With all the column inches the press has devoted to the Palestinian Arab “uprising” against Israel, it’s worth noting the absence of notice that attended the recent demonstrations at Damascus. The U.S. Committee for a Free Lebanon reports that on September 21 and 22, protests over a ring road to be built around Damascus “escalated to violent anti-government riots that raged for two days and were marked by violent slogans against the Assad regime.” The report continues, “Sympathizers streamed in from other parts of Damascus to join the protesters. After 48 hours in which the police failed to quell the unrest, army troops were called in. The next day, Monday, September 23rd ,President Bashar Assad sent bulldozers escorted by troops into the defiant Kabas neighborhood with orders to continue building the road. The bulldozers also knocked down several houses. The series of clashes ended with an unknown number of arrests and casualties. Some reporters who covered the outbreak were arrested and every scrap of reporting — print, photo and footage — was confiscated.” The incident shows that the Syrian people — like the Chinese protesters at Tiananmen Square, the Iranians who have been demonstrating against the mullahs, and like those that ultimately helped cracked the Iron Curtain — aspire to freedom. The Alawite, Baathist regime of Bashar Assad might have crushed this particular protest, but in the long run — and sooner if America provides support — democracy will make its way to Damascus.