Ammar Abdulhamid is a Syrian-American dissident, author, and pro-democracy activist who has been a prominent voice on Syrian political affairs. He contributed commentary to The Weekly Standard in 2011, writing about the Syrian uprising and protest movements during the Arab Spring. He is also the founder of the Tharwa Foundation, which promotes democratic reform in the Middle East.
Thousands took to streets today in a number of Syria cities following Friday Prayers protesting the prevalence of oppression and corruption in the country, and calling for reform. In Damascus, and in an attempted to prevent planned march from the historic Umayyad mosque in Old Damascus, authorities…
On February 7, I published a piece in the Guardian that answered the question, Will Syria be next? That is, would Syria be the next Arab country to witness a popular uprising after Tunisia and Egypt? My answer was, no. The ground was not ready due to the complexity of the Syrian situation, I…