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Inside the Middle East
August 12, 2011
Posted: 1453 GMT
Looters pile into a store in London.
Looters pile into a store in London.

“We will liberate London, house (by) house, room (by) room, street (by) street, corner (by) corner, until we liberate London from the bad boys and the rats.”

While the bombastic diction may sound familiar, these are not the words of Libyan President Moammar Gadaffi who earlier this year proclaimed he wanted to “cleanse Libya house by house.” Instead, it is a somewhat sarcastic post by a Facebook user who calls himself "Syrian Prince."

He is part of a section of the Arab blogosphere satirizing the scenes of looting and mayhem coming out of the UK during this week's riots.

Some have tried to compare the violence in London and other UK cities with the discontent that sparked the Arab Spring, a number of parody Facebook pages have quickly sprung up to witheringly dismiss this analogy.

“Mr. Bean tell BBC, we are against any form (of) disorder, and I tell the whole world, we are all equal, and will stay with the queen (sic) forever,” reads a post written by the admin of the group on the “Britain is our country, and Elizabeth is our Queen” page.

Another poster on the "God, Britain, Freedom, and that is it" site identifying themselves with a picture of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, meanwhile writes: “Damascus viewed with concern the events taking place in London and calls on the British government to avoid violence against peaceful Almtazahrien and meet their legitimate demands and acts of reason and logic in dealing with the sons of the British people, eager for freedom.”

The posts seem to mock not only comparisons to the Arab protests but also the response of Arab leaders to the entire affair. Libya’s Prime Minister, al-Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmudi has claimed that the riots showed his UK counterpart David Cameron had “lost legitimacy” while Syria’s ambassador to the UK accused Cameron of “arrogance” and “hypocrisy” for calling UK rioters criminals but not extending the same language to those on the streets of Syria.

But while some posts use satire to what they see as political maneuvering, others poke fun at the archaic nature of British society and in particular the Royal Family. “William you are not one of us, take Harry and go away from here,” reads one entry while another states “the people want to topple the Queen.”

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Musa Nuhu   August 19th, 2011 9:14 am ET

It's quite a pity for this happning in arab region.but may almighty allah touch the hearts behide this.

chris dugan   August 22nd, 2011 4:24 pm ET

Perfect lead in song for the Mideast uprisings-

Listen at: http://www.myspace.com/10191985/music/songs/The-Life-I-Have-Become-26734989
"The Life I have Become" by Foretold

Chorus says: "Bow down, To the Revolution
Break me from this life that I have become...

Robert Makoi (aka - proffit mukamad)   September 10th, 2011 12:36 am ET

Arabs know very well the POWER of MISINFORMATION. and use it to their advantage! keep up the good work arabs! I am wondering why so many arabs seek refuge in Western countries!

jikoy   September 14th, 2011 8:01 am ET

FREE Oil Trading Room: The time has come for me personally to demonstrate the secret code for FREE twice per month in REAL TIME inside my online trading room. I will show that I know which direction oil is going to go over and over and over again without end. You are all invited to watch a scientist demonstrate how the oil market trades via a computer program. Google Oil Trading Academy to learn more.

M.C.   September 17th, 2011 2:02 pm ET

@Robert- And I am wondering why so many Western Countries take it upon themselves to invade the Arabians.

Ever thought of that, genius?

BusinessBob2011   September 27th, 2011 10:19 pm ET

This picture reminds me of the United States great depression in the 1920's, some body give these fools a day job or a high school education. Come on now.

Aboahmad   October 15th, 2011 12:36 pm ET

The syrian ambassodor(Keyami) to uk, he knows very well the kind of freedom the people enjoy in Britain,what happened in london by these young boys who we all saw them steeling shops, burning and ripping them..etc .So it was not about freedom and every one know that they are criminals.But what is happning in Syria people are calling for freedom,dignity ..etc in a peaceful manner and the thugs and bandits of Al assd family in syria who are rulling the country are facing them with tanks and guns brutally killing murdering,sexually assulting women..etc while the whole FREE WORLD watching his daily atrocities unfold.Till date more than 5000 innocent syrian killed more than 15000 kidnaped,and more than 150000 put in jails systematically torturing,
killing..etc.Icall upon the free world to do some thing to protect the syrian people as it par of the UN CHARTER and humen rights laws.So The ambassador is not right in the coparison and should stop braging and lying to the whole world.

W.G.   October 20th, 2011 5:53 pm ET

The muslims find the royal family archaic ? I guess they prefer
the dictators that pop up in every muslim country with the exception
of their "royal family" . Good then save up your money and please
go back to where you came from and or your muslim country that
your family originally came from and do us a favor and take a friend
with you , PLEASE !

MGMourad   October 26th, 2011 5:19 pm ET

I think FREEDOM has became pandimic nowadays.

ramzi   October 31st, 2011 11:59 am ET

sir ,
the foreign policy of the western side of the globe is an anachronism now that the youth have spoken and the streets are united for the only and one demand – JOBS.

NATURALLY THE COLLECTIVE INADEQUACY OF BOTH SIDES OF THE EARTH BALL DO NOT SEE THAT THE JOBS ARE POSSIBLE ONLY WITH THE COOPERASTION OF ALL WEST AND EAST AND SIDE WAYS.

THE PEOPLE WANT TO LIVE FIRST AND THEN MAY BE HAVING A WAR FOR REMAINDER .

MILLIONS ARE REALLY POSSIBLE BUT AS IN THE STREETS SO IT IS IN THE UNIVERSITIES – TWO WORLDS NEVER MEET.

ramzi   October 31st, 2011 12:03 pm ET

TO MY FRIEND MC ABOVE , ARABIANS IS AN SDJECTIVE FOR EXAMPLE HORSES , WE ARE CALLED 'ARABS WHICH IS A NAME.

CORRECTING ENGLISH FOR THE ENGLISH IS THE REASON WHY THE ENGLISH SHLULD NOT INVADE US : WE ARE FAMILY NOW.!!

mxp5769   November 6th, 2011 7:47 pm ET

At least we know the Brits won't start having an international hissy fit & suicide bomb the Arabs. Too bad that can't be said about the Arabs too. : (

facebook   December 6th, 2011 3:03 pm ET

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Welcome to the Inside the Middle East blog where CNN's journalists post news, views and video from across the region. This is also a place where you can start the discussion so please keep your comments coming. We highlight not only current news stories but also anecdotes and issues that don't always make the top of the headlines.

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