If you thought the Arab Spring was only for springtime, then you haven't been watching the news throughout 2011. It appears that the Arab Spring is now perpetual, and as a result, I have dubbed it the Arab Perennial. It appears one factor that the protesters really like to do, whether it is the occupy protesters in the United States, Greek citizens difficult austerity applications, or Arab populations - is to get on Television. The protesters in the Middle East play to Al Jazeera, those in Europe wish to make their national Tv stations, and the BBC.
Of course, right here the United States we have an abundance of news outlets CNN, CBS, NBC, ABC, and FoxNews to name a handful of. The occupy protesters rely on the media to assist keep this energy going, help with their recruitment, and stay in the news. By utilizing the media they are in a position to project themselves as getting bigger than they essentially are, whilst the media gets fantastic ratings for broadcasting the sound and fury of the masses. Okay so, let's talk a little bit about Syria, due to the fact in Syria it really is finding fairly significant.
Syrians Protesting for Publicity - Is That What It is All About?
There was a highly telling article in the New York Occasions on the final day of the year in 2011 titled "Thousands Rally in Syria to Prove Their Discontent to Arab Monitors," by Kareem Fahim and Hwaida Saad. The write-up stated:
"Tens, and possibly hundreds, of thousands of people defied a continuing government crackdown to fill the streets of quite a few Syrian cities on Friday, intent on showing visiting monitors from the Arab League the extent of opposition to President Bashar al-Assad." And "A protester in Dara'a, who reported significant demonstrations, stated: "We want to show the Arabs and the world that we are peaceful protesters, not criminals, or armed gangs. The coming days and weeks will prove our statements, not the regime's story."
Now then, I am sure that one particular individual demonstrating does not speak for all Syrian protesters, but he likely does speak for a massive number of participants in the protests. But think of this, if you wanted to prove that you are getting a peaceful protest, then it certainly does not make sense to do it out in the street by throwing rocks at police, or shooting at them. In reality, either side could trigger a quick escalation at any time. Of course to finish it all the police could just not show up for the protests, or the protesters could stop protesting, immediately after all springtime is over.
It appears that with no the media coverage, the protesters would obtain no reason to continue, or incredibly small reason to risk their lives in protest. Maybe we will need to rethink how the media participates and increases the chaos and controversy, which in the end could spell the end of a government and nation-state, or throw it into complete disarray. Please give some thought to all this and assume on it.
