"My mum yelled at them. She asked: ‘What do you want from my husband and son?’ A bald man with a beard shot her with a machine gun from the neck down. Then they killed my sister, Rasha, with the same gun. She was five years old. Then they shot my brother Nader in the head and in the back. I saw his soul leave his body in front of me. They shot at me, but the bullet passed me and I wasn’t hit. I was shaking so much I thought they would notice me. I put blood on my face to make them think I’m dead."
“
—
11-year-old Houla massacre survivor tells how his family were slaughtered.
Speechless.
(via mehreenkasana)
(via thearabspringrevolutions)
"
The United Nations Security Council on Sunday unanimously condemned the Syrian government for its role in the massacre of at least 108 people in Houla over the weekend, even as Syria blamed others for the killing.
The United Nations action was the strongest yet allowed by Russia, a permanent Security Council member who has blocked many attempts to criticize the government of President Bashar al-Assad, its close ally.
“We unequivocally deny the responsibility of government forces for the massacre,” Jihad Makdissi, the spokesman for the Syrian Foreign Ministry, said at a news conference in Damascus, the capital. He reiterated the standard government line that the deaths were caused by a terrorist attack, and he said he regretted that the United Nations and other governments seemed to have accepted the opposition’s version of events.
In some of the worst carnage since the uprising began 15 months ago, Syrian tanks and artillery pounded Houla, a rebel-controlled village near Homs, a center of the resistance, during the day, opposition groups said, with soldiers and pro-government fighters storming the village and killing families in their homes late at night. Included in the death toll, which rose Sunday afternoon, were at least 32 children.
At a United Nations Security Council meeting, Russia initially blocked a collective statement condemning the Syrian government, diplomats said Sunday, and demanded a closed briefing from Gen. Robert Mood, the head of the United Nations observer mission, on assigning blame.
Four council members — the United States, Germany, France and Britain — had prepared a draft statement condemning the Syrian military for battering civilian neighborhoods with tank shells, using language that echoed two previous United Nations statements. The secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon issued a joint statement with Kofi Annan, his envoy. Mr. Annan is scheduled to be in the Syrian capital for talks on Monday.
"“
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The New York Times, “U.N. Security Council Issues Condemnation of Syria Attack” (via inothernews)
How many more times will I have to hear all these countries “condemning” Assad and yet failing to act? I have completely lost all faith in the UN’s ability — or desire — to help the Syrian people.
(via iradeh)(via iradeh)
ALEPPO UNIVERSITY aka REVOLUTION UNIVERSITY
Thanks @HamaEcho
aleppo is on fire! so good to see people out on the streets!!
"
I was detained during a demonstration against the president…. They beat me badly, to the point that I was about to faint… After that, they covered my eyes and spread my arms and tied them (like a crucifix), and they taped something to my hand. I didn’t know what it was but later found out that it was an electric detonator.
They put up some sort of a shield and they blew it up. Within less than a minute, I felt something warm on my feet. It was my blood. I was bleeding heavily and I lost consciousness.
I woke up in the hospital, I wasn’t totally conscious, but my friends found out I was there. They kidnapped me from hospital and took me to a house, and they brought doctors who came and treated me in that house.
In detention: they curse and insult and were constantly beating us and they tie up people’s arms like [they’re on a] crucifix. Some guys were subject to the removal of their fingernails. Others were flogged, and there are others who had their backs broken….
"“
—
34-year-old male patient from Syria.
While Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has been unable to work directly in Syria, we have collected testimonies from wounded patients treated outside the country and from doctors inside Syria.
The testimonies, which come from people hailing from various parts of the country, point to a coordinated crackdown on the provision of urgent medical care for people wounded in the ongoing violence.
(via doctorswithoutborders)
(via freefreesyria)
"[It] seems unlikely that, if the Russians help facilitate a post-Assad transition, Washington would take a hands-off position going forward. Both Russia and the U.S. will then be vying to shape the politics of post-Assad Syria with nothing but their own interests in mind (and to the detriment of the Syrian people, if history guides). To Moscow and Washington, what happens in Syria is about them, not about the well-being of Syrians. If an obsessive-compulsive commitment to insidious intervention in the internal affairs of others remains the status quo, such a deal will be increasingly remote."
“
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The Politics of Intervention Prevent Resolution in Syria (via theamericanbear)
As the blogspot points out, Russian-Syrian relations are like those of US-GCC states, in the sense that the “alliance” allows them to wield influence in harmony with Russian and US interests. Why would Russia give it up?
(via globalwarmist)
(via globalwarmist)
Beautiful: Syria, Damascus, Daraya “We won’t say to Homs ‘Forgive Us’ but rather ‘Wait for Us, We are Coming Back’”
3rd of May 2012
On this World Press Freedom Day, Al-Akhbar looks at the state of the journalistic freedom in various parts of the Arab World.
The piece mostly discusses Syria, Lebanon, and the Gulf countries:
Syria: The Fourth Estate is Lost in the Dark
A quick survey of the events of the past year is enough to reveal the bleak state of the media in Syria and the injustice and brutality it suffers. If we take a look at the numbers, statistics, and reports of relevant international organizations, the scene becomes even bleaker. This is because Syria has now surpassed many countries in the level to which freedom of the press is suppressed.
Since the protests in Syria began, repression of the media has increased. The regime decided, with premeditation and planning, to silence journalists and constrain the freedom of the press. It pursued journalists, restricted their work, and sometimes arrested them.
and
Lebanon: Diminishing Freedom
Lebanon used to be well-known for its freedom of the press. Arab journalists flocked to this small country to escape being silenced, ravenous for the its servings of “freedom extra.” All this is in the past. Today, it is no more.
This may be what drove a Middle East expert like Robert Fisk to write an article under the headline “End of an Era for Press Freedom in Lebanon.” In the article, published three years ago in The Independent, the British journalist reported several stories indicating that the Lebanese press was losing its freedoms. He then asked a piercing question: “Is something rotten in the state of the Lebanese press?”
and
Gulf Countries Produce Less Freedoms
The popularity of traditional media and the printed press has fallen when compared with the rise of new media and social networking sites. Despite that, the 2012 report by the Committee for the Protection of Journalists, ranked Saudi Arabia eight out of the ten worst countries in the world for suppression of the media.
A royal edict, issued in May 2011, ordered an amendment to the Saudi print law to give the Saudi media minister the right to prohibit, confiscate, and censor any site or newspaper. Following that, unprecedented campaigns against journalists, writers, and human rights activists were launched in official Saudi newspapers. These came in response to articles and statements demanding reform and supporting a state of law and a constitutional monarchy.
