I was at the demonstration in front of the London embassy last week and whilst chatting to a friend of mine, who happened to be a doctor, I saw several people approach him to ask for his card and see if he would be interested in attending their meetings and discussions - of course they ignored me as I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt. One person said that their group already has "four doctors" and that they are always interested in bringing in more "doctors and intellectuals". If the cross-section I have come across at these demos is representative of Syrian intellectuals and doctors, I despair for the country. One of them has this bizarre party called the Wasat Movement, which represents absolutely nothing as far as I can tell and is utterly generic and bland. This man gives out a business card which has "Poet" as his title. To give you an idea of how self important and petty this man is, he once had a vicious argument with another opportunist journalist who runs Levant News (an opposition website), Mohammad Fattouh, about who was to speak to the news camera. He was furious that somebody would try to steal or share the limelight with him. Another 'interesting' personality you can come across in the demonstrations, Obeida Nahass, calls himself a "Syrian politician and journalist" on his Twitter profile. Most of you might have seen his son on a lot of protest posters or online, a blue-eyed, blond haired toddler with the Syrian flag painted on his face and shouting defiantly- I even saw a pro-regime acquaintance put that on his Facebook profile.
These people are opportunistic, unimaginative to the extreme, and politically clueless. Each of them thinks he will be a future president or prime minister. That doesn't mean I don't support the toppling of the corrupt and brutal Syrian regime, but with an opposition like this abroad, the future prospects for Syria remain as bleak as they are with the Assad family still in power. On a positive note, the internal opposition in Syria will, I believe, wash away completely these Cold War relics and political dinosaurs. There are people whom I think are completely amazing, people such as Razan Zeitouneh, Haitham Man'aa, Haitham al Maleh, Michel Kilo, Aref Dalileh and the courageous people running the Local Coordination Committees within Syria. The seeds of a future lie with them, and not with these clowns I see at the London demonstrations.
Just thought I'd let you know my thoughts on the matter. And feel free to post this on your blog if it will help people get an additional insight into the so-called opposition abroad."
