Albert Camus, were he alive, would have understood the upheavals sweeping the Arab world. In La Peste (The Plague), the French-Algerian author and philosopher explored through allegory the deep-seated malaise that he believed shaped and determined the human condition. At its core, society – and the body politic – was rotten and absurd. From Libya to Egypt to Yemen, millions have come to recognise this diseased reality, and are trying valiantly to change it.
The symptoms presented by Bashar al-Assad's regime in Damascus fit this diagnosis. What began as a prank by a group of children in the southern city of Deraa, spraying anti-government graffiti on walls, has escalated into large-scale protests, echoing across the country.
The regime is trying repression and on Wednesday, at least 37 people were killed. But this only sparked even bigger demonstrations. Assad is also trying concessions, including the possible relaxation of emergency laws and media controls. But so far, at least, nothing works. More and more people appear to be overcoming the "fear factor" that has kept Syrian society in check during what the Guardian's former Middle East correspondent, David Hirst, has called 51 years of "republican monarchy".
To see more go to the link
