Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Syrian and Egyptian elections



There are so many misconceptions spread by Western media about the Arab world. In the last two days, two were shattered: 1) that Sisi was going to sweep the election in Egypt and that he has wide support. 2) judging by the scenes of Syrians flocking to the Syrian embassy to vote, support for Bashshar Al-Asad has always been disregarded by Western media.  Furthermore, while the election in Syria is a sham, it has not necessarily been perceived as such by all Syrians.  The reason however has to do with the desire to return to their homes.  The Syrian armed groups and the exile opposition failed to inspire hope among the refugees (or many of them) regarding their ability to restore order to Syria (regardless whether you think that Bashshar can or can't d that).  So many of the assumptions of Western media coverage of Syria have been shattered today.  Lebanon is the only place where the host government can't impose the intimidation tactics on potential Syrian voters as in other Arab or Western countries and those scenes should be studied.