"... I think change is needed but I don’t want a revolution ..."

Beirut; and Damascus, Syria... "It is too early to come with an assessment of the significance, but clearly this is the most serious [development] that happened in Syria so far and I would not exclude that it could be the start of something bigger,” says a European diplomat in Damascus....
Monday could prove critical as the Kurds, potentially the most potent opposition to the Syrian state, celebrate the Persian Nowruz “new year” festival, traditionally an event where Kurdish nationalist sentiment runs high.... a video widely shared on Facebook and Youtube – newly open in Syria – shows a montage of police beatings in Syria and Turkey during previous Kurdish National Days. At the end of the video, the word “enough” flashes across the screen.
Analysts say it is too soon to say whether the protests will escalate into a real threat to the regime or simply fizzle out. Much depends on the will of the population to proceed with the protests and also on the response of the regime. “The Syrian regime is very clever in tactics and in playing games on society,” says Ayman Abdel-Nour, a prominent Syrian activist who lives in Dubai and authors the all4syria website. “These two elements will determine the size of the revolution and to where it can go and to what it can reach.”...
A Kurd from a prominent dissident family in Qamishly says that between an ubiquitous police presence during the festival – Foreign Minister Walid al-Mouallem has said that 1,000 soldiers will guard the festivities outside Hassakeh – and the fear of a violent crackdown, he does not expect a major uprising to come from tomorrow’s events.....
In Damascus, where the streets are calm, but lined with a heavy security presence, the mood is mixed. Many young people in Damascus identify with President Assad and view him as a reformer who needs time to push through changes. “I think change is needed but I don’t want a revolution. What would happen then?” asks Nour, a student at Damascus University. “We have stability, why challenge that?” says a secretary who requested anonymity.

Last month, Assad confidently declared in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that Syria was immune to the uprisings that toppled the regimes in Tunisia and Egypt. But that self-confidence has been shaken by the violent demonstrations in Deraa and the sense that Syria could soon join the long list of Arab nations from Bahrain to Morocco reeling from popular demonstrations.
“No one is immune in the region,” says Abdel-Nour, the Syrian activist. “This is a new wave and a new atmosphere and the young, the unemployed, the poor the regular citizens have realized that they have rights.”