My twopence worth on the Syrian protest (17/02/2011)

I like this article by Qandaz: Syria speeding up.

Just to add my twopence worth (why not?):
I think Syrians do, ultimately, want democracy, but not at any price. Bashar is relatively popular (or at least not too unpopular!), and people are very wary of the alternative leadership (in particular, the opposition in exile has almost no credibility inside the country). I agree that Syrians have more of a problem with the corrupt system than with the leadership itself. So, at present there is a much stronger desire for reform rather than revolution.

Secondly, there is a fear of sectarianism but I personally find this a little paradoxical. Paradoxical because almost every Syrian seems to view their country as a potential sectarian powder keg (they look at Lebanon and Iraq and are scared they might go the same way) and yet I have not seen evidence of any serious sectarian chauvinism in personal dealings between Syrians. In the main urban areas most people live, work, study and socialise in mixed groups, especially the younger people. It is only in matters of marriage that Syrians tend to be much more endogamous and even then I personally know of quite a few marriages that cut across sectarian boundaries (e.g. Sunni-Ismaili, Sunni-Druze, Muslim-Christian). Cautiously, I would suggest that younger Syrians are becoming more relaxed about this than their elders. Perhaps the group that is most fearful of sectarianism is the Alawi because they have potentially the most to lose, and they fear the accumulated resentment that has built up against them over the last 40+ years. However, I tentatively suggest that Syrian national pride is strong enough to overcome sectarian divisions.

Finally, it was very interesting that the recent demo in Damascus (17 Sep 2011, Hariqa) did not come via the over-hyped Facebook/Twitter/etc (which may be important tools for spreading information but don't really explain WHY any of these Middle Eastern protests are happening) but instead from a single tightly-knit group with shared interests (the souq shopkeepers) protesting a specific issue (police brutality).