Syrian media entertainment
February 15, 2006
Syrian newspapers Al Baath and Al Thawra.
Syrian media is really a source of continual entertainment. After all, who would have imagined a year ago that the Syrian regime would need to quote Michel Aoun, of all people, to decry the speeches given on the first anniversary of Rafik Hariri's assassination? Of course, given the heated rhetoric heard in Beirut, it is no wonder that Aoun's prose is suddenly music to Syria's ears when compared to other Lebanese politicians.
You also learn from gems like Tishreen that "Syria is targetted for specific purposes," which is good to know for those who thought it was just a random thing.
Keep on reading and you'll discover that the Syrian authorities are also besides themselves with joy because an American "thinker " has supposedly described the president as a national leader. I have a great deal to say about David Lesch (notice that the Syrian media can't even spell the name of its greatest admirers) and his unbelievable book, which I have been literally struggling to read. More on that soon, but let's just say that there seems to be a sudden profusion of American academics who have the hots for the Syrian regime. The feeling is certainly mutual, but then again the regime will apparently welcome any praise with open arms, even when it came from the likes of David Duke a couple of months ago.
But unfortunately, most of the real news from Syria aren't that funny, which is why you don't usually find them in Syrian media. Two of the recently released leaders of the Damascus Spring, Mamoun Homsi and Riad Seif, were crudely detained yesterday. The regime seems determined to keep on using rough tactics and regular harassment to remind its citizens of its absolute power. This comes a week after a journalist, Adel Mahfouz, was arrested for daring to advocate peaceful dialogue following the Danish cartoons reaction folly - a call the Syrian regime interpreted as "insulting public religious sentiment." Now that would have been funny, had the regime's own insults not been so blatant - and not necessarily in the field of religion.
