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March 11, 2005
A Small Beginning
DAMASCUS, Syria -- About 100 activists trying to stage a sit-in demonstration demanding greater freedoms were chased from a downtown square yesterday by hundreds of pro-government demonstrators carrying large pictures of the Syrian president, a human rights committee said.I''m amazed that the demonstration occurred at all, no matter for how short a time.
According to the Reform Party of Syria's web site (by way of NRO The Corner):
March 10, 2005. Pro-Syrian Demonstrations Staged under Fear. The Pro-Syrian demonstrations witnessed in Lebanon and Damascus have been staged by the Ba'ath Party. They forced the people to come out in favor of Assad inside both countries by threatening the people and ordering them to show up in the streets. Messages to schools, trade and labor unions, and government offices were propagated last week that ORDERED Syrians to show-up. The same fear tactic used to oppress dissidents is also used to show support by the double thinkers of the Syrian people. The moment Syrians feel Assad and the Ba'ath Party have been abandoned by the United States, they will abandon both in droves.
This would be typical of totalitarian countries. Their ability to coerce large numbers of people into participating in demonstrations is legendary. Paul Hollander documented literally hundreds of such examples in his excellent book "Political Pilgrims". No doubt that Hezbollah, the terrorist group that organized last week's pro-Syrian demonstrations in Beruit, is a potent force with great ability to disrupt Lebanon, the Syrian regime itself may be more fragile than we realize. Let's give it a push.
Posted by Tom at March 11, 2005 9:16 AM
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