In his inauguration speech on July 17, 2000 (click here for full text in Arabic), President Bashar al-Assad stressed the importance of more political pluralism in Syria and "the need to hear the others’ opinions". In response to this new policy of relative tolerance to free political speech, several prominent Syrian intellectuals launched independent Civil Society Forums that have grown in popularity over the last few months and invigorated the country's political life. The groups had been meeting freely and advocating democratic reforms, including the lifting of martial law and the establishment of independent political parties. However, on 18 February 2001, the Syrian authorities informed the groups' leaders that meetings could no longer be held without prior government permission, effectively putting an end to such meetings.

I am a Syrian citizen who, like the majority of Syrians, has great hopes that the Civil Society Forums will continue to play a very positive role in bringing in badly needed democratic reforms. I hope that the recent restrictions imposed on the Forums do not necessarily mean an end to the "Damascus Spring" but only a short pause in what promises to be a long and arduous path towards a peaceful democratic transformation in Syria.

Although I am not personally associated with any of the Civil Society Forums, I decided to create this web site as an attempt to support the Forums and to publicize their ideas through the internet to a larger audience in Syria and elsewhere. I hope that this web site will provide an open forum for ALL Syrians and all Arabs, regardless of their political tendencies, to participate in discussing the future of our country. An open debate and the expression of diverse and possibly conflicting opinions are the only ways to enshrine free speech as the keystone of the forthcoming democracy in Syria.

Thank you for your visit and for taking the time to read through. Please feel free to sign my guestbook and to let me know how I can do better.

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Contact me: syria2000@yahoo.com

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