Overthrow Bashar al-Assad, but for whose benefit?

Several demonstrations took place in the presence of the Arab League observers. According to journalists on the spot, 3 500 people in Homs turned out to protest against the regime while more than 100 000 rallied to show support for President al-Assad. But according to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, based in London, there were 250 000 protesters and no supporters.

To mark the new year, many media drew up a balance sheet of the Arab "Spring." While in August Western newspapers celebrated the fledgling democracy in Tunisia and Egypt, many today bemoan that the dictators’ eviction actually benefits the totalitarianism of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafis.

A careful reading reveals that this theme is taken up in particular by journalists who are closer to Israel than the United States. Implicitly, it suggests that and international intervention to topple President Bashar al-Assad - placed on an equal footing with Ben Ali, Mubarak and Gaddafi - would be a mistake. This echoes Tel Aviv’s traditional position vis-à-vis Syria, as encapsulated by Ariel Sharon’s the formula: "I prefer the devil we know than the angel we don’t know."