Arabs and Muslims are beginning to realize that Al Qaeda, far
   from having their best interests at heart, is a serious threat to
   their freedom, and even their survival. As the idea of opposing Al
   Qaeda strengthens, more people will find the courage to speak out.
   America should support that movement in every way possible.

References

   1. http://www.memri.org/bin/opener_latest.cgi?ID=IA35307
   2. http://www.memri.org/bin/opener_latest.cgi?ID=SD158507