Laughter in adversity

THE residents of Homs are traditionally the butt of many Syrian jokes. But the city's protesters are proving both resolute and humourous in their opposition to the government. On Fridays protesters' chants ring out to the government snipers, sarcastically pointing out their heads and necks; YouTube videos mock the regime and the claims by Syrian media that armed gangs are responsible for the violence. One describes the ruling Baath party's new headquarters—a green dustbin stuffed full of rubbish. Another shows young men pretending piping and fire-crackers are weapons. Just north of the city on the road to Hama, the tribal citizens of Telbiseh and Rastan have had their own fun. According to local residents, cross that Telbiseh had no statue of former president Hafez Assad, Bashar's father, to denigrate, some wags drove to Rastan and stole the head of its statue. Whisked back to Telbiseh, it now has pride of place as you enter the town and residents happily spit at it on their way past. Last week security forces largely abandoned these two towns, but this week army tanks and troops have besieged them, reminiscent of the government's response to the uprising in Deraa.

In the evening, the young man whose house I visited earlier in the week asks to meet up again. He brings a friend this time, a quiet university student who is armed with a CD of more videos and photos. "You cannot imagine how free it feels just to protest", he says. But he is worried about rising sectarian hatred in the city. Some Alawites have been mobilised to help the regime. He claims, as many do, that Alawite gangs such as the s habeeha agree, he says. But he is adamant the protesters have to push on. "My father always shushed me when I'd talk about the government and I didn't know why," he says. "Now we can talk, we can speak of the corruption at every government office, the corruption and bribes taken for everything at university, how army and government officials get cars while we can't get jobs. Mohammed Bouazizi [whose self-immolation sparked Tunisia's uprising] gave us an opportunity and we have to take it, whatever the risks." Young men like him are becoming ever more determined in their opposition to the regime. But those who have not joined the protests, though they may dislike the government in equal measure, are becoming more frightened. In shops in Homs, some profess to prefer stability to reform, anxiously pointing to Iraq and Lebanon as examples of what can go wrong. Opinion in Syria, and reporting on it, has become increasingly polarised, with accusations of exaggeration flying on both sides. Protests are probably more limited than in Egypt and Tunisia though the percentage of the population out on the street may be the same. Protesters are pushing on despite the regime's violent response. But others, scared of death, repression and the prospect of an increasingly violent and sectarian conflict, are eager for life to return to normal. That seems increasingly unlikely.