excerpt from a post by Ghassan Charbel, in Dar al Hayat, commenting on Yemen (translated)
Two years ago, I asked the president about the difficulty of ruling in Yemen, and he replied that “it resembles dancing on serpent heads”. A year ago, I asked the same question, and he answered: “The serpents have turned into a type of snakes”, assuring his confidence on being able to tame them. Two days ago, the president came out to try to cut off the road to the storm, and stated that renewing his mandate or passing on the presidency to his son is very unlikely. Perhaps his follow-up of the events of the Egyptian days made him see those who are more dangerous than the serpents he was used to taming. They are young people whom the Internet empowered and made them feel capable of launching change, under the slogan of bread, freedom, and dignity. These are the Egyptian days.