Re: Waiting for us to change

The demonstrations of the Arab Spring may not have been all that different from previous demonstrations, except that media coverage has stressed the largely peaceful nature of them this time around.

I would remark that the regimes that have had that card available, have tried, to varying success, to portray them as sectarian. Sunni-minority ruled Bahrain blamed the Shiites, despite the participation of many Sunnis. Alawite ruled Syria has tried the same with its cultural mosaic: blame the Sunnis, blame the Kurds, or claim that without its heavy hand Sunnis would cleanse the Christians, Druze and Shiites (and yet, Alawites too have joined the resistance). This week is seeing confrontations against the Coptic Christians of Egypt. To whoever has been able to see the direct sources, it is clear that the culprits are in the security forces which are seeing the country escape from their hands at a pace they no longer control, not in the general society. Many Muslims have been in the demonstrations, many Muslims participate in the night watches to protect churches; and most Muslims, even many Islamist minded ones (such as the Brotherhood), recognize the rights of the Christian Coptic community (and the exceptions have raised their hands with the latest round of confrontations too). As I said, this portraying as sectarian has met with varying success. But it is at least an exaggeration, when not an outright lie. Whichever prejudices one group has about the other, they are not so dumb as to believe they are not in the same boat compared to the regimes they are trying to reform.