Meanwhile: Syria, Yemen, Bahrain

Syria.  Protests here are more at the stage of Iran than Yemen (or perhaps I should state that the government is more in control like that in Tehran); but they are obviously significant.

• "Protests expectedly started after the Friday prayers in the country and honestly knowing the fist of the regime there, I am surprised by the [extent of] public reaction and also participation....
• "There were protests in Damascus, Aleppo, Daraa, Baniyas, Homs, and Deir El Zor....
• "Of course you can imagine the panic of the regime there, the live ammunition was used directly." (March 19, 2011, "The Friday of Dignity in Syria: The start of revolution," Egyptian Chronicles, by Zeinobia)

(Hamad Mohammed/Reuters, 18 March)

(Joseph Eid/Getty Images, 16 March)

Bahrain.  Here I might mention a story from the Vendee, a protest against the French Revolution in the bocage region in the 1790s.  The Vendeeans refused to go to their local churches after priests that refused the oath of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy were replaced.  Instead, many started meeting outside in front of a large tree in which, it was believed, an image of the Virgin Mary had appeared.  The Vendeeans began meeting in front of the tree at night.  And then they began meeting armed in front of the tree.  Finally, the government supporters (the Jacobins supporting the French Revolution) cut down the tree.  This always struck me as odd, as the Government/Jacobins did not believe in miraculous images of the Virgin Mary.  In any case, the point of comparison is that tearing down the tree did not end the protests, which went on to become a major armed rebellion (Charles Tilly, The Vendee: A Sociological Analysis of the Counter-Revolution of 1793, Harvard University Press, 1976). Anyway, back to Bahrain:

• Authorities in Bahrain have torn down the statue at the centre of Pearl roundabout in the capital, Manama, where pro-democracy protests were held for weeks....
• Al Jazeera's special correspondent reports on the anger sparked off by deaths in the recent violence....
• On Friday Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed al-Khalifa, Bahrain's foreign minister, said the demolition of the statue was an effort to erase "bad memories". The statue that was demolished comprised six sails symbolising each of the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, holding up a pearl, symbol of the pearl fishing heritage that was the economic mainstay of the region before the discovery of oil.
• "It is a kind of psychological victory for the protesters," said Hussein Oraibi, who works in telecommunications....
• Al Jazeera's correspondent in Bahrain, speaking anonymously for safety reasons, said the monument "was the centre of the protests for a month; it was seen as being symbolic of anti-government sentiment.  It seems rather strange that by removing it there is the thought that that symbolism will disappear ... [The destruction] is very symbolic of that final stage in the last couple of days of this huge great crackdown on the opposition." ("Bahrain tears down protest symbol: Government demolishes statue in the centre of Manama where anti-government movement has gathered," Aljazeera, 18 Mar 2011)