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Fri, Feb 04, 2011 | CyberDissidents.org | The Rubin Report | By Barry Rubin

Suhair Atassi (source: cyberdissidents.org)

Syrian Authorities Break Up Protest

Why are moderate Arab regimes — even if dictatorships — shaken by protest while hardline ones aren’t? Because at the least sign of trouble the radical governments crack down. Knowing that punishment will be harsh and that the West won’t be interested few dare to do anything.

And so in Damascus a silent vigil in support of the Egyptian protesters was quickly broken up.

Syrian Activists, Rallying in Solidarity with Egypt, Attacked by Mob

Fri, Feb 03, 2011 | By Ahed Al Hendi

There have been reports that Syrian activist Suhair Atassi and her fellow protesters were attacked by a Syrian pro-government mob. Atassi says that a group of thugs assaulted her and her friends while they held a candlelight vigil in solidarity with the people of Egypt. During the melee, one of the attackers told Atassi that “[Bashar Al] Assad is your president, and if you don’t like it in Syria, you should move to Egypt.”…Syrian police stood by and observed while the violence took place.

The authorities were not sympathetic. After being beaten, Atassi went to file a complaint at the nearest police station, where a secret police officer ordered everybody but Atassi out of the room. The officer accused her of working for Israel and engaging in treasonous activities.

Facebook of Jamal Atassi Forum

[…]

Today’s protest was supposed to be in opposition to the exorbitant prices of the telecommunications companies that are entirely controlled by Rami Makhlouf, President Assad’s cousin, in a typical example of the Syrian regime’s nepotism.

Atassi has organized a series of demonstrations in Damascus in recent weeks in order to familiarize the Syrian people with the Egyptian protests, which are not as well-publicized in Syrian media due to tight government censorship.

Read full story here.

How much attention will the U.S. government give to events in Syria? Might it call for Bashar to resign and threaten to end its “engagement” with Syria if he doesn’t leave or grant more rights? Of course not. In fact a U.S. ambassador has just arrived, an action that the Syrian regime sees as a concession, and Syria is generally flattered in the Western media.

Any wonder why America’s enemies multiply in number while its friends shrink?