Why some Syrians have stuck with Assad

Al-Jazeera, the pan-Arab Qatar-based news network, offers in its Sunday edition a very interesting analysis of Bashar Assad’s support base in Syria. The report opens a window into the Syrian political makeup, giving a glimpse of Syria’s reluctance to fully get behind the causes of the dissent and overthrow the Assad regime.

First and foremost, Al-Jazeera points to the “unwavering support of Assad amongst the Alawite minority, of which he is a member.” The Alawites account for 13 percent of the Syrian population and ever since Assad’s asccent to power, they have been his staunch supporters. The paper continues with the second circle of support for Assad — his Ba’ath party. “Admittedly, some Ba’ath supporters find themselves identifying with the dissenters’ causes,” the paper comments. “However, the majority of party enthusiasts are still firmly in Assad’s column — mainly because of the party’s firm positions toward Israel which are still very popular.”

Moving on through Syrian society, the article points to the 10% Christian minority, which “is not so much supportive of the Assad regime as it is wavering in its convictions and not fully committed to the waves of revolution.” This fact is attributed by Al-Jazeera to “growing concerns among the Christian minority over the possibility of Syrian society deteriorating still further into chaos and political uncertainty — a looming concern which is very present in their minds especially after observing the effects of Saddam Hussein’s execution in Iraq and the chaotic reality which ensued.”

Finally, the last piece of the puzzle, according to Al-Jazeera, is the Kurdish and Druze minorities — considered to be “not very politically-minded groups who therefore abstain from taking a firm stance in the present political strife.”

Rise in Syrian refugees in Lebanon

A-Sharq Al-Awsat, the pan-Arab Saudi publication, covers a recent UN report on the topic of Syrian refugees in Lebanon: “According to the report, the number of Syrian refugees in northern Lebanon has climbed to 7,085 — 142 more than last week’s number.”

The paper adds: “Lebanese welfare organizations have made a point to make the Syrian families’ transition as smooth as possible by erecting libraries, kindergartens, and even cinemas in the villages at which refugees are arriving.”

Right now, it adds, Lebanon is the refugees’ only option since “the Syrian authorities are presently barring the evacuation of any wounded individuals by either the Red Cross or the Red Crescent.”

Reactions to the closure of two Palestinian TVnetworks

The East Jerusalem publication Al-Quds reports on reactions to the Israeli military’s closings of two television networks in Ramallah. First, it covers the European Union’s reaction: “The vice president of the European Commission, Catherine Ashton, denounced the closings and said that these actions come in direct contradiction to the 1992 Oslo agreements. She also made a point of commenting that the shut-down acts as a major block in the effort to establish and maintain independent Palestinian institutions — a necessary linchpin to a future Palestinian state.”

The publication offers the Israeli rationale for the closures: “A spokesman on behalf of the military commented that the two stations were broadcasting in an illegal manner since it was determined that their broadcasting signal was interfering with that of nearby Ben Gurion Airport.”

The paper, however, maintains a dubious tone regarding the explanation, and quotes the Palestinian minister of Communications: “The two stations have a valid broadcasting license from the International Communications Union,” and “it is quite impossible that their signal would interfere with that of Ben Gurion airport due to their sheer distance from it.”

American detainees released in Egypt

Egypt’s leading daily publication, Al-Ahram, reports on the front page of its Sunday edition on the release of the two American citizens who were charged with illegal funding of local Egyptian organizations.

The paper reports: “The travel ban which was decreed upon the two charged Americans was lifted by the Supreme Court before the case could be decided upon — effectively enabling the two to go back to America.”

However, not all Egyptian voices approve of the decision. Saad El-Katatny, speaker of the People’s Assembly, comments, “The release of the two Americans poses a significant threat to the sovereignty and security of the Egyptian people and leaves it at risk for future foreign meddlings in intra-Egyptian affairs.”

Katatny goes on to suggest that the court’s decision might not have been strictly jurisdictional: “A cause for concern is that the decision came so soon after an American military plane landed in Egypt. It appears that the case was eventually settled according to political considerations.”

Raising the legal age for marriage?

Back in Israel, the Nazareth-based publication Kul-Al-Arab reports on a bill proposed by MK Hanin Zoabi, and co-sponsored by Dov Khenin, which calls for the raising of the legal age for marriage to 18 from the present 17. The paper notes that the bill has received the support of all Arab Knesset members.

Says Zoabi: “Last year, over 3,000 Arab-Israeli women got married before the age of 18 — which hinders Arab women’s educational and social development.”