There is an interesting article by well-known Arab literary critic, Kamal Abu Dib (the translator of Edward Said's Orientalism--not a good translation in my opinion, as some parts are unreadable), on Syria. Mr. Abu Dib suffered at the hands of the regime: he was once taken by Mukhabarat goons and dumped across the border. He could not find a job in the Arab world until he settled in UK. His article is different in tone and tenor than most articles on Syria because it is a plea against violence by all sides. I did not like the insertion of Qur'anic citations for no reasons. I also felt that he seems to blame Syrian regime and opposition equally for the violence, when the regime clearly deserves most of the blame. It is important because the Western and Arab press dare not mention any violence by the opposition. He also seems vague about his stance toward the regime, which surprised me given how much he suffered at the hand of the Asad regime.