"Most people in Damascus are with the president"

DAMASCUS, Syria — ".... Even as protests spread across Syria, the capital has mostly remained quiet. Anti-government demonstrations have erupted in all corners of the country in the past six weeks, meeting a fierce government crackdown along the way. But though people in Damascus watch the events with concern, most doubt that the scenes being broadcast on television from across the country will be repeated here.... for the most part in Damascus, the heart of the Sunni business class, residents say they have too much to lose to join in...

A woman from Abbasiyeen Square in northern Damascus said that two weeks ago, protesters from the restive town of Douma came “to our doors and asked us to take to the streets...no one did because we are too scared to lose what we have. This is civil war,” she added. Like others interviewed for this article, she spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

One Christian girl in the capital said the anti-government demonstrations were the product of a foreign plot, a common view among the country’s Christian community but also a reflection of the scale of division between urban and rural Syrians. “I went home to my village in Bsier [south of Damascus] for Easter. We didn’t see anything,” she said. “The army is there to protect the people. They waved us through checkpoints and said hello.”...

Damascus has been the scene of the largest pro-regime demonstrations in the country, and many here seem to share a feeling that the broader population remains loyal to the government. But the city’s residents increasingly find themselves caught in the crossfire of a media war, unsure of whom to believe... One woman said there is no middle ground in this situation. “There is either pro- or anti-government supporters, and, of course, most people in Damascus are with the president,” she said. “There is very little logical argument taking place.”