Breaking: Syrian anonymous first official statement 3/12/2012

 Occupy.

 Also this:

 'Bassam Jaara spokesman of the Syrian revolution General commission in Europe revealed to Saudi Arabia’s Al Watan newspaper that they are getting their arms by either capturing them from the Syrian security forces of President Bashar al Assad’s regime or by purchasing them from corrupt Syrian officers .

 He also revealed that the rebels bought weapons from Hezbollah as a result of corruption within its( Hezbollah’s) leadership adding “we can get the arms we need in one form or another.“ '
 [http://www.yalibnan.com/…/syria-rebels-also-buying-arms-fo…/]

Inside Jabhat al Nusra - the most extreme wing of Syria's struggle

 These jihadis seem to have a better understanding of imperialism than some on the left. And one can see how the governments in the West may like to play up their importance as much as the Russian government does. Whatever their military prowess I don't quite see how they would rule the whole of Syria even if they got the chance.

 'However, a video that helped publicise the group inside Syria is laced with anti-western sentiment, warning against foreign intervention in the country. "Is it reasonable to ask help from the criminals?" asks a voice-over commentary. "Have we forgotten that the West and the USA are the regime's partners in his crimes?" '

Strife hardens Syrian rebel brigade

 ' "After the battle with the sheik, the whole town rose up and gave up on peaceful means," said Mohammed Tallal, an early member.'

 There are several myths propagated by those wishing to discount the Syrian revolution, among them the idea that the Free Syrian Army is something separate to the peaceful protests against Assad. I saw another one on Russia Today today, that the rebels are such a disparate bunch they will fall out like barbarians sacking a city if they ever overthrow the régime (which of course they have massive armament from the West to do, that we never see, not), an idea I saw someone hint at on Facebook the other day. Not a very clever one.

Syrian democracy a dream

 Some on the Left have the same problem, once they've dismissed the Syrian revolutionaries as criminals, they find they don't know the revolutionaries at all.

 ' “Ninety per cent of these revolutionary groups are criminals, actually,” Bishop Armash Nalbandian told The Catholic Register. "I know the ministers and the mayors of towns. On the other side, we don’t know who are the leaders. I don’t know who is in charge so I can start a dialogue with him,” said Nalbandian.'

Stephen Starr on Syria, part 2

 Anyone on the left who can't see the class lines in Syria is wilfully blind.

 ' "Are any of the powerful business families the “big families” you described that depend on the Assads for patronage – like the Tlass clan – less supportive of the regime now?"
"I think not. Those who backed the regime from the beginning solidified that stance. Those who were less supportive of the regime are too fearful to do anything. Their businesses have essentially shut down now. There’s no industry operating in Aleppo, the industrial manufacturing center of Syria."
"Where are their workers?"
"[Some] are they’re protesting, [some] have guns in their hands, [some] are sitting at home waiting for things to end." '

Note 12/4/15, I see there is also this on the treatment of journalists,"You can’t go from a rebel-held area – and you can’t shoot photographs in rebel-held areas – to regime-controlled areas. You can’t pass, and even if you do get in, you can’t behave in the same way. In areas under the FSA’s control, you can take photographs, you can speak to people and get direct quotes, you can get a pretty good picture [of what’s happening in the area]. But if you try to do that in Damascus, in areas under the regime’s control, you won’t last five minutes: you’ll be picked up by the regime’s security. You can’t go out into the streets of central Damascus with a camera and just ask people what’s happening. There’s security everywhere."

She may never walk again: Syria war victim Maram, four, is inspiration for rebels

 

 'Maram is a pretty little Syrian girl with big innocent eyes that could melt the hardest heart.

 She should be out playing in the sunshine. Happy and carefree, as any four-year-old should be.

 But here she lies, unable to move, in an old schoolhouse ­converted into a makeshift hospital in this war-torn land .

 Maram is far too young to under­stand why she’s here. All she knows is she was playing with her dolls one minute and screaming in pain the next after a bomb from Bashar Assad’s jets flattened her house, injuring her spine.

 She has no feeling in her legs. She will probably never run around in the sunshine again.

 But Maram is an inspiration to her fellow wounded, the Free Syrian Army fighters who ­lovingly play with her and other little victims each day in the hospital run by a French charity.

 And for men like Mustapha Al Khalid, she’s a reason to fight on.

 Once he was an estate agent, now he’s an FSA commander here in Idlib, north west Syria, near the Turkish border. It is a city that, like Homs, has borne the brunt of the dictator’s wrath for 18 months.

 Mustapha left his wife and three children behind to help cut supplies to Assad’s army. His left arm has been shattered by a mortar.

 “It is a strange feeling missing people I love. But after witnessing the killing by Assad’s forces I had to fight for freedom.” he says.



 A wounded fighter next to him picks Maran up to comfort her. I ask if he’s a relative. “In Syria, we are all family,” he replies.

 We are joined by Malik, a bewildered 10-year-old boy in a wheelchair. His left leg has been amputated from the hip.

 Mustapha explains there are hundreds of thousands of refugees crowding into towns like this close to the Turkish border.

 They calculate Assad will not send his planes in for fear of provoking the Turks. “We have put families up in schools and public buildings,” says Mustapha. “But people who have just arrived have to sleep outside because we have nowhere left to put them. We can provide one meal a day After that the family has to fend for itself.”



 They rely on scant supplies smuggled over the border from Turkey. Crops lie unharvested as Assad’s snipers keep farmers from their fields. Grain depots have been destroyed to stop them falling into rebel hands. Children weak with hunger are most at risk of disease. New arrival Abu Abdul says: “There are no medicines to treat ailments so minor complaints become serious.”

 Meanwhile, only 22 miles away in Harem, rebels clash with Assad forces. I ask the fighters if they wish they had never embarked on their revolution. “No! No!” they cry. “We can’t go back. If we stop all of us will die.” The fighters all give a defiant Victory V sign. Maram stirs on her bed... and copies their salute. All eyes in the room look at her. And Mustapha’s fill with tears.'

Syria’s DIY revolution

 'Syria has become a do-it-yourself revolution, a fact that won’t be forgotten by the revolutionaries if the regime is ultimately defeated by its own hardware.'

Why Women Must Be at the Heart of Phase II of the Arab Spring

 'In the Syrian opposition front based outside Syria, and just being recognized by European governments, not a single woman is included.'

Syria Internet Shutdown: A Loser’s Strategy

 'Assad's move may backfire as Mubarak's did. When Mubarak cut the internet, he crippled the country's major industries and businesses, the ones connected to the global economy. Those businesses -- from oil to finance -- were crucial to keeping Egypt's economy functioning during what the regime hoped would be a passing protest phenomenon. Syrian business, while sputtering, is still generating revenue for Syria's cash-strapped economy.

 "Technology doesn't "make" a revolution -- at least not after the initial stage. What keeps a revolution going is a citizenry turning against its government to such a degree that each new repressive step only makes them angrier.'

Syria shuts off internet access across the country

 'Syria's information minister blamed "terrorists" for the outage, but the communications shutdown was seen as an attempt to stymie rebel moves as militias try to co-ordinate an assault on Damascus. It was also thought to be aimed at thwarting any plans for advances in other towns and cities.'

Paint and Suffering: A Syrian Artist’s Cry for Help

 'Fadia’s final painting in her exhibition, entitled “His Soul,” depicts the soul of her husband’s 19-year-old cousin, who was tortured and died before his parents’ eyes. Fadia hopes that the painting will send her audience a vivid message: “I died for freedom. What have you done?” '

Nothing nuanced in Assad's bloody survival strategy

 Why any socialists would think such people have any insight into events in the Middle East is mindboggling.

 'Some activists, intellectuals and human-rights advocates who are defined as leftist, anti-imperialist and fiercely pro-resistance have mocked the revolution while warning against the "reactionary" tendency to frame Syria as a humanitarian crisis instead of a geopolitical catastrophe. Though they are committed to drawing attention to the unrest in Bahrain, cheering any whisper of trouble in Saudi Arabia, welcoming the unfolding protests in Jordan and expressing outrage over every Palestinian death in Gaza, they continue to watch with "critical" eyes as dozens are killed in Syria every single day.'

Yabroud: Assad is overthrown

 'In Yabroud, a child searches for a space in the sky for his kite, perhaps it can take him to his Syria, a country free from all tyrants and prisons.'

Syrian regime draws battle lines as rebels advance

 ' "If the rebels make real progress around the capital, it could be the beginning of the end for Assad," the analyst said.'

 Indeed.

Syrian rebels forced to police their own as crime tarnishes reputation

 'Revolutionary Security has struggled to communicate to the civilian population that it’s OK, even encouraged, for them to complain when they see members off the FSA engaged in inappropriate or illegal behavior.

 Under the Assad regime, such complaints against the state and government could easily land the whistle blower in jail. Though the revolution was founded on challenging that type of authority, changing the deeply ingrained, 40-year-old culture of not questioning the government remains difficult.'

Egypt least worst option for Syrian refugees

 'Confronting humiliation is at the heart of the Syrian revolution said Salma Gazayerli, a Syrian activist living in Egypt. “Our revolution was mainly about dignity and freedom. In Syria, even though there is a discrepancy between different classes, the revolution was not as much about economics or poverty or bread like in Egypt. It was about dignity.” '

Syrian rebels capture air base near Damascus

 "Helicopter base", but "outskirts of Damascus".

Jabal Mohsen tells its side of the story

 Friends like this can be hard to find sometimes.

 ' “I was working in a shop in Tripoli when a Salafist came and asked what sect I was. I said ‘Muslim,’ but he asked what kind of Muslim, so I replied, ‘Lebanese Muslim.’”

 When the Salafist realized he was an Alawite, Hassan said, he told him that he could not continue working at the shop. “The owner couldn’t do anything. People interfered to stop him from hitting me. A Sunni friend of mine at work came to defend me, but the Salafist put a gun to his head and said, ‘You are a Sunni working with an Alawite.’ ” '

Hezbollah: Ties with Hamas strong despite Syria differences

 'Hezbollah has repeatedly voiced support for President Bashar Assad but Hamas has refused to take Assad’s side, although the Palestinian movement has always enjoyed the support of Syrian authorities.'

 I believe inserting 'verbal' between 'the' and 'support of Syrian authorities' would render this statement more accurate.

Palace coup

 David Miliband: "The best way this could end is a palace coup". The butchers of Damascus are his preferred agency in Syria rather than a potentially Islamist popular insurgency. He's not the only one with such a contempt for ordinary people.

Syria rebels ready final assault on Sheikh Suleiman base

 "Every soldier in the base understands that the end of the regime is near. They are just waiting for an opportunity to lay down their arms, but their Alawite officers prevent them," he said.

Syrian flees war in nick of time, embraces life in Gainesville

 'When he fled, the military and police only tortured and killed those actively involved in opposition. Now, the indiscriminate killing of civilians is commonplace. At least 37,000 people have been reported killed since the uprising in Syria began about 18 months ago. Herakka's hometown of Aleppo is at the center of the conflict.

 When people refer to the situation in Syria, Herraka clarifies, "It is not a civil war — it is a revolution." '

More Trouble in Jordan

 You wonder if the bizarre idea that the threat of Islamism should be fought by not offering any support will spread on the left from Syria to Jordan. Perhaps not, as Jordan is an acceptable tyranny to be opposed to in the black-and-white view.

 'Those interested in keeping Jordan calm, peaceful, and out of the hands of Islamists should either support the king significantly, or find a quiet plan B to support the secular opposition in Jordan. As the active opposition figure Kamal Khoury, a Palestinian Christian, said, "The seculars in Jordan are strong in their numbers and following, they just need financial and media support to dominate the arena." Dr. Khalid Kassimah, an East Banker opposition member residing in exile, stated: "The non-Islamist Jordanian opposition is no more in disarray than the Syrian secular opposition once was; minimal Western support might work wonders here; and I would not be surprised if a Jordanian opposition council is to be established in exile just as was the case in Syria." '

In a Jordan camp, outsiders seek Syrian brides

 “We launched a revolution to win back our dignity,” Naimi said. “We are not going to surrender it for a dowry.”

Condoleezza Rice: Syria is central to holding together the Middle East

 "Karl Marx once called on workers of the world to unite across national boundaries. He told them that they had more in common with each other than with the ruling classes that oppressed them in the name of nationalism. Marx exhorted workers to throw off the “false consciousness” of national identity." True that, and he wasn't any more in favour of sectarian identity, so Condoleeza Rice's next line is untrue, "Today’s Karl Marx is Iran."

Sabra: Unity, gains will sway Assad allies

 "We have historical ties with Russia, and we also have relations with Iran, but we hope both countries would re-examine their stances because it will not be possible for the Syrian people to deal in the same way with those who supported their aspirations for democracy as with those who were supporters of the killing machine."

Samar Yazbek, Branded Betrayer for Embracing Syria Rebels

 'One of five brothers and three sisters, she ran away from home at 16 and married at 20. She divorced two years later, taking her toddler daughter to Damascus. She was determined to fight for women’s rights, she said, “to combat their status in the Arab world.” '

Hardliners Slam Hamas Over Ties with Qatar, Turkey

 Et tu, Brute. "Did the leaders of these countries in the war of the past week cry out in support of Gaza?! Were they even ready for the publication of a short statement to condemn the crimes and brutality of the Zionist regime?! Can such countries be trusted and depended upon as a supporter?"

Let us feel sorry together

 'The mistake made by the Al-Mayadin TV station, which aired images from Syria and claimed they were shot in Gaza, is indicative of this relationship of similarity and intertwining, which is highlighted by the fact that Hamas has exited Damascus, leading to a campaign of criticism launched against it by the Syrian regime’s allies.'

Syrian aid smugglers haggle for flour in Turkey

 'Abu Omar and Ammar, both in their 40s, fled their homeland seven months ago because of the sectarian strife in the Alawite-dominated region, the minority Shiite Muslim sect to which President Bashar al-Assad's entourage belongs.

 Abu Omar, a former physics teacher, does not hide his animosity towards the Alawites.

 "The Sunnis started the revolution because all the power and money lay in the hands of two million people," he says.

 Former lawyer Ammar, whose office was destroyed by shelling in his hometown in Latakia province, left with his wife and five children.

 Rami studied medicine at Aleppo University and spent almost a decade abroad in Saudi Arabia and Britain before returning to Syria. He decided to stay when the revolution began.

 "It was everybody's dream that a revolution would start, so we stayed to help as much as possible," says the doctor who works in the region's only field hospital.

 The three men agreed to talk to journalists and to be identified because they no longer fear for the safety of their families, who have escaped to Turkey.'

All Or Nothing

 Some time in 1978 or 1979 I wrote a little essay on current events in Iran. Not very sophisticated, it ended, "maybe there will be a military coup."

 I was reminded of that today, when a leftist Friend on Facebook criticised the "all or nothing" approach of offering unconditional* support to the Syrian revolution. If socialists had said thirty years ago that maybe negotiations with the Shah's régime were better than the prospect of Islamists coming out on top after a bloodbath, they'd never have earned the right to criticise when it came to resisting that very eventuality.

 Hopefully the Syrian revolution will complete its initial task soon. Anyone who wants to be heard when it comes to suggesting ways to build a society free from foreign domination in which all share the wealth would be advised to show more sophistication than I did when I was ten.

* "But critical", in Lenin's phrase.

Syria's new opposition in race to convince skeptical Islamists

 'Islamist fighters say it is only fair they assert their power after months of being ignored in political squabbling abroad while they fought Assad's forces on the ground.

 Some put their frustration on display earlier this week when they announced the creation of an Islamic state in a video rejecting the National Coalition.

 The immediate backlash from most rebel leaders and Syrian activists pushed many fighters in the video to retract their remarks the next day. But it laid bare the deep mistrust which the coalition has to overcome.'

Syrian Kurds have to pick a side in the revolution: SNC leader Abdulbasit Sieda

 “Today, Syria is revolting and asks for democracy. In order to achieve your rights, you have to be part of this revolution.”

Syrians may be better off without cheerleaders

 Interesting piece. To fight a war, you do need to get your guns from somewhere.

 'The head of the Free Syrian Army's military council, Mostafa Al-Sheikh, was clear. "The international community need Syria for the stability of the international system. They don't give us any support, and what support they do give us is corrupt or not worth having. What they're giving us isn't big enough to liberate one city, never mind the entire country." '

How Hugo Chavez botched the Arab Spring

 The Syrian revolution is the most significant alteration of power for twenty years, more significant for the Western Left than economically more significant Egypt because it is harder to work out how to relate to the fall of régimes outside the Western sphere of influence.

 A test many on the left are failing which is unfortunate for them, and may be unfortunate for Syrians, who will be faced with the problem of how to create a society in which the mass of people have real control over their lives, and if most of the best answers would come from those who bemoan that their revolution might be taken over by al-Qaida or the State Department rather than offer any actual solidarity, who pretend that the struggle of the FSA is a Western take-over of a peaceful revolution, then I don't see post-revolutionary events working out for the best.

 The last Kozloff piece I saw [http://www.aljazeera.com/…/…/2012/10/201210975353819725.html] had some noticeable deficiencies which I mentioned at the time. This one seems to the point, and have general application.

In Hebron, the flag of the Syrian opposition

 'Seen at a protest in Hebron in the West Bank earlier today, the flag of the Syrian opposition.'
[http://www.guardian.co.uk/…/gaza-conflict-fierce-fighting-c…]

Syria's Spray-Can Revolution

 I don't think "almost as bad" is the right way to compare torture and allowing kids to help fight the torturers, but there you have it.

 'In June, a United Nations special representative returned from a fact-finding trip with tales of horrific abuses against children. She relayed testimony from children who'd been tortured by the regime, or placed on tanks and used as human shields. The rebel Free Syrian Army was almost as bad, she noted in her report, frequently recruiting children to help out on the front line.'

Unveiled Syrian Facebook post stirs women's rights debate

 ' "I want to take another picture, but from inside Syria, just to show that I could be a fighter against injustice and power. With my camera, I can help the people and support the Free Syrian Army."

 Increasingly, reports from inside Syria highlight the presence of fundamentalist Islamist factions within the anti-regime movement, hijacking the struggle.

 With the influx of these non-Syrian jihadi fighters, there are growing fears for the future of women's rights in the nation and the region.

 Dana and those like her want to see a new Syria.

 "[A Syria] full of rights, with justice between men and women. I want justice because I already have my freedom, and I'm not afraid of anything now, now I can do whatever I believe it is right to do." '

For Syrians Enduring the Harsh Conditions of War, Turkey Acts as Lifeline

 MARGARET WARNER: Yet even this idealistic attorney dismisses talk from the West of a negotiated end to the conflict.

 Do you think there's a peaceful solution to the conflict in Syria?

 AHMED HASSOUN (through translator): I don't think so. Dictators don't have a midpoint. It's either they stay or no one else does.

 MARGARET WARNER: So, what is it going to take to solve this conflict?

 AHMED HASSOUN (through translator): I think the only solution is arming the organized Syrian opposition.

Bayan Ra2am Wa7ed

 Syria's rap revolution song, translated into English.

Hamas and the Arab Spring: positions and repercussions

 'The Islamic Resistance Movement also knew that it would lose the support of the Syrian people if it backed the regime. Hamas realised that people last, whereas regimes fall, so maintaining that support was essential.'

Brazil's Syrians divided on Bashar al-Assad

 "The group that supports the Assad government in Brazil is born from fear and worries that Syria could turn into an Islamic state, which could harm the interests of the Christians, most of whom are the early immigrants to Brazil," Daaboul said. "The opposition to Assad is coming from recent immigrants who know more about the current socio-political situation, and who don't believe the argument about sectarian violence.”

Calais after Sangatte: The migrants 'worth less than cattle'

 'I meet Anwar, an unkempt, sallow Syrian man in his 30s who tells me he fled in terror from his home town near Damascus after his younger brother was tortured by supporters of President Assad's regime. "In Syria, we see television programmes about France - we learn it is the country of freedom, of human rights and solidarity."

 He looks at me closely and asks: "Do you think this is a country which respects human rights? I have nothing here, Madame." '

Four key tests face the Syrian opposition

 Revolutionaries often say that the difficult time comes when you've overthrown the tyrant. Reassuring Alawites is essential, reassuring senior security personnel seems more likely to worry those that have suffered the most that nothing will really change.

 'The developments in recent days in the Syrian opposition will be a game-changer if they achieve four critical and linked goals: coordinating internal military action, generating legitimate and credible local governance bodies in areas liberated from government control, connecting with Alawites, senior security personnel and other regime supporters to convince them of their safety in a post-Assad Syria, and managing a rising flow of international diplomacy and aid.'

'An explosion shakes Almazah area
in the capital #Damascus. #Syria

 The Syrian regime is close to the end'

Syrian rebels take villages near Israeli-held area

 ' "The Syrian army is displaying ever-diminishing efficiency."

 The civil war in Syria has renewed tensions over the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau that Israel captured from Syria in 1967. Despite hostility between the two countries, Syria has been careful to keep the border quiet since the 1973 Mideast war.'

 Fears over what might happen next in Syria and Jordan may help to explain the timing of Israel's attack on Gaza.

In war-torn Syria, secrets and double lives

 "I am keeping my work as a rebel secret because I need the money for my wife and children," he says, winking. "You don't get paid to be a rebel."

Newly unified, Syrian rebels seek arms while government forces have ‘more than enough weapons’

 'Syria's estimated 300 jet fighters — mostly Russian-made — lack the appropriate maintenance, spare parts and missile warheads. Syria's estimated three dozen helicopters, also mostly Russian-made, are being "exhausted from overuse," ' then the rebels won't have to fight in their shade much longer.

Matilde Gattoni: The Swallows of Syria

 “I was expecting the revolution to be brief and successful,” she says. “But I am still hopeful. Assad will fall soon, and we will be able to go back to Syria victorious.”

Terrorists Increase Mortar Attacks on Damascus

 'TEHRAN (FNA)- Reports coming from Syria said terrorists' bomb blasts in the capital, Damascus, have now been replaced with an increasing number of mortar attacks.
FNA dispatches from Damascus said the so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA) changed its strategy and resorted to firing mortar shells on different districts of Damascus after its terrorists failed to gain anything from bomb explosions in the capital.'

[http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=9107118410]

[Note 26/1/25: This is Iranian state media rebranding Assad regime false flag attacks as by the rebels]

A Daily Diary From War-Torn Damascus

 The BBC World Service are about to report on "A Daily Diary From War-Torn Damascus". Their excerpt at the top of Newshour was something like "The MiGs drop bombs, I try to ignore them...", but I may not be doing the poetry justice. I don't like poetry much at all.

Syria opposition bloc elects Christian as leader

 'Sabra said he is a former geography teacher and writer for children's television, including for the Arabic version of Sesame Street produced in Kuwait.'