The past week has seen tens of thousands of protesters on the streets of Syrian cities, calling for end of the rule of Bashar Al-Assad and the introduction of democracy. Again, their peaceful protests were met by a violent response with reports that Syrian troops opened fire with live ammunition, killing at least one hundred people. According to the BBC since the start of protests, 1,600 people have been killed and 10,000 have fled to other countries. And the latest news of the murderous assault on Hama demonstrates the Syrian regime’s rejection of peaceful protests.
The protesters in Syria and elsewhere in the region want their voices to count in the decisions taken by their governments. So democracy has to be open and governments have to be accountable to voters. The surge of demand for more democratic systems is not unique to the Middle East. People on the streets of Hama want the same rights as those in London, Paris and Berlin.
But the fact that some governments have responded with violence brings a different reaction. For me, there are mixed emotions:
• Sorrow for the people who have lost their lives; and fear that more people may lose their lives in Syria and Libya before they win the prize of a more open society they want and deserve.
• Respect for the courage of people who are not scared of being shot and are determined to go out and express their demands for reform. It is a remarkable part of the reform movements that the protesters have lost the fear that kept them behind closed doors and are confident about criticising authority.
• Optimism that by bravely challenging authoritarian and violent regimes, they will eventually achieve lasting change which will bring better, more prosperous and secure societies.
Another reason for optimism is that these spontaneous demonstrations are destroying the myth peddled by Al-Qaida over the last decade: that their murderous campaigns and indiscriminate use of violence are the only way to bring change.
People in Jordan are well aware of that fact after the horrific attacks in Amman in November 2005 which killed 60 and injured 115 people, most of them Muslims, including people celebrating a Muslim wedding. Al-Qaida justifiably lacks support in Jordan after such appalling and pointless carnage.
And of course Jordanians know that they don’t need to resort to violence to express their views. They have the right to peaceful protest. The essential lesson of the last few months is that real change comes through the will of the people, not through terrorism. Over recent months in Tunisia, Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East, more change has been seen than the terrorists of AQ ever achieved. And the awareness of the importance and inevitability of change is much higher than the awareness of the strategic objectives of AQ.
And the importance of values is crucial. What did AQ stand for: indiscriminate killing for a warped creed which was rejected by many Muslim scholars. On the other hand, the values of the peaceful protesters are directly relevant: democracy touches the lives of every citizen.
So Al-Qaida has now been shown to be even more irrelevant to the daily lives of ordinary Arabs than they ever were. And I am optimistic that it will stay that way.