Syria war crimes not considered news by nearly half of Britons, but ‘the crisis didn’t end’

 

 'War crimes in Syria are no longer considered newsworthy by almost half of Britons, despite most people thinking attacks on civilians happen regularly.

 Forty-nine per cent of people do not think the UK media would bother reporting on atrocities, such as attacks on schools and hospitals, in the Syrian conflict.

 This is despite the majority (63 per cent) of Britons believing such war crimes are common in the conflict, now in its 11th year.

 The reason is a combination of confusion, insularity, the spread of disinformation and a reluctance for Western countries to intervene, according to a report by the charity Syria Relief, which commissioned the YouGov poll.

 Attacks such as the deadly bombing of Afrin’s Al-Shifa Hospital in June, which left at least 18 people dead, are still a regular occurence.

 Since 2011, Syria has seen chemical weapon attacks, mass killings, the use of child soldiers and the targeting of religious minorities.



 Shamsa al-Ali, a 33-year-old Syrian refugee living in Lebanon, said: “The crisis didn’t end, it’s maybe greater than before.

 “Every day I receive or hear news about one of my relatives who is missing, and his family can’t reach or contact him, or [he’s] died.”

 Another refugee Asreya al-Hajj, 33, said: “Most of my family and siblings are homeless, the sweat we’ve given early before the war, building our houses and memories, are all now gone with a single airstrike.”

 Shaha al-Mohammad, 24, said that she believes there is a lack of interest in what is happening in Syria because of the complex nature of the conflict.

 “Because we kill each other as Syrians, others feel we deserve what is happening for us,” she added.

 Syria Relief’s head of advocacy Charles Lawley believes the main reason for apathy from countries like the UK is “the sheer frequency of crimes against humanity”.

 “We don’t believe that Syria should simply be condemned as just a place where bad things happen, but that every single attack on civilian life is an outrage, no matter how frequent they are,” he said.

 “In fact, we would argue that the more frequent they are, the more outrageous they are. However, sadly, the lack of political will has meant that because there are just so many war crimes being committed, there is less anger about it.”

 The report revealed that civilian victims of sniper attacks were injured in similar ways on certain days, suggesting shooters are having “competitions”. In some cases, pregnant women were found shot in the uterus.

 Brutal attacks on homes, hospitals and schools have forced millions to abandon their lives and seek refuge abroad. Since the start of the conflict, 6.8 million Syrians have become refugees and asylum seekers, with a further 6.7 million people displaced within Syria.

 Rami Elsayer, a refugee at the Atmeh refugee camp in northern Syria, said “international news channels talking about the improvement of the situation in Syria are incorrect”.

 “Our unemployment is high and the spread of coronavirus has affected us greatly, there is no healthcare,” he said.

 “The situation is really much worse than previous years and I hope my message will reach all people around the world – don’t leave us alone.”

 The United Nations (UN) says Lebanon has 865,530 registered Syrian refugees and estimates there are 1.5 million Syrians in the neighbouring country.

 An estimated 90 per cent of Syrian refugee households live in “extreme poverty” in Lebanon, according to the UN, up from 55 per cent in early 2019.'

How to resist siege in Bashar al Assad’s Syria

 

 Omar al-Hariri:

 'Daraa will terrify the régime every day. We will keep reminding them that we are the ones who set fire to this régime, and only we will extinguish it with freedom and dignity.

 We all know very well that when the buses come, we will have to make choices that are difficult, bitter, harsh and painful. It is not our first time seeing these green buses, and it won't be the last. They are always the régime's solution, and often the only solution for the trapped opponents of Bashar al Assad’s régime.

 On August 24, my friend Talal said goodbye to his son Yasser, holding his hand while leaving Daraa al Balad as part of the agreement between the opposition and the régime to transfer those who refuse the "reconciliation", to Idlib.

 Talal is one of the opposition fighters who defected from the Syrian army in 2012, refusing his officer’s orders to shoot protesters. He later joined opposition groups and fought the régime for years in Daraa. Yet now, it looks like he’s the one who has to say goodbye to his wife and two sons, Yasser and Sham. He may never see them again.

 In southern Syria, I experienced this in 2018. This type of settlement deal happened in al Sanamayn in March 2020, and in Umm Batinah in May 2021, and today in Daraa al Balad in August 2021. Disputes between the people of Daraa and the régime forces were always burning here and there, and the régime always stipulated the buses as the only solution.

 And when you leave Daraa you don't really leave, believe me. You leave your soul behind.

 No matter how hard I try to describe it, it is harsher than words can express. Suddenly, you are faced with two options. You can take the buses towards northwest Syria - to overcrowded camps filled to the brim, where there is no room for even a single new displaced person, where people are suffering under continued Russian and régime bombardment.

 Or, you can stay in Daraa, and wait for the régime’s revenge. Perhaps you will be arrested, or forcibly disappeared, or assassinated. And if you escape with your life, you have no choice but to live under the tyrannical rule of Assad.

 Some could not stand the idea of living under his rule, being forced to see pictures of the criminal on every street corner, having to salute him and his officers. They decided to leave in 2018, after a Russia-mediated ‘reconciliation’ deal, while I, and others, chose to remain and stick to what we have believed in since 2011.

 But this "battle" is not easy at all. It is a battle against fear, anxiety, disgust and despair. Many were defeated and left Daraa in succession. Daraa is that tree in autumn whose leaves die and fall slowly.



 Last May, the Assad régime organised presidential “elections”. Official media portrayed scenes straight out of a Syrian series - thousands celebrating the “victory” of Assad and thanking him for his “achievements”! What achievements?

 Only the people of Daraa al Balad and those in Al-Omari Mosque square - the birthplace of the revolution on March 18, 2011, decided to spoil these celebrations. The people of Daraa al Balad flew the flags of the Syrian revolution and raised their voices in anti-election slogans. The media saw that and circulated widely.

 From that moment on, all of us in Daraa al Balad knew that the régime would take revenge on us. We knew that something was waiting for us soon.

 Bombing, destruction and — eventually — the green buses followed soon after. The siege began in June. More than 38,000 people, mostly women and children, became displaced. For two months, the régime has been doing only one thing: forcing its opponents out of the area through those green buses or killing them in Daraa.

 For two months, the remaining residents of Daraa al Balad have been waking up, looking for their food in the morning, asking each other what will happen tomorrow. And before night, they return to the shelters because they know that the bombing will start at night and will not stop before morning. And again the next day and the day after that.



 In 2011, my friends and I established Daraa Martyrs Documentation, a human rights organisation. Even after 2018, we decided to continue documenting human rights violations in Daraa without hesitation. My colleagues and I needed a "weapon" to confront the war we live in our hearts. We are in a war in which we have to convince ourselves that we made the right decision by taking this risk.

 Our office is our secret weapon. We wake up in the morning and ask ourselves, "How are we going to disturb the régime today?"

 The answer is easy. This régime is afraid of evidence of its crimes, afraid that the world will know what is happening in Syria. It wants us to die quietly.

 And we are telling the régime: Look at us. We are fighting you and you don't know who we are and how we do it. It is very dangerous to the point of death, but I feel the flavour of victory in my mouth every day.

 When the régime started its siege, our task became even more challenging. We were used to working in dangerous conditions for years, but this time we felt that it was different.

 Colleagues were split into teams to cover several places in and out of the besieged area to be able to contact colleagues outside Syria. Everyone has to submit their notes and documents every day, to not postpone the work by even one day, because who knows? The régime forces might attack us before we send the last day's work.

 After every night’s bombing, we start work in the morning to assess the damage, check on those who are alive, and to ensure the safety of the injured. The days are too short before the return of the night and the attacks.

 For days, the negotiating committees have been trying to reach a peaceful solution that prevents displacement and war, but it is clear to everyone that the régime is not negotiating to end the war - it came to take revenge on the place where it all began 10 years ago. Daraa al Balad is a major symbol for its people, and the régime wants to destroy it.

 We, in the office, have to defend Daraa in our own way.

 We refuse to let the world forget and forgive the régime for its crimes. We document every single crime, photograph it and record the names and details, and place them before the eyes and consciences of the world and in the records of history.

 Our motto is "we will not forget, and we will not accept that anyone forgets".

 Usually, I try not to lie to myself, I try not to get too hopeful, lest it get lost, but I am certain that we are not defeated yet. I consider what I have done during years of human rights work a victory. If I die today, I will be satisfied.

 There is an Arabic song that says "We will stay here," in which the singer urges university graduates not to emigrate and stay in their homeland. This song is my friend.

 "We will stay here," because if we leave, they will be here, and this place is ours, not theirs.'

This is how the US can (still) become kingmaker in Syria

 

Ömer Özkizilcik:

 'In the early years of the war in Syria, Hilary Clinton positioned herself as a strong supporter of the legitimate Syrian opposition against the Bashar al Assad regime. At that time many speculated about the probability of a US intervention, but the Obama administration’s decision not to enforce its “red line” on chemical weapons shocked Washington pundits.

 This was a demonstration of American unwillingness that ultimately facilitated the Russian intervention in Syria and became a symbol of the US’ failure there.

 However, an equally important failure — one that has cast it to the sidelines of the political process and the future of the country — is not only ignored, but whitewashed. This was the insistence of the Obama administration to only support anti-Daesh groups that neither targeted the Assad regime nor the Iranian-backed Shia militias.

 In Syria, the only group that fit this description was the Syrian branch of the US-designated PKK terror group, the YPG. To preserve the nuclear deal with Iran, the Obama administration not only alienated Turkey and misguided the international community, but also drove the US into a corner.

 In line with this strategy, CENTCOM officials who worked closely with Iranian-backed Shia militias in Iraq against Daesh, have repeatedly undermined alternatives. The train and equip programmes for the legitimate armed Syrian opposition were defamed as ineffective or unviable. Yet years later, the same armed units of the Syrian Interim Government now control vast territories and cleared several areas from the YPG.

 The US now has entered a state of negligible importance in Syria. After former President Trumps’ partial withdrawal decision, CENTCOM officials preferred seeing Russian, rather than Turkish boots in their former bases. Now the US local partner in Syria depends on Russia for its safety. US troops remained in a strip of land in the east to ‘protect the oil’, but the last reason for the US to stay in Syria vanished when the Biden administration decided to end the waiver for the American company operating the oil facilities.

 Since then, CENTCOM officials are increasingly emphasising the importance of their work in Syria against Daesh. Even though Daesh hasn’t controlled territory since 2019, American commanders regularly publish information about YPG’s counter-terror operations in Syria. In reality, these “counter-terror operations” by the YPG are about as effective as the operations of the Afghan National Army against the Taliban. The narrative over Syria is misguided, just as the narrative over Afghanistan was.

 Moreover, in contrast to the Afghan National Army, the YPG does not have a motivation to eliminate Daesh – their sole source of alleged legitimacy. The YPG wants to fight Daesh, but not eliminate it. While US statements suggest that everything is fine in Syria, the reality is otherwise. Daesh continues to operate in the country.

 The small zone of American influence, its reliance on Russia for protecting its local partner in Syria and the lack of reasons to stay in Syria are just one facet of the looming disaster. More important is that the US has sidelined itself from the political process of Syria.

 According to the UN, the political process in Syria has two sides: the Assad regime and the legitimate Syrian opposition. The US, however, works with a third party that follows a separatist agenda for just a part of Syria. The US has played no role in the decision-making process for the members of the constitutional committee and has lost its influence over the Syrian opposition.

 The Syrian High Negotiations Committee, consisting of all the political spectrums of the Syrian opposition, works closely with Turkey, and Turkey has evolved to become the sole guarantor of the Syrian opposition. American diplomacy remains on the sidelines with sanctions and blockades against some Arab countries normalising relations with the Assad regime.

 The US started by supporting the Syrian opposition and democracy. Now it contributes to a separatist agenda in Syria that will ultimately end with the US playing no role in the future of Syria if the US doesn't change policy.

 At the end of the day, the tactical decision by the Obama administration to partner with the YPG needs to be corrected. Biden has to re-evaluate the tactics of the former president he served under and make a smart decision.

 It’s not in the interest of the US to stay in Syria supporting a separatist agenda. The interest of the US is in supporting a political solution by strengthening the legitimate Syrian opposition.

 To do so, Biden needs to abandon the YPG and work on uniting the non-YPG elements of the Syrian Democratic Forces with the Syrian National Army and the Kurdish Roj Peshmerga under the command of the Syrian Interim Government. By bringing these elements together, the US would become the kingmaker in Syria and could facilitate a political solution for Syria.

 The proposed idea to unite these forces is founded on an already occurring phenomenon as a de facto regional alliance of Turks, Arabs and Kurds is forming against the PKK/YPG. The US only needs to surf this wave and bring non-YPG elements of the Syrian Democratic Forces and formalise the alliance. This would allow Washington to come out of the sidelines into the centre of the game without alienating the Kurds.

 Such a policy shift in Washington would be appreciated by Turkey, which would provide strong support to enable a smooth transition. Moreover, as a bonus of this decision, the US would eliminate the strongest spoiler in Turkish-American relations. The Biden administration would strengthen its relations with a valuable and important NATO and regional partner, easing the burden on the US and helping Biden to focus more on China.

 Finally, this shift in strategy would be a strong alternative to the other proposed idea of normalising the Assad regime that has used chemical weapons on the people and committed numerous war crimes and atrocities.'

Syrian régime’s stereotyping of Idlib shadows its bright side

 

 'Before the start of the Syrian revolution in 2011, Idlib was known as the “Green Idlib” for its richness with olive trees. However, residents of Idlib have always considered their region as a “forgotten governorate” since Hafez al-Assad came to power in Syria. Residents claim that the Syrian government has ignored their governorate and failed to undertake urban development projects there.

 During the revolution, Idlib governorate became the center of attention after becoming home to thousands of displaced Syrians from different regions and opponents evicted from their areas under settlement agreements imposed by the régime with Russian auspices.

 In May 2014, a settlement agreement stipulated the eviction of civilians and former fighters from the old city of Homs to Idlib. As more settlements were reached throughout Syria, Idlib became a large concentration point for displaced residents and fighters from Damascus and its countryside, Daraa, Homs, Hama, and other regions. It is estimated that over four million Syrians live in northern Syria, according to a study published by the Jusoor Center for Studies last March.

 Meanwhile, the régime was launching an information war, in which it presented itself as civilized to the West through holding artistic activities, including concerts and festivals. At the same time, the régime labeled those in northern Syria as extremists and terrorists, attempting to demonize them.



 Singer-composer Samir Aktaa chanted songs for the Syrian revolution and subsequent aftermath, some pressing issues, and cross-border humanitarian hardship. He told Enab Baladi that art has the power to break the régime’s stereotyping of Idlib.

 Art is a tool that allows people to freely express themselves and their society, Aktaa said. He added, artists’ genuine sentiments can reveal the most sublime human feelings away from insincerity and pretense and by having a deep belief in the righteousness of the cause and the revolution.

 According to Aktaa, an artist’s mission is to reflect reality with his/her work and be more attentive to pressing issues than other groups in society, adding that through words and songs, artists can mirror the suffering and injustice directed against people for daring to demand freedom.

 During the revolution, many artistic and cultural manifestations emerged in Idlib, seeking to send a message to the world and those far about life in Idlib and the true nature of its people.

 Aktaa has presented songs about vital issues, including the case of detainees (the living and the killed ones), internally displaced camps, the revolution’s tenth anniversary, and the killing of Abdul Baset al-Sarout, an icon of the Syrian revolution.

 Aktaa told Enab Baladi that Syrians’ battle against the régime’s tyranny and dictatorship is one and indivisible.

 “The world will not stand by a revolution that does not have a voice. Freedom and dignity are vital issues to all people of the free world.”



 The Syrian régime utilized state television, media outlets, and social media networks to polish its image against the international community, depending on repeating the same official version of being targeted by terrorists and foreign elements carrying out a conspiracy to undermine Syria.

 Aziz al-Asmar, a Syrian graffiti artist, living in Idlib, rose to fame after he started painting murals on walls of destroyed houses and buildings by the Syrian régime’s bombing and Russia in Idlib.

 Al-Asmar’s murals tackle humanitarian themes beyond the Syrian case. For example, he painted a mural in honor of George Floyd, an African American US citizen who lost his life to racism and police brutality. Al-Asmar also painted murals of football icon Maradona after his death, the Israeli forces’ assault on Palestinians in Jerusalem, the Syrian revolution, and the death of Abdul Baset al-Sarout.

 Al-Asmar told Enab Baladi that he chose to paint on destroyed buildings because “they mirror the level of tragedy and brutality that have been practiced against Syrians by the régime and its allies.”

 The graffiti artist painted murals on the régime’s bombardment, displacement, arrests, civilians’ daily lives, and the hardships they face, including poverty, unemployment, and rising prices throughout Syria.

 He added that a few colors explained a lot without words and sent a message to the world that the Syrian revolution is not merely weapons, killers, and victims, but it is a revolution of culture, art, and humanity.

 According to al-Asmar, the cities of Saraqeb and Kafr Nubul in Idlib countryside and Darayya in Damascus countryside were the first to use graffiti and colors in the service of the revolution.

 Today, al-Asmar is engaging children in murals painting to help them express their dreams and wishes, considering that their participation enriches and attributes more sincerity and human value to his cultural and artistic project.

 “We are still dreaming of a near victory to paint the victory mural on the walls of the presidential palace in Damascus.”



 Zafer Saleh Sadaqah, a Syrian poet who lives in Idlib, has written poems and composed lyrics of many songs chanted by Samir Aktaa. Sadaqah and Aktaa have formed a harmonious, artistic duo, where words and sounds combine to produce music.

 When asked about the role of intellectuals in bringing to light the bright side of Idlib, which the régime keeps trying to dilute and marginalize, Sadaqah said that a writer, a literary scholar, or artist who does not connect with the pains of his/her people and society is a servant intellectual.

 Sadaqah added, the fact that the régime has an organized media and information system compared to the situation in Idlib does not give primacy to it because it falsifies facts, and only words of truth prevail.

 During the Syrian revolution, many Syrian artists in various fields supported the régime, which used them as a vehicle to promote its media propaganda in television interviews, musical concerts, and other events. These artists positively talked of the régime and helped it look civilized away from its real image as responsible for bombing, displacing, arresting, and intimidating Syrians.

 Sadaqah said that Syrians of the northern region do not need to create an alternative or new society, for they already have an established rich, authentic, and diverse society, particularly after successive displacement waves from various Syrian cities to the north. He added that those who have the right tools must use them to highlight Idlib’s true face.

 “The loudness of guns does not guarantee the continuity of their sounds or give them power over words or songs whose impact goes beyond time and space.”



 The régime knew it could not regain control of all Syrian territories. It was also aware that groups fighting it in Idlib, mainly religiously oriented groups, can indirectly serve its position and offer a ready-made stereotypical image that would distort the Syrian revolution, political researcher Majed Alloush told Enab Baladi.

 Alloush added that the régime sought to turn Idlib into a center for Islamist factions, which at some point in time made mistakes contrary to revolutionary values advocated by Syrians, in reference to HTS, which was listed as a terrorist group after deviating from the revolution’s principles.

 He pointed out that the régime benefited from the armed factions’ mistakes in northern Syria as the West started comparing the régime and the factions’ methods of dealing with civilians in their areas of control.

 The régime was keen to send a message to the international community that it remains the least worst option for the West and its interests with all of its brutality.

 On the régime’s use of media to provide a misleading version of what is going on in Idlib, Alloush said that the problem is not the weakness of media in Idlib or the absence of information materials to be promoted, but the availability of many materials that the régime can benefit from and invest in for its interests.

 Alloush added that any talk of a cultural conflict between the régime and the models fighting it during the revolution’s armed phase would be illogical. The conflict with the régime is a moral one, between people lured by dreams of freedom and dignity and a régime that does not understand anything but killing as a weapon during conflicts.'

 

Do not forget Syria’s disappeared

 

 Mariam al-Hallak:

 'One of the hardest things we go through as families of the disappeared is the wait. For many years we have been waiting for answers, for any clue about the fates of our loved ones, and for justice and accountability.

 During the weekend, I joined fellow activists and Syrian families whose loved ones are still missing after being detained or disappeared by the Syrian régime and armed groups. We placed hundreds of landline telephones on the cobbles of Bebelplatz square in central Berlin as a call to governments to do more to seek information about our loved ones.

 My son Ayham Ghazoul was one of tens of thousands of Syrians who were detained and tortured for daring to peacefully oppose Bashar al-Assad’s régime. He was my youngest son, and the closest to me. His older brothers got married and moved out and my husband passed away in late 2011, so it was just he and I at home.

 During his teenage years before the revolution, he used to bring me stories written by former prisoners on computer disks. Those stories were banned in Syria but Ayham wanted me to know what it was like being a political detainee in al-Assad’s prisons.

 At the start of the revolution, he was studying for his master’s degree in dentistry and taking part in the uprising in Damascus. He joined the movement to defend freedom of expression and was so proud to be participating in the demonstrations, chanting and calling for freedom.

 He and some of his colleagues were arrested by the Air Force Intelligence Directorate and later taken to the notorious Fourth Division Branch where he was frequently tortured. His friends inside were amazed he was still alive after the torture sessions, his wounds were very serious but he always tried to smile until he was too tired to do so. They released him after three months with severe bleeding in his kidneys.

 Once he recovered, he returned to his studies and started to attend activism workshops in Beirut. The night before he was meant to travel home he called me to tell me about the best night of his life on the beach in Beirut. “I’ll tell you about it when I get back, Mama,” he said. I was waiting to hear about that night.

 The day after he came back from Beirut on November 5, 2012, he went to work at the university and this was when he was arrested. They took him to a room inside the university, filled with torture tools.

 A fellow detainee told me they beat him severely all over his body. When they beat him on his head, Ayham lost consciousness and died a few days later. He told me they stuck a white piece of paper to Ayham’s forehead with a number on it.

 Three months after he was killed, I learned of my son’s death. We started to grieve and to accept condolences from friends. At his memorial, a government official arrived and told me that Ayham was actually alive. He gave us details and it was enough for me to let myself believe and have hope.

 My journey of searching for answers about his whereabouts lasted for 17 months, going  everywhere, asking everyone I could. I would go to the intelligence branches with other mothers and we would ask them to tell us about our children. They all denied having any information at all until one day one officer finally nodded his head at me. My son had died, he confirmed.



 When the Caesar photos were first released, it uncovered the horrific atrocities committed by the Syrian régime against political prisoners. It left the world in total shock. I tried to search for Ayham in the photos but looking through such horrific pictures was difficult. A friend of the family managed to identify him.

 Since then, I have not stopped campaigning. We families have spoken out against state-sponsored torture and detention at every opportunity. We went to the German city of Koblenz to file a lawsuit against two Syrian régime officials who have been accused of torturing detainees. Families who recognised their loved ones in Caesar’s photos have come together and are trying to find out where they are buried.

 I need to know where my son is so I can bury him and sit next to his grave. This is why I wait by the phone every day hoping for some sort of information about where his body might be. Nothing can bring back my son, but burying him would ease my pain and provide me with a place where I can grieve and tell him what I have wanted to tell him for years.'