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Country != Government. Through much of the latter half of the 20th century, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan were relative beacons of liberalism and diversity. Makes the current catastrophe all the more gut-wrenching.

Relative to what? Do you have citations for this claim?

Relative to the far more fundamentalist peoples of Saudi Arabia, Oman, Yemen, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait.

I'm not sure how I could provide a "citation" for a vague and judgment-based claim, other than to encourage you to read up on the history of the region in the 20th century and decide for yourself.

Syria was liberal in the sense it had multiple religions, bikini on beach and shorts in mosque. It also had elections, state/religion separation, female politicians...

> repressive, violent dictatorship

Yes. Because that's what kept extremism in check. Same with Libya and Iraq