Mediocrates
06-06-2011, 05:38 AM
http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=278434
As people in the Arab world continue to voice opposition to dictatorial regimes, their leaders remain mostly silent. Though formerly quiet members of the international community have spoken out against the violence in Syria, the latest country to witness a significant anti-regime uprising and subsequent security crackdown, the Arab League has remained silent.
Turkey is positioning itself as a mediator between the Syrian government and the protesters, hosting opposition activists for The Conference for Change in Syria this week, and the EU and US have passed sanctions (http://nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=273150) against the Syrian leadership. Many however, are left wondering why the Arab states, which condemned the government crackdown against dissenters in Libya and kicked the country out of the Arab League, are keeping mum on the Assad regime.
To Egyptian activist and executive director of Cairo-based Arab Forum for Alternatives (http://www.nowlebanon.com/www.afaegypt.org) Mohammad Agati, the question isn’t about Arab silence, but rather its intervention in Libya in the first place. “A typical Arab League does not take any stances,” he said. “If anything, they usually bolster regimes.”
While in late April, Human Rights Watch urged (http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/04/24/syria-world-should-impose-sanctions-leadership) Arab countries – especially Egypt and Tunisia, which had their own revolutions – to join international efforts and inquire into the “Syrian government's use of lethal force against peaceful protesters,” some analysts believe the call was unrealistic.
As people in the Arab world continue to voice opposition to dictatorial regimes, their leaders remain mostly silent. Though formerly quiet members of the international community have spoken out against the violence in Syria, the latest country to witness a significant anti-regime uprising and subsequent security crackdown, the Arab League has remained silent.
Turkey is positioning itself as a mediator between the Syrian government and the protesters, hosting opposition activists for The Conference for Change in Syria this week, and the EU and US have passed sanctions (http://nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=273150) against the Syrian leadership. Many however, are left wondering why the Arab states, which condemned the government crackdown against dissenters in Libya and kicked the country out of the Arab League, are keeping mum on the Assad regime.
To Egyptian activist and executive director of Cairo-based Arab Forum for Alternatives (http://www.nowlebanon.com/www.afaegypt.org) Mohammad Agati, the question isn’t about Arab silence, but rather its intervention in Libya in the first place. “A typical Arab League does not take any stances,” he said. “If anything, they usually bolster regimes.”
While in late April, Human Rights Watch urged (http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/04/24/syria-world-should-impose-sanctions-leadership) Arab countries – especially Egypt and Tunisia, which had their own revolutions – to join international efforts and inquire into the “Syrian government's use of lethal force against peaceful protesters,” some analysts believe the call was unrealistic.