Yassin Al-Hajj Saleh in the New York Times

Of course, Saleh suffered from the brutality of the Syrian regime and I share many of his criticisms of the Syrian regime although I don't share his decision to write about Syria in racist anti-Syrian (people) right-wing publications, like An-Nahar and Al-Hayat (the mouthpiece of Prince Khalid Bin Sultan).  But as I read this, one sentence struck me:  "incarcerated for being a member of a communist pro-democracy group".  Mr. Saleh? Who are you kidding? Why do Arabs have to assert their pro-democracy credentials when they speak to Western audiences?  I admire the brave Syrian communists that you struggled with against the Syrian repressive state, but you can state with a straight face that the struggle was for "democracy"?  Is this a retroactive revisionism?  Come on. Arab communists fought for social justice, workers' victory, the dictatorship of the proletariat, revolution, and liberation but not for democracy.  Of course, no everyone wants democracy, even the lousy Muslim Brotherhood.