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A Syrian voice

From Walls comments

Says Son of Damascus :

Antoine, The Syrian regime is not cracking down on Homs alone (although Homs is seeing the biggest brunt of the offensive manoeuvres) Besho and Co. are cracking skulls and trying to quell the Syrian voice all over Syria. Trust me if the people can come out to demonstrate without the fear that they will in all likelihood die or be detained, they would do so in large numbers. What the regime did was give a little “breathing room” for the FSA and then come in and collectively punish everyone in the “breathing room”. (Same tactics the regime used in Lebanon if you notice) Zabadani, Deraa, Idlib, even at the border with Iraq (Deir El Zour) the army is busy suppressing and killing Syrians as I write this. Your anger is justified, but holding the people in Syria responsible for being quiet under such dire circumstances is wrong, the same CANT and SHOULD NOT be said about Syrians abroad. I am shocked and in utter disbelief at the inaction many Syrians abroad are guilty of, I remember during the Israeli Vs Hizbollah conflict in 2006 how Syrians were organizing Red Cross drives and collecting donations and spreading the word about the lives of the people in Southern Beirut living under constant bombardment, where are those same Syrians now when it is our own cities and our own people getting bombarded? That is shameful!

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Why you shouldn’t question what you know is true

 

February 9, 2012

I’ve been British Ambassador in Syria since 2008. But I first visited the country more that 30 years ago. Syria, I know well and like very much. That makes what has happened since March last year all the more horrifying and sad for me personally.

The UN says over 5,400 people have died in the last ten months, some of them under torture in prison.  Other groups – particularly those opposed to President Assad and his regime – claim the figure is much higher.  The Syrian regime tells us that these claims are exaggerated and that the world should look instead at the deaths of soldiers and regime forces.

Who’s right? People say that it’s no longer possible to hide the truth. Anyone can post a video on YouTube or a link on Twitter for the world to see. But sometimes this abundance of information can lead to confusion over detail, instead of informed debate and rational arguments over the facts.

Sometimes we focus too much on the abstract and not enough on what we see with our own eyes.

Over the long period of time that I have known Syria, I have seen the regime of Hafez Assad and his son Bashar in action.  The Assad dynasty was never a pleasant one to its people. I have seen the wounds of people released from prison. I have spoken to the families whose relatives have simply disappeared. I have heard from those who got a knock at 2am from the Mukhabarat (intelligence services) and were taken away for a still unknown affront to the Syrian authorities.

But even having witnessed Syria’s dark side, the violence and brutality I have witnessed over the last ten months shocks me.

From the very start of this unrest, the regime’s tactics were laid bare. On 15 March 2011 we watched as 40 Syrians lined up outside the Ministry of Interior on Merjeh Square in central Damascus to protest silently the arbitrary detention of their friends and family. They made no provocative chants and advocated no violence. They simply held up pictures of their friends and family members that had been held in detention for months or years without trial. It was a scene of dignified and peaceful protest.

After 10 minutes, the regime had had enough. Plain clothed security forces moved in en masse. We stood and watched as they beat innocent civilians with sticks and batons. No care was taken for the elderly, for women, for the young children.  All were treated with equal brutality.

This scene has been repeated time and again. In the main Umayad Mosque in central Damascus, I witnessed a small group of Syrians chant for their freedom – only to be beaten by regime thugs.

I have seen myself what this regime can do – and is doing relentlessly, and on a daily basis.

I tell the Syrian opposition at every opportunity to avoid the path of an armed resistance. But the sad truth is that violence begets violence. That is why it is important that all sides refrain from violence and that the regime allows a political transition instead of repeating its hollow promises of reform.

Without context, it can be hard to make sense of YouTube images shot on a mobile phone. It can be hard to understand why a man with a family in a town in Syria would decide to take up arms against his government. It can be hard to believe that over 5,000 people have been killed in ten months, or that torture is a regular occurrence in prisons, children brutalised and tanks and mortars used by the army against its own citizens. If I hadn’t seen for myself what the Syrian regime has done I would be asking these questions too.

But I have. And it is too shocking to ignore. That is why I am so appalled by the vetoing of the draft resolution, tabled by Morocco, which supported the Arab League efforts to resolve the crisis. The resolution did not impose any sanctions. It did not authorise military action. And at every stage we worked to accommodate the concerns of others. There was nothing in the draft to warrant opposition. Those opposed to it will have to account to the Syrian people for their actions and the horror of the unfolding tragedy.

It is time for the world to speak with one voice to condemn the violations of the Assad regime and support the Arab League’s efforts to bring a peaceful, Syrian-led solution to the terrible crisis that is unfolding before us.

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Syria : Homs el Rastan

[youtube http://youtu.be/ntJG8qcGjDM?]
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An SOS Call – Baba Amro: people are dying here! please help us!! + English subtitles!!!

[youtube http://youtu.be/BiHDQVUITpc?]
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Smuggle hope into Syria

Dear friends,
The Assad regime is slaughtering its citizens and tearing cities apart. The UN has failed to stop the killing, and Avaaz has the only network that is both smuggling medical equipment and journalists in and images and information out. Click to watch this video appeal from Danny, a brave Syrian democracy activist calling on Avaaz for help and chip in now to save lives:

This urgent video appeal just came in from one of Avaaz’s brave citizen journalists in Syria — our community may be the only one that can help Danny and his friends before the next massacre.

Right now, the regime is murdering men, women and children and tearing cities apart. China and Russia just handcuffed international action at the UN and gave Assad license to unleash his murder machine to crush the Syrian Spring once and for all. But Danny and the democracy movement are more determined than ever and are urgently asking for our continued international solidarity and support.

Let’s be clear — as embassies close, medical agencies withdraw and journalists pull out, Avaaz has the only network that is both smuggling medical equipment and journalists in and images and information out. The UN has failed, but we can help peaceful democracy heroes like Danny loosen the dictator’s grip on their country. Click here to see Danny’s appeal and chip in now so we can continue our Arab spring campaigning and support for citizen journalists — if 20,000 of us donate now, we can get aid to the most besieged cities and towns before the next attack:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/smuggle_hope_into_syria_q/?vl

Activists like Danny are risking their lives for freedom and counting on our global support. On Saturday, Syria’s brutal forces killed another one of Avaaz’s citizen journalists, a 23-year-old named Omar who was a leader of our 400-strong network of activists as he pulled people from the rubble after a deadly massacre in Homs. Omar died as he lived, photographing the regime’s crimes, helping others and sacrificing for freedom. After the regime kicked the international media out, brave civilians like Danny and Omar have risked their lives to break the news blackout and help 18 of the world’s leading journalists from foreign news outlets into the locked-down country. It’s likely that the images you have seen on your TV or photographs in your newspaper came from this courageous team.

But that is just a part of what the Avaaz project has done. Thanks to the generous support of members across the world, Avaaz is providing a rare lifeline of critical support to the democracy movement in Syria. When activists told us medicines were running out, we set up a smuggling network to deliver over $1.8 million worth of medical equipment into the country, saving thousands of lives. When the Syrian National Council was struggling to present a credible leadership alternative to the world, we organized meetings in the UN, Russia and across Europe to support their work.

Day after day, Danny and Omar and hundreds of other heroes have turned out to film and protest, facing down tanks with no support from international governments. But what happens in the next two weeks will be decisive. This is the pinnacle of the Arab Spring and the global struggle against brutal despots. Together we can secure a lifeblood to the resistance and walk with the brave Syrian people on their journey to freedom. Click to watch Danny’s desperate appeal and make a life-saving donation now:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/smuggle_hope_into_syria_q/?vl

This year people power in the Middle East has taught the world an important lesson — together we are stronger than the fiercest dictator, and fiercer than the most ruthless army. On the streets of Syria, Avaaz is a beloved partner in the struggle for freedom. As one opposition leader put it, “the Syrian people have gained strength from knowing that the world, through the Avaaz community, stands with them.” Together, we have made the impossible possible and with our help Assad’s regime will come to end.

With hope and determination,

Alice, Ian, Antonia, Emma, Ricken, Mouhamad, Morgan, Wissam, Sam, Bissan, Will and the entire Avaaz team

More information:

A Doctor’s Cry for Help as Homs Victims Pour In to a Medical Center [Warning: This is a graphic video not suitable for sensitive viewers]
http://www.overstream.net/view.php?oid=r3tmevemrqn0

At Least 200 Reported Killed in Syrian City of Homs (Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/protesters-turn-out-across-syria-but-capital-is-quiet/2012/02/03/gIQAQOqNnQ_story.html

Homs: Bloody Winter in Syria’s Revolution Capital (CNN)
http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/16/world/meast/syria-homs-profile/index.html

Anger After Russia, China Block UN Action on Syria (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/05/us-syria-idUSTRE80S08620120205?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&rpc=71

Syria Crackdown: Homs Bombarded, Dozens Killed (Huffington Post/Reuters)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/06/syria-crackdown-homs_n_1256699.html

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Open Letter from Syrian Author Khaled Khalifa

Posted on February 8, 2012 by | 2 Comments

Syrian author Khaled Khalifa, author of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction-shortlisted In Praise of Hate, is circulating an open letter that has been translated into English, French, Spanish, Albanian, Norwegian (available on his Facebook page). 

My friends, writers and journalists from all over the world, in China and Russia, I would like to inform you that my people is being subjected to a genocide.

A week ago the forces of the Syrian regime stepped up its attacks on the rebellious cities, especially in the cities of Homs, Zabadani, the suburbs of Damascus, Rastan, Madaya, Wadi Barada, Figeh, Idlib and villages of the Zawiya mountain. In the past week, up until the moment in which I am writing these lines, more than a thousand martyrs fell, many of them children, and hundreds of homes were destroyed on top of their inhabitants.

The world’s blindness encouraged the regime’s attempt to eliminate the peaceful revolution in Syria, with an unrivaled repressive force. The support of Russia, China, Iran and the silence of the world in the face of the crimes committed in broad daylight, has allowed the regime’s killing of my people for the past eleven months. But in the last week, since February 2nd, the features of the massacre were made clear. The scene of hundreds of thousands of Syrians who took to the streets of their towns and villages on the night of the massacre of Khalidiya, the night of last Friday to Saturday, raising their hands in prayer and in tears, is heart breaking and puts the humanitarian tragedy of Syria in the center of the world. It is a clear expression of our feeling of orphanhood, resulting from our abandonment by the world, which is content by political and economic sanctions that do not stop murderers or restrain blood bathed tanks.

My people who faced death with bear chests and songs is being, in these very moments, subjected to a cleansing campaign. Our rebellious cities face sieges unprecedented in the history of world revolutions, preventing medical personnel to attend to the wounded, as field hospitals are being bombed in cold blood and destroyed. The entry of relief organizations is also prevented, phone lines are cut, and food and medicine are blocked to the extent that the smuggling of blood bags or Satamol tablets into the affected areas is considered a crime worthy of imprisonment in detention camps, the details of which will shock you one day.

In its modern history, the world has not yet seen valor and courage such as those displayed by the revolutionary Syrians in all our towns and villages, as the world has not yet seen such a silence, that is now considered a complicity in the murder and extermination of my people.

My people is the people of peace, coffee and music, that I wish you will taste one day, roses the fragrances of which I hope you will breathe one day, so that you know that the center of the world is today exposed to a genocide, and that the whole world is an accomplice to the spilling of our blood.

I can not say more in these difficult moments, but I hope you will take action in solidarity with my people, through whatever means you deem appropriate. I know that writing stands helpless and naked in front of the Russian guns, tanks and missiles bombing cities and civilians, but I have no wish for your silence to be an accomplice of the killings as well.

Khaled Khalifa

DAMASCUS

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Malek Jandali

Malek Jandali declares that he will travel and present a concert anywhere in the world at no cost if the entire proceeds can be donated for Syrian relief through humanitarian organizations.

Malek Jandali – مالك جندلي
تضامناً مع أطفال الوطن وشهداء الثورة السورية السلمية الأبرياء، نعلن اليوم تقديم أي حفل خيري مجاناً بلا أتعاب في أي مكان في العالم لإرسال المساعدات الإنسانية إلى أهالي المدن السورية المنكوبة من خلال مؤسسات الإغاثة الإنسانية لمساندة الشعب السوري الشجاع في نضاله من أجل الحرية والكرامة الإنسانية. للحجز والاستعلام، الرجاء الاتصال بمديرة الأعمال ديبي سميث

E-mail: agent@malekjandali.com
Tel: +1 678-333-3913
Skype: SoulbMusic

In solidarity with the people of Syria and their peaceful revolution for freedom and human rights, and to help the children, victims, and families of my homeland, I am offering my music, without any performance fees, to humanitarian organizations for any fundraising event anywhere that directly benefit humanitarian aid to the people of Syria. For booking and information, please contact my agent Debbie Smith

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On Massad: The Failure of the Anti-Imperialist Intellectuals

Monday, February 06, 2012

I just read Massad’s new post, “Imperialism, despotism, and democracy in Syria and my initial reaction is that it is out of touch with what is happening in Syria. There are good ways to overthrow a dictator and there are bad ways, he seems to say. The bad way is to ask for the West for help, the good way is, well, unclear. Massad tells us that a good anti-imperialist would oppose the dictator AND the West, which is pretty straightforward, but he doesn’t tell us how that is going to help the people of Syria, or how he proposes that they get rid of Assad.

Where he refers to the “hijacking” of the Syrian revolution, does that mean it is any less deserving of support in light of the repression that it faces? Or are we to chastise the Syrian people for not being good anti-imperialists and insisting that they be massacred without asking for help – from the devil if need be. I do wonder how much of this hijacking of the Syrian revolution took place because of a moral vacuum that the anti-imperialists themselves have allowed to occur. That Massad himself says that the revolution was “hijacked” means that at the start the Syrian people were not calling for external or “imperialist” intervention, and were desperate for help wherever it could be found.

At many anti-regime protests that I have attended, I would argue with sectarian bigots that were keen on turning this into an anti-Shiite crusade, and were keen to call for Western involvement. Where were the anti-imperialists then? At one demonstration, the only person I could find who stood by me in such debates was a Marxist Syrian activist, Ghias al Jundi. Not one of my anti-imperialist “acquaintances” bothered showing up for the anti-regime protests. The space was left open for the SNC and it’s types to beg for help from the West or wherever else. Furthermore, I don’t recall one of the many vocal anti-imperialist voices online ever stating that they attended even the earliest of anti-regime Syrian protests to support the Syrian people. Not one that I know of bothered showing up, or said that they did so from their hallowed online thrones- and this meant that the ground lay uncontested from the start. But, according to Mr Massad, we must blame the Syrian people, and the Libyan people, and the Iraqi people, for being politically unsophisticated enough to recognise the nuances between imperialism and opportunistic opposition groups, home-grown tyranny and the unfathomable third way that Massad supports. Like some tragic Chekovian drama, the Syrian people are expected to bare their naked chests to bullets and die in the name of higher principles, rather than sully themselves with asking for help from wherever they can find it.

Where was the intellectual support and leadership that the Syrian – or even Libyan – people needed in their time of need? Why were they abandoned to the West? Was that simply because of Assad’s politics? These are all rhetorical questions that I pose to Mr Massad and to all self-professed anti-imperialists.

Finally, Massad wonders why the Yemeni and Bahraini oppositions did not ask for Western intervention. Is Mr Massad unaware that the death toll from Assad’s security services lies somewhere in the thousands – or at least is far higher – as compared to Yemen and Bahrain? The situation is so atrocious in Syria that Massad himself states Assad is trying hard to reach the same level of brutality with Saddam – for those unaware, that means a lot when we recall Saddam’s brutality. And what is this about the Palestinians never asking for help from the imperialists? This point specifically highlights my earlier case that a moral vacuum by the anti-imperialists has allowed the West to step in and “hijack” the Syrian revolution. The Palestinian struggle has always had the support of anti-imperialist, or nominally anti-imperialist groups. It has a long history of [nominal] support from various Arab countries. The Palestinian people were certainly not abandoned to the vagaries of brutal occupation and repression unlike the Syrian people.

The brutal dichotomy that Massad seems to want to avoid – that of imperialism or fascism – is forced on the Syrian people precisely because of the vacuum that was allowed by the anti-imperialists that he speaks of. If they were as vocal and enthusiastic in fighting for the moral and intellectual high ground in spite of the cynical attempts of oil potentates and princes to subvert the revolutions, then the miserable farce we are seeing today would never have happened. If there ever was a true third way for the anti-imperialists to follow regarding Syria, this is what Massad should have called for in his piece.

Posted by Maysaloon at 5:59 PM  

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