Sounds like there is some degree of organization, maybe not as organized as Badawie likes to think when comparing to 1980’s. Because others will be. Also, Bashar, despite being a dictator & his alliance of convenience w/ IRI, is still a secularist.
Actually, not much has changed since the 80’s. Back then the Khomeinist revolution in Iran, aided by the left against so-called “western imperialism”, awakened the pro- Islamist sentiments & movements. This time it seems the protesters have been emboldened by recent events in Tunisia, Egypt & the bombing of Libya.
Some 31 yrs ago in Iran, they were making same noises (democracy & freedom). They too thought the system was ‘outdated’. Millions of Iranian women, from all walks of life, actively participated in the ‘revolution’ too. Back then, in Iran at least, it seemed that the unrest was spontaneous, was taking place continually, but in pockets. It wasn’t until much later that it became known the unrest & subsequent revolution had been planned, by certain grps, for at least 7 yrs prior to reaching its height.
I’m very skeptical of these protests. The situation is very complicated & varies depending on the country in that region. No doubt some, as they did in Iran, genuinely want to see democracy & freedom. Tho, in that region, democracy & freedom are culturally dependent, same goes for ‘women’s rights’. You can’t change the culture quickly or easily; it'll be an ongoing process, not a revolutionary event. They won’t be seeing that for at least a couple of decades, if ever, and would very much depend on who & what takes the place of the current regime. Good luck to them.
The Iranians suckered the Syrian dynasty, and now they are paying the price. The difference between the Asad dynasty and other Muzzie despotates is its complete indifference to what any nation or alleged journalist has to say about it — and both the media shills and any archaeologist wishing to work in that hell-hole of a country pipe down at the first dirty look from the big boss.
However, now they have no one to help them. They’ve been at odds (sorry) with the Turks for decades, have been behind untold misery in post-Saddam Iraq, backed the US in the Gulf War against Saddam’s Iraq, supported Iran in the Iran-Iraq war, supported the attempt by Arafat to overthrow the Hashemite dynasty in Jordan (sent tanks over the border, Israel scrambled planes and buzzed ‘em, and they turned tail), invaded and occupied (and looted) Lebanon after the PLO started the civil war there and the Iranian proxies flooded in, and has fought a few short wars with Israel, and has no diplomatic relationship with or recognition of Israel. Its only other neighbor is Cyprus, which is divided, and Syria’s shifted its position away from Greek Cyprus (a little bit) and toward the TRNC.
The Kurds are the only other neighbors, and Syria’s been just as ruthless against them as any of the other foreign occupiers of Kurdistan.