In an unprecedented move, dozens of Syria's bloggers have put their name to a joint statement condemning the attacks on the Danish and Norweigan Embassies in Damascus last week.

The statement - which will be appearing across the Syrian blogosphere - follows...

None of us believe in violence as a solution. The following is a compilation of the writings of Syrian bloggers, regarding the attacks on the Danish and Norwegian embassies. The intent of this post is to give our readers a different perspective, a perspective that the media ignores. We’ve all seen the images of riots in the streets, flag burning, and public protests. On the other hand, few have heard of the reasonable voices coming from the Arab world in general, and from Syria in specific. If you would like to add your voice to ours, let me know and I’ll be more than happy to add you to this post. Let’s work together to make our voices heard.

Ihsan: "I welcomed both the commercial and diplomatic actions in response to the cartoons that mocked the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), and for once, I felt that we are reacting in a civilized manner! Not any more! While I’m 100% convinced that the Syrian Regime had a hand in what happened. I still cannot understand the concept of being driven like a sheep. To me, those people who were sabotaging and burning the embassies seemed like stupid sheep led by a smart shepherd."

Yazan: No, they were not attacking Danish or European "out of line" freedom of speech, they were not even taking revenge for the prophet, They were attacking the heart of Syria. The civilized idea of Syria. These ppl are criminals, And the ones RESPONSIBLE for letting them unleashed are CRIMINALS too...

Ayman: What happened in Damascus today is just shameful. I had expected the protest to be peaceful and civilized. Mobs ran into the streets, shouted and attacked embassies, without realizing the severity of the damage they inflicted to "their" cause and to Islam's image. Mobs controlled the protests today, and people who were there to peacefully protest were shocked and had to hide in their homes. I felt a bitter disappointment.

Sara: I couldn't believe that a mob of angry Muslims burnt the Danish embassy. Why?? That was seriously not necessary. They had no right. Islamically this is seriously NOT acceptable. I personally condemn this sinful act. You cannot fix something wrong with something worse... Innocent people could've died. They had nothing to do with the cartoons.

The Syrian Brit: "These acts were carried out in the name of Islam, under the guise of defending it.. What a sickening farce.. I say to all those bastards who attacked the Embassies and burnt flags and vandalised properties.. Not in my name.. Never.."

Omar Faleh: "I do feel ashamed of how things turn out in my home country, and I do feel very bad about where the country is going, especially that I believe that the government was not completely innocent of being involved in this matter.. and I don't agree with any political or social value in there.. but.. those people are not Syrians.."

Sinan: There is not in any imaginable way a valid reason to the attacks held against the Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish embassies, however I totally understand it. Have you ever heard of marches and demonstrations where violence didn't occur? However it's necessary and very crucial for the rest of the world to understand that these actions do not, I repeat, do not in anyway reflect what the Syrian people really believe, or at least what the elite in here believe.

Omar Salaymeh: "I hope people don’t take the actions of a few thugs as representative of the Syrian or Lebanese people. Just like we expressed our voices of concern over the cartoons in the first place, we’re all expressing our views again over the shameful acts. We, the rational, should work together to show the world that there’s more to Arabs than what they see on television. If I learned anything from the cartoon fiasco, it’s that our views, beliefs and culture are not well known to the west. I think this whole situation could have been prevented if there wasn’t much ignorance on both sides of the table."

Ammar: Everybody said it, this is not us, nor it is our Islam. Everything that happened in the last two days in Syria and Lebanon jeoperdised the efforts muslims made to keep the protests civilised and rational. Apologies to the people and countries hurt in the violence acts. Still, we'll keep protesting peacefully against the cartoons about our prophet Muhamad (PBUH).

Yaman: The problem for Muslims is not the Danish economy. In fact, the source of the problem does not even rest with the editors of the European newspapers or the cartoonists themselves. The problem is the cancer of the extremists who embrace and adopt their closed minded and violent world view based loosely on an erroneous understanding of the Qur'an. For, we must realize that the publication of the cartoons in the first place was a response to the extremists and ironically enough, succeded only in eliciting primarily the response of those same extremists further intensifying the problem. It was irresponsible of the papers to do this knowing what the response would be--but let us not forget that the cartoons were originally published five months ago on September 30, 2005. Why the delay? Obviously, it was more politically suitable for the Arab regimes to inflate this issue today. Why the riots 5 months later? If the cartoons were really the issue then the world would have been on fire in 2005, not 2006.

Digital Oasis: (post in arabic)

Gottfried: (post in Arabic)

Labels: Syrian bloggers' campaign