The Moor Next Door addresses fears that the coming holiday will cause the protest movement to sputter:
Authorities will find it increasingly difficult to deal with protests without having repression associated with anti-religious tendencies. In Syria in particular increased
repression during Ramadan will increasingly nag on sectarian grievances. Because the shabiha (pro-regime bands of thugs used to intimidate oppositionists and protesters) and other instruments of regime power are so heavily (though obviously not exclusively) Alawite in composition, combined with strongly anti-Alawite sentiments among many demonstrators, their continued brutality will feed into a sectarian narrative that presents the regime’s crackdown as an instance of Alawites killing Sunnis. Regimes will be presented with extreme risk when confronting their enemies in mosques or communal festivals. The secular, Ba’thist regime whose core leadership is heavily Alawite (again, with large participation from wealthy and prominent Sunnis and Christians) banning or killing Syrian Sunni Muslims in the tens or hundreds will only intensify resistance when it takes place during Ramadan.
The Economist tracks the spread of the protests into Damascus, while Emma Sky reports on her recent visit to the country.
(Photo: A man wears a t-shirt with a peace message as Muslims pray at the Baitul Futuh Mosque in Morden on September 10, 2010 south of London, England. By Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images.)
The Dish 