tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37444929678522465762024-03-14T12:16:39.896+00:00News Of The Revolution In SyriaDick Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17099184432893592991noreply@blogger.comBlogger4399125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744492967852246576.post-41562461020836633292024-03-14T12:16:00.000+00:002024-03-14T12:16:07.365+00:00 Thirteen Years Later, Syrian War Still Rages<p> </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="483" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VHhUsPJch6E" width="580" youtube-src-id="VHhUsPJch6E"></iframe></div><br /><p><span style="font-family: arial;"> '<a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/thirteen-years-later-syrian-war-still-rages/7526123.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">For families on the frontline</span></a>, the end is nowhere in sight.</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /> "The bombing is always ongoing; every hour, every minute, all the time, " says Khaledia Sakahi, a displaced woman. "If it is not on our village, the bombing will be near it. The villages around us are also being bombed.I can't count them all. But the bombing continues, morning and night, and death, as I told you, many people die."<br /><br /> In Idlib, emergency workers say the death toll in their region is rising.<br /><br /> "The statistics for the year 2023 were more than 1230 attacks, with more than 170 killed and 300 injured," says Yassin Khader of the Syrian Civil Defence. "In the last half of 2023, there was an intense and continuous attack on the southern areas."<br /><br />Commanders of rebels who control Idlib say, they are not just planning to defend the area they currently control. "We did not set out to establish a state in Idlib," says Muhammad al-Bakour, a field commander for Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, "and the revolution continues until Assad is held accountable. There is no revolutionary project that stops at Idlib."<br /><br /> Today, nearly 17 million people in Syria need aid. The most since the war began. Violence, and a lack of basic services like water or electricity, are forcing people to flee their homes again and again.<br /><br />'As for the rest, such as services, there is nothing available at all," says </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Khaledia Sakahi. "Everyone is self-reliant. Some people collect firewood, and others do other things, just to survive."<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /> She says she believes the Syrian war may continue indefinitely, and there is very little hope access to aid will improve.'</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiawEak-jH47b1XhcpM1wpbZBU0GAfnY6kEvm7vSZ1BEnIGkuR0On59K8tDt2DKMUzXBdFAMsHSvK7paRTJEzmVCh8Ug6uBMu78lNDi24auntZzUczi-PsPtEjFuaOU08oFa1lu-GHbR891pXafi9xuVZgWhsX_qF1ITE-OgIZAiafND8QsJdhRmb7gWvcZ/s1276/Screenshot%20(1682).png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="765" data-original-width="1276" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiawEak-jH47b1XhcpM1wpbZBU0GAfnY6kEvm7vSZ1BEnIGkuR0On59K8tDt2DKMUzXBdFAMsHSvK7paRTJEzmVCh8Ug6uBMu78lNDi24auntZzUczi-PsPtEjFuaOU08oFa1lu-GHbR891pXafi9xuVZgWhsX_qF1ITE-OgIZAiafND8QsJdhRmb7gWvcZ/w200-h120/Screenshot%20(1682).png" width="200" /></a></div><br /> </span></div>Dick Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17099184432893592991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744492967852246576.post-39251007010423480202024-01-27T09:48:00.000+00:002024-01-27T09:48:31.189+00:00From Syria to NI: ‘I haven’t seen my son in 13 years... he will be killed if we aren’t reunited’<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhgO7y8L_Q5rNyVBSLJF0a0reYbLXKDk7ND3AW1Kvjf9l1tWncl6ZVUmWrJ-Kc3FsY-OG_-CnsyJO7Jho-sNNLxEi3cUQ8K8gZbTanLRwm1BoOFzFlI1MfB0B1beJXthLTkHtszeynwDTk6kjREoWKwmmRIJOQLaTxY_ZeCLzcuK1txPhwkHpC70Ysbh880" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="960" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhgO7y8L_Q5rNyVBSLJF0a0reYbLXKDk7ND3AW1Kvjf9l1tWncl6ZVUmWrJ-Kc3FsY-OG_-CnsyJO7Jho-sNNLxEi3cUQ8K8gZbTanLRwm1BoOFzFlI1MfB0B1beJXthLTkHtszeynwDTk6kjREoWKwmmRIJOQLaTxY_ZeCLzcuK1txPhwkHpC70Ysbh880=w472-h314" width="472" /></a></p><span style="font-family: arial;"> '<a href="https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/from-syria-to-ni-i-havent-seen-my-son-in-13-years-he-will-be-killed-if-we-arent-reunited/a1444679946.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Ali’s cat Rocky</span></a> slinks along the windowsill. Behind him, the window looks out onto a quiet, residential street. Storm Jocelyn’s approach is just starting to move the bushes in the garden.<br /><br /> He hands me his phone to look at a photograph. A young couple. Three smiling children. The man in the picture is his son Zayan.<br /><br /> Ali (55) hasn’t seen his son in almost 13 years, and that wait could become interminable soon.<br /><br /> Both names are pseudonyms, chosen to protect their safety; they are still fearful of reprisals in the Middle East.<br /><br /> Zayan (29) is facing deportation from Lebanon – where he and his family currently live – back to their native Syria after he was given 28 days’ notice to leave. He has less than three weeks left.<br /><br /> Thousands of miles away in Northern Ireland, his father is a world away from the horror that began to unfold in his home city of Homs in 2011.<br /><br /><br /><br /> Inspired by the so-called Arab Spring risings that swept across Middle East, Syrian youths in Daraa scrawled graffiti criticising Bashar al-Assad’s régime on the wall.<br /><br /> They were arrested, held and tortured, prompting a wave of protest that drew a military backlash.<br /><br /> "Everything was normal until the revolution started,” Ali said.<br /><br /> "It was like an earthquake. People got mad, got crazy. I always think that violence affected these people and turned them into monsters, or devils. There was an army checkpoint close to my home. There were clashes and bombing from evening until morning. I moved my family to the town where my wife’s family were, because around my home began to get very dangerous.”<br /><br /> By 2012, opposition groups had formed rebel brigades to seize cities in the north.<br /><br /> Lebanon’s Hezbollah would openly deploy fighters in 2013 to supress the uprising, while Iran dispatched military advisors to prop up the al-Assad government.<br /><br /> As the situation worsened, Ali sent his family to Lebanon, promising he would follow soon, but he would not see his family for another four years.<br /><br /><br /><br /> Militias surrounded the town and laid siege to it, with only sporadic United Nations aid being allowed in.<br /><br /> "I never thought I would live the way we lived. Groups of armed people started to defend their families,” said Ali.<br /><br /> "Every town, guys started to carry guns to defend themselves and their families because they knew that when the régime entered the town, they would rape, steal and kill.<br /><br /> "People would rather die than face the torturing. You saw pictures of people in prison without eyes, without nails."<br /><br /><br /><br /> Ali said the cries of hunger from sick, traumatised children continue to haunt him to this day. "We had little food, no medicine. There were 120,000 people in the town. Every few months the UN was entering with some cars of food, but there wasn’t enough,” he said.<br /><br /> "I did not think I would survive the bombing at night. The shooting, the snipers. The planes. Barrel bombings. For four years, I always felt hungry. I will never forget the weeping of the children and the kids because of the fear and hunger. I still hear them now when I am alone. I can hear their voices and their weeping from the hunger. There are pictures stuck in my mind. A child of six or seven years old licking a photograph of a pizza on a wall. The restaurant was closed, but because of the hunger he was licking this picture. Children were knocking my door and saying they were hungry."<br /><br /><br /><br /> After four years, the siege was eventually lifted after negotiations between the UN, the al-Assad régime and representatives of the town.<br /><br /> Ali boarded a UN convoy bound for Idlib, close to the border with Turkey, which he crossed safely two days later. His thoughts turned immediately to his family, but it would be a further three years of agony until he laid eyes on them again.<br /><br /> Ali struggled to bring his family to Turkey with him, eventually finding some success through the UN and ultimately, the UK Government.<br /><br /> A third country resettlement was agreed; that country was Northern Ireland. Ali remembers the date clearly.<br /><br /><br /><br /> "We arrived here on February 7 2019. I left Turkey that morning and my wife and children came after me about two hours later,” he said.<br /><br /> "I met them at the airport; it was like a dream. When I saw them, I realised then that the most beautiful moments in my life had been lost. I didn’t see my children grow up. My wife was very sick and my other son (Zayan) could not come.”<br /><br /> That moment is now five years ago.<br /><br /> Unaware of a new law preventing Syrians from working Lebanon, Zayan was working in a clothing shop, still trying to raise money to support his young family.<br /><br /> His papers were seized, leaving his future in limbo. The documents were later returned, but along with a 28-day notice to leave Lebanon.<br /><br /><br /><br /> Ali said the news was akin to a death sentence.<br /><br /> "I am sure that if the government send them back, the régime will kill them. Most of my family is in opposition [to Assad],” he said.<br /><br /> "I can’t explain how scared we are. My wife and I are always crying. When anyone from the family sends a message on WhatsApp and it is not received, it is a terrible feeling.<br /><br /> "We are always worried until he replies on the message. His daughter is seven years old now. When he goes out to buy food she hugs him tight and says: ‘Please father, don’t go anywhere, I am afraid’.<br /><br /><br /><br /> "Many times I have prayed to God to take me. I can’t stand any more. I just want to see my son and his family in a safe place.” Zayan has completed an initial resettlement interview with the UN, who are aware he has family in the UK.<br /><br /> Ali is praying he will be called for a second interview before time runs out on his time in Lebanon.<br /><br /> He wants nothing more than to see the family united in Northern Ireland, somewhere he now calls home.<br /><br /> "Here, no one calls my son a refugee. Here, they don’t believe we are strangers or unwanted people at all. Here, my family don’t sleep in parks because they haven’t money. Here, my family didn’t go hungry,” he said.<br /><br /> "Everything I wanted – to see my wife and children happy – is here. The only thing I need now is to see my son before I die, or before my wife dies.'<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiQgjkudMZXH3EVnLYcS_JB6o6c-cNVz6Ewa1IBeUCuPJWoBoVnNDNg3qaNMFOb2MxxIUMhDEbTMI4NAi_tmpBTNyyy7BFyjwVTXg_ZA63XJ-Y3qHq_pPK688PSGuJ_hI4y8aEOsCiiMDDAEAqp6QuvVE7tOdRB5WEdll7eo-VsQlHjsYgW_m2zUCabZ5G0"><img height="123" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiQgjkudMZXH3EVnLYcS_JB6o6c-cNVz6Ewa1IBeUCuPJWoBoVnNDNg3qaNMFOb2MxxIUMhDEbTMI4NAi_tmpBTNyyy7BFyjwVTXg_ZA63XJ-Y3qHq_pPK688PSGuJ_hI4y8aEOsCiiMDDAEAqp6QuvVE7tOdRB5WEdll7eo-VsQlHjsYgW_m2zUCabZ5G0=w200-h123" width="200" /></a></span>Dick Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17099184432893592991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744492967852246576.post-81654560821755094362024-01-02T09:19:00.000+00:002024-01-02T09:19:14.265+00:00'We were attacked by missiles, by bombs, simply because we were treating casualties'<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg8XzLwWSZe9wI9Eyka3eAXDRlLy3KaSMIZFI54n3MnYeg-lHm19XpnzEw5M0BDCIrYWRIQuN368KL1d_zxgz8utPqgRRXyErRzswQ8GZ41x0wQ8JyelIR1GK_XHxizXCjNFTTuII4I5Woh-kfym2EkgUBeYekkRZAbvnXlfSEmmUSOmdMEZ2eBpNZvxWpq" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="539" data-original-width="810" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg8XzLwWSZe9wI9Eyka3eAXDRlLy3KaSMIZFI54n3MnYeg-lHm19XpnzEw5M0BDCIrYWRIQuN368KL1d_zxgz8utPqgRRXyErRzswQ8GZ41x0wQ8JyelIR1GK_XHxizXCjNFTTuII4I5Woh-kfym2EkgUBeYekkRZAbvnXlfSEmmUSOmdMEZ2eBpNZvxWpq=w541-h360" width="541" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><span style="font-family: arial;"> ' “<a href="https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/we-were-attacked-missiles-bombs-28311206"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Imagine yourself operating</span></a> on a patient when you are being attacked by barrel bombs and missiles. Your hands are shaking, the hospital is shaking, soil could go in the patient’s wounds while you are operating and then you have to wait a while until the strike stops and carry on.”<br /><br /> These days, Dr Ayman Alshiekh, 38, is a surgeon in an immaculate, state-of-the-art hospital in <a href="https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/all-about/manchester-city-centre">Manchester city centre</a>. But only a few years ago, the doctor was facing the unthinkable – trying to save lives in a bloody field hospital in Syria, being hunted by a brutal régime.<br /><br /><br /><br /> Ayman spent his childhood in his beloved home country of Syria, one of the world’s most ancient centres of culture. Attending primary school, he dreamed of becoming a doctor, understanding from the beginning that he was called to come to the aid of those in need.<br /><br /> From his primary school days, he excelled in sciences, working hard to get the grades to pursue an education in medicine. Ayman graduated from the University of Aleppo in 2010 and started his training in vascular surgery in Damascus.<br /><br /><br /><br /> But by 2011, Syria was not a peaceful place to call home anymore. Protests began in March of that year, amid shoots of hope that the country’s authoritarian ruler Bashar al-Assad might be overthrown.<br /><br /> Ayman was among the young people taking part in what has since become known as the Arab Spring, where protests for a move to democracy spread across the region to the likes of Libya, Egypt, Yemen and Bahrain. But the dictator responded with a campaign of violence and terror against those pleading for a fairer world.<br /><br /> In the middle of his third year of training, Ayman was forced to abandon his studies. Ayman suddenly found himself at the heart of a revolution and began work as a war surgeon in a field hospital.<br /><br /> “Our hospitals were always a magnet for attacks. We were attacked by missiles, by bombs, simply because we were treating casualties,” he said.<br /><br /><br /><br /> “That was considered a crime by the régime. Due to the siege, no medical supplies could get into Aleppo. We had to make do with what we had. When you are a war surgeon in Aleppo, the most important thing is saving lives. Everything else comes second.”<br /><br /> Ayman pledged that he would use his medical training to help those being hunted by the Syrian government, who were having to go underground for daring to question the régime. Many of them suffered horrific injuries amid brutal reprisals after protesting the government, leading to the creation of secret, makeshift hospitals.<br /><br /> <a href="https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/i-war-surgeon-syria-forced-22357235">Despite his lifesaving work, the régime then turned on Ayman</a>. He says: "I was one of the protesters as well, but I actually didn't expect that the government would start shooting at us, firing directly at our chests, towards us.<br /><br /> I felt that it was my duty to help these demonstrators because they couldn't go to the government hospitals. They would be arrested - and maybe killed - even in hospital, because the government does not respect a hospital as a special place where people should be treated irrespective of political opinions. In Syria, the government attacked them, killed them, tortured them, arrested them. Many of my colleagues and fellow students started to treat patients in underground hospitals, hidden from the security forces of the Assad régime.<br /><br /> Because of that, some of my colleagues were arrested. Under torture, unfortunately, they named us. Then I became a wanted person for the régime because I was just treating those demonstrators and protesters. I was doing my job.”<br /><br /><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> Ayman often felt helpless as he watched people arrive at hospital, unable to be saved. He could do nothing but stand by as ‘security forces came to the hospital and arrested them while they were bleeding’.<br /><br /> “We finished one man’s operation, and security forces were standing in front of the theatre room,” said the doctor.<br /><br /> “When we wanted to take him to the ICU after five hours of operation, they took his trolley and then took him away. Where? We don't know. We needed to help keep them away from the eyes of the security forces because it's our duty to care for our people and our patients irrespective of political opinions. When you save others you don't care about your life sometimes, because it's our duty to rescue all people who need us.”<br /><br /><br /><br /> Aleppo was known around the world for its beautiful heritage sites, which have been razed to the ground in the turmoil of a devastating civil war of attrition. The years wore on and Ayman found joy in a life cursed by conflict on his doorstep – marriage and a family - but that brought new fears.<br /><br /> “In the first two or three years of the revolution, I didn’t have a family. I put myself more at risk because I was by myself,” Ayman said.<br /><br /> “In 2015, I had my son, so then I had responsibilities for my family. I stayed in Aleppo and we were under siege by the Syrian military forces, Russian forces and Iranian forces.<br /><br /> We stayed under siege for almost six months, with daily bombardment from bombs, air strikes, rockets, and no access to any drugs, medication, food at all.<br /><br /> After that, we were forcibly displaced out of Aleppo. I went to Idlib, another province in Syria, and I worked there in another hospital for almost an additional year.”<br /><br /> Around 15 months later, he had a daughter. “I started to feel that I couldn’t sacrifice myself, I had a wife and two kids. The Assad gang, with the help of Russian and Iranian forces, were taking areas and I was scared to be under siege again now that I had a family.”<br /><br /><br /><br /> The doctor managed to get his family asylum in Turkey – while he stayed behind in Syria continuing to save lives.<br /><br /> “When the barrel bombs started to fall over us in 2014, I was already working in a field hospital and I couldn't concentrate on treating people because I was always thinking about my family. When I moved them to Turkey, I could at least concentrate on my job,” said Ayman.<br /><br /> After years on the frontline, Ayman faced his options – stay in Syria and be killed by an airstrike on his hospital, or be killed by the régime for helping the opposition. He was forced to flee and, unable to apply for a visa and wait for the result under the constant threat of death, Ayman attempted the dangerous journey as a refugee across Europe.<br /><br /> Aiming for the UK as a safe haven, he knew the journey would be treacherous, but there were too many stories of refugees being caught and ‘assassinated’ by Syrian authorities on the continent to stay in mainland Europe. Ayman struggled to speak about this part of his story. It’s just too traumatic, he says.<br /><br /> He arrived at the end of 2018 ‘in the back of a lorry’ with little money and very few possessions.<br /><br /> “I faced even more danger than I had in Syria, the journey was difficult. I claimed asylum. Six months later, I was granted refugee status, thankfully,” said Ayman.<br /><br /><br /><br /> After an incredible, terrifying life in Syria and journey to the UK, in his mid-30s, Ayman settled in Manchester. One day in the future, Ayman hopes to return to his homeland. He said: “I want to help my people there and help rebuild our health system from everything I have learned here.” '<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj330XsC3aBnhdR1EQJVNmaS2PuZ_irYqqljoHlYN0tRZ_j7NqJhE1qrdJvhrvQozmlbVNiYIfRgo1wL5VF3V8MKI4cagLe96IF0g1vhKyHK8jGCCwY0nzRJ3JF-wAupqgLgGr0x5Z9Rh8W1DOQGqjMZZxCWRN746ttSwCUxkCm1jF9pDfQq8tYAO1hexcv"><img height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj330XsC3aBnhdR1EQJVNmaS2PuZ_irYqqljoHlYN0tRZ_j7NqJhE1qrdJvhrvQozmlbVNiYIfRgo1wL5VF3V8MKI4cagLe96IF0g1vhKyHK8jGCCwY0nzRJ3JF-wAupqgLgGr0x5Z9Rh8W1DOQGqjMZZxCWRN746ttSwCUxkCm1jF9pDfQq8tYAO1hexcv=w125-h200" width="125" /></a></span></div>Dick Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17099184432893592991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744492967852246576.post-9268947134006116002023-12-15T11:58:00.003+00:002023-12-15T11:58:42.914+00:00Extracts from Syrian Gulag by Jaber Baker and Ugur Ümit Üngör<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrjwnOsXpGOfCyQnX3GD12iyS-vUnXymX8Q3T_1wSRavDrBWpYBNBaC_fMb85nraKLgWd3yBaDoZYUi0c7WGaaQ8T49faFWsuKtQUiD2WKTccHO9TtefxXybaEe7b97NjdLCJVkwIvJVGc_SH3N1iZdfej_aljYf3uao7PcVLosm3faMu6zAVLumFGbm9c/s1696/syriangulag.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="954" data-original-width="1696" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrjwnOsXpGOfCyQnX3GD12iyS-vUnXymX8Q3T_1wSRavDrBWpYBNBaC_fMb85nraKLgWd3yBaDoZYUi0c7WGaaQ8T49faFWsuKtQUiD2WKTccHO9TtefxXybaEe7b97NjdLCJVkwIvJVGc_SH3N1iZdfej_aljYf3uao7PcVLosm3faMu6zAVLumFGbm9c/w569-h320/syriangulag.JPG" width="569" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"> 'As a computer geek who had never even been spanked by his parents, or been in a fist fight, Akram was known as a gentle boy who was "homely" (baytuti). The only reason he had been arrested was because he had liked a social media post criticizing the Assad régime. The power cable swooshed through the air, and landed on his skin like a hornet bite. It took his breath away, at first shocked him into an involuntary, bestial scream, followed by the excruciating pain a second later. "You want freedom, right ?!" yelled the torturer sardonically, as he whipped him again, using his full force, "here's your freedom!" Blood flowed down Akram's tender back and legs and dripped on the dirty cement floor. He remained at the Air Force Intelligence branch at Mezze military airport for three months, a stay which change his life forever.' </span><span style="font-family: arial;">[p1]</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"> 'Former detainees such as him suffer from a certain speechlessness, as the violence they suffered was literally unspeakable and they remain at a loss for words.'<br />[p31]<br /><br /> 'Inserting solid tools in the anus. Touching women's genitals. Complete stripping during inspection, interrogation, or torture. Tying the penis to prevent a detainee from peeing. These were methods of torture observed in the Palestine branch.'<br />[p46] <br /><br /><br /><br /> ‘The year 1983, saw the start of a more relaxed treatment. It was – as we later found out – a plan to extort money from the prisoners’ families. An impromptu mini-market was opened in the prison selling tea, some vegetables and stolen clothes. During their visits, parents brought money and other items to their sons. The Prison Director confiscated 90% of them, and put them in the mini market for Abu Awad to sell to prisoners at exorbitant prices. Money was manipulated out of the prisoners by all means, but at least people experienced a level of comfort.<br /><br />Some of the beatings and torture were lifted. We were also able to raise our heads and open our eyes during “breathing” and in front of the police. You were able to laugh if we couldn’t hold it, which was forbidden before.<br /> <br /> The friction happened between the pillars of the régime. This resulted in the overthrow of the prison administration, which was replaced by a new administration eagerly seeking revenge. They became more creative in modes of torment than before. The frequent beatings, the lack of food, the abundance of everything that disturbed daily life were back.’<br /> [p199]<br /><br /> ‘Treatment in Saydnaya was unfair and devoid of any constraints. Torture came from a justifying mentality by Military Police, on the basis they were dealing with “traitors”. From the onset they ask about the level of education among detainees; those educated received more intense torture. I told them I was a tailor to protect myself from the increased dose of torture, as happened with doctors, engineers, and other academics.’<br /> [p214]<br /><br /> ‘The detainees imprisoned on charges of Communism were moved to the second floor after a message they were trying to smuggle out was caught. It described the policemen as “bats of darkness” and us, the Islamists, as “comrades of the struggle”.’<br /> [p218]</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /> ‘There was now a prison emir from the al-Qaeda group running his group’s affairs. A more militant current of al-Qaeda was born in prison, whose members later joined the Islamic State. It was this group that took control of the ground floor of the prison in the final confrontation. That group considered everyone infidels, even Salafi-jihadists and Al-Qaeda. The third group of the prisoners were the open-minded Salafists. They too had different factions that considered the others as infidels. The fourth group of the prisoners were the rest of the detainees, held on democratic backgrounds, or under espionage or political charges.’<br /> [p232]<br /><br /> ‘ “Seven or eight soldiers would enter the dormitory and take us one by one to the wheel.” These rounds of torture killed at least one or two detainees on every wing. “The death of any of us did not inflict sadness or grief. Our death was a joy of salvation for us, and at the same time our colleagues were happy to share our food. Saydnaya killed humanity within us and turned us into a different type of human beings.” ‘<br /> [p245]<br /> <br /> ‘Some had nothing to do with the revolution but were kidnapped for ransom money, or were taken hostage in place of their relatives fighting in the Free Syrian Army. Some were forced to record televised testimonies confirming the régime’s version that the revolution was an armed act of Islamic extremists. After that they negotiated with their families for their release in exchange for large sums of money.’<br /> [p292]<br /> <br /> ‘The Mukhabarat have been extorting Syrian society for decades, for example in setting up checkpoints or soliciting bribes for various economic activities. This extractive and parasitic attitude toward Syrian society manifests itself especially in the Gulag. As the father of one Syrian detainee said: “Detention is expensive. If you have a detainee [in your family] it means the same officers who are responsible for your pain enjoy your money.” ‘<br />[p315]</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh-PNOOGLkTAXr0dbzfuba9u2o0IlAZwOehnc69xUPeSqEcCBLAgMid77PTl9XMKyt_6ZxppNJEvOIJX3cxDG14B7NsusT7_72De2HL0cx_D5LqBJyk7MxA2hN5Osc7BOiYnfv7hk9u4wx9jYnY4fVYB_ugd95CiTzVE_psQSEJOPpT2-tXj7xG2lhApea/s1696/syriangulag2.JPG"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh-PNOOGLkTAXr0dbzfuba9u2o0IlAZwOehnc69xUPeSqEcCBLAgMid77PTl9XMKyt_6ZxppNJEvOIJX3cxDG14B7NsusT7_72De2HL0cx_D5LqBJyk7MxA2hN5Osc7BOiYnfv7hk9u4wx9jYnY4fVYB_ugd95CiTzVE_psQSEJOPpT2-tXj7xG2lhApea/w113-h200/syriangulag2.JPG" width="113" /></a><br /><br /></span><br /></div>Dick Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17099184432893592991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744492967852246576.post-28863519813286131302023-12-08T12:54:00.003+00:002023-12-08T12:54:57.477+00:00Crimes, Occupation, Fragmentation and Impunity: 12 Years of the Struggle for Syria Part 3<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OY60N-Obatk" width="320" youtube-src-id="OY60N-Obatk"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"> Ziad Majed:</span> </span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> ‘…a crime that will last long, meaning you will keep thinking of it. It will go with you, not like rape, there’s nothing like rape, but it’s in a way; instrumentalising the rape as well, is to target the person, but also the whole social environment, and the whole society, with crimes that we go with you, as the régime says, forever. Marking the bodies of the people, through torture, through hunger, through rape; so that the crime will live with those that survived, and with their families, as long as possible. That is a policy, it’s not just violent thugs who go and torture and kill. <br /><br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> So this was also one of what we learned from the Syrian war, and finally, conspiracy theories. Since September 11th, anything that happens, you might have conspiracy theory about it. Who’s behind it, who’s responsible, who benefits from this, etc. And with the age of social media, you do have on Syria lots of conspiracy theories. Who is behind what happened; is a matter of pipeline that should have passed by Syria, that’s why Westerners created the war; Assad is a resistance against Israel and imperialists, so the imperialists created all that. <br /><br /> And you have unfortunately, on the left part of the political maps, in many European countries, but also the region, and in Turkey, in many places: those who believe of a plot against Assad because his resistance, because he’s anti-imperialist; and they supported him for that. And that was horrible, because as if they contributed to a racist approach, when it comes to thinking of Syrians as people manipulated by remote control, by invisibilising them, by bringing them out of the picture, and just talking about few geostrategic concerns, that anyone can talk about, without knowing anything about the region.<br /> <br /> Plus, there was also in some places, this attempt at telling the Syrians what is better for them. I’ll give you the advice, because I’m wise. I will tell you what you should do and should not do, and we have seen it a lot, and this is unfortunately related, not only to the Middle East, I think the approach towards some African countries could also be the same, in Asia as well. Even in our societies here, the class issue might lead to something similar; but Syria showed us to which extent we can invisibilise people, we can dehumanise them, and just talk about some borders in our café, giving the impression that we know much more than they do, because we are progressive, so they should listen to us, and forget about their dignities and rights. <br /> <br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> When I said it’s documented, we know who killed whom in Syria. It’s not true that no one knows who killed whom, as some people started to say. Regions and neighbourhoods who are bombed, we know who bombed them, because everything is filmed, because military operations are documented, because flights are documented. <br /><br /> <br /><br /> And you can see that 87% of the civilian victims of the conflict, who are documented - because this is also another thing, always figures can be questioned, right, but usually in conflicts that last more than a year, two three, four, we’re talking about ten years, you have many other victims that are not in the statistics, because they die for other reasons. When you are displaced, you might die in an accident, in an area that you don’t know quite well. When all hospitals are saturated, many people with chronic disease, or with other problems, might not have health care, and will die. In these kind of contexts, cancers and heart attacks, are much higher than in normal contexts. So the figures might be much more important when it comes to the civilian losses, and we’re not talking about military losses, that might bring the figure up to more than half a million.<br /> <br /> So 87% were killed by the Syrian régime. 3% by the Russian forces, making that 90%. 2.19% by ISIS, 1.83% by the opposition, 1.32% by the Americans and the US-led coalition, 0.62% by the Kurdish militias, and 0.23% by al-Qaeda or al-Nusra, and you have 3.65% by unidentified. This is one indicator about criminality, but not only, it’s also about the firepower, or about the intensity of the bombing that we saw in Syria. And those figures here, when I said we know the names and IDs of the people, it’s not just estimations. <br /> <br /> When it comes to those who were forcibly disappeared, we have 120,000 until today. 85% disappeared in the régime, 7.71% in the ISIS or Daesh, the rest in the jails of the other groups. <br /><br /> <br /><br /> So, the question of impunity, and I conclude with this. There are a few developments recently, which might be interesting developments. They are not sufficient, but something is maybe changing. In Germany, you have many cases, due to the fact that some of the perpetrators, or some of the criminals, live in Germany. And some of their victims live in Germany. There were many cases brought to court, and many decisions that were taken by the German justice, that are encouraging in the struggle, or in the fight, against impunity. <br /> <br /> You also have the Netherlands and Canada, that did send, in fact, a case to the ICJ – International Court of Justice – when it comes to crimes against humanity committed by the régime. They talk about torture and rape specifically, and that is important, and the ICJ accepted the case, and it will continue working on it, so that is also another sign of hope. <br /> <br /> Now France did issue an arrest warrant, to three generals of the régime; Ali Mamlouk, Jamil Hassan, and I forget the name of the third. Who are responsible for the death of two Syrian-French citizens. The father Mazzen Dabbagh, and his son Patrick. They have the French nationality, and their brother lives in France, so he brought the cause to court, and there were investigations about the place where they were arrested, where they died. Their families were just sent certificates of the death, without the bodies of course. But there is a clear case, leading to those arrest warrants. <br /> <br /> And more important, two weeks ago, an arrest warrant against Bashar al-Assad himself, his brother Maher, and two other persons working for him who were in charge of the chemical programme. Why? Because this is a crime against humanity, with the chemical programme, and there were enough documentation, by Syrians who are in France now, and by relatives of victims who are in France now, allowing the French justice to start working on the case.<br /> <br /> So these are some examples. There are others that will follow in Sweden, in Belgium, in other places. There were attempts also here in England. There was the case of the American journalist Colvin, who was killed in Homs, in the US. Even the officer who gave the order of bombing her was revealed. And what happened to him, after his name was revealed in the court in America? He was killed in Syria, by the régime, by some people who eliminated him in Deir Ezzor. Exactly as most of those who were involved probably with the assassination of Hariri, or at least their names were known as possible people who have liaison with that, were also killed; Kanaan, and then Rustom Ghazali, generals of the Syrian army. <br /><br /> So this is an indicator as well that the Syrian régime takes into consideration, that maybe something might move when it comes to the justice. Even if so far, impunity gave this régime, and many other Arab régimes, but also the Israeli state, lots of arrogance. And when you have impunity, why not commit more crimes to protect yourself, to “defend” yourself, or to impose yourself? <br /> <br /> But maybe if something starts to change, and if the régime is a bit alarmed by it, it means it is a bit serious. So hopefully, this sign of hope, with the other sign of hope, which is the work of the Syrian diaspora, on cultural questions, on documentation, on legal issues, on preserving the memory, and preserving the names and the hopes of the people who fought for twelve years in Syria; maybe this would be a note of hope with which I will finish my presentation, and I thank you for your patience.’<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqZfS83yr_dNsHsMYxzPn8Gtwhg5yPjTUfBMNykN6maal_XQbp2bX8QxXmqyvOFclKgsiywZ3msK2SyffNVMjvQNw67vyg-XHexKNMMZMVm3TWjIPAO8MhBRgtYSlY3STo1rj4Wn0Q3ZHtLMh__gRMcYIDywCDZomzaP6KC6Bd-tF1ZjIt85v7joPi01Km/s1278/Screenshot%20(1552).png"><img border="0" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqZfS83yr_dNsHsMYxzPn8Gtwhg5yPjTUfBMNykN6maal_XQbp2bX8QxXmqyvOFclKgsiywZ3msK2SyffNVMjvQNw67vyg-XHexKNMMZMVm3TWjIPAO8MhBRgtYSlY3STo1rj4Wn0Q3ZHtLMh__gRMcYIDywCDZomzaP6KC6Bd-tF1ZjIt85v7joPi01Km/w200-h113/Screenshot%20(1552).png" width="200" /></a></span><p></p></div>Dick Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17099184432893592991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744492967852246576.post-53206233583056758612023-12-08T12:36:00.001+00:002023-12-08T12:58:11.726+00:00Crimes, Occupation, Fragmentation and Impunity: 12 Years of the Struggle for Syria Part 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5PZRBEZ83qI" width="320" youtube-src-id="5PZRBEZ83qI"></iframe></div><p><span style="color: red; font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> Ziad Majed:</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> ‘… in Deir Ezzor and Raqqa, where Daesh imposed itself.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /> <br /><br /> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> Now, regardless of all that, the social basis of the régime, and the demography supporting the régime, was becoming more and more tired with the war. By 2015, with all those complications, and lack of international political investment in Syria, lack of initiatives - there was a UN initiative in Geneva bringing some representatives of the régime, and different opposition groups to talk about a possible constitution, reconciliation, ending the conflict – all of that is agonising in fact, not progressing. <br /> <br /> But on the ground, the régime is losing control over more and more territory. By summer 2015, the régime controlled only between 18 and 20% of Syria. Mainly Damascus, the area around Damascus, and all the areas close to the Lebanese borders, plus the Mediterranean coast, where is the majority of the Alawite community, that Assad was trying to mobilize as much as possible, and connecting his own destiny to the destiny of the whole community. And when it comes to the Lebanese borders, that was strategic for the Iranians and to Hezbollah, not to lose that area, because this is the connection between Syria and Lebanon, for the weapons, for strategic consideration; and they kept as well a kind of corridor, connecting that area to Iraq. Because if you look at the map, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, they needed a territorial continuity. That’s why Hezbollah’s efforts were mostly around Damascus, and around the Lebanese border.<br /> <br /> But that was not enough any more. So the Iranians did negotiate, as of March 2015 until June 2015, with the Russians. On a possible Russian intervention, to save a régime, that the Iranians said we cannot continue any more. Because, at the time, Iran brought not only Hezbollah, that was securing the part in Syria that was close to the Lebanese borders, but they brought as well Iraqi militias, they then brought Hazara from Afghanistan and refugees in Iran militia, then there would be Pakistani militia Zainebiyoun; they brought them, and they were supporting Assad. Plus there was a kind of decentralisation of the security machine of the régime, by allowing local militias, pro- régime, in the Alawite areas, in some of the Christian areas, and in many other places, to emerge, and to control the ground, so the army of the régime that is losing men, and cannot recruit any more, could be on the fronts with the militias that Iran brought.<br /> <br /> And this is what would lead finally, in September, to Russian intervention in Syria. Russian intervention, that in a way, would show that, overthrowing Assad is not possible any more. It became an illusion to consider, after the Russian intervention, that militarily on the ground, we can overthrow Assad. <br /> <br /><br /> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> And gradually, in fact, the Russian intervention will allow Assad to start seizing the territories that his régime lost during the four previous years. Moving from around 20%, to what is today between 60 and 62 or 63% of the territory of Syria, with all major cities under his control. And that was one objective, to have urban Syria under the control of the régime, and to keep a divided, fragmented, rural Syria outside the control of the régime, if he can not seize it back. <br /> <br /> So the war that Russia will lead, two years later will see its impact, after seizing back eastern Aleppo, after taking over the Ghouta and Daraa, ending with Homs before and then with northern Hama, pushing away any threat on the city, plus Deir Ezzor. So the régime will connect most of its cities, except for Idlib and Raqqa, as important cities, will control them.<br /> <br /> And in between, due to the fact that the Kurdish militias supported by the Americans were fighting Daesh on the ground, there would be an expansion of the Kurdish territorial control, that pushed Turkey to intervene directly, after being indirectly behind some of the opposition groups. <br /> <br /> So by 2018, and after the two summers of 2017/18, by March 2019, because this is when Trump declared the war on Daesh as mission accomplished; since that time, we have a kind of statico. It’s not always 100% the same map, sometimes there are a few clashes here and there, that might change part of the control in this territory or the other; but in general, the map is the same since 2018. The régime controls 60% now of the territory, the Kurdish militias supported by the Americans control around 20-25%, and then you have 10-12% in two different enclaves controlled by the oppositions. One of them directly supported by Turkey, the other by the Americans in the south. And you have the Russian army, the Iranian forces and the series of militias they brought, you have the American army, the Turkish army, and you have regularly Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah bases and on Iranian convoys in Syria. So, a country with different occupation forces. <br /><br /> <br /><br /> So, this is the map now of the control. You can see it in red you have the régime, the Russians, the Iranians and their allies. In green you have the oppositions. When I say the oppositions, it’s rival groups, they’re not like a unified camp. So you have here in the Tanf area military bases, some refugees living down there, and supported by the Americans. In that area, some forces of the opposition were trained exclusively or only to fight ISIS, when ISIS existed, and they refused. They said we want to fight the régime and ISIS, so their mission was put on hold. And since that time, they have been in those bases. Sometimes they are attacked by Iranian drones, sometimes nothing happens and the Americans retaliate and bomb Iranian militias, but this is an area controlled by the opposition.<br /> <br /> And that area in the north, where you have as well al-Nusra or Tahrir al-Sham, former al-Qaeda, in Idlib; and different groups of oppositions in the other part, directly supported by Turkey. In this area, you have the Turkish army present as well.<br /> <br /> What is in yellow is the Kurdish controlled territory, with American bases, and a few special forces from France and Britain. And you have as well camps in this area, of the families of former Daesh fighters who were killed or captured by the Kurdish militias or by the Western allies. That is a big issue, whether they should return or not return. I think in different European countries, the debate exists, and each country adopted a different approach to it. <br /><br /> <br /><br /> So, a fragmented country, an occupied country, and at the same time the destructions in Syria – that’s why I said at the beginning it’s a laboratory, maybe now in Gaza the destructions are more important too, the intensity of the bombing is much higher, and the space is much smaller - but what they call in French urbicide, you can say it; this urbicide, whether in Aleppo, whether in Homs, whether in some other places, the amount of destruction you see, was clearly also on purpose. To displace people, to make it impossible for them to return, because the question of the refugees, and the question of the displacement, was the policy, was the demographic policy based on sectarian or confessional lines. <br /><br /> And Assad did not hide it in two occasions when he mentioned that the Syrian social fabric or social tissue is much better now, when he said that those who left, he did not say they could not return, but he said that the country is much better now, and is more homogenous after their departure. Plus he refused their return during the process of normalisation with Saudi Arabia recently. After the normalisation with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. The three also who normalised at the same time with Israel their relations. <br /><br /> Now, what I said at the beginning about this laboratory, in addition to the map and the layers that we saw, with a conflict that had many wars at the same time. There is a kind of Kurdish/ Arab tribes war in the east, there are wars between many opposition groups, there are rival groups loyal to the régime, there is a war between the régime and the oppositions, there is a war between Russia and Iran on the one hand opposing them to the opposition, there were clashes between Turkey and Russia and then they reconciled, there are clashes between Turkey and Kurds that are negotiated regularly by the Americans and the Russians in order to contain them, Israel bombs Hezbollah and sometimes Hezbollah retaliates. <br /><br /> <br /><br /> So you have different conflicts taking place at the same time, and the national cause of the Syrians in that sense, got lost. It did not disappear, it did not vanish, but it was lost in between all those ongoing conflicts and struggles on the Syrian land. It became an incarnation of the UN inability to deal with the situation, 14 vetoes. Sometimes, some diplomats say the vetoes were not that bad, because if there was no veto, we need to be able to impose what the UN resolution might stipulate. So, in some cases, it was not like a terrible arrangement, even for Western powers who were protesting against the Russian use of veto.<br /> <br /> So, the inability of dealing with the conflict, and the fact that it kept evolving one year after the other, created questions and problems that we will live with for a long period of time. Definitely we cannot explain the Russian war in Ukraine based on the Syrian model. For sure, there are historical contexts and reasons for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. But if Russia was not allowed to intervene the way it did in Syria, I’m not sure the same configuration in the invasion of Ukraine that happened; Syria allowed Russia to feel much more confident in its aggressive policy, and made its invasion of Ukraine, I think, more possible.<br /> <br /> The other thing, is that the refugee crisis, did lead in some places to hysteria. Not only in Europe, by the way, in Lebanon also, in Turkey in the last few years also. But parts of the reasons for this hysterical rise of the far right in many places, is related to migration and refugees, and for sure the Syrian crisis and the millions of Syrian refugees, in a way were part of the reason of that. Which means leaving the country, abandoning the country, and allowing a régime and some forces to displace people the way this happened, without any intervention, also had consequences elsewhere. In Europe, around the Mediterranean, and in the neighbouring countries where racism, crisis, instrumentalisation of the misery of the refugees, are now parts, characteristics, of the domestic political scenes. <br /><br /> <br /><br /> And, of course, Syria is given as an example now in the Arab world. Whoever speaks again about revolution, revolutionary attempts, revolutionary aspirations, democratic transition; ah, you want to become like Syria. Exactly as a few years before, they use to say, ah, you want to become like Iraq. Or like Libya at the beginning of the revolutions. So Syria became a kind of a model. A kind of example given, always, you want Syria, or stability, even if under a dictator. You want Syria, and becoming a refugee, or you accept a Sisi or a Saied or many examples can be given. <br /><br /> And of course, Gulf countries used that example on many occasions as well, promoting what they call stability, rather than what revolutions create in terms of instability. So the counter-revolutionary model took Syria as an example, and built on it to end any democratic aspiration; even if that did not really work well, because remember 2019 Sudan, Iraq, Lebanon and Algeria, the second wave of Arab revolutions. But once again, they were defeated, like most of the previous ones. They were defeated, but it showed that the story is not over in a way. That there are still dynamics, and there are still factors that might bring people again to the streets; even if two defeats, and the second defeat immediately after it, Covid, and all the crisis that followed, and then the collapse of the Lebanese economy, and the civil war in Sudan.<br /> <br /> It’s not encouraging any more, but for now we can see that revolutionary model was defeated, but maybe it’s not like a final defeat, or a definite defeat. <br /> <br /><br /> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> Syria became a laboratory of violence. I think this is the most documented conflict in history. We’ve seen almost everything. Sometimes the criminals themselves filmed what they did. We don’t know if they did it in order to frighten the others, in order to be proud about what they did. I think you also recently in the Guardian the films that were brought from Tadamon massacre, where they are laughing, while asking people to run and then shooting them, and then burning them. There are tens of videos, if not hundreds of videos like that, filmed by the killers, the perpetrators, themselves. <br /> <br /> Plus you have lots of statistics, about all airstrikes. There are lots of satellites as well, filming all the time, showing all the time. There were some alerts about a possible airstrike would take place here, take place there. So it is extremely well documented. And that might be a basis, not only for a historical archive, but also a good basis for later judicial procedures, maybe some investigations. <br /><br /> <br /><br /> This is the most documented conflict, and the philosophy of violence of the régime is not like just it’s war and everything is allowed. No. There were clear messages through the violence. For instance, not giving the families the bodies of their beloved ones who were killed under torture, or were just killed and their bodies were taken, is not something because of lack of administrative capacities. No. It is not allowing them to turn pages, to consider that they can go on. It is to keep them suspended in time, always waiting, always paralysed. It’s a way of paralysing a whole society, and that’s why there are still more than 100,000 people in jail in Syria under the régime control. Why wouldn’t they release them, they’re not any more a threat? The régime is not threatened any more, with the Russians. To keep them is also to paralyse millions of people: relatives, friends, families; who don’t want to talk about them. <br /><br /> There’s an economy that has been built, a mafia economy. I pay people money to get some information. And in many cases, the information is wrong, they are just lies, they are taking the money. Or I pay someone money, so they will treat my brother or my father or my son a bit better. They will give him some better food. They send food sometimes, and many people are still in Damascus. They don’t want to leave, because they hope that one day, maybe he is alive, maybe she is alive. <br /><br /> So that kind of paralysing a society is not just arbitrary violence, it’s a well-thought and planned violence. Exactly as the destruction of all suburbs of cities, with the idea of one day reconstructing these areas with a different economic model, for other social classes, and maybe for people from other communities as well, in a sectarian system, and sectarian régime approach. <br /><br /> The other issue, is allowing people to steal, what the Syrians call taafish, from afish, which means the furniture, meaning seizing the furniture. Taking what is so intimate. The idea of not only destroying the public space where you can live, but I will also destroy your private place. I will seize all your memories, all whatever you lived with, the furniture, your pictures; and I will sell them at markets, that were called the Sunni market, souk Sunna, in order to create more sectarian anger and hatred, and to divide the society even more. So this is also a well-thought policy. <br /> <br /><br /><br /> The question of imposing sieges. I don’t know if you saw pictures from the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp, or from the Ghouta of Damascus, or from many other places. Besieging people, without a military in fact need, because the balance of power is so clear. And they have the air force, and they have the Russians. But it is also, to keep in their mind forever, that they suffered hunger, that they were suffocating under the siege, that the régime can do whatever it wanted to do with them, that their lives were just the matter of a decision.’</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgAHu8Vj5AqrFU4CfCgITMFhAavGj7VpzTD0ovNjw3shmEc2wCg4DQDccfLk8j6PT7OPEFYK-3X28Lg_iQHflyLvwJPv9EuVwGfr_1SFrLkMQwoGB_2KnoVOgnYuAPpmC5bFHs7brYhwDVTxlxe1w2M46iSc897Qa8uYOAzVyN7hHjV6lc72bzBiGRAZOy/s1278/Screenshot%20(1551).png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="721" data-original-width="1278" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgAHu8Vj5AqrFU4CfCgITMFhAavGj7VpzTD0ovNjw3shmEc2wCg4DQDccfLk8j6PT7OPEFYK-3X28Lg_iQHflyLvwJPv9EuVwGfr_1SFrLkMQwoGB_2KnoVOgnYuAPpmC5bFHs7brYhwDVTxlxe1w2M46iSc897Qa8uYOAzVyN7hHjV6lc72bzBiGRAZOy/w200-h113/Screenshot%20(1551).png" width="200" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p></div>Dick Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17099184432893592991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744492967852246576.post-65518698679649581762023-12-08T12:06:00.002+00:002023-12-08T12:08:16.976+00:00Crimes, Occupation, Fragmentation and Impunity: 12 Years of the Struggle for Syria Part 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8UU0txVeAho" width="320" youtube-src-id="8UU0txVeAho"></iframe></div><br /><div><br /></div><div> <span style="color: red; font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;">Ziad Majed:</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> ‘…And the borders might be more important than the political sociology. Also see the conspiracy theories, we’ve seen it more than in other cases, maybe because of its geography, or political geography. It reflected lots of divisions, not only in Syria, or the region, but internationally as well, in the two sides of the political map, whether on the right, or on the left.<br /> <br /> After 12 years we can start examining some dynamics, that happened through the development of the conflict; or of the revolution at the beginning, then the war, then the series of military interventions. As you will see, the end result is today, a fragmented country, a destroyed country. We have records in terms of victims, in terms of internally displaced population, but also in terms of refugees.<br /><br /> <br /><br /> When we were discussing the topic, I thought of impunity, because I think impunity has been, and continues to be, one of the most important and dangerous questions; in the whole Middle East, maybe also an international question. <br /> <br /> But in the Middle East specifically, you do have a number of UN resolutions, a number of agreements, you have many things that were never respected, and none of those who did not respect them ever paid the price of that. So, this culture of impunity also allows criminality to develop, because those that commit crimes consider that they can always escape, after a period of time. Because they are protected by some superpower, because there are members in the Security Council backing them.<br /> <br /> And the Middle East is the area where you have the highest number of vetoes. The United States used the veto 54 times, in relation to the Israeli question. Russia used it, in those 12 years, 14 times. China used it 13 times. So you have a concentration of what we call vetocracy in international relations, where we can sometimes not impose things, but we can definitely make things impossible or to happen; which allows impunity to continue to impose itself, and to modify lives of people and societies, and to contribute in a way to what we might call nihilism: this rejection, this anger, this frustration, against the whole world, since the whole world abandoned us, or is not seeing us as equals, or as if we are excluded from the international community, and international law was not designed to include us, to protect us, as it should protect other peoples.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> So, what I will try to do, is first of all go through the phases of this Syrian struggle, of the Syrian revolution and war. What changed in six summers. It happened that these developments always took place in summers, and we’ll see how each summer, the configuration, the physiognomy of the conflict, was changing, and evolving, and other actors were projecting themselves into the Syrian scene. Then I’ll talk about some of what Syria revealed to us throughout the years.<br /><br /> <br /><br /> So, for the chronology of events, in March 2011, many revolutions were already taking place. The whole movement started in Tunisia, then we had Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain. Then Syria surprised most people, because no one was expecting, in a country where you already have a régime that is not into just symbolic violence after imposing itself for years, or just using the police as in the case of Tunisia to control the society, or the army in the case of Egypt; leaving also some margin of freedom for some parties as long as they do not threaten the régime itself and the military; or as in Yemen due to the tribal structure, the political structure, some parties in the north or south.There were some spaces in which political activism can express itself , and then it threatens the existing régime, then there will definitely be violent repression.<br /> <br /> In the case of Syria, we were already into permanent violence, a State of violence. This happened in the 70s. It happened in Hama in ’82, and it was kind of a lesson for the Syrian people, in the sense that what you will expect if you think of rebelling against the régime, if you think of challenging, of defying the régime, is what happened to Hama, and what will happen to you.<br /> <br /> Hama ’82 is a trauma in Syria, because that city, in three weeks, was massacred, bombed. Thousands of people died, thousands disappeared, and maybe the Syrians thought in 2011, that this was possible, because no one documented what happened. Because no one covered what happened. There were no images. Victims were invisible. This whole orchestrated crime against the city happened without witnesses. <br /> <br /> So, maybe in 2011, because of the mobile phones, because of the daily coverage, because of videos, because of documentation, because of media; the world will not allow Hama to be reproduced, once, twice, three times, four times, as things will happen later.<br /> <br /> So Hama was a trauma, and many people after Hama thought it would take a long, long time before the Syrian people will try to challenge the régime again. And before Hama there was Palmyra or Tadmor, the famous prison in Syria, where torture was an industry, and where also hundreds of people died under torture. <br /><br /> <br /><br /> You have many events in Syria’s modern history under Assad’s father from 1970-2000, then Assad Jr from 2000 until today in 2023, so we’re talking about 53 years of the Assads, and in 2011 it was already 41 years of the Assads. It was a surprise for many observers, to see demonstrations are taking place, but in this kind of situation, and with the régime that already saw what happened in Tunisia and Egypt, immediately the brutal violent repression will start, and will target demonstrators, and soon the country will go into an armed struggle, where either soldiers from the army left the troops, or young men took the weapons to defend themselves, to protect demonstrations.<br /><br /> So an armed struggle went in parallel with the demonstrations until 2012. So the first shift, or the first change, was the militarization of the revolution, as of August 2011, after a series of defections in the army, leading to the creation in June 2011, of the Free Syrian Army.<br /> <br /> The second crucial development was in 2012. In the summer as well, when the Assad régime used for the first time its air force, bombing the areas that went out of its control; used the ballistic missiles, Scud missiles, sending them from southern Syria to the north. <br /> <br /> And also in 2012, we have the Iranian involvement, in support of the régime, that became clear. It was in the beginning, maybe the first year, technical advisers, political advisers. Now we have more and more Iranian officers in Syria. And in that same summer of 2012, the first funeral of a Hezbollah fighter happened in Lebanon, showing that Hezbollah is involved, based on Iranian demands, in the Syrian war, that is now more and more a war. <br /> <br /> This is an intervention that is clear now, the Iranian and the allies of Iran, but this is also the summer when the first elements of what we can call jihadism appear in Syria. <br /> <br /><br /> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> Let me just in a few words, distinguish between what we will call, and we will use that term later, jihadism, and what is kind of classical political Islam that already existed in Syria. The Muslim Brotherhood are a powerful group in Syria. Some other salafi groups also were present. What I mean by jihadists are not only those who are not Syrians, or coming from outside Syria, either from Iraq, or through the Turkish borders coming from Europe or sometimes from North Africa or from other places, with this idea of a jihad in Syria. What we mean by that is that they are not usually concerned with the territoriality of the conflict, or the political temporality of the conflict. They go wherever the conditions of jihad, according to the fatwa they receive, wherever those conditions are gathered, or they can prove them or find them or justify them. So they considered Syria a land of jihad, after considering Iraq a land of jihad, after being, or some of them at least or a previous generation, considering Afghanistan a land of jihad. Then Libya became a land of jihad, then Mali.<br /> <br /> So they are not into the territoriality, or the temporality, of the political cause. They started arriving in Syria, proclaiming that they are going to build an Islamic motherland, they would fight the enemies of Islam in Syria; and the early elements, or let’s say those that arrived first in 2012, either came from Iraq, where they were already fighting the Americans, and the pro-American and pro-Iranian government in Baghdad, or probably the Turkish services allowed them to enter Syria, because they thought they can instrumentalise them against the Kurds. You know, that Turkey immediately after the revolution, had the Turkish obsession, if we can put it like that, with the Kurdish issue. So, to keep an eye on the Kurds, and to have a powerful group that might fight them if they will expand in their territorial control.<br /><br /> <br /><br /> So there are a series of events in 2012, which will definitely modify the whole situation. And in summer 2013, a turning point with the chemical weapons. After a very sad statement made by Obama. Until now, no one knows if he was advised, and he said it after getting the advice of people around him, or it was just a statement made following a question by a journalist, “What is the red line in Syria?” That was the question. We have already thousands of people killed, tens of thousands wounded, many who disappeared, already stories about torture in jail are everywhere, rape is being used as a political instrument, we have displacement, refugees are arriving in Turkey and Jordan and in Lebanon, the neighbouring countries; and Obama was asked, what is the red line?<br /><br /> <br /><br /> He said the only red line is chemical weapons. Meaning the régime should not use the chemical weapons. Now, of course, we can interpret later you it was understood by Assad; as long as you say there is only one red line, that is chemical weapons, it means we can keep killing people without chemical weapons. Except that, and this is related to impunity, Assad wanted to show, to the Syrians, his social bases or those who support him, and those who are opposed to him, that even that red line, he can cross it, and nothing will happen.<br /> <br /> And though he was advised on that by Russians, there are already some debates about whether the Iranians wanted it or not, whether the Russians said we will test the American will, especially that Obama at the same time was negotiating the nuclear deal with Iran. And people around him were saying, we can’t negotiate with Iran, and then fight them in Syria. Others would add to this, that after the Libyan disaster as it was called in the American administration, following the UN resolution and the intervention against Gadaffi, the Americans didn’t want to intervene again in the region. He was promising he would withdraw from Iraq, and he withdrew in 2011 massively from Iraq. The American public opinion was opposed to any involvement.<br /> <br /> We can talk about lots of considerations and factors, parameters that are legitimate, they can be discussed. But that statement, about the red lines, was very strange in its timing. And Assad tested it.<br /> <br /> First in Jobar, which is a neighbourhood very close to Damascus, where it was used against fighters the first time. A French journalist brought samples from the hair and from the sand to prove it, that was what the laboratories wanted. And there was proof that sarin gas was used for the first time. <br /><br /> <br /><br /> Before, they used a few substances in Homs, where the Red Cross said that some of the people who were burned, they couldn’t deal with their injuries. Was it chemical or not chemical? There was a debate about it. But in May 2013, clearly it was used in small doses in Jobar; before the 21st of August when the massive attack with sarin gas targeted the two Ghouta of Damascus, the two large neighbourhoods not far from the capital, where more than 1400 people died in a few hours during that attack.<br /> <br /> So here it was clear that the red line was crossed on purpose, to test the US will or the Western will, during a moment of tension with Russia. Russia is supporting the régime, for different reasons, but is not yet involved directly. <br /><br /> <br /><br /> And what happened after it, the red line was crossed? Nothing, in fact, once again. There will be a statement by Kerry, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, in which he said, following a meeting with Lavrov, that if the Syrian régime accepts to destroy, or to abandon its stock of chemical weapons to give it to a UN inspection mission, we’re fine with that. So it appeared as if once again, if I kill someone, and then I give you the gun, I’m fine.<br /> <br /> These kind of messages are extremely dangerous when it comes to impunity, because the régime and the Russians understood through that offer, that there is no will in the US to go into an intervention against Assad, following the crossing the red line. They knew they cannot go to the UN of course, there would be a Russian veto. But in the American constitution, the President, as long as the military operation would not require deployment on the ground, as long as it is less than 60 (I think) days; the President can order a military operation, which did not happen. <br /> <br /> In Britain, also, they voted in the Parliament, against it. In France, they were very hesitant about it. And then finally, the agreement was a UN resolution, that will impose on the régime, to abandon its chemical programme, and the stocks should be gathered by the UN inspection mission; and negotiations started about that. But the régime did prove, to its social bases, as well as to the Syrians and to those who are fighting him, I can even use chemical weapons, I can even cross the only red line that is set, and nothing will happen.<br /><br /> <br /><br /> And that was a game-changer in the case of Syria, because it’s not a coincidence that following August 2013, Daesh (or ISIS) will start its rise. At the time, we are still in a moment where al-Qaeda in Iraq is itself in Syria. Nusra is part of it, but not very happy with it, so you have within the jihadist map rivalries and different interpretations of who should take the lead, and Baghdadi is still in Iraq. And after 2013, with a certain consensus maybe among the Syrians, that no one is going to intervene to save them from Assad; this is the beginning of the rise of the two nihilist groups, of the two jihadist groups, Nusra and ISIS. ISIS is not always the exact translation, because it’s the Levant or al-Sham at the end.<br /><br /> But this is a crucial moment in that sense, and this is also the beginning of the massive departure from Syria. Hundreds of thousands of Syrians reached Turkey and Jordan and Lebanon, because once again, they felt totally abandoned and vulnerable and no one is going to intervene, whatever would happen, and whatever kind of weapons would be used against them. <br /><br /> <br /><br /> And this is the fourth summer the summer of 2014. Baghdadi declares officially that he is now the Caliphate, and the Caliph, and the Caliphate is there, between parts of Iraq and Syria. He’s fighting mainly other jihadists, but also Islamist Syrian groups, because the extension of ISIS throughout the Syrian territory did not clash with the Syrian régime. They took over Deir Ezzor, then they took over Raqqa, all of the east of Syria that was already under the control of the Syrian opposition. So the expansion of Daesh weakened and fragilised the Syrian opposition, before clashing with the régime. And definitely the régime and the Iranians who were setting the strategy, were not unhappy with it. Because now the formula, and the equation, that Assad kept using in its propaganda, that against me we only have jihadists, we only have al-Qaeda, we only have Islamists who want to overthrow a secular progressive régime; all of that now, for Assad it’s a kind of prophecy that its propaganda used, and now he’s not far from realizing it, and talking more and more about it, which again is something that will change lots of approaches towards the Syrian situation.<br /> <br /> US intervention against ISIS, exclusively against ISIS, started following that rise, because they killed American, and I think a British as well, humanitarian aid workers in Syria. So Obama declared war on ISIS. And this is the beginning of the US intervention.’ <br /></span><span face="Helvetica, "sans-serif"" style="background-color: white; color: #1f1f1f; font-size: 16pt;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhIpH6B7B87nCljswSUXxkR7WZ_ckMJmztGvOLeGp06QwCkavouwgv-SgPTFv9Pc9ciXgoO5j7D8oKtA2hHIBo9KUeoqIvgXS3KJtTZbwFHeDQNze-is0KYGyFk1xfLmZ6_JR6SWCfxfiW2JL12zb-K_GSuRt012eoRKOqLFtJcIAlOhMMTIShzb1sqWQR0" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="717" data-original-width="1278" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhIpH6B7B87nCljswSUXxkR7WZ_ckMJmztGvOLeGp06QwCkavouwgv-SgPTFv9Pc9ciXgoO5j7D8oKtA2hHIBo9KUeoqIvgXS3KJtTZbwFHeDQNze-is0KYGyFk1xfLmZ6_JR6SWCfxfiW2JL12zb-K_GSuRt012eoRKOqLFtJcIAlOhMMTIShzb1sqWQR0=w200-h113" width="200" /></a></div><br /> <span face="Helvetica, "sans-serif"" style="background-color: white; color: #1f1f1f; font-size: 16pt;"> </span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-outline-level: 2;"><br /></p></div>Dick Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17099184432893592991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744492967852246576.post-44380782266929473792023-11-16T08:13:00.001+00:002023-12-02T10:49:47.173+00:00My Road From Damascus documents years spent in Syria's prisons<div class="separator"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiYKILviezSHLYmDoGVVsTFs8Z7WrrqGyaffzD8mdT5lCqZGZEZmpDx_C728uZtp7rqP7uZ5UWtquDxAxaKWnPPLA-cZnT56RngK_-wHxX8xTa6D2QPc5dNF8orPuFwKKkqq-hzGBYEerCBvtFnpO_JCl8YPMr9Sx8tTACetCok53dKKgvH-kcBEXnr2YTJ" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="186" data-original-width="271" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiYKILviezSHLYmDoGVVsTFs8Z7WrrqGyaffzD8mdT5lCqZGZEZmpDx_C728uZtp7rqP7uZ5UWtquDxAxaKWnPPLA-cZnT56RngK_-wHxX8xTa6D2QPc5dNF8orPuFwKKkqq-hzGBYEerCBvtFnpO_JCl8YPMr9Sx8tTACetCok53dKKgvH-kcBEXnr2YTJ=w501-h344" width="501" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><p> </p><br /><p></p><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> '</span><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/books/my-road-from-damascus-documents-years-spent-in-syria-s-prisons-read-an-excerpt-now-1.7005143" style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Jamal Saeed sought refuge</span></a><span style="font-family: arial;"> in Canada in 2016 after being imprisoned three times for a total of 12 years in his native Syria. Imprisoned for his political writing and his opposition to the régimes of the al-Assads, Saeed spent years in Syria's most notorious military prisons. </span><a href="http://cbc.ca/1.6570202" style="font-family: arial;">My Road from Damascus</a><span style="font-family: arial;">, translated by Catherine Cobham, tells the story of his life as he chronicles the sociopolitical landscape in Syria since the 1950s and his hope for the future.</span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /> You can read an excerpt of <a href="http://cbc.ca/1.6570202">My Road from Damascus</a> below.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> As the steel door swung open, seven soldiers, all shouting orders and obscenities, rushed into our cold, dark prison cell.<br /><br /> "Faces to the wall, you sons of bitches," they screamed at the three of us. "Hands behind your backs, animals."<br /><br /> "Lower your shit-filled heads and shut your eyes, bastards!"<br /><br /> I knew from the 12 years I'd spent in half a dozen Syrian prisons that the presence of many soldiers meant that one, or perhaps all of us, were about to be taken to meet an important army officer. They bound our hands, covered our eyes, and roughly stuffed cotton wool in our ears to make sure we couldn't hear what was being said unless they wanted us to. Suddenly, I was being dragged along the floor, pulled tripping up a flight of stairs, then jerked to a stop. The cotton wool was yanked from my ears, and I heard what I assumed was an officer's voice.<br /><br /><br /><br /> "What did you do after you got out of prison, Jamal?" he asked quietly. "The first time..."<br /><br /> "Was there a second time?" came the voice, detached from its body. "They detained me a month ago."<br /><br /> "Do you call that being detained? You didn't even spend a week with us, not even enough time to warm the floor under your ass. The important thing is, Jamal, what did you do after you left us?"<br /><br /> "I helped my family on the farm and then came to Damascus at the beginning of winter to carry on with my university studies."<br /><br /> "I'll make it easier for you, you piece of shit," he said, his tone changing. "What was the printing you did?"<br /><br /> "Some designs for silk-screen printing in the Faihaa printing works. I still design for them and get paid by the piece."<br /><br /> "What kind of designs do you do?" "Butterflies... birds, flowers, fruit."<br /><br /> "You're lying, you son of a whore!"<br /><br /> "Your mother is no better than mine," I answered boldly. "There's no need for street language."<br /><br /> At this point he went wild and began to shout like a maniac. "Take this insolent bastard away. Execute him. We 've got seventeen million people in Syria. We don't need this dog."<br /><br /> I raised my head and said clearly, "I am not a dog."<br /><br /><br /><br /> He repeated his order, his voice almost hoarse from the strain. "Take him away. Execute him at once. We don't need these sons of whores." I thought of saying something but made do with a scornful smile. "You shit!" he shouted. "Are you laughing at me? I swear to Allah, I'll make dog food of you! Take him away!"<br /><br /> This wasn't the first time I'd received abuse from an officer or been accused of treason because I'd helped print or distribute political leaflets. But, on this occasion, I wasn't protecting anyone by suffering torture and abuse. I didn't have anything to confess. I was genuinely busy with my studies and earning enough to survive. I wasn't lying.<br /><br /> A soldier took hold of my arm and dragged me down more stairs to what I imagined was the interrogation room, the place where my life was to end. He left me standing alone, expecting the inevitable. And then I heard the door lock, and it became very silent.<br /><br /><br /><br /> Suddenly, my memory released a host of images and smells — things from the past that felt so real I forgot I was about to die. Maybe this illogical response to what should have been a terrifying situation was a manifestation of the awful despair that had set in the moment I was once again arrested.<br /><br /> I pictured the line that the rubber tube had made on my forehead. I'd seen this mark on the heads of many after they returned to their cell after interrogation, if they did return. As I waited alone in a locked room for my death sentence to be carried out, scenes from the past continued to follow one after another with amazing clarity. I could almost touch the white lace collar and sleeves of Barbara's red dress. At five years old, I was fascinated by the elegance of Barbara, the youngest daughter of the asphalt quarry manager. I scratched my back with my bound hands. It's as if the barbed wire I'd crawled under to meet Barbara more than a quarter of a century earlier is again scratching my back. My mother used to smile when she saw us together, Barbara and me, and point out I was three months older than her to the day. I see my mother's expression when I was released for the first time after my prolonged absence of about eleven years. I revel in the flood of joy that made her walk around the house in a daze, turning back to hug me again the instant she left, saying a few more words, her brief utterances dominating all other sounds, clear and warm: "My heart was lying at the crossroads, waiting for your footsteps, and now you've returned my heart has returned to my chest," and "The hard waiting is over," and "Thank Allah we're no longer behind bars," speaking as if she had just come out of prison too. She pulls me to her, and I smell her scent and feel the heat of the tears falling on my face. Later I see the gleam of delight in her eyes as she welcomes the neighbors who have flocked to congratulate us on my release. They crowd around to see whether I am still like other people, if I can talk and see and hear, and if I still have five fingers on each hand after my long spell of incarceration. I can tell from the looks in their eyes and the questions they asked me that they are keen to investigate the impact of prison on my mind and body. Some are not afraid to blame me and call me stupid, believing I've damaged both myself and my family. I can see the effect of the passing years on them. Gray hair, wrinkles, baldness, and fat bellies prevented me from recognizing a few of the old ones, and recognizing the young ones, whom I've not seen since they were children, is even more difficult.<br /><br /><br /><br /> Waiting to be executed, I remember as clearly as if I could see them, many of the other people I'd known in different Syrian towns: children, men, and women, old and young; relatives, friends, and those who'd shared in the painful experiences of prison; interrogators out of control in the interrogation branch in Latakia; doomsday in cellblock seven in the military's special investigation branch in Damascus; prisoners of conscience, murderers, thieves, drug dealers, cats, rats, and police in al-Qala'a prison; bodies exhausted by fear, faces distorted by terror, souls brutalized by humiliation in Tadmur prison. The faces of women I'd loved and cried over when they left, and those of the ones who loved me and who cried when I left. Informers for the intelligence services who visited me diligently after my release on the pretext of asking after my health. A great gathering of people, birds, beasts, with their features crystal clear; springs, rivers, different places by the sea, rough tracks, paved roads, and even familiar rocky outcrops. I am completely absorbed by this throng of images, smells, and the sounds my memory yields, sharper and more delicate than I would have believed possible, and in that moment I really forget where I am. I don't think about how my brazen answers to the officer had just slammed the door on my future.<br /><br /><br /><br /> I am devouring life avidly as if it only existed in the past when the door of the interrogation room opens and footsteps approach. I brace myself for the end, but nothing. If only I could move my hand, I would pull the blind- fold away from my eyes. Has the soldier who entered the room changed his mind and left again? Or is he standing close to me this very second? I picture the room full of instruments of torture: an old tire, electric cables, clubs, a German chair, water, and a packet of pins on the metal table where the interrogator usually sat. Big strong torturers no more than twenty-five years old will show up at any moment.'<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjElUUt26fLn4WmlRq6y8Qw5hJRiFaKrgkvg4enLzxDbCj_5OpsCzDFBh7IMNQ9_zeYoJFWd2R7ZWYAmoBN2KkCMAvhk_Z-wNY8SOcT9fT6ZjNbPnoyZsHW0pDHHbjwUalgs42vTYTWFfdMjGLuHow-_vTje0Ts1aRPU7_r32WC9Ey_py9UHFrh8wZXRT6u"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjElUUt26fLn4WmlRq6y8Qw5hJRiFaKrgkvg4enLzxDbCj_5OpsCzDFBh7IMNQ9_zeYoJFWd2R7ZWYAmoBN2KkCMAvhk_Z-wNY8SOcT9fT6ZjNbPnoyZsHW0pDHHbjwUalgs42vTYTWFfdMjGLuHow-_vTje0Ts1aRPU7_r32WC9Ey_py9UHFrh8wZXRT6u=w200-h150" /></a></span><br />Dick Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17099184432893592991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744492967852246576.post-1887590707703064522023-11-01T07:18:00.000+00:002023-11-01T07:18:18.541+00:00Volunteer Doctors Went to Rebel-Held Northwest Syria to Help Save Lives. Then the Bombs Started.<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgucW-qy2Dnb9QZEzkAeZkSbrrzS6CfBFjIZ8E2dYoPt9JqmV6MjkvXnSO4bBazsCA_7Wj7b2o5Ec2iaxl4Rw2TfPHFvUi080SLE2FE-vijystb0XscSJ6uoKo2e1sXi45gOD5cpEtXmgA2-ggKxa4LlvF9hCwJQliXMuoKX-z3JkRaCzNiVFyrBLODDnHQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="749" data-original-width="1024" height="361" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgucW-qy2Dnb9QZEzkAeZkSbrrzS6CfBFjIZ8E2dYoPt9JqmV6MjkvXnSO4bBazsCA_7Wj7b2o5Ec2iaxl4Rw2TfPHFvUi080SLE2FE-vijystb0XscSJ6uoKo2e1sXi45gOD5cpEtXmgA2-ggKxa4LlvF9hCwJQliXMuoKX-z3JkRaCzNiVFyrBLODDnHQ=w493-h361" width="493" /></a></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"> Dawn Clancy:</span><br /><br /> '<a href="https://www.passblue.com/2023/10/31/volunteer-doctors-went-to-rebel-held-northwest-syria-to-help-save-lives-then-the-bombs-started/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">In early October</span></a>, a suicide drone <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67017010">ripped through a graduation ceremony</a> at a military academy in Homs, Syria, killing and injuring dozens of civilians and cadets while delivering an equally devastating blow to the psyche of the Syrian régime and its embattled leader, President Bashar al-Assad.<br /><br /> Although no group took responsibility for the Oct. 5 attack, the Syrian army, without providing details, blamed the incident on “terrorist groups” in the northwest of the country, backed by “known international forces,” meaning the West, led by the United States.<br /><br /> Since 2017, northwest Syria has been loosely governed by the anti-régime Syrian Salvation Government, the administrative arm of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (<a href="https://acleddata.com/2023/07/26/actor-profile-hayat-tahrir-al-sham-hts/">HTS</a>), a “political and militant group” mainly operating in Syria’s Greater Idlib area. It is primarily populated by civilians who have been displaced, some more than once, by the civil war that began in 2011. Currently, the Turkish military, which is allied with Syrian opposition groups, has a presence there. The Turks say they are guaranteeing a cease-fire that was established in 2017. However, when I asked Syrians in Idlib why they think Türkiye has troops in the area, they said, “It’s complicated.”<br /><br /><br /><br /> On Oct. 5, as the blood-soaked bodies piled up in Homs and the Assad régime launched its response to the attack, I was on the ground in Idlib, a rebel-held city located a mere two-hours’ drive north of Homs.<br /><br /> What was meant to be a nine-day reporting trip in northwest Syria, shadowing a group of doctors (including a cardiologist, hand surgeon and pulmonary, emergency care and family medicine experts) on a medical mission arranged by the nonprofit <a href="https://medglobal.org/">MedGlobal group</a>, was abruptly cut short when we were swiftly evacuated from Idlib back to the Turkish border, as the Assad government unleashed an aggressive military campaign on Idlib city and surrounding areas, targeting schools and hospitals, killing and injuring dozens of innocent civilians.<br /><br /> Although weeks have passed since the drone attack in Homs, the Assad régime, aided by its ally Russia, continues to bomb the northwest with barely a whisper of outrage from the international community, partly due to the world shifting its attention to the brutal war and humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza at the hands of the Israel Defense Forces since Hamas massacred approximately 1,400 people in Israel on Oct. 7.<br /><br /> According to the <a href="https://www.whitehelmets.org/en/">White Helmets</a>, a nonprofit organization that provides rescue and humanitarian assistance to people impacted by conflict and natural disasters in northwest Syria, its teams responded from Oct. 1 to Oct. 26 to more than “250 attacks on 70 cities and towns in the northwestern regions of Syria,” which left more than 250 civilians injured and more than 65 dead, including more than 20 children and 10 women.<br /><br /><br /><br />Here, I share some of my reporting — including recorded interviews with Syrians living in internally displaced camps, field notes and snippets from a few casual conversations — during my abbreviated reporting trip to Idlib.<br /><br /><br /><br /> Around 9 A.M., after a quick breakfast of steamy sweet tea and fresh bread smeared with za’atar spices and olive oil, we drive north from our hotel in Idlib’s city center and near the <a href="https://r4hsss.org/idlib-health-directorate/">Idlib Health Directorate</a>, the health care supervisor in Idlib governorate, to the al-Wifak camp to visit a mobile health clinic, where more than 1,300 displaced civilians live in tents and concrete block houses. With us in the van is a local Syrian journalist and his colleague, a translator, who jokes that instead of going to the camp, we’re going to cross the border into régime territory. I laugh and ask the translator, sitting to my left in a white polo shirt and jeans whose left eye is swollen and freshly blackened from a recent soccer game, what would happen if we tried to enter régime territory. Without hesitating, he turns to me and says flatly, “We’d be slaughtered.”<br /><br /> Shortly after arriving at the camp, I meet Khaled Mustafa Abu Hasna, 70, and his wife, Ayoush Mohammad Mughlag, also 70 years old. They tell me they have been married for 55 years and have 14 children, 3 boys and 11 girls. The war drove them from their village in Syria in 2019, and they’ve been living in al-Wifak in a massive tent ever since. Their children, now adults with families of their own, fled the war and relocated to Lebanon and Türkiye.<br /><br /> In 2013, their son Ahmad was arrested by the Syrian régime in Damascus, Syria’s capital, and the family still knows nothing of his fate. They think he could be alive in one of Syria’s notorious military prisons, or dead, possibly tortured and killed by the régime. Khaled Hasna tells me that he suffered a stroke the day Ahmad was arrested and hasn’t been able to move his left arm or leg in years. He relies heavily on Ayoush, his wife, who carefully massages his left foot as we talk.<br /><br /> One of their grandsons, a toddler, is rolling around on a rug nearby, watching an episode of the famous Western cartoon series “The Smurfs,” on a mounted television — Internet in some camps is available for a fee — while their granddaughter Aya, 15, sits quietly in a corner. I notice her vibrant green eyes, perfectly framed by her hijab, and ask the translator, Aisha, to say hello for me. Aya’s father was shot dead by the régime in front of his father-in-law, Khaled, years ago. Since moving to the camp with her grandparents, Aya, an only child, hasn’t attended school and is unlikely to return under the current circumstances.<br /><br /> Camps for internally displaced people in northwest Syria are serviced by a hodgepodge network of global humanitarian organizations, including the UN, which works through local partners, focusing foremost on providing civilians with shelter, food and sanitation. With limited resources in some camps, education gets overlooked. Before we leave, I ask Aya, who likes to paint, if she has any dreams, and she says no. “The war destroyed everything,” she say in Arabic, “all the dreams.”<br /><br /><br /><br /> Al Fan Alshemali camp is a short drive from al-Wifak. It’s home to approximately 2,600 internally displaced civilians. According to the <a href="https://www.cccmcluster.org/">Camp Coordination and Camp Management cluster</a>, an agency that “supports people affected by natural disasters and internally displaced people (IDPs) affected by conflict,” there are more than 1,500 camps of various sizes for internally displaced people in northwest Syria.<br /><br /> As we arrive, we see a group of women and fidgety toddlers waiting outside the camp’s mobile health clinic: a stout, grubby cement-block building baking in sunlight and stocked inside with a table and two chairs. The group is there to see the pediatrician, a retired doctor from California volunteering with MedGlobal. Standing outside the cement block, I hear him inside treating countless sore throats, prescribing medications and checking for signs of malnutrition. Later, the doctor tells me that sore throats are common in camps as the air inside the tents tends to be dry. He said that if the parents smoked inside the tent or burned wood, it worsens the conditions.<br /><br /> Meanwhile, the waiting women, dressed in black niqabs, a veil that covers the entire face except for a horizontal slit for the eyes, don’t want to be interviewed. However, Aisha, the translator who is provided through MedGlobal, is eager to share information about herself.<br /><br /> Petite and soft-spoken, Aisha, 27, lives with her mother and six-year-old son, Yaser, in another camp. They fled their village, which is south of Idlib city, in 2019, when the bombings escalated. Aisha, who says she’s divorced, now lives in Sarmada city, a camp 120 kilometers, or 75 miles, north of Idlib city.<br /><br /> “When I was displaced, I was in my third year at the University of Idlib, but I didn’t give up,” Aisha said, “and I graduated this year from the English department in faculty of literature.” Aisha tells me that girls like Aya, whose dreams have been destroyed by the war, make her sad.<br /><br /> “I remember myself when I was displaced and I lost any hope to live and continue my study,” Aisha said. “So, yeah, I feel sad about it but I have a dream . . . to continue and continue and arrive.”<br /><br /> As for her son’s future, Aisha said there’s nothing for him in Syria. “We have no options in our lives here. I feel that we are living in a prison,” she says. “For me, I wish that I leave this area and travel to any country that I feel I’m human in it.”<br /><br /> We return to Idlib city and the health directorate, where we are lodging, around 6:30 P.M. After dinner, I take a quick walk around the city center with Aisha — who kindly helps me pick up a cotton cap to wear under my hijab — where drivers on motorcycles whip through the streets, pedestrians crowd fruit carts and the neon signs hanging above the spice shops and bakeries splash pops of color across the sidewalks. The city and its people are alive. But at any moment, it could all go black.<br /><br /><br /><br /> <a href="https://sy.linkedin.com/in/ahmed-ghandour-198139137">Dr. Ahmed Ghandour</a> is a surgeon and the general manager of the al-Rahma Hospital in Darkush, a city roughly 55 kilometers, or 34 miles, west of Idlib city. He studied medicine at Aleppo University in Syria and graduated in 2009 before the régime began its lethal crackdown in 2011.<br /><br /> Dr. Ghandour, dressed in faded green hospital scrubs, says he was arrested, like countless other Syrians, by régime military forces who converted public hospitals and schools into prisons.<br /><br /> “After my release from Aleppo in 2012, I insist to convert every place which the régime [is] using as a prison to kill the people and torture them [and] I insist to convert every place to [a] hospital to a place for relief for them,” Dr. Ghandour says.<br /><br /> Later, after a tour of the hospital, including its outpatient clinic and dialysis center, I sit outside with Dr. Ghandour, who admits he is worried about the future of medicine in northwest Syria. The civil war has caused medical professionals and students to leave the country in droves to practice in Europe. It’s an option that Dr. Ghandour says he has considered. “But I can’t leave my country,” he adds. “We have to prepare the new medical generation . . . we need them.”<br /><br /> A report from the <a href="https://www.rescue.org/report/decade-destruction-attacks-health-care-syria-0?edme=true">International Rescue Committee</a>, a nongovernmental organization based in New York City, published estimates in 2021 saying that in Syria, “70 percent of the medical workforce has fled the country.”<br /><br /> “When I started, I was young, but now I’m 46 years. Maybe [in] 10 years I will stop,” Dr. Ghandour says. “And if I don’t achieve my dreams maybe my son one day will come and complete my way.”<br /><br /> I am back in my room at the health directorate when, at 8:07 P.M., a flurry of text messages begins popping up in our WhatsApp group chat. The first one says, “Please all come to the basement,” followed by, “Only bring your passport and phones,” and then, “No more social media posts.”<br /><br /><br /><br /> If I had had Internet access there, which is hard to come by in Idlib, I would have known about the suicide drone attack in Homs earlier that day. Still, it wasn’t until we are all huddled in the basement and as the thuds from the falling bombs grow closer and the sounds of ambulances screeching past the directorate grow louder, when I realize the Syrian régime is responding to the Homs massacre.<br /><br /> Soon after, we learn that the medical mission is canceled and that we have to leave Idlib city at 6:30 A.M. the next day.<br /><br /> There are at least 20 of us in the basement waiting out the bombs, including members of the MedGlobal team and employees of the directorate. The room is filled with chatter as if we are one big group waiting to be seated at a fancy restaurant.<br /><br /> For many of the people around me, however, this day is like any other. They have made peace with the uncertainty of their circumstances. For civilians living in this part of Syria, who have been enduring conflict for more than 12 years, they have no other choice but to keep living there.<br /><br /> Standing to my left are two men in their mid-30s, whom I have not seen before. They’re talking to the hand surgeon, Dr. Ebrahim Paryavi, who works at the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage and is volunteering for MedGlobal. Afterward, Dr. Paryavi tells me that when the two men from the area — who were scheduled to meet with him the next day — learned that the mission had been canceled, they drove to the directorate, despite the bombing, to consult him.<br /><br /> “They both have complicated hand injuries from the war,” Dr. Paryavi says. “One of them has significant nerve injury to his arm, and the other has a blast hand injury, and his thumb is mangled. He wanted to know if there’s anything we could do to improve his hand function. And so I talked to him about a flap procedure . . . and I told him I would do it in the next couple of days if we’re still here, but then we heard that we’re being evacuated tomorrow. He was pretty disappointed.”<br /><br /> Dr. Paryavi adds: “I’ve seen a lot of war-related injuries here. There are so many people with blast injuries to their arms . . . shrapnel injuries, explosive injuries to the arms from bombings. Just a lot more than I’ve ever seen in my career.”<br /><br /> The bombing slows and then stops around 10:30 P.M. Most of us leave the basement and head back to our rooms to try to sleep. Upstairs, someone has left a huge tray of freshly baked knafeh, a sweet, cheesy Middle Eastern dessert, in the common room. I think to myself, Who the hell went out to get that?<br /><br /><br /><br /> We make it back to Gaziantep in the afternoon, having left Idlib around 6:30 A.M. After I book my return flight to New York City, I text Aisha, the translator who is still in Idlib. I want to thank her for all her help and make sure she is O.K.<br /><br /> She replies: “I am good, and my family is good, but artillery shells are still falling on Idlib and its countryside, and we cannot get out safely. For my helping you during your job here is nothing. I just did my duty to the Syrian people. The Syrian people and I would like to thank you for coming to hear us to convey our suffering for the world.<br /><br /> I am sad towards what happened yesterday because it forces you to leave. . . . I wish to meet you here again.” '<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjZ3nf_YGU16mX3wRPo2b5L4GtS_ov30wdNG8_3vUxLGdq_TgZBpQA5mYz131_GZi7QH5ZEpqA_zKWJmXnQYjJww0JhUuEjRYBFDRvyL4KR35O80JqNe1intbNG6aDD_-EsaJ3VvbiI6D9M0DKQu0X1hs9LTM55uw4tV_9RiYSq800e8SL4tLQzNwGysXWU"><img height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjZ3nf_YGU16mX3wRPo2b5L4GtS_ov30wdNG8_3vUxLGdq_TgZBpQA5mYz131_GZi7QH5ZEpqA_zKWJmXnQYjJww0JhUuEjRYBFDRvyL4KR35O80JqNe1intbNG6aDD_-EsaJ3VvbiI6D9M0DKQu0X1hs9LTM55uw4tV_9RiYSq800e8SL4tLQzNwGysXWU=w200-h111" width="200" /></a></span>Dick Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17099184432893592991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744492967852246576.post-1633716741617590882023-10-20T08:43:00.000+01:002023-10-20T08:43:19.713+01:00A barrel bomb killed this man’s father. Four Syrian generals now face a landmark war crimes trial<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi-j4URtl_N1AMyldZPDADvJjGludc0BUu1B1kHWXFnuRV7GJCUF-LauFqJMF1sfRzoyr-YNMNvI7zOstPLfg9D_GdJUlAtshlIU0cI_hLzSKmQae3eurXgAHeE85pO67OfO5bDYr7uDTjRiDigd8GiElCO0Bsi_WGWSLOW8HJLx6plYoIquCsFsQJiWg3S" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="478" data-original-width="850" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi-j4URtl_N1AMyldZPDADvJjGludc0BUu1B1kHWXFnuRV7GJCUF-LauFqJMF1sfRzoyr-YNMNvI7zOstPLfg9D_GdJUlAtshlIU0cI_hLzSKmQae3eurXgAHeE85pO67OfO5bDYr7uDTjRiDigd8GiElCO0Bsi_WGWSLOW8HJLx6plYoIquCsFsQJiWg3S=w508-h286" width="508" /></a></p><span style="font-family: arial;"> '<a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2023/10/19/middleeast/syrian-generals-indicted-france-intl-cmd/index.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Omar Abou Nabout</span></a> is a man on a mission.<br /><br /> Part diplomat-in-training, part legal campaigner, the 27-year-old Syrian spoke in Paris between meetings, flipping between his flawless French and native Arabic.<br /><br /> He smiled as he talked on the banks of the River Seine. But his journey here was far from happy.<br /><br /><br /><br /> He, his mother and siblings fled to France in August 2016, six years into the civil uprising against the brutal régime of President Bashar al-Assad. But his father, French-Syrian citizen Salah Abou Nabout, stayed in their home city of Daraa. He was killed in a barrel-bomb strike later that year.<br /><br /> Since then, Omar Abou Nabout has sought accountability over his father’s killing while forging a new life in France. Today that fight for justice took a step forward, as French investigative judges issued arrest warrants for four high-ranking Syrian generals in Abou Nabout’s case.<br /><br /> “It was exhausting, especially psychologically, we know the régime, but despite my fears I couldn’t be silent, and I will not be silent. This is a right for my father, and for Syrians,” he told CNN of his efforts.<br /><br /><br /><br /> Legal cases have been filed against the Syrian régime before. Last year a German court <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/13/europe/syria-assad-regime-trial-intl-cmd/index.html">sentenced a former Syrian army colonel</a> to life in prison, in the first trial of a high-ranking régime official for torture carried out under the Assad régime.<br /><br /> This case, however, is the first brought against senior members of the Syrian government for alleged complicity in war crimes in a military operation. It’s the first that directly indicts four Syrian military officials, including two former defense ministers.<br /><br /> And it’s the first time that arrest warrants have been issued over the use of barrel bombs, crude devices made by filling oil drums, fuel tanks or gas cylinders with explosives and shrapnel. The Syrian régime used them extensively, and indiscriminately, in densely populated areas at the height of the war, which was considered a form of prohibited indiscriminate attack under international humanitarian law.<br /><br /><br /><br /> The indictments are the result of a years-long investigation by French prosecutors, aided by Abou Nabout and a human rights-focused non-governmental group.<br /><br /> Abou Nabout’s case dates to June 2017. His father, Salah, was politically active in his youth and, although his son says that by the time the revolution rolled around he had given up on politics, he was still jailed for more than two years in the early days of the Syrian uprising. When his wife and children fled Syria in August 2016, Salah was unable to leave.<br /><br /> He allowed an education NGO to use his three-story home in Daraa city as a makeshift school. It was an old, rundown building, but artwork and motivational slogans peppered the walls. One, seen in a photo, read: “We need a little bit of thought to achieve great things. Think well.”<br /><br /> The southern Syrian province of Daraa was the scene of ferocious battles. It was recaptured by the Russian- and Iranian-backed Syrian government from rebel forces in 2018, but it was left looking apocalyptic. One year earlier, on June 7, as government bombs fell on the area of Tareek al-Sad, Salah’s building was hit. Children weren’t in class at the time. But Salah was there and lost his life in the blast.<br /><br /><br /><br /> The bombs in question were barrel bombs dropped from régime helicopters with devastating consequences. By their very nature, they are uncontrollable. An estimated 82,000 barrel bombs had been dropped in Syria as of April 2021, <a href="https://snhr.org/blog/2021/04/15/56121/">according</a> to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, killing more than 11,000 people in the process.<br /><br /> The Syrian government has repeatedly insisted its strikes target “terrorists.”<br /><br /> When Omar Abou Nabout and his family sought refuge in France – where his father held a passport – they found the language and culture difficult to understand at first. But Abou Nabout went on to graduate from the country’s prestigious Sorbonne University, and now works with the French Foreign Ministry, with ambitions of becoming a diplomat.<br /><br /> Back then, his one link to his new country was his father. Following his death, as Abou Nabout put his energy into the pursuit of justice, Salah’s French citizenship gave France jurisdiction in the case.<br /><br /> “The past six years were tough, because it’s a new country,” Abou Nabout said. “We had to adapt first. I adapted and tried to mainly focus on the case and worked on my own at the start.”<br /><br /><br /><br /> Abou Nabout initially took his case to French prosecutors. It was later picked up by Mazen Darwish, a Syrian lawyer who leads the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM) – an NGO that started work in Syria and is now based in Paris.<br /><br /> The group has made a name for itself pursuing justice against both the Assad régime and Islamist extremist groups in Europe, earning Darwish a place on Time’s list of the most influential people for 2022. Last year, Darwish was instrumental in bringing the legal case that saw former Syrian army colonel Anwar Raslan <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/13/europe/syria-assad-regime-trial-intl-cmd/index.html">sentenced to life in prison</a> in Germany for crimes against humanity.<br /><br /> Darwish himself has experienced the brutal extremes of Syria’s incarceration system first-hand. In February 2012, Darwish was arrested with his wife and other staff at the NGO. He was accused of “promoting terrorist acts,” he says, and was tortured. After three and a half years in prison, he was released; the charges against him were later dropped.<br /><br /> Darwish moved to France, transferring the headquarters of SCM there in 2016. In 2020 he – along with the SCM – became involved in Omar’s case, assisting French investigators.<br /><br /> But building a case in a foreign country about a crime in another country, which itself is entrenched in a civil war, isn’t easy. By the time the investigation started, Daraa had come under government control, making access for French investigators difficult. The SCM offered support as a civil party, using its network to collect evidence when French investigators couldn’t; taking photos, collecting samples, and interviewing defectors to put together a chain of command in a painstaking 14-month process.<br /><br /><br /><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> The decision by French investigative judges to now indict four high-ranking generals, including two of the country’s defense ministers, is a big step forward. “This is the first time the Syrian official army are being prosecuted,” Darwish said. “This is the first time we’re talking about the air force, the Syrian official army attacking schools and protected places.”<br /><br /> On the list of indictments are Fahed Jassem al-Fraij – at the time, he was the second-highest ranking military official after Bashar al-Assad and one-time defense minister.<br /><br /> Then there’s Ali Abdullah Ayoub – former chief of staff of the armed forces, and later defense minister. He was the third-highest ranking officer at the time of the attack.<br /><br /> Brigadier Ahmad Balloul, who commanded the Air Force at the time of the attack, and Brigadier Ali al-Safatli also both appear on the list.<br /><br /><br /><br /> Notably absent, however, is Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president. “This is not because he’s not responsible,” Darwish said. “But because we are talking about local courts and presidents have immunity.” Assad would need to be tried through the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Netherlands, he added. Syria is not a member of the court, so a case would have to be referred by the UN Security Council, where Russia, which supports Assad, has veto power.<br /><br /> The Syrian government has long been accused of war crimes, targeting schools and hospitals. It may deny targeting civilians, but Abou Nabout says the new indictments are a victory for him and others fighting impunity.<br /><br /> “It was my instinct to pursue justice for my father. I grew up during the revolution. I was part of it … I watched people die including friends,” Abou Nabout said. “I couldn’t stay silent when I could do something. I didn’t want the day to come when I’m older and would regret missing the opportunity.” '<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgqVQGCtVfNfwyj-fI8y5D6c-nDuZvkzO7nJCGAHFDT50Loyn_69woLJVQEOWAUUXv0GeFpvRGCClRyiw842hh1GG_Aj2Ap2wJSlCStw5zj9Z9YX7UwuKNAUxKs47U4xtBsLK8J3XSdVA8Nkrr9a-VIYuO5Vr7fccqK4t-D_TP-GeQZrvTiea6SO6rdOSh-"><img height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgqVQGCtVfNfwyj-fI8y5D6c-nDuZvkzO7nJCGAHFDT50Loyn_69woLJVQEOWAUUXv0GeFpvRGCClRyiw842hh1GG_Aj2Ap2wJSlCStw5zj9Z9YX7UwuKNAUxKs47U4xtBsLK8J3XSdVA8Nkrr9a-VIYuO5Vr7fccqK4t-D_TP-GeQZrvTiea6SO6rdOSh-=w200-h113" width="200" /></a></span><div class="image image__hide-placeholder image--eq-extra-small image--eq-small" data-breakpoints="{"image--eq-extra-small": 115, "image--eq-small": 300}" data-component-name="image" data-editable="settings" data-image-variation="image" data-name="01 syrian generals case" data-observe-resizes="" data-original-height="1688" data-original-ratio="0.5626666666666666" data-original-width="3000" data-uri="cms.cnn.com/_components/image/instances/image-7eae3d95e6a4fba3d22af82f00fbb4bd@published" data-url="https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230825122102-01-syrian-generals-case.jpg?c=original" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(230, 230, 230); box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; margin: 24px 0px; padding-bottom: 8px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; width: 857px;"><span style="font-family: cnn_sans_display, helveticaneue, Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: auto;"><div class="image__container " data-breakpoints="{"image--eq-extra-small": 115, "image--eq-small": 300, "image--show-credits": 596}" data-image-variation="image" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; margin-bottom: auto; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"></div></span></span></div><p><br /></p></div>Dick Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17099184432893592991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744492967852246576.post-89501836218758791342023-10-15T16:24:00.001+01:002023-10-15T16:24:28.370+01:00Eye on Syria: Past, Present and Future Part 4<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aEJ56Hp9xuo" width="320" youtube-src-id="aEJ56Hp9xuo"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><p></p><span style="font-family: arial;"> <span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Celine Kasem</span>:<br /> <br /> ‘It’s so nice to see what’s happening in Sweida right now. Unfortunately, the régime is playing on this narrative that it’s protecting minorities, and because it’s a minority itself, it’s going to have minorities’ interests at heart. <br /> <br /> Right now, in 2023, they have been out for over a month and a bit, protesting every day, and they are saying the same chants that people went out with in 2011.<br /> <br /> They’re being very loud, and prominent, and it’s beautiful to see once again. All these people together, and when it first started, there were protests all around the country. This just proves again and again, that even after all these years, and how the international community has failed us over and over again - they’ve put us on the burner, nobody is really talking about Syria, nobody has that up on their agenda - but they’ve proved that the people even inside of régime-held Syria, that are in Sweida, that are in the coast, that are in Daraa; all of those people, all of that, do not want to live under this dictatorship. Do not want to live under these economic conditions that you are making $10 a month, you are making $15 a month, that simply cannot even get you groceries.<br /> <br /><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> The living conditions in the régime-held areas are beyond what anyone can describe. Then when we go to Idlib, it’s crazy, because we see all these people, trying with the normalisation that’s taking place, trying to paint Damascus as a beautiful, wonderful, party scene, and people are coming out and Damascus is back to safety, and you guys should come visit.<br /> <br /> But it’s not that, and the war is still happening, and people are still getting bombed every single day. SETF have an app called SyriaWatch, which you can download off the App Store, and you get updates of every single attack that takes place. And this last week has been busy for that team. Every couple of hours.<br /> <br /> There was a thing that happened with Homs, and now they are blaming it on the Northwest, and these groups, on these people of Idlib. And they’re bombing them, and over 40 people, 50 people, have passed away. Nobody is talking about it, unfortunately, so we need to be that voice. We need to be more and more, even if it’s on the back burner, even if no one is discussing this any more, we need be the ones to do this, and bring their voice to the rest of the world.<br /> <br /> So I hope that all of us can see what’s happening in Syria, and support it. And see what’s happening in Idlib, and be a witness to it.’<br /> <br /><br /> <br /> <span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Dr. Aula Abbara:</span><br /> <br /> ‘What’s remarkable about Sweida is that women are very much on the forefront of these protests and the organisation. I think, for us, it’s very important, because it doesn’t tie in to the narrative, that I often have with people external to Syria, who think women are silent. Whereas women are the strongest advocates, we just have to look at Celine, in particular, to know that.<br /> <br /> We have spoken about the northwest. It’s always important to remember, we’re not trying to fragment the country, but we need to be realistic when we talk about health systems, and the political determinants across the country. <br /><br /> The situation in the northeast of Syria is desperate. In areas under government control it is also desperate. I met doctors from Sulaymaniyah about a week ago, and they get in the region of thirty to forty dollars a month, and they don’t make it from week to week in order to feed their families.<br /> <br /> And many of us still have families in these areas, because they’re areas that were retaken by the government. And for us as Syrians, it is important to remember our shared humanity, and not to be divided; but, of course, never to forget the injustices that have occurred.'<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Dr. Mohammad al-Hadj Ali:</span><br /> <br /> ‘I’m optimistic by nature, but this is based on facts. Which is, the Syrian people, as we saw in Sweida, as we see in Idlib despite all calamities, despite all casualties, despite all of what happens there over years and years. After twelve years, we still see a strong, solid foundation for that hope, for that optimism.<br /> <br /> It is not a fake hope. When people dare to be out in the streets, thinking of our future, and thinking about a better Syria. We never knew that we’d be in the diaspora for a long time, and we’re going to miss our beloved people and family members, and all that stuff. But we still have the hope, that we’re going to rebuild it again.<br /> <br /><br /> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> All my hope, when I was resident at Aleppo University Hospital, and I was doing my specialty in diabetic endocrinology before I came here to do my PhD; all my hope, I was looking at a place in the campus of Aleppo University, which is very much close to Aleppo University Hospital. I’m reminded at that time, that there were three or four rooms, very much attached to the hospital, they’d had been occupied by the intelligence forces, over years. They’d been part of the hospital, taken over.<br /> <br /> My idea at that time, was that I would go back at some point, and establish what I’d call the Aleppo University Diabetes and Endocrinology Centre. So that was my dream. I don’t know why I pinpointed on that place, but I always thought, why they took it from the campus? There is no need for their existence in that place, among the civilians. <br /> <br /> And I thought, one day, even if I return to academia, I’ll return to see that place as a nice, academic place, research and for training people in diabetes and endocrinology. <br /> <br /><br /> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> I had an emotional chat last week, with my cousin. And I had to hide the fact from him, that when I came to the UK for the first time, I started reading everything forbidden inside Syria. I was in a city where there was no Syrian diaspora at all, I started my journey in Syria.<br /> <br /> And I came across a document, naming people who’d been killed in the Tadmor massacre, and buried alive. And that was the first story where they had the big bulldozers in the desert, buried them, and that was the story. And I spent nights looking through this story, done by the Syrian Human Rights Committee. I reached after 1500 names, the name of the husband of my auntie. <br /> <br /> I saw his name, and we’d always been told, that he’d disappeared, and he was taken, but nobody knew his fate. And every time we asked about his fate, they say, don’t ask about it, next time, don’t think about this name any more. Right, can we get a death certificate for him, because there’s inheritance to sort out here? No, we can’t give you a death certificate for him. Is he alive then? Nobody would answer that question. I know that fact.<br /> <br /> On one of my visits to Syria before the revolution, before I was banned then for protesting, I can’t go back until that régime falls; I say that to my mum and dad. Should I share that with my auntie, who passed away later? Should I share that with her? They said to me, if you say anything, it will be like a big trauma in the family. Just keep it quiet, and leave the woman alone.<br /> <br /> I had a chat with my cousin last week, and it was very emotional. I said to him, that’s the story, this is your dad, and that’s the details, after all the long period of time. He said to me, three months ago, I was in the middle of my sleep. I woke up with the nightmare, of my dad saying to me, why don’t you come to my grave in Tadmor, and make fatiha for me? Why don’t you come and visit my grave? <br /> <br /> I call my brother, and my brother say to me, this is ridiculous. They told us it’s a safe area, he’s somewhere else, and that was a fact. I say no, this is what has been documented ages ago.<br /> <br /> So I wanted to just go back to that trauma, and that flashback. Because in my conversation with him, he was a bit pessimistic. I said to him, look, the blood of your dad, won’t be wasted. And the blood of many of our people, won’t be wasted. And all those dead detainees won’t be wasted. I know the suffering, the struggle, of children, who are out of school, or are forced to be displaced to other countries; all that calamity and struggle won’t be wasted. <br /><br /> <br /><br /> There will be one day we will come for justice. And one day there will be accountability. And one day we will build a better future for Syria. Even if we are a diaspora now, this is our beloved country, and we will never leave Syria alone. We will always be attached to our beloved country, and we will continue, and this lovely audience tonight is a big push , and a big inspiration, that the march is going to continue, for a better future for Syria.’<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMVnGMwUNS9ULp8WMd58EKZeWVC4Ktxmhc6bDZQ-7EiNNjfoKFGfKNGajKcRj9NXjSFPZr4mZDaKsrk3a9sW5zwRncHHeufZBfCO6NTcKiHil_QgAO5LVpkhIEOxk26RT1x7vWfbT84_g8cYHWmwut9epk-bSuZdyUdOThS1ouO0aTmG8AioC56BpIAlxk/s1278/Screenshot%20(1478).png"><img border="0" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMVnGMwUNS9ULp8WMd58EKZeWVC4Ktxmhc6bDZQ-7EiNNjfoKFGfKNGajKcRj9NXjSFPZr4mZDaKsrk3a9sW5zwRncHHeufZBfCO6NTcKiHil_QgAO5LVpkhIEOxk26RT1x7vWfbT84_g8cYHWmwut9epk-bSuZdyUdOThS1ouO0aTmG8AioC56BpIAlxk/w200-h113/Screenshot%20(1478).png" width="200" /></a></span><br /></div>Dick Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17099184432893592991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744492967852246576.post-77169810547676052452023-10-15T11:02:00.000+01:002023-10-15T11:02:06.461+01:00Eye on Syria: Past, Present and Future Part 3<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OvZ2zBp1Hzk" width="320" youtube-src-id="OvZ2zBp1Hzk"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><p></p><span style="font-family: arial;"> <span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Ellie Nott:</span><br /> <br /> ‘He said, can I show you some pictures on my laptop. I said okay. He showed me photo after photo of extraordinary injuries that people were facing. There was one video in particular, that made me gasp out loud. It was of a baby being born by caesarean section, and the mother had been shot in the abdomen. Which I learned was an amusement of régime soldiers. They would choose a different body part each week to target, of the civilians who tried to get bread or reach the market.<br /> <br /> David showed me this video of an emergency caesarean. There was an awful moment when this baby came out in silence. And suddenly, the baby cried out. And tears came to my eyes. And I probably fell in love with David that day, and I probably fell in love with Syria that day. And since then, we’ve set up a foundation together. We’ve trained some 500 Syrian doctors, surgeons, anaesthetists, in the surgical skills they need to treat injuries inflicted by conflict.<br /> <br /> And there’s been a lot of conflict. And the health system has coped in such a remarkable way, that it’s really taken a toll on the healthcare workers who are trying valiantly to hold it up.<br /> <br /><br /> <br /> One of the amazing things about the Syrian revolution, is that it also gave a space for an extraordinary opening of civil society, and an amazing number of humanitarian organisations, and healthcare organisations as well, where doctors, and physicians, and pharmacists, work together to create extraordinary organisations, that have provided a health system, in areas where there has been no government for a decade. <br /><br /> And that’s something we’re really proud to support, and I’m also so delighted to see one of the surgeons that David operated with, side by side, as brothers, in Eastern Aleppo in 2013-14, here tonight. These are friendships that were forged in the most extraordinary circumstances, and we’re never going to let them go. And we’re here, with Syrian organisations, even after the large NGOs have lost interest, even after the multilateral institutions are lacking funds, we’ll be there for the long-term.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Celine Kasem:</span><br /> <br /> ‘If we go back to what inspired people go out and ask for such a low bar of human rights. And they went out with flowers, and water, in the first protests. And they were asking for freedom and their dignity, because there was simply over the last fifty years, none of what we in the rest of the world expect. <br /><br /> The very simple pleasures of, you in high school being able to write about a conflict somewhere around the world. You were not able to get good resources to be able to write about this. You were not able to ask questions as to why certain branches look like this, and why do they act like this. Why are there so many photos of this President, everybody that we know? It’s really interesting, because I was outside of Syria, and I would come and visit in the summer. <br /> <br /> You don’t realise this as a child, but then recently I was in Turkey with my family, and my baby sister asked, who is this? And I wonder if I asked that as a child, when I would go and visit. <br /> <br /><br /> </span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> It was simply a dictatorship, and we have a famous saying in Syria, that says “The wall’s listening”. Even if you were home, even if you have these private book clubs which my dad’s friends had in Syria, and they would meet up, and they would talk about a certain book that was banned in Syria. That was never allowed to be there. <br /><br /> But they were arrested. And they spent tens of years in prison. They were tortured, and their stories are just like all of the detainees stories.<br /> <br /> So they wanted just a simple, average life, that all us can be so privileged to live all around the world, under a non-dictatorship.'<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Dr. Mohammad al-Hadj Ali:</span><br /> <br /> ‘So, unfortunately over the last few years, if we look at the twelve year story; I’m sure everyone here has their own stories, their own problems, their family attachments, and all that stuff. So over twelve years, we can see a decreasing appetite towards supporting Syrian people. As Ellie said, even NGOs, they recently started dropping down their funding and support to Syrian people. People are fed up with their story, and it’s a dictatorship, and Russia intervened in this story, and there’s no hope at all.<br /> <br /> Until the earthquake came. And came to the story. And I believe it was not only shaking the Earth to destroy and damage the infrastructure and the buildings in part of Syrian territory, but it shaped the whole situation around politics around Syria. When the time, people were talking about normalisation with Assad régime. There’s no way we can bring them back to justice, and accountability, and all that stuff. <br /> <br /> So, the best way is to normalise with Assad, and forget about all these stories, and the earthquake came. It came, actually, to revive the rights of all those being detained, and all those being killed, and all those being forced to be displaced. And all refugees, it was a shake, not only for the Earth, but I believe, in the politics around Syria as well.<br /> <br /><br /> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> And unfortunately, eight thousand people died, in the northern part of Syria, and some parts of Syria under régime control as well. But if we look at the overall situation in Syria, the economic situation, in the areas under régime control, in northwest Syria, in northeast Syria, in Rukban camp where Syrian Emergency Task Force takes fantastic job to break the siege there; if we look at all these fragments of our beloved Syria, the situation is not that great. <br /> <br /> But, to be honest, I remain an optimist, and I say, that if we are not under barbaric attacks, from airstrikes from Russian side or régime side, then the other parts of Syria will flourish very quickly. Because we have the will of Syrian people. We have the desire for a better Syria, and a future which is rosy for the Syrian people. <br /><br /> <br /><br /> What I want to say, unfortunately, when we talk at the present moment about Syria, and what’s happening in the region as well, not only in Syria; it’s sort of the dynamics in the region, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Iraq: all that stuff unfortunately influences Syria. Even Turkey, the internal politics inside Turkey, very much affecting Syrian people there, and refugees there.<br /> <br /> I would describe the moment at the present time in Syria, that this régime changed Syria, from what we call the land of civilisations. All ancient civilisations started there, in Syria. And now, it’s from the land of ancient civilisations, to the land and the country and the state of Captagon, and the drugs. This is unfortunately, when you see a country and régime, failing to control the country, in their own way, they have to become a state of drugs. And they have to shift the country from a place, to another place. <br /><br /> <br /><br /> So this is how I describe the moment here, we are stuck under the dynamics of the region, the régime wanted to label the country as a country and as a state of drugs. They want to put pressure on other countries and our world as well, to follow their own agenda. <br /><br /> Hopefully there is time to talk about the Syrian way. The airstrikes may break more infrastructure, streets, country, buildings, all that stuff. But it will never break the Syrian way, and the Syrian human beings, and the free people. And those who have the real desire to change Syria from a place to another place, they wanted a land and a state of narcotics and drugs, and we want Syria to be back again as the land of civilisation.'<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Dr. Aula Abbara:</span><br /> <br /> ‘This issue of Captagon, and I’m sure many of you are following it, is based on Fenethylline, which is an amphetamine-based narcotic. We are talking a multi-billion dollar industry, that essentially is continuing to fund the conflict in Syria, the weaponry in Syria. But also because of the spillover into the region, is also making other countries stand up and notice, and so it’s a very frightening development. I can tell you many anecdotes of factory owners being forced to produce this drug, and feeling that they had no choice. They may have been loyalists, but have now had to leave, because of the threats to their lives, and that of their loved ones.’ <br /><br /> <br /><br /> <span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Ellie Nott:</span><br /> <br /> ‘I remember the first conference I went to in Gazientep in 2014, and it felt like a Ministry of Health in waiting. There were data analysts, people from Yale, people from Harvard, it felt like a shadow Health Ministry. I found it extraordinary, the idea of governments where there is no government. So often we’re fed a picture in the media of failed states. If there is conflict, people are helpless victims, everything has collapsed, no life as we know it is carrying on.<br /> <br /> That’s not the case, and I find, not to denigrate the huge challenges and struggles that exist, there’s a huge amount of industry, of agency, of people working together supporting their communities, and grounding some of these things, like human rights and democracy. <br /><br /> <br /><br /> The Idlib Health Directorate, which is an extraordinary body, which was dreamed up in someone’s sitting room earlier in the conflict; that’s a body that co-ordinates health governance across the northwest of Syria. And it’s amazing. Just small things, which might seem small if you’ve lived in Britain all your life, but they have elections to their boards. And at the end of someone’s term, that person steps down, and they have a new election.<br /> <br /> For Syria, that’s very revolutionary. It really is. So there’s this idea of the micro-level of democracy, democratic practices, and the idea of health care workers as advocates, and voices, for human rights. I think that’s especially powerful in the siege, and forced displacement, from eastern Aleppo. Especially in 2016, when healthcare workers were the most articulate voices calling for a stop to the barbarity of what was happening there.<br /> <br /> A point on Idlib at the moment, I had a very dear friend who got back last Friday, from being in Idlib. He said as soon as he left, he had a sense of peacefulness. He was training doctors, obstetricians, gynaecologists, to do a cervical screening programme. And he said that kind of work, was now having the space to take place. <br /> <br /> And how quickly that changes. Between the 4th and the 8th of October, I think 52 people have been killed, 11 of whom are children, another 246 injured, dozens of facilities damaged including four hospitals. It’s just a reminder that the northwest is so vulnerable. And the predations of the régime and its Russian allies, we just have to keep talking about it, there’s no other way.’ <br /><br /> <br /><br /> <span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Dr. Aula Abbara:</span><br /> <br /> ‘Having observed the evolution of the health system, particularly in the northwest of Syria, but also comparing it to what’s happened in the northeast of Syria, and the areas under government control, we can see the resilience, determination and imagination of the healthcare workers, and leaders within healthcare, in the northwest of Syria.<br /> <br /> It always amuses me how challenging it is for international organisations to work with Syria. Because Syria, before the conflict, had a functioning health system: not perfect, but functioning. Far more so than many of the other conflict-affected countries around the world. And the international humanitarian organisations are not used to this. They want to dictate across the border.<br /> <br /> I hate figures, because behind every figure there’s a human, but at least 950 healthcare workers have been killed in the course of their work, let alone secondarily, let alone those detained, let alone those tortured, or forced from their homes.’ <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeq9BKPBkoKJjiT5f9KnY-JNc6b_mcEAojF4eWbfaqokF3B7hVVGT3JWd6TGWpbk_llhOJyuuRHGNeLo-AAmBgwpLpOfGCnL_O_BkhrRD-svutz1fTBPZ33umDnFPZIv32TcsqpgKcgD6d18sLB53mf-JBakiAcAdO6Mr0BtQqTdD0Lv6POh67D-j0VgJK/s1280/Screenshot%20(1477).png"><img border="0" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeq9BKPBkoKJjiT5f9KnY-JNc6b_mcEAojF4eWbfaqokF3B7hVVGT3JWd6TGWpbk_llhOJyuuRHGNeLo-AAmBgwpLpOfGCnL_O_BkhrRD-svutz1fTBPZ33umDnFPZIv32TcsqpgKcgD6d18sLB53mf-JBakiAcAdO6Mr0BtQqTdD0Lv6POh67D-j0VgJK/w200-h113/Screenshot%20(1477).png" width="200" /></a></span></div>Dick Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17099184432893592991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744492967852246576.post-3996686637488449542023-10-13T12:34:00.000+01:002023-10-13T12:34:31.802+01:00Eye on Syria: Past, Present and Future Part 2<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Qr0n2S-zx98" width="320" youtube-src-id="Qr0n2S-zx98"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><span style="font-family: arial;"> <span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Omar al-Shogre: </span><br /> <br /> ‘We have the guy who was operating the machine to open the graves, and he also is with us here today.’</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /> <br /> <span style="color: red; font-size: large;">The Bulldozer Driver:</span><br /> <br /> ‘I was tasked by the régime for one year to prepare the graves of innocent people, and I did that, it wasn’t optional, I couldn’t do anything about it, I would have died if I didn’t do it. Every single day we used to bury over 400 people on a daily basis, so over one year, I had to witness, and open the grave with my bulldozer, for over a hundred thousand people, myself with the people that are involved, who are recruited by the régime. And that is proof, unfortunately, it is still happening today.<br /> <br /> The régime is still running its detention centres, which are more like torture chambers. And people are being arrested on a daily basis, people are being killed on a daily basis, and here comes our responsibility. <br /><br /> I want you to understand that the régime is not going to stop its brutality, and your involvement is very necessary. Those people that are being killed on a daily basis are humans. Humans that deserve your attention. Humans that look like you. Regardless of where you’re from, they look just like you. They have lives, they have stories, they have families. <br /><br /> And therefore I will stand before you today, telling you that you need to be involved, you need to care, you need to talk to politicians, you need to make actions, you need to have consistency, so that we at some point can reach not only freedom, but justice for the Syrian people and the Syrian victims.’</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><br /> <span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Omar al-Shogre:</span><br /> <br /> ‘It is very sad that we have to discover more of Caesar, more of Gravedigger; but Syria is full of Caesars and Gravediggers. And Omars, and we will suffer for years. And it’s enough to suffer for one hour, under the régime, to start a revolution. <br /> <br /> A lot of people ask that question, maybe it is better if you didn’t start anything. No, that’s not true. You life is not more important than that person who has been arrested since 1982, being tortured on a daily basis. Why would he be there? He is innocent. For one person, for one individual, we should start a revolution. Because this is not about the one individual, this is about the life of a human being. If the régime doesn’t have respect for one life of a human being, the régime should never exist.<br /> <br /> How much do we sacrifice to get freedom from that régime? Doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter. Because if the régime is able to dehumanise one person, they will dehumanise the rest. If they can kill one person without your opposition, they can kill the rest. <br /><br /> <br /><br /> Back to the darkness, the worse it gets, the more likely you are to find hope in there. I know that the régime’s trying to sell a narrative where there is no change, no life. Oh, Russia is with me, China is with me, the US is with nothing, it wants to do nothing. That’s the narrative of the Syrian régime. Don’t spread that. There are enough people that care. We just need to organise our forces, come together, try to find creative ways of helping. <br /><br /> That creative way, I like to say, is by doing something you like doing. I used to say, I hate writing. So I don’t write an article to bring awareness about Syria. Guess why? Because I hate writing, you wouldn’t like my article, it would suck. It could be so bad. But there’s something I love doing, that I can usefully do. I love public speaking, so I can deliver twenty speeches a day, not being tired. I know that the revolution in Syria won’t end today. Even if the régime falls tomorrow, we will still need to work a lot. And I keep still using the things that I love the most, which is public speaking in this case. And I wouldn’t get tired of it. I can be consistent, and I can bring awareness of what’s happening for a very long time.<br /> <br /> And I want you to think about the thing that you enjoy doing. What is your power? And what cause do you care about? It could be Syria, for others it could be Afghanistan. It could be you here in your community in London. Think about the thing that you’re most talented in doing. And what’s the cause you care about. And how do you combine that. How can you organise something you love doing? That thing, is what’s going to help you survive, what’s going to help you receive that trust from those that surround you.<br /> <br /><br /> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> For me, it was in that tiny cell, that it all started. I started to learn things that were useful, I started to enjoy teaching people things. And there, I used that on a daily basis to save lives. In your scenario, it could be something else. It could be math, it could be physics. It could be games, it could be art. It could be anything, anything you do in your life, could be useful work. And if you can’t find a way with your thoughts, ask ChatGPT. How can I use my talents to bring awareness about Syria? You would be surprised how many ways you would find, from ChatGPT, Google, any AI or non-AI platforms; there are many ways of doing something.<br /> <br /> Most importantly, the worst thing you can do, is not doing anything. The worst thing you can do is think, huh, there’s nothing that can be done. You will be helping the régime killing more people. If you haven’t seen the Caesar photos, you should go by the exhibition. <br /><br /> <br /><br /> The régime is killing people on a daily basis. Those people have stories. Those people had love stories like mine. And they ended up, maybe married to the girl they love. The girl I love, when I get out of prison, she called me. I would have loved that call, for a few minutes. Before she started talking about her engagement party. It is the anniversary of our story of love, and now they are just dead. We don’t want that to happen to other people. If you don’t want it for you and your beloved ones, you shouldn’t accept it for other people.<br /> <br /> And not accepting it is not just a thought. It’s not just a word you say. An action you take. We want you today, before you leave this room, to think about an action. Come, discuss it with us in person. There’s another panel coming after me, and I’ll be outside, waiting for you. All of you. Come and shake our hands, and ask us a couple of questions. We would like you engaged, involved. Thank-you very much.’ <br /><br /><br /><br /> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> <span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Dr. Mohammad al-Hadj Ali:</span><br /> <br /> ‘We started this story twelve years ago, exactly with any man like Omar al-Shogre. When we lived our life, and were thinking about our future. And we were thinking of building Syria again, in the next decade, in a better shape.<br /> <br /> And this was when we were looking at other countries as well. But in fact, the picture was not that rosy when the Arab Spring started, and then Syrian people dared to go to the streets. Just thinking about a better future for everyone in that country. And that was the biggest crime we did, in a country being dictated over decades. <br /><br /> This is what we did actually, in 2011. Just dreaming was a big problem, in a country that had been dictated over decades by the same family. Our people dared there, to think about just expansion of human rights, improving their rights, and thinking about employment, opportunities, and freedom as well. Just a little word, freedom, written on walls by schoolchildren, the whole story started. <br /><br /> <br /><br /> From peaceful demonstrations, that have always been proscribed in Syria, to a full-scale war launched by whom? By the government, on its own civilians, its own people. As Omar said, when he saw the soldiers, this is the army, this is our army. These are the police officers who are meant to be protecting us, working for us, and working for security, of this country, and its own people. <br /><br /> In fact, the story, it’s completely different. These forces, and that army, is to protect a family, and to protect a ruler, and to protect a dictatorship. And it’s never been meant, to protect their own people. <br /> <br /> I had to hear, unfortunately, two witnesses, and eyewitnesses. And when I looked at the figures today, I just tried to refresh the figures in my mind again, about those who have been refugees, or forced to be displaced, or those who have been detained, or those who have been lost.<br /> <br /> In my beloved country, it’s shocking. Because the estimation is always higher than what’s been documented, or what you can see by Google. We talk about more than 50% of the population of my country, now they are refugees, or internally displaced. More than seven million people internally displaced, inside Syria. More than six million people in the neighbouring countries, and more and more in diaspora.<br /> <br /> So these are the figures of refugees. If we look at the figures of those who are detained, we talk about more than half a million people lost their lives there, just because they talk about freedom, and they protested. <br /><br /> <br /><br /> But the reality, if one day all the facts come in, from bulldozer drivers, not driver, and gravediggers, we’ll listen to more shocking figures. We believe that the figure is higher and higher, than what has been documented there. So we talk about a high figure of those who have been detained. I want to talk about the 140,000 people being detained. In reality the figure is much more higher. <br /><br /> When we talk about figures over twelve years, the country now, it’s being unfortunately under four regions, with four different authorities. I would like to talk about always one united Syria. And our perspective is for all united Syria, for all our population. So we talk about the half of the population refugees, internally displaced; and we talk about, by some estimations, nearly one million people being killed, and announced dead, and talk about hundreds of thousands of people being detained.’<br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5C53uU9mqmmFLa3aS6jOdTYv0IXFEeIcELOY1JStZL5_tXJvwPtio2fELj4MuZEr6MUxFMPy1qhQTedtVh9vEQTie9ECYVlWkoesQnqEN0tdcGNg2cpL7ZXrL107zfIoSNqeAowEszS0osuf44oDIla35_axaJL5TNhtjVH5iA3vfFSnyomWGrWLb-S3-/s1280/Screenshot%20(1473).png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5C53uU9mqmmFLa3aS6jOdTYv0IXFEeIcELOY1JStZL5_tXJvwPtio2fELj4MuZEr6MUxFMPy1qhQTedtVh9vEQTie9ECYVlWkoesQnqEN0tdcGNg2cpL7ZXrL107zfIoSNqeAowEszS0osuf44oDIla35_axaJL5TNhtjVH5iA3vfFSnyomWGrWLb-S3-/w200-h125/Screenshot%20(1473).png" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p></div>Dick Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17099184432893592991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744492967852246576.post-12028099715527626022023-10-11T14:58:00.014+01:002023-11-01T12:06:37.117+00:00Eye on Syria: Past, Present and Future Part 1<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7PwrSGCPb6w" width="320" youtube-src-id="7PwrSGCPb6w"></iframe></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: red; font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Omar al-Shogre:</span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /> ‘I was madly in love. I could do nothing but think about her. I could do nothing but imagine. I could do nothing, but every thought was around how she is, how she looks, what she does. All of that, all the time, non-stop. <br /><br /> But I was that very shy guy. I would never dare to look at her in the eye, I would never dare to tell a girl that I love her. But I was tired of that. Especially because she was sat in the seat in front of me for two years in a row. So I can’t breathe without seeing her. All the time, six hours a day, in the classroom. And I was very challenging. But I was so shy. <br /> <br /> I would find tricks. I would come to the exam without a pen. So the teacher would give us the paper to write the answers, and I said I didn’t have a pen. So she turns around, to give me a pen. And I would write the answers with hers, and I would keep the pen in my hand. And I wouldn’t give it back. So she would come to me, and say, “Hey, can you give me the pen?” So I could see her, looking me in the eyes. <br /><br /> But every time she would come to me, I wouldn’t know what to do, hide behind my finger. I was so nervous, so shy a guy, as a little boy. At some point I decided, this cannot go on. I need to have a revolution in my life. I need to dare; to do something that is so important to me.<br /> <br /><br /> </span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> So I decided, to take a pen, and paper, and write the first letter of love, in my life. And I take it, and I think, and I think, for hours and hours, what should the first letter say? Is it a poem, is it a painting, what should it be? <br /><br /> So with the paper, and pen, I came with the most brilliant idea. I wrote the first letter of my name, O, and the first letter of her name, H, and a heart in the middle. And I filled it with red. And I folded it, and put it in my pocket, next to my heart. And I go to school, and during the break, I sneak into the room, and put it on her chair.<br /> <br /> And then, when everyone comes back from the break, I go to the corner of the room. I don’t want to be too close when she falls in love. I stand here, and I see her coming in with her friends. You need to understand how beautiful she is, how funny she is, how strong, so many things. And the way she walks, like a queen. Like she doesn’t care, her shoulders to the back, saying hey it’s me. She walks, and with every step, my heart is just beating faster. <br /> <br /> And she comes in, and she sees that note. She takes the note, and she opens it up, and she reads it. Doesn’t take a long time to read it. She holds it in both hands. She’s imagining how much she should love me. And she is walking, and walking, with the note in one hand, and next to the door, there is a trash can. My heart was put in a trash can.<br /> <br /><br /> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> I can’t stand sitting behind her all these hours after that moment. It’s only the first trick. I go home, and I’m so upset, so angry. I don’t know what to do. I walk to the door, my mum calls on me; no, I’m studying. I sit in the corner, I want to cry, I’d rather not do anything else. And in the darkest moment, hope comes. How would she know it’s me? You know, there are seven Omars in the classroom. How would she know it’s me. So I decided, to have that brilliant idea. I take the pen, and the paper, and write her a letter. O, H, and a heart in the middle, and put some glitter on it, and my perfume. <br /> <br /> And I drop it, she comes in, and she takes the note. She’ll know it’s me, it’s my perfume. It’s very cheap, I always use it. She’ll know it’s me. She opens it up, holding the note in both hands, Walks, My heart is about to pop with that attention. No, it goes in the trash, That monster, she never cared. <br /> <br /> I go home. I’m so sad. I don’t know what to do. That was the most important thing that was happening in my life. What, you think school was important? No! The only reason school was important was because of her. There was nothing else relevant, importantly relevant, in my life; except that love, that good feeling I had. And in the darkest moments, hope comes along.<br /> <br /> What girl would want in her purse, a note that’s so guy perfumed, that she’s going to smell like it now? Of course she doesn’t want that in her purse. So I come up with a brilliant idea to write her a letter. So I put O, H, a heart in the middle. I colour it red, put glitter on. I go to my mum, can I use your perfume? I go to my sister, can I use your perfume? M other sister, can I get your perfume? My third sister, I have four sisters, my aunt, my neighbour, any female perfume; and I perfumed it so much, and take it the day after. <br /> <br /><br /> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> This is it, I’m going to make it. I put it there, she’s coming in from the break, and I have had my heart broken so many times, that I see images playing faster than the reality. I see her picking it up, walking to the trash and throwing it, faster than the reality. And she comes in, takes the note, and she opens the note. And this note smells so much of perfume, it can kill the whole classroom.<br /> <br /> She opens the note, the glitter’s dropping, and she is walking. My heartbeat is racing, oh so bad, and she’s walking next to the door. She gets to the door, she puts it in her pocket, and she walks out. And I knew she was in love, severely in love. She could do nothing without me any more. And I could not be happy. I could not sit. I would raise my hand to any question the teacher asked. I just wanted to be visible. I’d go home, “Mom, can I clean, wash dishes?” I’d do anything. I was so excited.<br /> <br /><br /> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> That excitement ended a few days later. When I was off to the first protest, for the first time in my life. I see the police standing, in front of a crowd of people, with their guns, aiming in the faces. I didn’t know what was going to happen. Are they going to shoot, or not? Those are the police the military, of my country, they are my people.<br /> <br /> And in the middle of your thoughts, your questioning; Boom! Boom! And they start shooting people. People die. For the first time in my life, I see people dying, blood. Not random people, people I didn’t know, my friend was dying. Before calling on me to run away, Omar run away, but I didn’t run away, I froze in my place. I didn’t know what to do.<br /> <br /> And they took me to prison from there. And they tortured me. And they tried to break me, not only physically, but mentally. To disconnect you from humanity. They see you in pain, but to make sure you are in mental pain, they would force me to torture my favourite person in the world, my cousin. They forced him to torture me, so we would lose our humanity. To lose our love for anything.<br /><br /> <br /><br /> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> But in that dark cell, I would sit; and although it was terrible, it was sad, it was dark, it was annoying, it was hateful, I was starved; I would have a lot of good moments to think about something beautiful. One month, two months, three months, I was holding images in my head, like a school time, like going to school every day. I would try to remember our home town, I would remember her, sitting behind her, the first time she opened a letter. The first time she threw it in the trash. All these things that were painful, it was beautiful, because it was outside.<br /> <br /> And half a year later I couldn’t see her any more. I couldn’t reconstruct her image in my head any more. I was starved, I was in pain. The only thing I see are people dying. I never seen anyone get out. And I start to lose memories; not only her, but my family. And you start to disconnect from any life outside the prison cell. <br /><br /> <br /><br /> That was fantastic. Because, sitting in a cell, even though its painful and terrible, and sitting in a pose like this is so tiring; you are not surrounded by walls, you are surrounded by other prisoners, a human wall. Those prisoners, none of them are criminals. Those people are well-educated, the top people of your country. They were arrested for that reason, because they are so good, the régime needs to get rid of them. <br /> <br /> Next to me sits a prisoner, who was a doctor. The other side, a psychologist. In front of me, he’s a lawyer. There’s an engineer. What do you think the doctor’s talking to me about? How to survive physically. What does the psychologist talk to me about? How to survive mentally. What do you think the lawyer talks about? Human rights. How we construct a mechanism so we don’t kill each other because it’s starvation, steal each other’s food. <br /><br /> So everyone was using what they had done in their life, to build a system, so we could survive. Teach the people round them something useful. So instead of being that little boy, seventeen years old in prison, I had no function in life, except for that love I had; suddenly I’m sitting in the darkest place you could ever imagine, and sometimes when it’s the darkest, that’s when it’s easiest to have hope.<br /> <br /> So I would learn everything they teach me. Those people will die, because when a doctor’s sixty years old, and they break his arm or leg, he will die. He won’t heal, because he’s being tortured every day. I could heal faster, and they will teach me everything, because they wanted their legacy to stay alive. They invested in me all the time, because I could physically survive much longer because I was much younger. I heal faster. And the doctor would teach me, and make sure the other prisoner whose arm is broken, I could help them. And the one who is mentally suffering, I have learned so many techniques; I have processed my trauma on a daily basis, I have talked about it. I have managed to find ways to succeed my trauma with a reward. For me, pain was a state with something good I would receive after it, so it would minimise the impact, the pain, that comes out of it, of the torture. And I could teach that to other people.<br /> <br /><br /> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> That gave me a function, in my life, for the first time. Something useful to do, something important, I was saving lives. When you save life, do you think you feel good about that or not? I was saving so many lives on a daily basis. I was loving my life. I wasn’t loving torture, of course not. But I was used to it, two years later, being tortured on a daily basis, what do you think? You get used to it. Your body is capable of getting used to pain. You can try it yourself, hit your hand fifty times. It hurts the first thirty times. But then you get numb to it. Physically and mentally, over time. So I get numb from that perspective, and I invest in time, because people have decided to invest in me.<br /> <br /> And that’s the power of caring about each other. You cannot survive on your own. In prison, you don’t survive because you are strong. You don’t at all. You survive because you have people around you to protect you when you are at your weakest. Someone to fight for your food when you can’t fight for your own food. Someone to feed you when you feel like you can’t eat. Someone to kick you when you do the wrong thing. That is the only reason you will survive.<br /> <br /> That doesn’t only apply to prison. That applies everywhere. If you don’t have a community of people around you you trust, you have nothing. You wouldn’t survive to have a good life. So that’s the most important thing we’re going to have. And that’s what we try to create for everyone coming out of Syria. Everyone who’s trying to be a witness, everyone who’s trying to bring awareness of suffering. Everyone who’s suffering, coming out trying to share their story. We decided, the Syrian Emergency Task Force, to protect them. To make them trust us. They’re in a safe place, they can share their story, in a way that fits them, their profile, their experiences.<br /> <br /> Not everyone can come publicly the way I do. There’s a risk you take, and some people can not take risks the way I can. If Syria, we’ve had multiple people come out with a lot of evidence, strong evidence. We’ve had evidence of mass graves in Syria. Caesar you’ve already heard of, but also we have the Gravedigger, who was part of the mechanism the régime built to massacre hundreds of thousands of people. And today we have him with us. I want him to say some words in my ear, to say to you, because you’re not allowed to hear his voice for safety reasons.’<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"> The Gravedigger: </span><br /> <br /> ‘I was tasked and forced to work for the régime for eight years, opening mass graves, and burying innocent people that had been killed under torture, under starvation, and shot outside in the street for protesting by the Syrian régime; and this eight years, if you listen to the courts who worked out these cases, there are over a million people who have been buried, and that’s just the simple estimates of the brutality of this régime.<br /> <br /> And for eight years, I was not allowed to have a vacation. Because of my family, I could not have a break even for a single day. And every time they brought a truck of dead bodies, a fridge of dead bodies, the régime would give me a list. The list would have the name, the number of dead bodies, the branches, the prisons they were coming from, and the numbers were usually higher than the official numbers. So they would give you 250 on the paper, sometimes it would be 400 people.<br /> <br /> Just like the ones who were alive who were treated with the most brutality, the Syrian régime has even treated the dead body, the corpse, with that brutality. You’re not allowed to show any mercy with those dead bodies when you bring them, you have to throw them in that big hole that you made. Because they wanted to remove any connection between this dead body, and their story, and their life.<br /> <br /> The régime has been an expert in forced disappearance. Including children, who are three months or three years old. And during my time there, I was responsible for burying the bodies of kids who were just a few months old.<br /> <br /> They used to bring children to that location of the mass graves. The children had torture marks, just like the adults. In addition, some of them, their skeleton would be destroyed just by jumping on it with the military shoes of the soldiers.<br /> <br /> I started in 2011, and managed to escape in 2018, and still the régime is creating these crimes.’ </span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEixH_8CrGYeDEWgMT6q9X7Y9jlBmtwEhy_kqF4Gka4PADneUd-z2YSeYmL5wxk1AHhC0bxe4Iulp90VoCSZfcyA3WXIAW3R1SLsn7_jYi2YX4-DYI6-OWiCZj4svAMS_pZrLA3ZlIV0DqaxfgS8DWJugPT667qPCHVdMiZjsrNKj9dipo2AQ32hoB_HEZrp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEixH_8CrGYeDEWgMT6q9X7Y9jlBmtwEhy_kqF4Gka4PADneUd-z2YSeYmL5wxk1AHhC0bxe4Iulp90VoCSZfcyA3WXIAW3R1SLsn7_jYi2YX4-DYI6-OWiCZj4svAMS_pZrLA3ZlIV0DqaxfgS8DWJugPT667qPCHVdMiZjsrNKj9dipo2AQ32hoB_HEZrp=w200-h113" width="200" /></a></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />Dick Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17099184432893592991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744492967852246576.post-14229846168161183582023-10-03T09:55:00.001+01:002023-10-03T09:55:28.601+01:00'Left to die': Report exposes horrors at Syria army hospital<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgJBTOV-BPZcI_0cSKrBMWgxAXFFqoPwziLujW2GaRq6dkCMr2W8Hpg5Hy39FxsLnL2547IRY5MOgfsROSpsFHKID-qCJaZfivj3cbLpDGcl7Z7FID_ydxWK0GNSJ45XY2ZT_Tescpxc5OBLyvYLbLGoYf9SK4HsAmml-hdEuuj85pbfuJe7MHm0eF-JvPw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="666" data-original-width="1000" height="331" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgJBTOV-BPZcI_0cSKrBMWgxAXFFqoPwziLujW2GaRq6dkCMr2W8Hpg5Hy39FxsLnL2547IRY5MOgfsROSpsFHKID-qCJaZfivj3cbLpDGcl7Z7FID_ydxWK0GNSJ45XY2ZT_Tescpxc5OBLyvYLbLGoYf9SK4HsAmml-hdEuuj85pbfuJe7MHm0eF-JvPw=w497-h331" width="497" /></a></p><span style="font-family: arial;"> '<a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/10/03/world/report-syria-army-hospital/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Syrian authorities abused</span></a> and left detainees to die at a Damascus military hospital, using the facility to cover up the torture of prisoners, a rights group and former detainees said.<br /><br /> Sick prisoners sent from detention facilities to the capital's Tishreen Military Hospital for treatment rarely received any medical attention, according to a report released Tuesday by the Association of Detainees and the Missing in Sednaya Prison (ADMSP), a Turkey-based watchdog.<br /><br /> Instead, security forces at the hospital jail and even medical and administrative staff inflicted "brutal torture" on detainees, including physical and psychological violence, according to the report titled "Buried in Silence".<br /><br /> It covers abuses from the start of Syria's war in 2011 to 2020, but the authors said they believe many of the practices persist today. <br /><br /><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> Abu Hamza, 43, said he was taken to the jail at the Tishreen hospital three times during his incarceration, but only saw a doctor once.<br /><br /> "Prisoners were afraid to go to the hospital, because many did not return," said Abu Hamza, who was jailed for seven years, including at the notorious Sednaya prison on the Damascus outskirts.<br /><br /> "Those who were very sick would be left to die in the hospital lockup," said Abu Hamza, who like others used first names or pseudonyms for fear of reprisals.<br /><br /> "If we could walk, we'd be sent back to prison," he added.<br /><br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> ADMSP was founded by former detainees held in Sednaya, Syria's largest jail which has become a by-word for torture and the darkest abuses of the régime.<br /><br /> In a report last year the group described Sednaya's "salt rooms," primitive mortuaries designed to preserve bodies.<br /><br /> The latest ADMSP report is based on interviews with 32 people including former detainees, security personnel and medical staff, as well as leaked documents.<br /><br /> Rights groups have long accused President Bashar al-Assad's government of torturing detainees and executing prisoners without fair trials.<br /><br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> In 2011, Syrian government forces cracked down on peaceful protesters, triggering a complex war that has left more than 500,000 dead and forced millions to flee.<br /><br /> Up to one-fifth of that toll died in government-run prisons.<br /><br /> Some of the horrific images of dead Syrians smuggled out by "Caesar," a defector who had worked as a photographer for the military police, were shot inside Tishreen hospital, according to human rights groups.<br /><br /><br /><br /> Abu Hamza said guards at the hospital prison "once barged in and ordered us to lie on the ground," beating them for 15 minutes before leaving.<br /><br /> According to the ADMSP report, inmates who died in custody from torture or poor conditions, particularly at Sednaya, were taken to the Tishreen hospital and then to "mass graves" near the capital.<br /><br /> Inmates arriving at the hospital were first held "in the same room where bodies of detainees were collected," and sick detainees were forced to help transport prisoners' corpses, the report said.<br /><br /> Abu Hamza said he was made to toil for hours, barefoot and in the bitter cold, loading bodies into a vehicle at Sednaya prison and then offloading them at Tishreen hospital near its jail.<br /><br /> There, security forces wrote a number on the corpse or on a piece of paper. A photographer would then take pictures of the dead. <br /><br /> The ADMSP report said no autopsies were conducted and the hospital issued "death certificates with false information," often citing heart attack, kidney failure or stroke as the cause of death.<br /><br /> Sometimes inmates "between life and death" were placed among the corpses and left to die or even killed, according to the report.<br /><br /> Abu Hamza recalled a detainee who was "fighting for his life" in the hospital jail.<br /><br /> "They did not bring a doctor. Instead, they put him aside, among the corpses. They left him to die," he said.<br /><br /> The report said a jail officer would sometimes kill very sick detainees, or prisoners would be ordered to take part in doing so.<br /><br /><br /><br /> Tishreen hospital plays a "central role in enforced disappearances, covering up torture, falsifying the causes of death" and other abuses amounting to "crimes against humanity," said ADMSP co-founder Diab Serriya.<br /><br /> "What happens inside Tishreen hospital and other military hospitals is a systematic policy" adopted by the authorities, he added.<br /><br /> A Syrian doctor is currently on trial in Germany accused of torture, murder and crimes against humanity while working in military hospitals in his homeland.<br /><br /> Lawsuits have been filed elsewhere in Europe, as well as the United States and at the International Court of Justice, against the Syrian government and officials on accusations of torture.<br /><br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> Mahmud was only 16 when he was jailed in 2014 and sent to Tishreen hospital, where he said other detainees beat him severely.<br /><br /> "They held me to the ground, stepped on me and covered my mouth … [until] I passed out," he said.<br /><br /> "I woke up a short time later and found myself among corpses in the corner of the cell," Mahmud said, adding he was taken back to Sednaya prison without receiving any medical attention.<br /><br /> During the rest of his time in detention, he was too scared to visit a doctor, despite contracting tuberculosis.<br /><br /> "I could no longer chew food at one point, but I didn't tell anyone so they wouldn't take me back to Tishreen hospital," Mahmud said.'<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEho4BkDiMXg9g3KZbEzo0takXVnsXZ8-GcbLOB4iiMnGSokJKjDAs_c3-dtE_JnDEV_4Lpdh3kciyYuh52m0tCPyTQVHJVIR8BJz4OshqxN36unIzl5nqQvUcg30lNjH5HYYOxkWylIVl92DT20gxYLOaRFJlBKdg3yYi9gOfiaB07vy_cmklLAKkXRJHYG"><img height="104" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEho4BkDiMXg9g3KZbEzo0takXVnsXZ8-GcbLOB4iiMnGSokJKjDAs_c3-dtE_JnDEV_4Lpdh3kciyYuh52m0tCPyTQVHJVIR8BJz4OshqxN36unIzl5nqQvUcg30lNjH5HYYOxkWylIVl92DT20gxYLOaRFJlBKdg3yYi9gOfiaB07vy_cmklLAKkXRJHYG=w200-h104" width="200" /></a></span></div>Dick Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17099184432893592991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744492967852246576.post-25368435304271524992023-09-11T10:58:00.000+01:002023-09-11T10:58:47.575+01:00Syrian Economy Continues to Spiral Toward Collapse<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiSmWBj9_ZytPsACBE03i_cPpkS3LvzbCQBMWGcJHWwbzINE-3P9KwchVx34yfbSyhaCRNI7YC5puS0SQhJLJlIBcxFDs5VYwUGBUJQnHp9FsXBhHUE2lRMo0sKyUDxuaaSJ--sqw_Q8DC--xWse4epARDSr3gDQwi0-76W_-gjEJfhbj5Q6YpiGK9hB34c" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiSmWBj9_ZytPsACBE03i_cPpkS3LvzbCQBMWGcJHWwbzINE-3P9KwchVx34yfbSyhaCRNI7YC5puS0SQhJLJlIBcxFDs5VYwUGBUJQnHp9FsXBhHUE2lRMo0sKyUDxuaaSJ--sqw_Q8DC--xWse4epARDSr3gDQwi0-76W_-gjEJfhbj5Q6YpiGK9hB34c=w559-h312" width="559" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><span style="font-family: arial;"> '<a href="https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/assad-s-criminal-conglomerate-syrian-economy-continues-to-spiral-toward-collapse-a-4a40506d-ec0e-46ae-90c8-6d069659eda4?sara_ref=re-so-tw-sh"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">It was almost as though</span></a> nothing at all had happened. In May 2023, Arabic leaders welcomed long-ostracized Syrian dictator Bashar Assad back into the fold at the Arab League summit – complete with brotherly kisses, warm embraces and the proverbial red carpet, which skewed violet in this particular case. Syria had been blacklisted in 2011 when the régime in Damascus began shooting at demonstrators, who were still largely peaceful at the time. In the years that followed, Assad’s troops – with the enthusiastic support of first the Hezbollah and then the Iranians and Russians – transformed the rebellious parts of the country into smoking heaps of rubble, killing hundreds of thousands of Syrians and forcing millions more to flee.<br /><br /> At the summit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, though, all seemed to be forgotten – as if it had merely been a minor misunderstanding. Syria was readmitted with the appropriate pomp. "We stand together against the currents of darkness", said Assad, portraying the mass murder he committed to cling to power as a noble undertaking.<br /><br /> In Syria’s dictatorship, meanwhile, nothing has changed, with mafia-like structures still flourishing in the economy as well. Drug smuggling, in particular to Saudi Arabia and Jordan, continues apace – and all this despite hopes from Arab League member states that welcoming Damascus back into the group might slow down the illicit drug flows.<br /><br /> </span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> Instead, Syria’s ruling family is deeply involved in illegal business dealings. That is illustrated by the case of a Syrian executive whose activities have been uncovered by a team of Syrian and international journalists together with DER SPIEGEL. In early March 2023, the travel agency FreeBird Travel and Tourism announced on its website: "Hello Europe – we’re back." After more than a decade of isolation, the airline Air Mediterranean, flights on which accordingly could only be booked via FreeBird, was offering direct connections to Europe. The first flight from Düsseldorf to Damascus via Athens took place on June 24, and since then the airline has been servicing the route once a week.<br /><br /> The FreeBird website lists two offices, one in Dubai and another in Athens. The agency is actually registered in the Damascus Free Trade Zone, where no information about company owners is made public.<br /><br /> FreeBird’s chairman would have remained a secret – had he not gone public himself with the information: Mahmoud Abdullah Aldij, a major player in the transportation industry, both from and to Syria. On Facebook, Aldij presents himself as the head of FreeBird as well as a representative of the Syrian airline Cham Wings, which is on the U.S. sanctions list for transporting both militia fighters and munitions on behalf of the Syrian régime. But it seems that Aldij has made a name for himself in another transport sector as well: as a drug smuggler who, according to investigators, was involved in at least three large shipments of the synthetic stimulant Captagon to Libya. The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) reported on the investigation into Aldij back in 2021.<br /><br /> In early December 2018, the Greek Coast Guard intercepted the ship Noka in the Mediterranean south of Crete as it was cruising at top speed, later finding more than six tons of hashish and 3.1 million Captagon tablets onboard. The street value of the pills, according to the Greek authorities, was around 100 million euros. The Noka had put to sea from the northern Syrian port of Latakia and was headed for Benghazi in Libya. The dramatic operation was the product of a lengthy investigation, with the Greeks, European investigators say, having been tipped off by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), which has been intensively monitoring Captagon smuggling from Syria for many years.<br /><br /><br /><br /> As is the case in most such smuggling operations, the Captagon pills were carefully hidden in containers beneath false floors. According to OCCRP reporting, the Syrian company Altayr, based in Latakia, had booked the shipment of the containers. The company’s director and owner? Mahmoud Aldij, who has both Syrian and Libyan citizenship. His photo and birthdate on his Libyan passport match up with photos and personal information kept in Syrian records. After a tipoff from Greece, Libyan customs officials apparently searched storage facilities that had been rented by Aldij in Benghazi, where they also found large quantities of hashish and Captagon pills.<br /><br /> For his suspected involvement in the Noka drug smuggling operation, in addition to the discovery of additional illicit drugs in the Libyan port cities of al-Khums and Tobruk, Mahmoud Aldij was sentenced in absentia by an appeals court in Benghazi in July 2019 to death by firing squad. The online publication The New Arab published excerpts of the verdict on its website. In comments to DER SPIEGEL about the verdict from Benghazi, Aldij said that it was part of an intrigue and claimed that powerful Libyans had been trying to extort part of his business from him. "When I refused, I was threatened. The ruling is illegitimate and has been appealed. I am certain that a fair trial will soon take place." According to his statement, his employees were "brutally tortured. They confessed to things and actions we did not do. My name has been attacked through hideous media campaigns by my competitors." However no legal actions was taken against the respective article in The New Arab.<br /><br /> Still, despite the discovery of the drugs and the incontrovertible evidence turned up by the Greek investigation, the rather barbaric death sentence from Benghazi nevertheless seemed odd. The city is home to General Khalifa Haftar, the de-facto ruler of the eastern half of the civil war-torn country. Haftar maintains excellent contacts to Damascus, and Western investigators believe that he, too, is deeply involved in smuggling people, weapons and Captagon out of Syria. It is, in short, an unlikely place for a Syrian drug smuggler to be sentenced to death.<br /><br /> Either way, the Benghazi authorities don’t seem particularly set on carrying out the verdict: On his Facebook page, Mahmoud Aldij also claims to be the "exclusive representative for Libya" for Cham Wings, which U.S. officials believe to be deeply involved in operations carried out by the Syrian security apparatus, including the transport to Damascus of foreign mercenaries and money laundering at the behest of the military intelligence agency. Aldij doesn’t deny that he is a Cham Wings representative, but he added the word "exclusive", he says, "only for marketing reasons". He claims to have no ties to General Haftar.<br /><br /> The booming business with the production and export of Captagon brings in several billion euros in profit every year and has long since exceeded Syria’s legal exports. The Captagon trade is firmly in the hands of the dictator’s family. In an initial trial against those in charge of the foreign smuggling operation in a regional court in Essen, Germany, in 2022, the obviously central role of Maher Assad, who is the dictator’s brother and commander of the Fourth Army Division, became clear from witness statements and intercepted telephone calls. As the Essen case made evident, the division controls transportation to all of the country’s ports, collects money for export permits and also operates its own drug factories. It’s not that the leadership in Damascus simply stands by doing nothing, Joel Rayburn, the former U.S. special envoy for Syria, said at the time: "They are the cartel."<br /><br /> It is extremely unlikely that Mahmoud Aldij would have been able to ship large amounts of Captagon to Libya without the knowledge and permission of the rulers in Damascus.<br /><br /><br /><br /> The Greek family of Air Mediterranean’s majority owner also has – through a rather bizarre detour – ties to Syria’s leadership. The last shareholders' meeting lists the brothers Andreas and Fadi-Ilias Hallak as owners of a 51 percent stake in the airline. Their father George was received in June 2021 as a state guest by Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal al-Mikdad. According to reports from the state-owned Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), George Hallak traveled to Damascus as a special envoy to the president of Guyana, one of the smallest countries in South America. According to SANA, the two affirmed the continuation of bilateral cooperation between the two countries.<br /><br /> Air Mediterranean presents itself to its foreign customers as an apolitical, European airline. Even as its partner agency Freebird advertises direct flights from Damascus to European cities, the airline itself doesn’t explicitly mention connections from Damascus to cities in Europe. A spokesman for the Düsseldorf airport confirmed: "Air Mediterranean flies to Düsseldorf. From and to Athens. Damascus is never mentioned."<br /><br /> In May, Assad and his henchmen had high hopes of receiving more than just warm words from the wealthy Gulf monarchies. Damascus was looking for billions in aid to begin the process of rebuilding the destroyed, impoverished country – or at least the two-thirds of Syria over which the régime has regained control.<br /><br /> But the Arab League wasn’t focused on development aid. The hope was that by reaccepting Syria into the group, stability would improve to the point that millions of Syrian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey would begin returning home.<br /><br /> In addition, they apparently also hoped to encourage Assad’s régime to put a stop to the illegal smuggling of Captagon pills from Syria, consumption of which has turned into a massive problem in Saudi Arabia and Jordan especially. Even before the summit, Jordan’s government made clear just how important the issue was: After being a primary driver in favor of bringing Syria back into the fold, Jordanian warplanes – just one day after the Arab League’s formal reacceptance of Syria – bombarded the estate of the most powerful drug smuggler in southern Syria, killing him and his family.<br /><br /> Now, four months later, it is clear that everything has turned out rather differently than expected. The political backing provided by the Arab League has encouraged Assad to resume his military offensive against those regions of Syria that have thus far been able to fend off his attacks. The northern Syrian province of Idlib, crammed with millions of residents and internally displaced persons, was bombed 60 times in just the first few days of September. In the Kurdish-controlled northeast, dozens of people have died in battles. Syria, it would seem, is further away from stability and the voluntary return of refugees than it has ever been in recent years.<br /><br /> And the country continues its long slide into economic purgatory. Before the summit in Jeddah, the black-market exchange rate of the Syrian pound stood at 7,500 to one U.S. dollar. Since then, it has fallen to 14,000:1. There have also been protests in the southern city of Suwayda after Damascus canceled fuel subsidies there in August. Suwayda is a stronghold of the Druze minority, which have long managed to retain a small degree of autonomy in exchange for loyalty to the Assad régime.<br /><br /><br /><br /> Meanwhile, Syria’s Captagon production continues apace. According to the U.S. analyst Charles Lister, deliveries of the drug with a street value of around a billion dollars were confiscated within three months this summer in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and other countries in the region. Syria has become a mafia-like network with a flag.<br /><br /> The country is stuck in a vicious cycle. In order to secure loyalty, Assad’s régime has transformed the country’s already shrunken economy into a criminal conglomerate. Only those who support the dictator are allowed to take part. Syria was always home to plenty of corruption, to be sure, but today, there are no longer any rules at all, say business owners and executives who have left the country.<br /><br /> The Arab League’s decision to reaccept Syria into its ranks has done nothing to change the situation. On the contrary, Assad’s régime now feels empowered to resume its war and to allow the population in those areas under its control to sink further into poverty. Only those who are linked to or loyal to the ruling family are allowed to participate in the economy.<br /><br /> For a brief moment, it looked as though the protests in Suwayda might spread to Homs, Aleppo and Damascus. But that hasn’t yet happened. "Anyone who might demonstrate in the country has long since fled, been killed, been locked up or is too afraid", says one Syrian refugee.'<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgr74BP_L9rsq0Ff1m8CZwY5wqgcw1oK1-iUGm9_oPMscoP1GhrDI9QN_qcqNUq7LVhTX4j1DGH_c8S7BlzolOXWdYaqwX5fageYe0yUVFdrmQWFaQvNRkk_tR4Q5FPVssR-ILblTOPQAVv7JJ2aRtc1mmUTLJ1jNhjxdVb-YfL6YDwvkNf_pCaB6eJ6KI0"><img height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgr74BP_L9rsq0Ff1m8CZwY5wqgcw1oK1-iUGm9_oPMscoP1GhrDI9QN_qcqNUq7LVhTX4j1DGH_c8S7BlzolOXWdYaqwX5fageYe0yUVFdrmQWFaQvNRkk_tR4Q5FPVssR-ILblTOPQAVv7JJ2aRtc1mmUTLJ1jNhjxdVb-YfL6YDwvkNf_pCaB6eJ6KI0=w200-h133" width="200" /></a></span></div>Dick Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17099184432893592991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744492967852246576.post-71057928467168282132023-09-06T18:14:00.000+01:002023-09-06T18:14:56.937+01:00'A volcano': Arab grievances in Syria's Deir Ezzor pit US allies against each other<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgQMC0BkAKbKw79FFRa8Z_y1h0d0RjHu6wN5Ya2mzXp1y-1QJL7CtO88SuWP1AnWWdMLqQfMLaRneFN8FXaHqPjwiu3v112e-0jrksAa_eh1L2dw8xiSlgTCckYgjo_P-63d4fmYrpOKP1K4aXulFhxaeHkqgkcnM429vKR74UYknJcjzfkLoL7IueUtt5p" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="786" data-original-width="1400" height="329" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgQMC0BkAKbKw79FFRa8Z_y1h0d0RjHu6wN5Ya2mzXp1y-1QJL7CtO88SuWP1AnWWdMLqQfMLaRneFN8FXaHqPjwiu3v112e-0jrksAa_eh1L2dw8xiSlgTCckYgjo_P-63d4fmYrpOKP1K4aXulFhxaeHkqgkcnM429vKR74UYknJcjzfkLoL7IueUtt5p=w585-h329" width="585" /></a></div><p></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> '<a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/volcano-arab-grievances-syrias-deir-ezzor-pit-us-allies-against-each-other"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Among the thousands of fighters</span></a> from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) streaming into Syria’s eastern province of Deir Ezzor to put down an uprising by Arab tribes are <a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=855195132325393">female fighters</a> from the Women's Protection Units (YPJ). <br /><br /> “It’s a big insult,” Hifl Abboud Jadden al-Hifl, a tribal elder whose nephew, Ibrahim al-Hifl, is on an SDF wanted list as the public face of the fight to oust the Kurdish-led alliance from the oil-rich region.<br /><br /> “They put them in our hometown just to send a message that our women will get you,” he said. <br /><br /> The comments are a sharp reflection of the acrimony brewing between two US allies in a forgotten corner of Syria: the SDF and Sunni Arab tribes that fought together with the US-led coalition to remove the Islamic State militant (ISIS) group from the region.<br /><br /> Now long-standing complaints about corruption and political disenfranchisement at the hands of the SDF have erupted into violence that is destabilising the US-controlled part of Syria.<br /><br /> “Anyone who was watching the deteriorating situation in Deir Ezzor wouldn’t have been surprised by this,” said Robert Ford, a former US ambassador to Syria.<br /><br /> “Arab grievances against the SDF go back years. Instead of the US addressing those concerns and moving Kurds out of Deir Ezzor and bringing in local Arab leaders, it sat on its hands,” he added.<br /><br /><br /><br /> The fighting broke out on 27 August when the SDF detained Ahmad al-Khabil, better known as Abu Khawla, the controversial head of the Deir Ezzor military council, amid suspicion he was conspiring to oust the SDF from the region.<br /><br /> But analysts and tribal leaders say that the fighting in Deir Ezzor speaks to wider grievances of the region’s Sunni Arab majority against Kurdish rule.<br /><br /> “The people of Deir Ezzor are suffering. Corruption is everywhere," said Mahmoud Meslat, a Syria expert at Oberlin College who hails from a prominent Arab family in the region.<br /><br /> "People can’t even afford to buy bread and they are being totally ignored by the coalition,” Meslat added. <br /><br /><br /><br /> The uprising in Deir Ezzor is not against the US, tribal leaders from the al-Hifl and Baggara tribes said. Their main demand is an end to SDF rule and the creation of an independent military council made up of local Arabs that can coordinate security and economic assistance directly with the US. <br /><br /> “We have no problem cooperating with the international coalition, but it must be under the leadership of people in the region and with a total rejection of SDF forces,” said Sheikh Amir al-Bashir, a leader of Deir Ezzor’s Baggara tribe fighting the SDF alongside the al-Aqeedat tribe.<br /><br /> As of Tuesday, the fighting in Deir Ezzor centred around the towns of al-Hawaij and al-Diban, two bastions of support for the al-Aqeedat. In telegram channels affiliated with the tribe, audio messages have called on tribal members in Turkey and other parts of Syria to join the fight against the SDF.<br /><br /> “The tribal region has become a burning volcano. It’s like a rolling ball of fire that won’t stop unless our demands are met,” added Bashir from his base in Sanliurfa Turkey.<br /><br /><br /><br /> Deir Ezzor is a fertile, resource-rich region that is home to some of Syria’s only oil fields. The US maintains military bases at the Conoco gas field and al-Omar oil field. Deir Ezzor was the last major stronghold of ISIS.<br /><br /> In 2017, the SDF fought alongside local Arab tribes with US backing to remove the group from the province.<br /><br /> Today, Deir Ezzor is split along the Euphrates River. The US and its allies hold the eastern bank, while Syrian government forces and their Russian and Iranian allies control the west. Because of its position next to Iraq, it sits on lucrative smuggling routes, the control of which has enriched local commanders.<br /><br /> Tensions between the Arab community and SDF have been simmering since the defeat of ISIS.<br /><br /> The tensions are partly economic. Leaders of the Baggara and Akaidat tribes complain of widespread corruption and accused the Kurdish-led group of hijacking Deir Ezzor’s natural resources.<br /><br /><br /><br /> The US-backed SDF is a multi-ethnic Syrian force, but its backbone is the Kurdish People's Protection Units or YPG. The Syrian YPG has close ties to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which has waged a decades-long war for independence against Turkey.<br /><br /> “The biggest problem in Deir Ezzor is the dominance of the PKK party and its control over the military and civil bodies in the region,” al-Bashir of the Baggara tribe told MEE, adding that the region’s economic resources were being diverted to fund the PKK and that drug smuggling was rampant.<br /><br /> The US’s ties to the SDF are a major irritant in relations with Nato member Turkey, which views the SDF as an extension of the PKK. While the US considers the PKK a terrorist organisation, it refuses to cut ties with the SDF, which Washington sees as its most effective ally against ISIS remnants.<br /><br /><br /><br /> Critics have also accused the SDF of governing undemocratically and violently suppressing peaceful protests.<br /><br /> The staunchly secular, Kurdish majority SDF has also clashed with the traditional and more conservative Arab population in Deir Ezzor. There are <a href="https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/border-eu-starts-syrias-m4">reports</a> the SDF has attempted to draft Arab women into its ranks and has tried to prevent the re-settlement of Arabs to Deir Ezzor by forcing them to have a Kurdish sponsor to live in the area.<br /><br /> Critics say the US has failed to address the concerns of its Arab partners. Bassam Ishak, a representative in Washington DC of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), the civilian counterpart of the SDF, denied the government in the autonomous Kurdish region was specifically targeting Arabs and said complaints about corruption should be addressed peacefully. <br /><br /><br /><br /> On Sunday, senior State Department official Ethan Goldrich and Major General Joel Vowell, who heads the coalition against IS, released a statement saying they had met Arab tribal leaders and SDF commanders and agreed to "address local grievances" and "de-escalate violence as soon as possible and avoid casualties”.<br /><br /> But in an interview with Al Jazeera Arabic, Musab al-Hifl, one of the leaders of the Akaidat tribe fighting the SDF, said no members of his tribe, one of the largest in Syria, were present at the gathering.<br /><br /> “Basically what the US has done so far is try to pretend none of the fighting happened and dozens of people haven’t been killed. They think they can just go back to square one,” said Ford, the last US ambassador to Syria and noted sceptic of the US military presence.<br /><br /> “I don’t see any evidence that the US is willing to address the Arab’s calls for reform,” Ford said, adding that he believed the US was siding with the SDF over the tribes. “I don’t see the US threatening to cut off arms supplies to the SDF. It’s clear they have empowered one side of the conflict.”<br /><br /><br /><br /> Experts say the US’s approach to the fighting speaks to the bigger question of what the US’s endgame is in Syria.<br /><br /> US troops arrived in the northeast in 2015 as part of Operation Inherent Resolve to eradicate IS. Although the so-called "caliphate" was territorially defeated in 2019, around 900 US troops and more military contractors remain in the region where they train the SDF and carry out raids on IS sleeper cells.<br /><br /> Waters said Assad has been trying unsuccessfully for years to flip Deir Ezzor’s Sunni tribes, but doesn’t have the resources amid an economic crisis. Damascus is struggling to address <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/syria-protests-gain-momentum-economic-crisis-bites">protests </a>in government-controlled parts of the country.<br /><br /> The tribes lack the SDF’s heavy weaponry, but Ford cautioned the US against banking on an SDF military victory to restore order.<br /><br /> “The SDF taking Deir Ezzor back by force doesn’t end this. The tribal grievances are still there," the former ambassador said.'</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivkd48Rqs2zCz8NIXVrXO6jtzWV7a24efOim9Uw5QuPCfghdCp4drpLvsfW_9uP13idBzGG44pzHvNaz9pwFGwj-ibQsG41-7Mngjypy8MAne2qlZOQxgEAMtbW1Hf0dU0B2NDURb-zx4iP_NuR9QGj6mPKywSgBJBOg5mGBahKFc3x1KuJrxuMIRcP_9Q/s1278/Screenshot%20(1442).png"><img border="0" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivkd48Rqs2zCz8NIXVrXO6jtzWV7a24efOim9Uw5QuPCfghdCp4drpLvsfW_9uP13idBzGG44pzHvNaz9pwFGwj-ibQsG41-7Mngjypy8MAne2qlZOQxgEAMtbW1Hf0dU0B2NDURb-zx4iP_NuR9QGj6mPKywSgBJBOg5mGBahKFc3x1KuJrxuMIRcP_9Q/w200-h113/Screenshot%20(1442).png" width="200" /></a></span></div>Dick Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17099184432893592991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744492967852246576.post-39524362844427326982023-09-05T22:53:00.000+01:002023-09-05T22:53:36.429+01:00The uprising in Sweida will continue until the régime changes in Syria<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgEw0KnHD0v05Lg34-h77XH2IfKr6d44afFK4o0LIPCO2vL6-uD6w8pY8meUIukKOYHZ19SncZCqPUEiUUYgnNNJI4k7Hv1Fd1xlHdh6t49WM99s0TXXOQgH9M_maKgzvxPLnEanGfRKmU5RLCAjzjrXwNdOOov5azOtXFeywfPgXH6_orqyMh7X_oudHMg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="567" data-original-width="680" height="371" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgEw0KnHD0v05Lg34-h77XH2IfKr6d44afFK4o0LIPCO2vL6-uD6w8pY8meUIukKOYHZ19SncZCqPUEiUUYgnNNJI4k7Hv1Fd1xlHdh6t49WM99s0TXXOQgH9M_maKgzvxPLnEanGfRKmU5RLCAjzjrXwNdOOov5azOtXFeywfPgXH6_orqyMh7X_oudHMg=w445-h371" width="445" /></a><br /></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Rima Flihan:</span></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><br /></span> '<a href="https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/menasource/sweida-syria-regime-change-assad/"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Since August 20</span></a>, protests and a general strike in the southern governorate of Sweida, which has a population of approximately 770,000, have persisted. Protesters have <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2023/8/30/photos-assads-ruling-party-office-shut-by-protests-in-sweida-syria">closed</a> the headquarters of the Baath Party and removed pictures of dictator Bashar al-Assad from the streets and buildings of the city.<br /><br /> These demonstrations call for a change in the Syrian régime and the full implementation of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) <a href="https://press.un.org/en/2015/sc12171.doc.htm">Resolution 2254</a>, which put forth a road map for the peace process in Syria, including forming a transitional governing body with full powers. Protesters also advocate for political, civil, and human rights for all Syrians: freedom, dignity, justice, equality, the release of detainees, and the ability to live decently, especially given the deteriorating economic situation that has become unbearable.<br /><br /> The régime has implemented failed economic policies and has been unable to secure the needs of its citizens. Additionally, the Syrian people believe that the régime is not interested in integrating a political solution that would lead to a new reality for Syrians—one that would allow for reconstruction and the lifting of sanctions. This conviction is bolstered by the fact that the régime is currently granting contracts that allow Russia and Iran to access the country’s resources. Meanwhile, the Syrian people are struggling.<br /><br /> Additionally, the Assad régime and ruling class are drowning in funds looted from the people through a deep network of corruption, which is compounded by the destruction of infrastructure since the beginning of severe military repression in 2011. The régime has displaced nearly half of the Syrian population, <a href="https://www.cfr.org/article/syrias-civil-war">killed</a> hundreds of thousands, and detained over a hundred thousand—many of whom have been tortured to death. Despite this dark history looming overhead, Syrians still felt compelled to take to the streets in Sweida to demand régime change: the only practical solution to ending the humanitarian catastrophe they face.<br /><br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> It may be unexpected to witness this scene after all the suppression and war crimes committed by the Assad régime in Syria. However, it signifies that the desire for change in Syria still exists within the Syrian people.<br /><br /> Sweida, a predominantly Druze-majority province, has witnessed scattered and continuous protests throughout the previous years led by its intellectual elite. Nonetheless, the demonstrations were never as widespread and inclusive as today. These protests have been joined by women’s movements, religious figures, employees, urban and rural residents, intellectuals, and opposition politicians.<br /><br /> The protests have also <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/syria-protests-gain-momentum-economic-crisis-bites">occurred</a> in other parts of Syria, including Daraa, Idlib, Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor, and Aleppo. Voices of opposition from the Syrian coast—the heart of the Syrian régime’s stronghold—are growing louder, openly calling for change and the departure of the head of the régime: Assad. Moreover, new revolutionary <a href="https://www.newarab.com/news/who-are-syrias-new-opposition-group-10-august-movement#:~:text=The%2010th%20of%20August%20Movement%2C%20which%20says%20it%20has%20thousands,primarily%20led%20by%20Syrian%20youth.">groups</a>, like the Tenth of August Movement, are also forming.<br /><br /> This uprising in Sweida met with media incitement by the régime against the people of Sweida, accusing them of betrayal and profiteering, The régime used this media incitement against demonstrators to create division between Syrians and create a reason to arrest and maybe attack them in the future, as he did in other areas. The government also <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/syria-protests-revolution-assad/a-66664285">employed</a> arrests and suppression in other provinces. The people of Sweida—those at home and in the diaspora—are concerned that the régime might use its affiliated militias or groups, such as Lebanese Hezbollah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), to suppress this movement—just as it has done in other provinces in the past.<br /><br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> The current protests in Sweida come at a sensitive and critical phase after the hopes of Syrians in the West and Arab countries were lost, especially following the <a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/syria/bashar-al-assad-arab-league">normalization</a> of the Assad régime with Arab countries in May. <br /><br /> Nevertheless, the Assad régime has shown no interest in being involved in the Arab initiative or any political solution. The régime has not taken any trust-building steps, responded to the effects of UNSC Resolution 2254, nor committed to the political process. On the contrary, in his recent interview with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtvacnVlFYU&ab_channel=SyrianPresidency">Sky News Arabia</a> on August 9, Assad appeared indifferent to the reckless policies that have led the country to disintegration and economic and social collapse.<br /><br /> Despite over a decade of carnage, damage, and destruction caused by his rule, during the interview, Assad attempted to falsify history by claiming that the number of Syrians who protested against him did not exceed a hundred thousand. This is a grand historical distortion. Detainees exceed a hundred thousand and protests involving hundreds of thousands have occurred across all Syrian provinces. A few days after his remarks, the people of Sweida—not just the Druze, but Bedouins and others—united to tell him to leave.<br /><br /> Today, Arab countries bear a historic responsibility to reconsider their calculations. The scene in Sweida proves that the only acceptable solution to achieve peace in Syria is by fully implementing political transition and avoiding normalization with the Assad régime. This approach will fully address the refugee problem and security issues by confronting the captagon manufacturers, distributors, and smugglers directly linked to the régime, Hezbollah, and militias in Syria.<br /><br /> As long as the Assad régime is in power, it will not sever its alliance with Tehran. As its history and behavior show, it will remain a rogue régime in the region, unconcerned with the security of neighboring countries or global peace. Changing the régime in Syria by enforcing 2254 and starting the transitional process, as demanded by the protesters, will begin the process of reconstruction and revitalize the economy, leading to stability in the country and the region as a result. With these points in mind, Arab governments should remember that supporting the Syrian régime will not bring stability to the region. Instead, the crisis will perpetuate and the Syrian people will pay the price with their blood and livelihoods.<br /><br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> The international community also bears responsibility for the current state in Syria. It has not seriously addressed the régime’s crimes, successfully enforced a political solution, nor implemented UN resolutions. The Assad régime has repeatedly used chemical weapons, practiced systematic torture, extrajudicial killings, forced displacement, enforced disappearances, and bombed civilians, hospitals, schools, and public markets. No serious measures have been taken to implement Resolution 2254. The political solution has been diluted by focusing solely on the constitution—a path that has been dead since birth—and no agreement has been reached on a timetable for it.<br /><br /> The Syrian people pay the price of oppression, bloodshed, and displacement. The root cause of the suffering endured by Syrians is being ignored, which is the ongoing rule of the Assad régime. The international policy that unleashed Russia in Syria is responsible for Moscow’s continued audacity in Syria and globally, as demonstrated by its actions in Ukraine. History shows that disregarding war criminals and rogue behavior will inevitably lead to the persistence of their crimes, as well as the expansion and escalation of them.<br /><br /> The Syrian men, women, and children of Sweida and all provinces are taking to the streets, proclaiming with their voices that the people of Syria deserve lasting peace, freedom, dignity, and decent living conditions. They deserve liberation from the tyrannical Assad régime and the provision of the rights stipulated by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They earnestly demand serious engagement and the full implementation of UNSC Resolution 2254 to achieve political change in Syria and secure political, civil, and human rights, aiming for a homeland where citizenship and justice are realized for all Syrians without discrimination.<br /><br /> This is the cry of an oppressed people whom the world has let down, abandoned, and disregarded since 2011. The protests are a last flicker of hope for the Syrian people. They are an ethical test for the world in regard to pursuing a comprehensive and sustainable political solution that will bring about genuine change in Syria. Can the world hear the people of Syria?'<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhZx-f3OCGi4NCOc0IT_bVGhYxUfmCyT9kYpKqVkObhboynZn6-ASnl8myxS84mP2MPqXtRTPDVPc1h85uLHG65R0qPaOwiYCceGgmoIVJdgyV9FXFZvyO3g1dNzo3uDjXUXptd7ANKXUaV2LFH0ZSgEXWEFzdVHQG56xLNzsnmR885FyR1ccVRmBBcI0hJ"><img height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhZx-f3OCGi4NCOc0IT_bVGhYxUfmCyT9kYpKqVkObhboynZn6-ASnl8myxS84mP2MPqXtRTPDVPc1h85uLHG65R0qPaOwiYCceGgmoIVJdgyV9FXFZvyO3g1dNzo3uDjXUXptd7ANKXUaV2LFH0ZSgEXWEFzdVHQG56xLNzsnmR885FyR1ccVRmBBcI0hJ=w200-h133" width="200" /></a></span></div>Dick Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17099184432893592991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744492967852246576.post-50999439375226553722023-09-02T08:34:00.000+01:002023-09-02T08:34:40.941+01:00Extracts from and notes on Syria Betrayed by Alex J Bellamy<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4SLZtEyZiXXRntITy9JH60K7cB8Pe4z9UHBHjq2u42KsIWwJcZPU1XGbSQ307URPDdhMQRMim2IaBKb5S-VEs1Tz0f5Zi3OO6FY_3vvYOYSIm2db1SDsE9PBwdzYZRSrqfcq0-k_a9dZaOwi0WXYgW9RELpkmQWeZt2JuCwPBtde4HeAx6yfbz4ykpy6N/s767/SAM_2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="767" data-original-width="633" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4SLZtEyZiXXRntITy9JH60K7cB8Pe4z9UHBHjq2u42KsIWwJcZPU1XGbSQ307URPDdhMQRMim2IaBKb5S-VEs1Tz0f5Zi3OO6FY_3vvYOYSIm2db1SDsE9PBwdzYZRSrqfcq0-k_a9dZaOwi0WXYgW9RELpkmQWeZt2JuCwPBtde4HeAx6yfbz4ykpy6N/s320/SAM_2529.JPG" width="264" /></a></p><span style="font-family: arial;"> ‘Everybody had their agenda.’<br />[p1]<br /><br /> ‘Ahmet Davutoglu proposed a new, independent – some called it “neo-Ottoman” – foreign policy to replace its previous pro-NATO orientation.’<br /> [p17]<br /> <br /> ‘Russia worried that if Assad went the way of Mubarak, that could act as an incubator for reigniting jihadist wars that had claimed tens of thousands of lives in Chechnya and Dagestan in the 1990s.’<br /> [p22]<br /><br /> ‘Moscow’s ability to influence Assad was therefore limited: it had a sledgehammer to crack a walnut but desperately wanted to keep the walnut intact.’<br />[p24]<br /><br /> <br /><br /> ‘On February 22 veteran American war correspondent Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik were intentionally killed by government rocket fire as they chronicled the systematic assault on civilians. Reports of atrocities by both sides became more common.’<br />[p56]<br /> From Paul Wood’s report:<br /> [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16984219]<br /><br /> ‘Cpl Yousseff was a Christian. After he was taken, his relatives kidnapped six Sunnis, killing one in the process. In return, around 20 Christians were abducted.<br /><br /> "Some hotheads have been kidnapping Christians," one of the senior FSA commanders in the area told me. "We have got to calm this down."<br /><br /> After several days of stalemate, everyone was released, unharmed, including Corporal Yousseff.<br /><br /> Their ID cards showed they were Shabiha (or ghosts) - the hated government paramilitary force.<br /><br /> "We killed them," he told me.<br /><br /> "You killed your prisoners?"<br /><br /> "Yes, of course. They were executed later. That is the policy for Shabiha."<br /><br /> These were Sunni Shabiha, he added; the only Alawite had escaped.’<br /><br /> <br /><br /> ‘Where the rise of al-Nusra encouraged Riyadh to arm FSA-aligned groups, it fueled Western doubts about the armed opposition’s character and fears any arms they provided might find their way to extremists.’<br /> [p58]<br /><br /> ‘Lavrov had made it clear in Geneva that a chapter 7 resolution was out of the question. Annan felt “blindsided by the American and British push for a chapter 7 resolution. His strategy relied on keeping Russia inside the tent, using its influence on Assad.’<br /> [p84]<br /><br /> ‘There was no love lost between the Kurds and the Sunnis.’ [p85]<br /></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> ‘Baba_Adzz<br />@baba_adzz<br /> Yesterday in Kurdistan, for the eighth year in a row, a hadith competition was held, with the participation of 100,000 Kurdish children from all over Kurdistan. Persian, Turkish, and Arab media outlets have not covered this event, as it contradicts their narrative that portrays Kurds as atheists.’<br /> [https://twitter.com/baba_adzz/status/1695516850648428738]<br /><br /> <br /><br /> ‘Russia simply did not have that sort of leverage over the Syrian government [p89]<br /> <br /> ‘Western governments had made it abundantly clear they had no appetite for intervention.’<br /> [p90]<br /> <br /> ‘Assad’s strategy, from the start, was to hold on to power.’<br /> [p90]<br /><br /> ‘Concessions would only have encouraged the régime’s hard-liners.’<br /> [p91]<br /><br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> ‘The opposition’s foreign backers never coalesced around a strategy of supporting civilian governance. These bodies fought a long defeat against the anarchy, militarization, and extremism wrought by the better funded armed groups.’<br /> [p103]<br /><br /> ‘Establishing a pattern of thought that chimed well with the president’s own thinking, Dempsey warned a no-fly zone would require the engagement of seventy thousand personnel to dismantle Syria’s air defenses, which he reported, posed a significant threat.’<br /> [p104]<br /><br /> ‘There are reasons for thinking the president could have been right. There was little immediate prospect of Assad stepping down. Iran and Russia would simply counterescalate their support for Assad. Without political and organizational reform, arming the FSA would not have made it a stronger fighting force. Blowback was inevitable since Western arms would find their way to extremists.’<br /> [p108]<br /><br /> ‘These military measures would have increased the costs to Tehran and Moscow and deterred them from backing Assad so heavily by convincing them his government was doomed. There are especially good reasons for thinking a no-fly zone would have made a difference. It would have degraded the régime’s ability to drop barrel bombs, regular bombs, and gas-filled bombs on civilians and saved tens of thousands of lives. More than seven years later , Turkey demonstrated the wisdom of this in Idlib.’<br /> [pp108-109]<br /> <br /> “We have already seen inside of Syria that -- or groups like ISIL that right now are fighting with other extremist groups, or an Assad regime that was non-responsive to a Sunni majority there, that that has attracted more and more jihadists or would-be jihadists, some of them from Europe.”<br /> [https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2014/06/19/remarks-president-situation-iraq]<br /><br /> <br /><br /> ’The Qataris and Saudis hobbled Syria’s opposition by sowing discord and fragmentation, denying Syrians the ability to speak for themselves. The two Gulf states had been allowed to play this inflated role because the United States and other western powers had no realistic strategy.’<br /> [p117]<br /> <br /> ‘The opposition scored some major victories, including in March 2013 when it seized its first provincial capital, Raqqa, a host of towns on the Homs-Aleppo highway, and the main hydroelectric dams on the Euphrates, victories made possible by the active participation of jihadist groups like Jabhat al-Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham.’<br /> [p119]<br /> <br /> <br /><br /> In May 2013, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Washington, to press the United States to show leadership on Syria. Having been browbeaten by Obama into calling for Assad to step aside, Erdogan expected the American president to lead efforts to achieve that goal and specifically hoped to persuade Obama to permit arming of the rebels and a no-fly zone over northern Syria. Obama dismissed Erdogan’s proposals and instead insisted Turkey do more to stem the flow of extremists to Syria.’ Note “Syria’s PKK-aligned Kurds”.<br /> [pp126-127]<br /><br /> ‘Corbyn chaired an activist coalition – “Stop the War” – which not only opposed Western military intervention in Syria (though not Russian or Iranian intervention) but also hosted speakers who claimed the dead children of Ghouta were merely asleep, props in an elaborate stage show.’<br /> [p134]<br /><br /> <br /><br /> ‘By rejecting the use of force, Washington sacrificed potential leverage without creating significant change. It also effectively dealt itself out of leadership of international efforts to end Syria’s bloodshed, creating an political vacuum into which Russia inserted itself. Although nobody could have known it at the time, comprehensive strikes that degraded Syrian air defences and secured the U.S. control of Syria’s skies would have denied these skies to Russia.’<br /> [p146]<br /> <br /> ‘The opposition tied itself in knots, the SOC unsure whether to participate. On the one hand, it wanted to preserve whatever international support it had and knew it risked losing sympathy if it refused to talk. On the other hand, it saw little point in further talks while the government refused to accept the Geneva communiqué and continued using force.<br /> <br /> The SOC was finding it difficult to sell that message to Syria’s increasingly disenchanted and fragmented armed opposition. In the South, up to seventy FSA-aligned groups renounced their affiliation with pro-Geneva II factions. Things got worse when, in late October, Abu Eissa al-Sheikh, leader of a coalition of Islamic factions that included the powerful Ahrar al-Sham, Jaysh al-Islam and Liwa al-Tawhid and comprised some forty thousand to seventy thousand soldiers, not only rejected the talks but warned that any who did not follow suit risked committing “treason”.‘<br /> [p150]<br /><br /> ‘The UN’s high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, detailed the deliberate targeting of hospitals and medical personnel by government forces. The Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council resolved to condemn these and other violations of international humanitarian law and demand humanitarian access. Laudable as they were, these efforts, too, made little difference.’<br /> [p153]<br /><br /> ‘Seven of the largest Islamist groups formed the Islamic Front hoping to counter the influence of ISIS and other al-Qaeda allies. Since Islamists looked basically alike to Western governments, this initiative only seemed to confirm the opposition’s drift towards extremism.’<br /> [p156]<br /><br /> ‘The FSA and Islamic Front patched up their differences and began joint operations – a sensible move to enhance the opposition’s operational capacity, but one that challenged the neat separation of opposition forces into moderates and extremists in the minds of Western governments.<br /> [p158]<br /> <br /> ‘Few in the West seemed to notice Syrian opposition mobilization against ISIS. Almost nothing was done {to] support them, and it did little to correct the Western view that the opposition was tainted by association with extremism.’<br /> [p159]<br /> <br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> ‘Al-Nusra regularly used car bombings in régime-controlled areas of the city to relieve the pressure, but their targets and victims were mostly civilians.’<br /> [p164] Source Sam Dagher<br /><br /> ‘Homs became a model for government operations as, in city after city, government forces bombarded and starved them into submission, and then negotiated the evacuation of whoever was left alive. In all this, the UN team at the Four Seasons Hotel in Damascus helped. They delivered aid to government areas but not besieged areas, deposited millions directly into government and Assad-family bank accounts, and facilitated the final evacuations, which completed the forced displacement of civilians opposed to Assad.’<br /> [pp166-167]<br /><br /> ‘ “The opposition didn’t represent anybody; for them, getting rid of al-Assad would resolve all issues.” Brahimi’s criticism of the SOC seems harsh. Jarba and his team were never given the opportunity to represent Syrians, nor did they demand anything beyond what they thought had already been agreed.’<br /> [p167]<br /> <br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> ‘Even those who rejected al-Nusra’s Islamist ideology acknowledged that it was at least a committed and determined opponent to Assad.’<br /> [p198]<br /> <br /> ‘Bab al-Salam in Idlib governate and Bab al-Hawa in Aleppo.’<br /> [p204]<br /> <br /> ‘A government offensive on the outposts of Nubl and al-Zahraa was led by foreign fighters.’<br /> [p209]<br /><br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> ‘Mindful of ISIS, and worried about the YPG’s deepening co-operation with the United States, Ankara desperately wanted the opposition in the North to do more to confront Assad and hold back ISIS. It increased the supply of arms to Ahrar al-Sham and Faylaq al-Sham. Leaders representing some seventy-two factions gathered in the Turkish city of Gazientep, and agreed to form a Revolutionary Command Council to coordinate military operations.<br /> <br /> Encouraged, Turkish intelligence urged Ahrar al-Sham to reach out to other opposition groups in neighbouring Idlib.Qatar and Saudi Arabia joined forces to support the initiative. Dozens of groups, including al-Nusra, joined the new Idlib coalition, known as Jaysh al-Fatah.<br /><br /> Encouraged by Turkey, the opposition in the North showed clear signs it was finding ways of cooperating more effectively. The effects would not be slow to show themselves.’<br /> [p211]<br /><br /> ‘Things looked even more promising in the South. In early 2014 the US-run Military Operations Center in Amman had summoned more than fifty southern-based secular and moderate factions. They had agreed to form the Southern Front to challenge both Assad and ISIS/al-Nusra. The new front had a lot going for it. Its secular leadership pledged to uphold the laws of war and protect minorities, and generally avoid ideological posturing, presenting itself as a military coalition dedicated to overthrowing Assad. It began work on a plan to take Daraa.’<br /> [p212]<br /> <br /> ‘On April 1 ISIS stormed the besieged Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp. The extremists took control after two days of intense fighting with both pro-FSA and progovernment militias. Unusually, al-Nusra, which also had an armed presence in the camp, refused to get involved, effectively aligning itself with ISIS.’<br /> [p215]<br /><br /> <br /><br /> ‘A rare joint FSA-YPG offensive, backed by US airpower, drove ISIS out of Tal Abyad.’<br /> [p216]<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> What happened when they got there: ‘After FSA arrived to Tal Abyad, YPG is kicking them out. No a single FSA batallion is allowed to enter Tal Abyad.’</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> [https://yallasouriya.wordpress.com/2015/06/24/syria-raqqa-and-western-al-hassake-rif-the-truth-behind-the-cleansing-video/]<br /> <br /> ‘Southern Storm [Daraa 2015] persuaded everyone that neither side was close to victory.’<br /> [p222]<br /> <br /> ‘All this helped ISIS by weakening its principal foe (the mainstream opposition) and forcing moderates to align more closely with jihadists.’<br /> [p243]<br /> Link to Lister: ‘Moscow’s ill defined fight against “terrorism” was set to become a self-fulfilling prophecy, as Syria’s genuine moderate opposition began coordinating more closely with al-Qaeda and other similar jihadist factions. Rather than fighting jihadist militancy, Russia’s military intervention was fueling it like never before.’<br /> [The Syrian Jihad p369]<br /><br /> <br /><br /> ‘By 2016 the last remaining rebel strongholds in Latakia were cleared out.’<br /> [p243]<br /><br /> ‘On Christmas Day a Syrian government air strike in Ghouta killed Jaysh al-Islam’s commander, Zahran Alloush.’<br /> [p243]<br /><br /> <br /><br /> ‘The defenders set hundreds of tires alight, hoping the smoke would prevent or misdirect the air attacks. All it did was choke themselves.’<br /> [p280]<br /> <br /> ‘The government suspended its co-operation, demanding the rebels give up the besieged villages of al-Fuah and Kafraya.’<br /> [p282]<br /><br /> ‘Of the outside powers professing sympathy for Syrians tormented by their government, only Turkey put up any meaningful resistance.’<br /> [p288]<br /><br /> ‘Russia delivered sophisticated Pantsir anti-aircraft systems to Syria.’<br /> [p298]<br /><br /> ‘Ahrar al-Sham and Tahrir al-Sham also had a presence amid the ruined tenement blocks. HTS never had an armed presence in eastern Ghouta.<br /> [p304]<br /><br /> ‘The Syrians responded with S-200 surface-to-air missiles but failed to hit any of the aircraft.’<br /> [p304]<br /><br /> <br /><br /> ‘The very real risks of mission creep were forcefully demonstrated when an armed group comprising Syrian government forces, Iranian-trained Afghan militia, and Russian mercenaries belonging to the Wagner Group approached an SDF headquarters housing US Special Operations Forces in Khasham. Most put government-side losses at between eighty and one hundred fighters, twenty to thirty of them Russian mercenaries. For Damascus and its allies, the incident was a sharp reminder of their vulnerability; for Washington , a warning it might be dragged into fighting on behalf of the SDF.’<br /> [p318]<br /> “To make it short, we’ve had our fucking asses kicked,” one Wagner Group veteran reportedly says in a recording. “Yeah so, one squadron fucking lost 200 people immediately … Another one lost 10 people, and I don’t know about the third squadron, but it got torn up pretty badly too … They tore us to pieces.”<br /><br />Marine artillery support was vital to the fight against Syrian forces and mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner Group in the Battle of Khasham. US Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Matthew Callahan.<br /> <br /> The lopsided American victory worked as a deterrent a month later when another group of Syrian fighters and Russian mercenaries began a similar buildup near American forces along the Euphrates. This time, when Mattis called his Russian counterpart, the enemy force dispersed, successfully avoiding a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-mideast-crisis-usa-syria/after-brief-buildup-pro-syria-government-forces-move-away-from-u-s-troops-idUKKBN1H32SR?edition-redirect=uk">second curb-stomping</a>.<br /><br /> The Wagner Group is trained at Russian Defense Ministry bases, and the group’s leaders have received awards in the Kremlin, but Russia downplayed its involvement in the engagement that’s come to be known as the Battle of Khasham. Russia <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-russia/russian-lawmaker-says-u-s-strike-in-syria-an-act-of-aggression-interfax-idUSKBN1FS0Q7">claimed</a> the clash was a result of American aggression.<br /><br /> Similar <a href="https://coffeeordie.com/russian-troll-farm-propaganda/">Russian misinformation</a> is rampant in the war in Ukraine, and like in the Battle of Khasham, Russia’s numerical superiority isn’t translating to tactical success. In hindsight, perhaps Russia’s humiliating defeat in Syria was a sign of what was to come in Ukraine, where many analysts predicted Russia would “<a href="https://breakingdefense.com/2022/01/russias-defense-industry-might-not-survive-an-invasion-of-ukraine/">steamroll</a>” that nation’s military and defense forces.<br />[https://coffeeordie.com/wagner-group-syria-khasham]<br /> <br /><br /> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> ‘Most civilians and fighters fled before the advancing forces. Those who did not were forced out soon after, an almost complete exercise of ethnic cleansing that depopulated Afrin’s Kurdish community.’<br /> [p320]<br /><br /> ‘The strikes were too limited to have much material effect on Syria’s chemical weapons capabilities, and though it may be claimed they restored deterrence, this was only a temporary effect – Assad’s forces began using chemical weapons again the following May.’<br /> [p330]<br /><br /> ‘Ankara feared Idlib’s collapse would trigger a new refugee crisis and present the Kurds another opportunity for territorial growth. But stability meant somehow loosening the extremists’ grip.’<br /> [p338]<br /> <br /> ‘Turkey agreed to use its influence to dissolve Idlib’s HTS-led administration and replace it with a new civilian authority.’<br /> [p341]<br /> <br /> ‘The extremists tried to win a seat at the international table by offering the government a deal granting access to the highways.’<br /> [p343]<br /><br /> <br /><br /> ‘Amid the chaos in Tall Abyad, nearly eight hundred ISIS prisoners broke free from a detention camp – a predictable, and predicted, consequence of the Turkish intervention.’<br /> [p360]<br /><br />‘The United States lost the opportunity to inflict a decisive defeat on ISIS.’<br /> [p362]<br /><br /> ‘The balance of power between the two sides had changed dramatically. This made it much more likely that the Kurds could be persuaded to accept a political settlement with Damascus.’<br /> [p363]<br /> <br /> ‘Far from stimulating the return of displaced Syrians, Erdogan’s operation displaced 300,000 more. Those who remained were subjected to killings, sexual violence, and looting by Turkish-backed Islamist militia.’<br /> [p364]<br /> <br /> ‘By late 2019 the Assad government was well on its way toward re-establishing its international position. Recognizing Assad had all but prevailed, Syria’s Gulf Arab neighbours began normalizing relations with the government.’<br /> [p366]<br /><br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> ‘At the end of 2019 the situation remained uncertain, because of the ad hoc efforts of a couple of international actors, and the growing exhaustion of the régime and its allies.’<br /> [p368]<br /><br />‘Russian and Syrian forces attempted once again to impose a military solution on Idlib. Turkey countered with its own military and stopped the government in its tracks.’<br /> <br /> ‘The longer the enclave held out, the more entrenched its defenders might become, and the more stable its manner of governing, a potential beacon for future resistance.’<br /> [p370]<br /><br /> ‘Damascus worried that if it left the NLF and SNA to fester, they might displace the extremist HTS and win international legitimacy. This was precisely what Turkey wanted to engineer.’<br /> [pp370-371]<br /><br /> ‘Government forces made steady progress, which turned into a rout largely because HTS withdrew to more defensible positions in hilly areas.’<br /> [p373]<br /><br /> <br /><br /> ‘Starting on February 28, Turkish forces unleashed a barrage of artillery and drone strikes against more than two hundred Syrian government and Hezbollah targets, including Russian mercenaries and proxies, causing one hundred to three hundred casualties and destroying dozens of tanks, APCs and ammunition stores.’<br /> [p379]<br /> <br /> ‘There is no doubt Turkey’s intervention inflicted a heavy toll, stalled the government offensive, and exposed its military fragility.’<br /> [p380]<br /><br /> ‘The government side could not withstand the sort of losses inflicted by Turkey for long without serious repercussions.’<br /> [p381]<br /><br /> ‘The settling of scores in Idlib will likely prove to be one of the catalysts for Syria’s next civil war.’<br /> [p382]<br /><br /> <br /><br /> ‘There were rumors of a plot to remove Assad. Perhaps sensing this, the president reined in his cousin Rami Makhlouf. One theory suggests Makhlouf’s fall from grace stemmed from a conflict with Assad, another holds that Russia demanded the oligarch’s fall, concerned Makhlouf was a divisive figure and economic competitor.’<br /> [p384]<br /><br /> ‘The United Nations, an increasing number of governments, and even some human rights-focused NGOs believe an authoritarian peace is possible, that Assad victorious can be persuaded to reform, and his terrorized people persuaded to meekly accept their fate. They are wrong. The war will most likely continue until there is a reckoning with Assad and his allies.’<br /> [p385]<br /><br /> ‘To think that some sort of compromise was possible, was to misunderstand the personalized and patrimonial nature of the Assad régime.’<br /> [p388]<br /><br /> ‘The story is also one of the UN’s inexorable descent into political irrelevance and complicity with evil.’<br /> [p389]</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;"> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNiY0wUI0h8dLd0UgaJfOI217t-RLQh7GTSPWlxH8kF56dclOCMJe3BfZIhhwa6bA_GqJOqmfR6ptzfVOHnKzDYEnUxakjRW2QK-ZB_9D-cImC912NJsmRznkCy4oCYKGOEqo38kNgJ8LuFsUoltwFhlhRYtW-LVFmdbHk_nuV0doOmbJ11lKq7omuqfQk/s805/SAM_2531.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><img border="0" data-original-height="805" data-original-width="649" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNiY0wUI0h8dLd0UgaJfOI217t-RLQh7GTSPWlxH8kF56dclOCMJe3BfZIhhwa6bA_GqJOqmfR6ptzfVOHnKzDYEnUxakjRW2QK-ZB_9D-cImC912NJsmRznkCy4oCYKGOEqo38kNgJ8LuFsUoltwFhlhRYtW-LVFmdbHk_nuV0doOmbJ11lKq7omuqfQk/w161-h200/SAM_2531.JPG" width="161" /></span></a></span></p></div>Dick Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17099184432893592991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744492967852246576.post-44630371506889700352023-09-01T12:37:00.000+01:002023-09-01T12:37:34.118+01:00Why areas outside of regime control are faring better amid Syria's economic crisis<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS_t_NacvbADA3ATRcNHVs5htGnJkLsdnIGJba8Yc-aaER3SN72SSg5n1FtQ3Hf9cXbmZZqA7g23IOSg7smtNuFLaRSseNZ3VY6euc5B3VvDGP2kFKmj9Wl70u6BUgfJDJR5xRZDuXCRspo9275FjEvUXrwxH0QbC1cPffiEVXZ9x7pSA3P8nvWmd8DLvU/s1278/idlibsuwayda.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="725" data-original-width="1278" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS_t_NacvbADA3ATRcNHVs5htGnJkLsdnIGJba8Yc-aaER3SN72SSg5n1FtQ3Hf9cXbmZZqA7g23IOSg7smtNuFLaRSseNZ3VY6euc5B3VvDGP2kFKmj9Wl70u6BUgfJDJR5xRZDuXCRspo9275FjEvUXrwxH0QbC1cPffiEVXZ9x7pSA3P8nvWmd8DLvU/w478-h272/idlibsuwayda.png" width="478" /></a></p><span style="font-family: arial;"> '<a href="https://en.majalla.com/node/298636/opinion/why-areas-outside-regime-control-are-faring-better-amid-syrias-economic-crisis"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Anti-régime protests in southern Syria</span></a> are closing out their second week. These protests were initially triggered by the government's decision to slash fuel subsidies, even as the régime tried to mitigate the impact by <a href="https://en.majalla.com/node/298041/opinion/salary-bumps-fail-quell-syria-protests-over-fuel-price-hikes">doubling the salaries</a> of government workers.<br /><br /> Meanwhile, in the areas beyond the régime's grip — stretching from the northeast autonomous administration to the northwest salvation government and Turkish-backed councils— sporadic protests have emerged against their respective de facto authorities over the years.<br /><br /> However, the ongoing surge of anti-régime protests has not directly triggered similar demonstrations against the predominant de facto authorities in other regions of the country. Instead, residents in these areas have joined together in solidarity with, and extended support to, those protesting against the régime.<br /><br /> This phenomenon can be attributed to the perception that inhabitants in non-government-controlled zones view their de facto authorities as a more tolerable option compared to the régime — further solidifying opposition to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.<br /><br /> Nonetheless, it's important to note that living conditions for residents in territories controlled by the régime are considerably more dire than in other regions. This disparity endures despite the advantage of established state structures in government-held areas, in contrast to newly constructed frameworks in other locations that were initiated with limited resources and knowledge.<br /><br /><br /><br /> In 2017, the Syrian Salvation Government (SG) emerged in the Idlib governorate and rural Aleppo, with HTS's endorsement and support. The group's influence over the SG extends beyond its military presence, as it grants access to revenues generated or managed by the group. In exchange, HTS utilises the SG to establish administrative control over the region.<br /><br /> The SG comprises a prime minister and 11 ministers, who, in turn, rely on technical directorates and administrative councils to govern the territories. Technical directorates are manned by appointed personnel, while local councils theoretically emerge from local community elections to ensure grassroots participation in local governance.<br /><br /> Additionally, a Shura Council exists, serving as a theoretical legislative body (akin to a parliament) responsible for overseeing the SG.<br /><br /> While elections are nominally conducted for Shura and administrative councils, many perceive these processes as mere formalities. Successful candidates are often predetermined by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham and its affiliates.<br /><br /> Furthermore, the governance model of the Salvation Government centralises decision-making authority at a higher level. Consequently, service directorates primarily implement policies and programmes devised by their respective line ministries, which are under the dominance of HTS.<br /><br /><br /><br /> Turkish-backed territories encompass Azaz and regions under Turkey's Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch military operations.<br /><br /> These semi-autonomous councils possess substantial executive authority within their domains — largely due to Turkey's significant financial and managerial engagement. Financially, these councils depend on revenues generated from border and frontline crossings, supplemented by financial support from Turkey.<br /><br /> Officially, the association between these councils and the Turkish government revolves around financial and technical assistance. Yet, Turkey's direct and substantial on-ground engagement empowers it to exert substantial influence over council decision-making.<br /><br /> The day-to-day council management is overseen by Turkish-appointed administrators, who station representatives or advisors to collaborate with the councils.<br /><br /> These advisors — often experts in fields such as healthcare, education, and finance — are government-designated professionals. They occupy relevant council offices and work closely with their respective heads.<br /><br /> Unlike other areas, where nominal elections occur, local council members in these regions are reportedly appointed following consultations among local leaders, armed factions, and Turkish officials.<br /><br /><br /><br /> Originating in 2012 within Kurdish-majority regions of Hasakah governorate, the Kurdish-led autonomous administration expanded after the military defeat of the Islamic State (IS) to encompass areas like Manbij, Raqqa, and Deir ez-Zor.<br /><br /> This organisational structure comprises seven self-governing regions, also known as cantons: Afrin, Jazira, Euphrates, Raqqa, Tabqa, Manbij, and Deir Ez-Zor.<br /><br /> In 2018, the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) emerged to coordinate and oversee these seven regional administrations. Acting as the highest authority, the AANES consists of an Executive Council (handling governance) and a Legislative Council (performing parliamentary duties).<br /><br /> The Regional Executive Council's structure and functioning mirror those of the AANES. While executive powers are officially decentralised across various administrative tiers — from regional to canton/province councils, areas, districts, and local councils —practical implementation appears to be more centralised. High-level council approval often precedes the execution of decisions.<br /><br /> Underneath this formal governance structure, an informal or shadow framework exists led by Kurdish commanders known as "kadros." These individuals exert significant influence over pivotal strategic and policy choices.<br /><br /> Although local communities are theoretically responsible for electing civilian administrative council members, reality veers from theory. Appointments often stem from consultations with local figures, rather than through popular vote, across both regional and central bodies.<br /><br /><br /><br /> With its grip on governing structures weakening in regions outside its direct control, the régime increasingly sought to bolster its authority over state institutions within its held areas.<br /><br /> This resulted in a more inflexible and interventionist approach to the day-to-day functioning of state institutions. Even with the introduction of Law No. 107 in August 2011, which aimed to facilitate decentralisation of power and establish a foundation for local administration in régime-controlled territories, implementation of this law has remained largely dormant.<br /><br /> The central office of the Presidency continues to play a paramount role in shaping public policies and enacting laws and regulations for streamlined execution. While the government and parliament can offer input, their authority to modify laws proposed by the Presidency is limited, if it even exists.<br /><br /> Residents have — at times and to various degrees — demonstrated against the policies and performance of de facto authorities in their respective areas. However, it remains true that all these entities have succeeded in providing better living conditions than the Damascus government.<br /><br /><br /><br /> Despite the complexity of a comprehensive analysis, we have distilled this evaluation into two crucial benchmarks: salaries and services.<br /><br /> In Syrian government-controlled areas, wages remain strikingly low, even with a recent increase. The average civil servant's salary barely scrapes $22. In contrast, the average earnings within SDF territories, boosted by recent salary hikes, exceed $85.<br /><br /> Meanwhile, public servants in Turkish-backed regions witnessed their most recent raise in December 2022, elevating their average income to around $92. Meanwhile, in regions administered by HTS, the average salary for public servants hovers at approximately $90.<br /><br /><br /><br /> It is important to note that the actual value of these salaries varies in accordance with the frequency of increases and the volatility of the currency used. Turkish Lira governs in HTS and Turkish-backed areas, while other regions rely on the Syrian Lira. Nonetheless, it's clear that the government disburses only a quarter of what public servants in other regions receive.<br /><br /> To comprehensively gauge the practical buying power of these salaries, the considerable disparity in food prices across regions warrants emphasis.<br /><br /> In SDF-controlled areas, food prices are relatively more reasonable compared to régime-held territories. Conversely, areas under opposition control boast the most affordable costs in Syria.<br /><br /><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> Meanwhile, bread and fuel shortages are gripping certain regions, a significance that warrants further elaboration.<br /><br /> In regions under the oversight of HTS and Turkish forces, these essential commodities are generally available in the market. However, it's essential to emphasise that fuel prices in these territories are not subsidised by de facto authorities.<br /><br /> In regions controlled by the SDF, a similar pattern emerges — albeit with intermittent fuel shortages — sparking points of contention. <br /><br /> Nevertheless, these scarcities tend to be short-lived.<br /><br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> Past grievances have also revolved around queuing for bread purchases and concerns about the adequacy of allocated rations. In response, the autonomous administration has recently heightened per-person bread allocations by a significant 25%.<br /><br /> It's worth noting that the commitment of the autonomous administration extends to providing subsidised fuel and cooking gas rations. However, concerns persist regarding delays in delivery.<br /><br /> In stark contrast, fuel and bread scarcities in régime-held areas have solidified into persistent, protracted challenges.<br /><br /> The government, on its part, distributes petroleum products and cooking gas at subsidised rates. However, reports of significant delays are widespread, along with complaints about inefficiencies in ration quantities.<br /><br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> Amidst the divergences in income, purchasing power, and access to essential services, Syrians throughout the country are facing an ongoing battle to make ends meet.<br /><br /> Consequently, the momentum behind protests against the ruling authorities is expected to continue — albeit with varying intensity — as long as families grapple with the unmet demands of their basic necessities.<br /><br /> Moreover, a significant number of people will continue to seek better prospects abroad, despite the mounting expenses and heightened risks involved.'<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj_OgNTp2nw5FrvGf2H-PKaDK-iz7OAUw7XcsCc5e6xX86C5Hav8r-tYMPZqQKbrUIklAS5AnJdJ_ETzTaT1KCKbqhdX3ggbQ-mzinI0njxRj0tNCZjRqGUG3bFCTQyZWOlq_l53D52w4XC6RjpnOYZnD0IFxNooFx-2VyNQNI5WJvra0hWxZLAtkNn3qLM"><img height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj_OgNTp2nw5FrvGf2H-PKaDK-iz7OAUw7XcsCc5e6xX86C5Hav8r-tYMPZqQKbrUIklAS5AnJdJ_ETzTaT1KCKbqhdX3ggbQ-mzinI0njxRj0tNCZjRqGUG3bFCTQyZWOlq_l53D52w4XC6RjpnOYZnD0IFxNooFx-2VyNQNI5WJvra0hWxZLAtkNn3qLM=w150-h200" width="150" /></a></span></div>Dick Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17099184432893592991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744492967852246576.post-54512059017654953012023-08-29T08:27:00.000+01:002023-08-29T08:27:52.567+01:00 Syrian protests enter second week with calls for Assad to go<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgs-gCWyZRwjsXdeEwrDAX9LxuXP4E-cvxjg_8Zm6YuYVFgPUXsevSKjP8Sj4w89fNgnf0z94GH1x4S0VPIb79FLALt1gTajXaNTu-fuBpo5wLyuYYkIt4M69Kh-6RZkDuL-AdED_Y4pilGz2UgidtoAdWeXTatvdxi9wkVz3r7AiAtR7g-E-0VALhVsEoE" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="372" data-original-width="620" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgs-gCWyZRwjsXdeEwrDAX9LxuXP4E-cvxjg_8Zm6YuYVFgPUXsevSKjP8Sj4w89fNgnf0z94GH1x4S0VPIb79FLALt1gTajXaNTu-fuBpo5wLyuYYkIt4M69Kh-6RZkDuL-AdED_Y4pilGz2UgidtoAdWeXTatvdxi9wkVz3r7AiAtR7g-E-0VALhVsEoE=w487-h292" width="487" /></a></p><span style="font-family: arial;"> '<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/28/syrian-protests-enter-second-week-with-calls-for-assad-to-go"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">A spate of protests</span></a> and strikes across government-held areas in southern Syria have continued into their second week, with demonstrators increasingly unafraid to call for the removal of the president, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/bashar-al-assad">Bashar al-Assad</a>.<br /><br /> Protesters gathered in the southern city of Suwayda on Monday, closing provincial roads. The province of Suwayda has remained under government control since Syria’s 2011 uprising and is home to much of the country’s Druze minority.<br /><br /><br /><br /> Video shared by the activist-led organisation Suwayda24 showed several hundred people gathered in a central square waving Druze flags and chanting “long live Syria, and down with Bashar al-Assad”.<br /><br /> Another video circulating online showed activists chanting on Sunday evening after welding shut the doors of a branch of the ruling Ba’ath party in the town of Melh in the east of Suwayda province.<br /><br /> One protester explained that they targeted the building due to its role in suppressing previous protests calling for an increase in basic services such as water and electricity.<br /><br /> He then directed his cries towards the Syrian president, who has worked to stamp out all dissent since protests against his rule first erupted in 2011. “From Melh we call on you, Bashar al-Assad … we say leave, we don’t want you, you’re going to fall.”<br /><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/26/anti-government-protests-shake-syrian-provinces-amid-anger-over-economy"><br /></a> He added: “You have two options: either you leave with your dignity, or you are destined to die.”<br /><br /><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> Protests spurred by a rise in fuel prices and anger at economic corruption and mismanagement quickly morphed into anti-government demonstrations, including repeated calls for Assad to leave. Demonstrations have grown steadily throughout Syria’s south.<br /><br /> In Suwayda, people held signs citing a UN security council resolution demanding a transitional government, or calling for the release of thousands that have been forcibly disappeared by the Syrian security apparatus since protests first gripped the country 12 years ago.<br /><br /> “Suwayda hasn’t witnessed a civil strike and movement like this before. People don’t want reforms. This régime is not able to provide people with any of their needs,” said Rayan Marouf, the exiled head of Suwayda24.<br /><br /> “These protests have awakened hope in Syrians. Their demands are clear, and no one is making economic demands. People in Suwayda also protested over the past few years and nothing changed.”<br /><br /><br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> Marouf emphasised that the renewed protests were about calls for political change, rather than economic grievances that saw smaller protests in Suwayda in previous years.<br /><br /> “If they wanted economic reforms they would have protested differently, they would have taken to the streets, for example, and tried to break into banks, or called for a change of ministers and to bring back fuel subsidies. They wouldn’t have attacked the Ba’ath party offices, one of its few functioning branches in Syria. People want Assad to go,” he said.<br /><br /> The demonstrations in majority Druze areas, which have drawn support from local clerics and other groups in the area, like Bedouin, represent a further blow to the Assad régime, which has long touted its defence of the country’s minorities.<br /><br /> The Syrian pound has hit historic lows throughout the summer, plummeting to almost 15,000 to the dollar on the black market, depreciating threefold since its value late last year. The government continues to hike wages amid a costly restructuring plan on subsidies for basic goods, including bread and petrol.<br /><br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> The United Nations <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/warns-90-syrians-below-poverty-line-millions-face-100509395#:~:text=Interest%20Successfully%20Added-,UN%20warns%20that%2090%25%20of%20Syrians%20are%20below%20the%20poverty,because%20the%20%245.4%20billion%20U.N.">said in June</a> that Syria’s 12-year conflict had pushed 90% of its remaining population over the poverty line, amid rising food costs and cuts to electricity and fuel.<br /><br /> Despite efforts by Assad to oversee a return to the Arab League and re-establish relations with former foes in the Gulf, his control over Syrian territory remains fractured and a profound economic crisis persists.<br /><br /> The government has offered little comment on the protests, apart from the state’s head of reconciliation, Omar Rahmoun, who posted on social media to accuse protesters of acting as a conduit for extremist groups.<br /><br /> Damascus has blamed its collapsing economy on western sanctions, which increased following documentation of war crimes committed by the Assad régime as well as its role in the regional drug trade.<br /><br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> Marouf said the protests show Assad’s efforts at control have done little to quell public anger, even in government-held areas. “People want a fair government, and al-Assad’s régime is incapable of giving his people that. Whatever this régime does it won’t be enough for his people,” he said.<br /><br /> “The world thinks that Bashar al-Assad has won after being readmitted to the Arab League, but it’s those on the ground who decide whether he’s a legitimate ruler or not.” '<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhnnCkm4TPs3aauXc8iD_dJArxGSC0kXFqYt4F-7C9nybqBEVv0EEa9lepwADSddAGWRXI759cOBU0lf0iXOZTgjn3vzjCaCoQ2Vp_wvvuSOjP8BcTAgYY_emURn29YXywVWiuJgzyEackVVaG1jUl1P_gcxN_2nTZRpYzdX0bovlmsQChl0mSTfEhMtMox"><img height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhnnCkm4TPs3aauXc8iD_dJArxGSC0kXFqYt4F-7C9nybqBEVv0EEa9lepwADSddAGWRXI759cOBU0lf0iXOZTgjn3vzjCaCoQ2Vp_wvvuSOjP8BcTAgYY_emURn29YXywVWiuJgzyEackVVaG1jUl1P_gcxN_2nTZRpYzdX0bovlmsQChl0mSTfEhMtMox=w200-h150" width="200" /></a></span></div>Dick Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17099184432893592991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744492967852246576.post-26415221404563708012023-08-25T08:32:00.001+01:002023-09-01T12:48:08.735+01:00Assad faces anger in the streets as protests sweep southern Syria<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh9ZtgJ9XT3lQbjEeEXXzJ_fk_UprnH1-D4t6y7dzL91jrEJBb5bMWNiz2ISRSNtR2kBozRNcIWPKPJ7cIGkvsIzSyNE9D4kmNjlW8v2RqIyJ7381NAchIV8Ptvjoc5WZL5o0lAW0EygmjRpbhd7aCW8VAdxJwf2ZpeYF53APPeGUvV6_UnBHvyCUQvxLbY" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="552" data-original-width="980" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh9ZtgJ9XT3lQbjEeEXXzJ_fk_UprnH1-D4t6y7dzL91jrEJBb5bMWNiz2ISRSNtR2kBozRNcIWPKPJ7cIGkvsIzSyNE9D4kmNjlW8v2RqIyJ7381NAchIV8Ptvjoc5WZL5o0lAW0EygmjRpbhd7aCW8VAdxJwf2ZpeYF53APPeGUvV6_UnBHvyCUQvxLbY=w505-h284" width="505" /></a></p><span style="font-family: arial;"> '<a href="https://observers.france24.com/en/middle-east/20230824-assad-faces-anger-in-the-streets-as-protests-sweep-southern-syria"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Chants like</span></a> “the people want the régime to fall!”, “Syria belongs to us, not the al-Assad family!” and “Get out, Bashar!” have been ringing through the streets of the Syrian city of As-Suwayda in recent days. It’s an echo: protesters from the city – many of the Druze minority – are using the same chants that demonstrators took up twelve years ago when the revolution first began in Syria.<br /><br /> A wave of protests has swept cities in southern Syria since the government’s announcement on August 15 that they intended to increase the price of petrol by 200%, a devastating price increase for a population whose financial situation has been ravaged by twelve years of war. More than <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/syrian-arab-republic/syria-unprecedented-rise-poverty-rate-significant-shortfall-humanitarian-aid-funding-enar">90% of the population lives under the poverty line</a>. Government employees earn, on average, a monthly salary of just <a href="https://www.mei.edu/publications/syrias-economic-freefall-continues-despite-arab-league-return">12 euros</a>.<br /><br /> The first group to respond to the government’s announcement were truck drivers in As-Suwayda. They called for a general strike and mobilisation. <br /><br /><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> Shadi Al Dubaisi is a citizen journalist who lives in As-Suwayda. He participated in the protests.<br /><br /> "Protests took place in dozens of places across the governorate. The roads were blocked. The local headquarters of the Baath party [Editor’s note: Bashar al-Assad’s party] and its branches were shut down. <br /><br /> People spray painted walls and handed out pamphlets. The protesters called for the overthrow of the régime, the liberation of political detainees and the application of resolution 2254. <br /><br /> The protesters have popular support as well as the support of the sheikh of the Druze, Hikmat al-Hijri. He supports the calls of the protesters and warns against any harm coming to them. It seems as if the security forces are unable to shut down these protests because of the large popular support as well as the participation of people from all sectors of society, including young people, women and the clergy."<br /><br /><br /><br /> The strike largely took place in As-Suwayda. Images shared on August 20 by the local media As-Suwayda 24 show dozens of shops in the town centre shut down. On August 23, protesters set a large poster of Bashar al-Assad on fire. <br /><br /> Protests also took place in other cities. In Jableh, a town near the coastal city of Latakia, many people participated in the general strike. A video posted on social media on August 20 shows soldiers deployed to the town trying to force people to re-open their stores. Protests also took place in Deraa as well as in the suburbs of Damascus. In Nawa, a suburb of Deraa, security forces carried out a violent crackdown on a peaceful nighttime protest on August 20. <br /><br /> <a href="http://twitter.com/fkontar78?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^author">Firas Kontar</a>, who is both French and Syrian, wrote the book Syria: The Impossible Revolution.<br /><br /> "The protests took place in places where the régime’s security services have less control. In Deraa, there is still a strong presence of militants from the Free Syrian Army, which means that the régime was unable to regain a firm hold on the territory. <br /><br /> People in As-Suwayda have never supported the régime or pro-régime militias. Instead, they supported the revolution from the beginning, which was embarrassing to the régime, which always pretended that minorities were on its side. It’s a big slap in the face for the régime. <br /><br /> We are experiencing the dislocation of a society, of a state that has left behind a terrible void in its wake. There’s been instability for the past 12 years. There won’t be an end to this conversation while Assad is here. The problems can’t be resolved with his presence. He is the knot that prevents any movement towards a pacification of the situation. And so this all continues." '<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNplidFn1cmvPqdCmoryMOEiT-YsG0iDpnduq-h5bLbif8UFhRdr8XxdzpZYBMWBs96cClvhcq-ufFFaiSOLI5lZ2PWQLSncMPwyZOAtIdcSHZEKNWldw9r0qXaEmWII_EB5IRZ1uAflkxRBfL6Iok74fDwz4x6EDDR2u7Y_9wf2W3FDH_kpkNBEUCHWU-/s1031/bosra.png"><img border="0" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNplidFn1cmvPqdCmoryMOEiT-YsG0iDpnduq-h5bLbif8UFhRdr8XxdzpZYBMWBs96cClvhcq-ufFFaiSOLI5lZ2PWQLSncMPwyZOAtIdcSHZEKNWldw9r0qXaEmWII_EB5IRZ1uAflkxRBfL6Iok74fDwz4x6EDDR2u7Y_9wf2W3FDH_kpkNBEUCHWU-/w200-h151/bosra.png" width="200" /></a></span></div>Dick Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17099184432893592991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744492967852246576.post-59006783593836260052023-08-20T09:03:00.000+01:002023-08-20T09:03:33.520+01:00Football fever hits rebel-held northwest Syria<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjWE-7GCxZh02lK6jTO73aZ8vLGyX1NHiWGD7-_QmhBRzxyzi4y5r9TFHqAQ8PNjTp3PhaiO5OoDuVjnluwW4kLXDiVt9_MyGKYNMEfz-vAO59tR-h_KZRmNN3LPAKCYZ4-cnqSWjEh1Gcm1Ih1hrrhKcjP8Aukc7AWxucEm0Vb28aCNKh05rrT-foi3eEB" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="768" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjWE-7GCxZh02lK6jTO73aZ8vLGyX1NHiWGD7-_QmhBRzxyzi4y5r9TFHqAQ8PNjTp3PhaiO5OoDuVjnluwW4kLXDiVt9_MyGKYNMEfz-vAO59tR-h_KZRmNN3LPAKCYZ4-cnqSWjEh1Gcm1Ih1hrrhKcjP8Aukc7AWxucEm0Vb28aCNKh05rrT-foi3eEB=w473-h315" width="473" /></a></p><span style="font-family: arial;"> '<a href="https://uk.news.yahoo.com/football-fever-hits-rebel-held-190634968.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Thousands of fans</span></a> in Syria's last opposition bastion have packed into a stadium for the frenzied final of a football cup -- an escape valve amid years of conflict and misery.<br /><br /> "I'm really happy today," said Mohammed al-Zeer, 28, from the northwestern city of Idlib. "Between the war and the destruction and explosions and the problems", events like a football match are "a great joy".<br /><br /> Syria's rebel-held Idlib region is home to about three million people, around half of them displaced from other parts of the country.<br /><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> Many live in poverty, including in overcrowded displacement camps.<br /><br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> Friday night's match pitted the Omaya team from the heart of the opposition-held city against Homs Al-Adiya, composed of players originally from the régime-held city of Homs.<br /><br /> The stadium was packed with cheering spectators who set off flares and yelled revolutionary anti-régime slogans as well as football chants.<br /><br /> Supporters waved Syrian opposition flags along with the red-and-green colours of the Idlib team or the blue-and-yellow of the Homs club.<br /><br /> "Whenever I watch matches with a big, enthusiastic crowd, it means a lot to me," said Zeer, who is also a fan of Barcelona and Argentina's national team.<br /><br /> "Sport is the only outlet for young people in the Idlib region."<br /><br /><br /><br /> The tournament brought together 36 teams made up of players from the Idlib region or displaced from other parts of Syria.<br /><br /> The Idlib bastion is controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), considered a "terrorist" group by Damascus, as well as by the United States and the United Nations.<br /><br /> Idlib footballer Yazen Habboush said he used to play for Omaya when it was part of the Syrian premier league team in government-held areas.<br /><br /> "Some other players and I defected" in 2015, said Habboush who is now in his late twenties.<br /><br /> He was enthusiastic about the opportunity Friday's match provided, saying it enabled people to "express feelings" usually kept inside.<br /><br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> Because so many people wanted to see the match, hundreds climbed on top of walls in the stadium itself and also nearby, or watched from the roofs of buildings.<br /><br /> There was a rush of excitement when the home team won 2-1, with Omaya fans invading the pitch, women ululating and fireworks bursting over the stadium in celebration.<br /><br /> Fans of the victors then took to the streets on motorbikes and in cars, waving Omaya flags of red and green.<br /><br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> Idlib's municipal stadium was hit by air strikes early in the conflict, but underwent basic restoration work and reopened in 2018.<br /><br /> In 2020 it hosted displaced people who pitched tents around the facility, hanging their laundry on the pitch-side fence.<br /><br /> Mohammed al-Sibaie, a sports official with the local authorities, said further renovations were completed last November.<br /><br /> The stadium was at its maximum capacity of 12,000 for Friday night's game, he said.<br /><br /> "Sport is an outlet for everybody," whether sportspeople or not, Sibaie said.<br /><br /> "Despite the bombing and despite the hardships that the people are going through, God willing we will continue doing sport and expand on it," he added.'<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgESYiOtBrwwiYFfR7BB3n9k38NQPjAWITKp2I5iwJxcDKTgariH25BMi1bLicanjtEVTQRHg6cdbQ2cYPLx-CWWxbXZ_zJwHoLddpuIbTgmOfOlaoJJeik6sKMSFcVYgGfXI2AcYeh532EhVNRlHFcOpS9PQUfUWWK59OIuOPKXClGxFlfrNqMv1wlrTxs/s579/Screenshot%20(1395).png"><img border="0" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgESYiOtBrwwiYFfR7BB3n9k38NQPjAWITKp2I5iwJxcDKTgariH25BMi1bLicanjtEVTQRHg6cdbQ2cYPLx-CWWxbXZ_zJwHoLddpuIbTgmOfOlaoJJeik6sKMSFcVYgGfXI2AcYeh532EhVNRlHFcOpS9PQUfUWWK59OIuOPKXClGxFlfrNqMv1wlrTxs/w200-h134/Screenshot%20(1395).png" width="200" /></a></span></div>Dick Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17099184432893592991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744492967852246576.post-88381786743728104682023-08-19T09:06:00.000+01:002023-08-19T09:06:08.296+01:00Protests against declining living conditions spread across Syria<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh-vFPvZ2nS1XpaqDTGiLRfvaBUd_K56Jah0XKVpAg3md5P8zHPrejYv20KGrO9kCekJOwG1hvPpcHbltX67H-_1K3_UlgrMoqjvh3-REw8pkzgXqiF5hStLeS-V634Wk2GhfOmjiI4MJVHRT2My2AdyJIOfQAsIiVcUZzlFIfV5KMfn7i2ephXDwX6nr_V" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="650" data-original-width="1155" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh-vFPvZ2nS1XpaqDTGiLRfvaBUd_K56Jah0XKVpAg3md5P8zHPrejYv20KGrO9kCekJOwG1hvPpcHbltX67H-_1K3_UlgrMoqjvh3-REw8pkzgXqiF5hStLeS-V634Wk2GhfOmjiI4MJVHRT2My2AdyJIOfQAsIiVcUZzlFIfV5KMfn7i2ephXDwX6nr_V=w477-h268" width="477" /></a></p><span style="font-family: arial;"> '<a href="https://www.newarab.com/news/protests-against-living-conditions-spread-across-syria"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Protests against declining living conditions</span></a> and the <a href="https://www.newarab.com/opinion/syria-verge-economic-collapse">Syrian</a> régime's economic policies spread across southern Syria this week, a rarity in a country where open dissent is often punishable by imprisonment and torture.<br /><br /> A general strike was declared in the Druze-majority province of <a href="https://www.newarab.com/analysis/why-protests-suweida-are-troubling-syrian-regime">Suweida</a>, and hundreds of protesters chanted slogans against the régime.<br /><br /> In neighbouring Daraa province, some villages participated in the strikes, with demonstrators raising the Syrian revolutionary flag and chanting, "Bashar … Go! We want to live!"<br /><br /> The protests erupted after the <a href="https://www.newarab.com/features/turkeys-currency-crisis-having-domino-effect-nw-syria">Syrian currency</a> reached an unprecedented low of 15,000 Syrian pounds per US dollar on Tuesday, 15 August, down from 7,000 at the beginning of the year.<br /><br /> The Syrian government also increased fuel prices this week and has steadily rolled back subsidies for critical staples, such as heating and cooking fuel.<br /><br /><br /><br /> In a move to try to blunt the impact of the price increases on Syrian families, Syrian president Bashar al-Assad <a href="https://www.newarab.com/news/syria-assad-doubles-public-sector-wages-currency-spirals">doubled public salaries</a> on Wednesday.<br /><br /> Economists said the wage increase would likely be wiped out by subsequent inflation as the pound's value continues to fall.<br /><br /> Despite the initial catalyst being economic, activists said the protests tapped into simmering resentment against the régime.<br /><br /> "The demonstrators don't have specific demands yet, although the slogans they chanted yesterday were primarily political. They hold the head of the Syrian régime responsible for the deterioration of living conditions," said Ryan Marouf, an activist and editor of Suwayda 24.<br /><br /> Opposition groups in Daraa also expressed solidarity, with the "Association for Free Men of the Arab Mountain" publishing a statement giving their "full support to the popular movement in Suweida."<br /><br /> "The Association will work from this moment forward to prepare all methods to protect our free people and support the general strike … and prevent any security chaos," the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/soreafree/posts/6379435222164443/?comment_id=6379451292162836&notif_id=1692220338089489&notif_t=group_comment_mention">statement</a> read.<br /><br /><br /><br /> Suweida has been afforded some autonomy amid Syria's civil war, as the province largely kept to itself.<br /><br /> Local militias such as the "Sheikhs of Dignity" have also taken security into their own hands, ousting some régime security forces from the province after accusing them of being behind kidnapping and drug trafficking gangs.<br /><br /> On-and-off protests have occurred in the province since the beginning of Syria's economic collapse in 2019, with only occasional violent interference from régime security services.<br /><br /> However, this week's protests began to spread to areas outside the typically restive south, with protesters chanting against the régime in Jaramna, a suburb of the capital city, Damascus, on Friday.<br /><br /> Other Syrians chose a more subtle form of dissent, holding up slips of paper containing protests and demands in front of iconic locations nationwide.<br /><br /> "The Syrian people, regardless of sect, say enough humiliation. The future of our youth is not a game to be played in your hands," one such paper <a href="https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid0rn4ibFJ83crL6yvv3QXDerbkoobtrcS4XycoUh1Ewk1ZATJK7kB1v1EHbptzd2EYl&id=100095524928763">read</a>, held up in front of a Syrian government building.<br /><br /><br /><br /> The protests are part of a new, pan-Syrian movement called the "<a href="https://www.alaraby.co.uk/politics/%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%AD%D8%B1%D9%83%D8%A9-10-%D8%A2%D8%A8-%D8%AA%D8%A8%D8%AF%D8%A3-%D8%AD%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%83%D9%87%D8%A7-%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%B1-%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%B2%D9%8A%D8%B9-%D8%A2%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%81-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%B4%D9%8A%D8%B1">10th of August Movement</a>," which calls for peaceful demonstrations and strikes to protest "the state's disregard for the future of the people."<br /><br /> Syrian authorities have yet to respond directly to protests, though activists are bracing themselves based on past experiences of security forces cracking down on dissent with force.<br /><br /> "It's likely that there will be a reaction from the authorities at the present time, as this might detonate the already inflamed street anger," Marouf said.<br /><br /> "However, it is difficult to bet on the reaction of the régime, which did not hesitate to break up a demonstration last year in Suweida with live ammunition," he added.'<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj31NrO8eT2f2-rX_MvSpTWODkIEULkNul5S08N22zCsMk11PdgtcgpvvH6V2oiqUCJHb7BxtcVokunnneox_6glMJoOTOUeLIvSqPdB2eLQv_nLkfQ5K3w1j_qmesUuTCwAYQ1fZsUQYdo67LIVTb9JcrYHdIbXgYathTX8eMWRhOlupE7t0qwZxl8aBWy"><img height="119" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj31NrO8eT2f2-rX_MvSpTWODkIEULkNul5S08N22zCsMk11PdgtcgpvvH6V2oiqUCJHb7BxtcVokunnneox_6glMJoOTOUeLIvSqPdB2eLQv_nLkfQ5K3w1j_qmesUuTCwAYQ1fZsUQYdo67LIVTb9JcrYHdIbXgYathTX8eMWRhOlupE7t0qwZxl8aBWy=w200-h119" width="200" /></a></span>Dick Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17099184432893592991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3744492967852246576.post-60647951363004032132023-08-15T12:43:00.002+01:002023-08-15T12:43:53.840+01:00“It is better to die than to see alive among us those who destroyed our country”<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3gLq_MAvh0T7q5IYQXmdWbtkCXFWpJv5iKdcwOHt6OySERXfEtvpBQezfnpkngScZT9Aa5b019f4aKnJaXjbEWGl-n45qVkT3c7JBtZv4r8vKnrADkBWTRiIPg29dF2O9ugThsOvA43fdawI1CuqfSUmHvlng-bFGIv_rqDwLc-zVmS6Z6jj81GuMR8yY/s901/Screenshot%20(1393).png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="901" data-original-width="499" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3gLq_MAvh0T7q5IYQXmdWbtkCXFWpJv5iKdcwOHt6OySERXfEtvpBQezfnpkngScZT9Aa5b019f4aKnJaXjbEWGl-n45qVkT3c7JBtZv4r8vKnrADkBWTRiIPg29dF2O9ugThsOvA43fdawI1CuqfSUmHvlng-bFGIv_rqDwLc-zVmS6Z6jj81GuMR8yY/w221-h400/Screenshot%20(1393).png" width="221" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><span style="font-family: arial;"> '<a href="https://doxa.team/articles/syria-now"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">In the summer of 2015</span></a>, Assad found himself in a vulnerable position. The régime has lost control of most of the country, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/11/syria-losses-east-assad-regime-precarious">having suffered</a> a string of defeats from opposition forces and ISIS. In autumn, at the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-putin-idUSKCN0RU17Y20150930">request of</a> Assad, Russia intervened in the war under the pretext of “fighting terrorism” and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/russian/international/2015/09/150930_russia_syria_army_wrap">delivered</a> the first blows.<br /><br /> The Ministry of Defense declared exclusively about "precision" strikes on the positions of ISIS militants. However, on the very first day of the operation, September 30, videos of the consequences of Russian strikes on territories under the control of the opposition <a href="https://www.vdc-sy.info/pdf/reports/1444252328-English.pdf">appeared</a> on the network . During the operation, aviation <a href="https://syrianarchive.org/en/datasets/russian-airstrikes#russian-airstrikes-database">destroyed</a> civilian infrastructure, destroying entire cities.<br /><br /> By November, the Syrian government forces, with the active support of Russian aviation, completed the encirclement and began the siege of the economic capital of Syria, Aleppo. At this time, Abdulkafi Alhamdo, originally from a village in the vicinity of the city, was in the city with his wife and 10-month-old daughter:<br /><br /> “In the last days of the siege, Russia has effectively declared all civilians, including me and my children, terrorists. They bombed us continuously. I witnessed the massacres, I saw many people on the street whom I could not help in any way. I just watched the bodies lying on the streets and thought that these were the last days of my life. My daughter was crying all the time, she didn't understand what was going on. I asked my wife to leave with the children for the territory controlled by the régime.But she insisted that we'd rather die together than go to where our killers are.» .<br /><br /> During the month of aerial bombardment, Aleppo <a href="https://unosat.org/products/1063?utm_source=unosat-unitar&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=maps">suffered</a> significant destruction. At least 446 people <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/12/01/russia/syria-war-crimes-month-bombing-aleppo">died</a> directly from the strikes during this time . By December, opposition forces retained control of only a small part in the east of the city. Then they agreed with the troops of the régime and Russia on the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/russian/news-38324566">evacuation</a> to the territory that remained under the control of the opposition. On one of the buses on December 18, together with his wife and daughter, Abdulkafi left for Idlib.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> Today, 4.5 million people live in northwestern Syria, which remains under the control of various armed opposition groups. “Most of them are displaced people who came with nothing. They are just waiting for a political solution that would allow them to return to their homes - Aleppo, Damascus, Homs ," says a member of the White Helmets,</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> Ammar al-Salmo.</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /> After the defeat of ISIS in most of Syria, the régime focused on the province of Idlib, most of which remained under the control of opposition groups. In 2019, with the support of Russia, Iran and Hezbollah in the northwest, two large-scale military operations took place, during which the Assad régime regained part of the territories.<br /><br /> The intensification of the conflict led to a large-scale flight of the population. “We were constantly forced to move north and north, but what kind of north are we talking about now? We have nowhere else to go. People would rather die under the rubble than give up and return to those who destroyed their homes and killed their loved ones. For me, this is a very difficult decision to live and understand that my children may face such a fate,” says Abdulkafi.<br /><br /> March 2020, Türkiye and Russia <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-security-idUSKBN20S161">signed</a> a ceasefire agreement. Together they agreed to patrol the highway connecting the territories controlled by the opposition and the régime. According to Ammar al-Salmo, residents do not use the route often: “People can return to régime-controlled territory through a checkpoint in the vicinity of Aleppo.But they do not do so for fear of assassinations, arrests and torture by the régime.There are no guarantees for the continuation of normal life in the territories controlled by the régime . ”<br /><br /> On the other hand, the north-west of Syria borders on Turkey, but it is almost impossible to get there. According to the human rights activist, some residents pay smugglers to cross the border and then, risking their lives, swim to Europe. Within Turkey itself, nationalist sentiments are growing. <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/turkeys-erdogan-faces-struggle-meet-syrian-refugee-promise-2023-05-31/">Recep Tayyip Erdogan repeatedly promised</a> to deport more than a million Syrian refugees during his presidential campaign , and attacks on migrants <a href="https://www.newarab.com/analysis/violent-rise-anti-syrian-racism-turkey">have increased</a> in the country .<br /><br /> “More people are being deported from Turkey to the province of Idlib, where they have no relatives and jobs, many cannot afford housing ,” said Ranim Ahmed, senior public relations officer for The Syria Campaign. “ Turkey only occasionally allows patients to enter for treatment, but the border is closed . ”<br /><br /><br /><br /> Iba Alzalek lives in the city of Al-Bab, northeast of Aleppo. In his hometown, he witnessed the bombing many times, twice because of the attacks he had to leave. “One day I was walking to school and suddenly I heard something strange, like thunder. Later I found out that the aircraft had attacked the northern part of my city .<br /><br /> A ceasefire agreement between Turkey and Russia has reduced the intensity of the fighting, but the strikes have not completely stopped, Iba said. “People who hoped for the agreement to work calmly went to their daily work and to schools, but in the end they were injured or died under the blows of Russian and government forces. Russia's actions have created an atmosphere of fear and insecurity among the local population .<br /><br /> Observers on the ground determine who owns the missiles and air forces over the province. According to Ammar al-Salmo, Russian aviation almost always remains in the sky, "they monitor the territory and conduct reconnaissance." In total, since the beginning of 2023, due to hostilities, including due to Russian bombing, at least 46 people <a href="https://www.syriacivildefence.org/en/latest/media-releases/ongoing-russian-war-syrians-air-strikes-claim-lives-three-family-members-idlib-outskirts/">have died</a> in northwestern Syria , and another 184 have been injured.<br /><br /> The White Helmets <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230805-three-civilians-killed-in-russian-strikes-on-syria-monitor">note</a> that the next increase in violence in the province occurred in June. Then, simultaneously with the PMC Wagner rebellion, Russian aircraft <a href="https://twitter.com/i/flow/login?redirect_after_login=%2Fhashtag%2FIdlib%3Fsrc%3Dhash%26ref_src%3Dtwsrc%255Etfw">fired on</a> a vegetable market in the city of Jisr al-Shugur in the east of Idlib, where local farmers from the surrounding area sell their crops daily. The Russian Su-34 strike killed nine people and wounded 34 others. A little later, the Ministry of Defense <a href="https://t.me/rian_ru/207097">reported</a> on the destruction of several weapons depots and the elimination of "terrorists".<br /><br /> On August 5 , a family of three <a href="https://twitter.com/SyriaCivilDef/status/1687788207700594689">died</a> under Russian strike in Idlib. The Ministry of Defense, in turn, <a href="https://syria.mil.ru/peacemaking/info/briefs/more.htm?id=12475080@egNews">announced</a> the alleged destruction of the headquarters of the “terrorist group”.<br /><br /> At the same time, according to human rights activists, Turkey, despite the ceasefire agreement, does not react in any way to Russian and Syrian bombing. "The only thing Turkey helps us with is that they don't kill us," Abdulkafi says.<br /><br /><br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> More than 90% of the population in northwestern Syria <a href="https://press.un.org/en/2023/sc15339.doc.htm">lives</a> below the poverty line. In addition to the ongoing war, the humanitarian situation in the region was significantly affected by the February 2023 earthquake. Then, during the disaster in the country, more than eight thousand people died, and tens of thousands more were left homeless.<br /><br /> In addition, in the first nine weeks after the quake, the régime <a href="https://snhr.org/blog/2023/04/13/the-syrian-regime-has-bombed-the-areas-affected-by-the-february-6-earthquake-132-times-including-29-attacks-that-targeted-areas-far-from-the-dividing-lines/">shelled</a> already affected areas at least 132 times.<br /><br /> “Many people didn’t have housing anyway, they lived in tents. The only thing that has changed since the devastating earthquake is that the number of tents has increased. All the people whose homes were destroyed did not receive support or compensation from the UN or anyone in the world ,” says Abdulkafi Alhamdo, who witnessed the disaster.<br /><br /> The earthquake <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/syrian-arab-republic/northwest-syria-providing-healthcare-among-rubble-jindires">affected</a> all health facilities in northwestern Syria. Ranim Ahmed adds that the disaster has greatly exacerbated the shortage of doctors. In addition, there are no institutions for the treatment of serious diseases in the region. For example, cancer patients are being treated in Turkey.<br /><br /> But at the end of July, the Turkish authorities, due to the destruction of hospitals in their own country, stopped letting them in for treatment. In response, dozens of Syrians and Syrians <a href="https://www.newarab.com/news/syrians-protest-cancer-patients-denied-care-turkey">held</a> a sit-in at the checkpoint from Syria to Turkey. Only after a large-scale campaign, the authorities again <a href="https://www.newarab.com/news/turkey-allow-entry-syrian-cancer-patients">allowed</a> entry for treatment.<br /><br /><br /><br /> Iba Alzalek says that due to years of war, the régime's actions and the fight against ISIS, a significant gap in the level of education has formed in the province.<br /><br /> In addition, families do not always send their children to schools due to fear of bombings and extreme poverty.<br /><br /> Abdulkafi Alhamdo, an English teacher, adds that instead of going to school, children are often sent "to beg or collect rubbish that can be sold."<br /><br /> Extreme poverty makes local residents dependent on international humanitarian aid. The operation of checkpoints is regulated by the UN Security Council. Initially, there were four such points, but now the north-west of the country risks remaining in complete isolation. In mid-July, Russia <a href="https://www.rfi.fr/ru/%D0%B2-%D0%BC%D0%B8%D1%80%D0%B5/20230712-%D1%80%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%81%D0%B8%D1%8F-%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B6%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%B0-%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%BE-%D0%BD%D0%B0-%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B5-%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%B9%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%8F-%D0%BF%D0%BE%D1%81%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%B4%D0%BD%D0%B5%D0%B3%D0%BE-%D0%BF%D1%83%D0%BD%D0%BA%D1%82%D0%B0-%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%BF%D1%83%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0-%D0%B3%D1%83%D0%BC%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%BE%D1%89%D0%B8-%D0%B2-%D1%81%D0%B8%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%8E">vetoed</a> a resolution on the delivery of humanitarian aid through the last checkpoint on the border with Turkey, proposing an alternative project that mentions the lifting of sanctions on the Assad government. Most of the other countries of the Council rejected it.<br /><br /> "Russia uses food as a weapon against civilians. During the siege of Aleppo, my wife was sick and could not feed her daughter, I was looking for food, which was practically non-existent. Now we see that the situation is repeating itself. The UN and the international community are once again giving the Syrian régime that opportunity ,” says Abdulkafi.<br /><br /><br /><br /> Since February 24, 2022, Syria has become one of the main allies of Russia. Its officials <a href="https://lenta.ru/news/2023/03/16/asad/">recognize</a> the independence of the occupied "DNR" and "LNR" and regularly <a href="https://tass.ru/mezhdunarodnaya-panorama/17829445">speak out</a> in support of the war in Ukraine. The régime also helps with <a href="https://www.syriahr.com/en/270217/">sending</a> volunteers to the front and <a href="https://www.occrp.org/en/investigations/a-bloody-trade-inside-the-murky-supply-chain-bringing-syrian-phosphates-into-europe">bypassing</a> sanctions against oligarchs.<br /><br /> Despite this, over the past year, the régime has begun to rapidly emerge from international isolation. 12 years ago, the Arab League openly <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-crisis-league-idUKBRE8501IS20120601">condemned</a> the war crimes of the Syrian government. In 2023, Assad <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-65457183">was accepted</a> back into the organization. Before that, the President of Iran also <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/03/raisi-flies-syria-first-iran-presidential-visit-since-start-of-civil-war">paid</a> a visit to the country .<br /><br /> While Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov <a href="https://t.me/tass_agency/200380">says</a> that Assad's return to the Arab League has had a positive impact on the atmosphere throughout the Middle East,hundreds of people in Idlib <a href="https://www.newarab.com/news/idlib-syrians-protest-arab-detente-regime-leader-assad">met</a> its decision by protests. “All these people have experienced the loss of loved ones, the bombing, the loss of their home, the siege and torture. Now they live in Idlib, and when they see that politicians are shaking hands with the same criminals who did all this to them, this is a big blow for them ,” says Ranim Ahmed.<br /><br /> Despite this, Abdulkafi remains in Idlib with his family to continue to resist and tell the world about what is happening: “I am an English teacher, so I decided to stay in Syria and continue to work. I try to teach not just English and other subjects, but how to stay strong and cope with life. The main reason I'm here is to help the small voices of my people grow louder . "<br /><br /> “I can’t even imagine Assad returning to the province,” says Iba Alzalek. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">“</span><span style="font-family: arial;">Everything will be in vain, everything will be destroyed, it will be a disaster. Nobody here will forget what Russia, Iran and Hezbollah did to support the régime. Mothers will not forgive them for killing their children, sons, husbands. Can we resist this? </span><span style="font-family: arial;">It is better to die than to see among us alive those who destroyed our country.</span><span style="font-family: arial;">” </span><span style="font-family: arial;">'</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjKEwG9i0-8sOgVnPVpX_aHNaiQmRld6Ji0t5rTWJg6615LMt6XA2j_yo0H5tydxo4MPa-AZgyJrfNvB2QU90kuwHC7-LxLUb_2H0AFg38IGJ2eWzeleWUzdx5SowP7qUS67hme8U-GCODBJQH2MAE4cfLR3Vm4EK3eUY2X1TwJbRN2_9RBt3Z7piBwOwcf"><img height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjKEwG9i0-8sOgVnPVpX_aHNaiQmRld6Ji0t5rTWJg6615LMt6XA2j_yo0H5tydxo4MPa-AZgyJrfNvB2QU90kuwHC7-LxLUb_2H0AFg38IGJ2eWzeleWUzdx5SowP7qUS67hme8U-GCODBJQH2MAE4cfLR3Vm4EK3eUY2X1TwJbRN2_9RBt3Z7piBwOwcf=w200-h112" width="200" /></a></span></div>Dick Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17099184432893592991noreply@blogger.com0