This time, brutal crackdown in Syria may not work [The Guardian]
“Assad’s promises of reform have failed to stop the widespread protest — but Syria is no longer cut off from the outside world”
Walking around Aleppo’s markets recently*, young salespeople took pains to express that in Aleppo they felt the protests in the south to be rabble-rousers augmented by neighboring countries (Jordan). The protests are disproportionate to actual residents’ sentiments, volunteer the salesmen unprompted by us. It’s an amazing contrast to the english-language TV news citing activist reports and showing online amateur documentation (at arm’s length). Aleppans(?) know the same facts yet see a different context street to street, it seems.
Tension is palpable until the usual business concerns (like possible squishing by mini-truck or motorbike in the narrow market halls) return. Then it’s the same souk it’s been for centuries.
Addendum: for more context on both Aleppo’s and Syria’s as-yet-silent majority waiting to see what happens, a piece on cnn today illustrates the complexity…which is just as tough as the Middle East usually is.
Syria is more a geographic confection than a natural state. When the Ottoman Empire collapsed at the end of the First World War, the rump Syria was created —a mixed bag of religions, sects and tribes. The delicate sectarian balance between the majority Sunnis and the minority but very powerful Alawites means that any implosion of the state could be quickly followed by Iraqi-style warfare. Syria also has sizeable Kurdish, Christian and Druze minorities, all of which have their own grievances and anxieties. Some analysts believe it is the fear of anarchy that has so far restrained many people in Damascus and Syria’s second city, Aleppo, from joining the protests —their anxiety being “Apres Assad, la deluge.”
*lame attempt at obfuscation, really.
