Free Republic

The Bashar al-Assad rule in Syria has come under heavy fire from people who believe that the regime must quit over its atrocities. But any attempt by the US-led West to impose a replacement will backfire soon India’s oil-rich western neighbourhood, extending from the Arabian Sea to the Bosporus, is engulfed in conflicts arising from sectarian and civilisational rivalries, aggravated by the meddling of external powers. With an arsenal of over 100 nuclear weapons, Pakistan is today witnessing a period of internal strife, largely arising from the pernicious role of its military establishment and tensions across its disputed borders with...

The Alawites are a small, historically oppressed people, whose political future will determine whether Syria remains united in some form or disintegrates into even smaller ethnic and religious entities. As they will play such an important role, America, Israel, and other forces interested in the future of Syria might do well to get to know them, their concerns, and how others can best come to terms with them. Syria's non-Sunnis have historically lived in apprehension of what the Sunnis might do to them. Although Arab Sunnis are the largest religio-ethnic group in Syria, non-Sunni Arabs make up upwards of 40%...

It’s not often during a papal trip that a Catholic bishop and one of the pope’s official hosts actually corrects the boss, or at least strikes a slightly different note, but it happened Saturday night to Benedict XVI in Lebanon vis-à-vis the most important movement in this part of the world, the “Arab Spring.” Last night, Benedict visited the headquarters of the Maronite church, by far the largest of the seven Catholic churches in the country, to celebrate a youth rally that drew an estimated 20,000 young Lebanese, mostly Catholics but with some Muslims in the crowd as well. Prior...

Would seem to be sagging at this moment, so I think Obama would need a war with Iran. I think that all these negotiations now are basically shadow boxing and posturing for what will eventually will be a war with Iran. And I think the Iranian Ajatollah regime will be overthrown by a UN coalition. I wouldn't be surprised if... Iran was divided up in World War I between the Russian Czars administration and the British because Shah in Iran in World War I was pro-Kaiser and in World War II Iran was divided up with the Soviets, British and...

For most Syrians, I seem to have an identity crisis. I was born in Vietnam, look half African and hold Dutch nationality. The position of being a complete outsider gained me the trust to make them open up and lower their guard in a country where even family members may not freely express their political point of view among each other. Entering Syria as the only tourist going there these days, I spent three weeks listening to different stories and restructuring my judgment. Among all the people that I met, the story of Hani – a 32-year-old from Aleppo –...

The door to Dr. Mousab Azzawi's clinic, on the Mediterranean coast of Syria, was always open to anyone who needed help. But, operating in the heartland of the feared Shabiha militia, there were some patients the doctor would have preferred not to treat. "They were like monsters," said Dr. Azzawi, who worked in Latakia. "They had huge muscles, big bellies, big beards. They were all very tall and frightening, and took steroids to pump up their bodies. I had to talk to them like children, because the Shabiha likes people with low intelligence. But that is what makes them so...

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Photo: wiki commons.In light of Israel Apartheid Week, which hit cities and campuses throughout the world recently, supporters of the Jewish state find it difficult to agree on the best response to this hate fest. Some suggest emphasizing Israel’s peacemaking efforts, others propose rebranding the country by highlighting its numerous achievements and success stories. Still others advocate reminding the world of “what Zionism is – a movement of Jewish national liberation – and what it isn’t – racist.” Each of these approaches has its merits yet none will do the trick.Peace seeking and/or prosperity are...

When American troops removed Saddam Hussein from power, Muslim extremists took over Iraq. They launched a campaign of genocide against Iraqi Christians, and most Christians fled from Iraq, with many of them living in Syria as refugees. Syrian Christians make up 10 percent of the population of Syria, and belong to one of the oldest traditions of Christianity in the world. Remember that Saul of Tarsus converted to Christianity when he was on his way to Damascus, Syria, to persecute Christians. He changed his name to Paul, after Jesus knocked him off his horse. Paul wrote half of the New...

As the civil war in Syria continues and the ethnic tension is rising, the country’s Sunnis are threatening the Alawite minority against their continued support of President Bashar Assad, who is an Alawite himself. Mamoun al-Homsy, a former Syrian MP and one of the country’s opposition leaders, has reportedly recently distributed a recorded message to the Alawite community in Syria, in which he warns its members against supporting Assad. In the message, al-Homsy called on the Alawites to immediately renounce Assad, warning them that if they do not do so, “Syria will become the graveyard of the Alawites.” He also...

'Arab Spring': The chilly cruel winter reality of Arab racism and Islamic bigotry Not that ethnic racism and religious bigotry weren't rampant before the so-called "Arab spring" sprung about. But the intolerance tide seems to be only worsening, and without an Arab dictator to "hold" various factions together, vulnerability expand, risks rise. --- RELIGIOUS BIGOTRY: As the D.B. puts it: "Violence Against Egypt's Copts in an Intolerant Arab Spring.. The elephant in the room of the Arab Spring is now the mistreatment of minority communities—Christians and others—across the Arab world." FPM asks: Hillary Clinton Promises to Save Egypt's Christians? ......

WADI KHALED, Lebanon – Using horses and mules to carry their possessions, Syrians crossed a shallow river Monday to reach safety in Lebanon with tales of a "catastrophic" scene back home: sectarian killings, gunmen carrying out execution-style slayings and the stench of decomposing bodies in the streets.

TRIPOLI // Abu Ahmad looks around his deserted machine shop in the impoverished Tripoli neighbourhood of Beb al Tibani and blames last summer’s sectarian violence between the Sunni and Allawite sects for the poor business. “A year later and we have seen our business fall almost 90 per cent because of the fighting last summer,” he said. “We see those incidents as a mistake and so do many of the Allawite up the mountain, for they lost their jobs as well.” Abu Ahmad admits that he is no innocent victim of last year’s fighting, which killed dozens of people in...