Onrust in Syri� #6 - Waar vrijheid als muziek in de oren klinkt.

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Op zaterdag 16 juli 2011 12:53 schreef Monidique het volgende:
Ik lees over honderdduizenden mensen op de been, zie video's met gigantisch veel mensen. Filmpjes waarin mensen blijven demonstreren, ook al wordt er zwaar geschoten. Die geest, die krijg je absoluut niet meer in de fles. Dit regime is ten dode opgeschreven.

Frappant is dan weer dat er een klein moment was in Iran dat zulke demonstraties er ook waren, maar die zijn effectief neergeslagen uiteindelijk. De vraag die ik dan stel, is: waarom daar wel en hier niet? Wat zou dat verschil zijn?

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Syri� belegert oostelijke stad, 'situatie is explosief'

Syrische tanks hebben een stad in het oosten van het land omsingeld. De aanleiding was een betoging van tienduizenden bewoners van al-Bukamal tegen president Bashar al-Assad, meldden activisten vandaag.

'De situatie in al-Bukamal is explosief', meldde een inwoner. Gisteren was een burger omgekomen toen veiligheidstroepen het vuur openden op een demonstratie tegen de president.

Eerder had het Syrische leger hard opgetreden in opstandige steden in het noorden.

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Minstens dertig doden bij gevechten in Syrische stad Homs

Bij gevechten tussen aanhangers en tegenstanders van het Syrische regime in Homs zijn ten minste dertig doden gevallen in de afgelopen 24 uur. Dat meldt persbureau AFP.

De schermutselingen begonnen gisteravond na de moord op drie betogers, die vorige week door onbekenden ontvoerd werden. Gisteren kregen hun families de uiteengereten lichamen terug.

Vrijdag werden 32 betogers doodgeschoten bij massale antiregeringsdemonstraties in Syri�. Meer dan een miljoen mensen waren daarbij op de been.

Bij het geweld in Syri�, dat al sinds maart dit jaar aanhoudt, zijn volgens Human Right Watch meer dan 1.600 demonstranten doodgeschoten en tienduizend mensen gearresteerd.

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http://www.guardian.co.uk(...)dle-east-unrest-live
Syria, Libya and Middle East unrest - live updates


8.28am: Welcome to Middle East Live.
Syria

Syria appears to have witnessed one of its bloodiest weekends since the uprising began.

• In the central city of Homs more than 30 people were killed in the last 24 hours, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Rami Abdul-Rahman, from the Observatory, told Bloomberg:

We were able to get a list of 30 names of civilians killed in Homs, but the number is higher than that.

• The eastern city of Abu Kamal (spellings vary) has been besieged by more 1,000 troops, some backed by tanks and others flown in on helicopters, according to the New York Times.

The Syrian forces surrounded the town and appeared to be preparing for a major military operation to quell dissent there, residents said.

Al-Watan, a pro-government newspaper, reported on Sunday that the situation in Albokamal was "explosive" and that the army was "preparing to intervene."

• The raid comes after reports that around 100 soldiers defected to the opposition Abu Kamal.

Video footage from the town purported to show residents celebrating the defection of the soldiers by clambering on to tanks and chanting the Egyptian revolutionary slogan "The people and the army are one hand".

Hundreds of Syria Soldiers Defect and Join Protesters - 7-16-11 Albu Kamal

Reuters report on incident is as follows: 7-17-11 :"Some 1,000 troops and security forces backed by tanks and helicopters surrounded Albu Kamal overnight, a poor eastern border crossing with Iraq, a day after Military Intelligence agents there killed five protesters, including a 14 year old boy, residents said.

The killings drove thousands into the streets, overwhelming soldiers and secret police. Residents said around 100 Air Force Intelligence personnel and the crew of at least four armored vehicles joined the protesters.

"The protesters returned several army personnel carriers today as a sign of good will. The regime knows it will meet tough resistance if it attacks Albu Kamal, and that Iraqi tribes on the other side of the border will rush to help their brethren," said one activist in the region, who declined to be named for fear of arrest.

Another activist said: "The whole of Albu Kamal went to the streets after the killings. Several armored personnel carriers moved into the center of the town to stop them, but ended joining sides with the human wave.""

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Syrische burgers gaan nu ook elkaar te lijf: dertig doden in twee dagen

Minstens dertig mensen zijn afgelopen weekend omgekomen bij gevechten tussen inwoners in de Syrische stad Homs. Verschillende mensenrechtenorganisaties meldden dit aan persbureau Reuters. Het zijn de eerste berichten die naar buiten komen over gewelddadigheden tussen burgers onderling sinds het begin van de opstand tegen het regime van president Bashar al-Assad in maart.

Rami Abdelrahman, hoofd van de in Londen gevestigde mensenrechtenorganisatie Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, zei vandaag dat de onlusten tussen betogers pro en contra Assad afgelopen zatermiddag uitbraken. Aanleiding zou de vrijgave zijn van drie lichamen van pro-Assad betogers aan hun families. De drie waren vorige week ontvoerd en vermoord. De lichamen bleken te zijn ontdaan van hoofd en ledematen.

Burgeroorlog
'Minstens dertig burgers kwamen om bij vuurgevechten tussen de aanhangers van beide kampen' aldus Abdelrahman. 'De onlusten zijn een gevaarlijke ontwikkeling die de revolutie ondermijnen en in het voordeel zijn van hen die uit zijn op een burgeroorlog.'

Homs is de derde stad van het land en een crucialle locatie in de revolutionaire strijd sinds het leger er twee maanden geleden binnenviel in een poging de straatprotesten tegen Assad te smoren. Homs is een microkosmos van Syrische religieuze diversiteit met een Sunni-meerderheid die samenleeft met verschillende minderheden zoals christenen en alawieten, een stroming in de islam die Assad aanhangt.

Landelijke gebieden
De anti-Assadprotesten ontstonden in landelijke, armere gebieden met een veelal sunnitische bevolking. Maar de opstand breidde al snel uit naar de steden, waar de bevolking veel meer een mix van allerlei religies en sekten is, waardoor het risico van een burgeroorlog exponentieel toeneemt.

Inmiddels zijn volgens mensenrechtenorganisaties al meer dan 1400 burgers omgekomen sinds het begin van de onlusten.

De Syrische overheid beschuldigt buitenlandse militante groeperingen van het geweld en zegt dat er sinds maart al meer dan 500 politieagenten en militairen zijn gesneuveld.

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Syrian troops kill 16 people in Homs as security crackdown intensifies

Residents in city of Homs claim government forces and 'death squads' are firing indiscriminately on civilians

Spiralling violence took hold of the Syrian city of Homs on Tuesday as troops and militiamen loyal to President Bashar al-Assad killed 16 people in an apparent escalation of a security crackdown against a focal point for pro-democracy protests.

This brings the death toll in the country's third biggest and most mixed city in the past few days alone to at least 40 people, in addition to an estimated 1,500 killed since the Syrian uprising began five months ago.

The latest fatalities added to mounting concern that events in Homs, which has a population of 1.5 million, are taking on a dangerously sectarian character.

In a grimly familiar pattern, Tuesday's dead included three mourners at a funeral for 10 people who were killed by security forces on Monday, activists said.

"We could not bury the martyrs at the city's main cemetery, so we opted for a smaller cemetery near the mosque when the militiamen began firing at us from their cars," one mourner told Reuters. "We have to leave, we can't stay – it's too dangerous," another resident told the Guardian.

Bodies were taken to a mosque in the eastern Khalidiya district, which is dominated by Sunni tribes, while an adjacent neighbourhood is home to many security forces personnel from the Assad family's minority Alawi sect.

Rami Abdulrahman, director of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said Homs had seen intense battles since security forces stepped up a crackdown on Monday. Fighting erupted after three regime supporters who were kidnapped last week were killed and their dismembered bodies returned to their relatives. "These clashes are a dangerous development that undermines the revolution and serves the interests of its enemies who want it to turn into a civil war," Abdulrahman said.

Another Homs resident said: "There are troops and armoured vehicles in every neighbourhood. The irregular forces with them are death squads. They have been firing indiscriminately since dawn with rifles and machine guns. No one can leave their homes."

The Syrian authorities have expelled most foreign journalists from the country, making it hard to verify either witness accounts or official statements.

Troops and tanks first entered and occupied Homs, 100 miles north of Damascus, two months ago after protests demanding freedoms and the fall of the Assad regime. But the military has failed to quell the unrest, which has spread to almost every neighbourhood.

Some residents have admitted they are now fighting back after losing relatives or having their homes raided. Many claim that pro-government gangs of Alawis from surrounding villages have been threatening people and fuelling tensions. Homs, hometown of Assad's Sunni wife Asma, has seen an influx of Alawis in recent years as the minority tightened its hold on security and other public sector jobs.

Residents in Homs and the coastal cities of Latakia, Banias and Jableh have reported Alawis being armed by the regime and armed gangs known as shabiha (ghosts) roaming the streets and helping to crush protests.

The use of these groups has increased the propensity for violent conflict and sectarianism as Syria's protests enter their fifth month. Many Homs residents have armed themselves with guns and homemade molotov cocktails after warning that the regime's crackdown could lead to wider violence.

Pro-democracy activists say they are struggling to deal with conflicting accounts of what is happening, while stressing the need to keep the uprising peaceful and non-sectarian.

Members of the network of local co-ordinating committees have claimed that sectarianism is being deliberately stoked by the regime.

Analysts warned that the violence and reports of sectarian tensions should not be overplayed while admitting that the Homs situation is potentially explosive. "It is really worrying," said one dissident in the capital. "There are growing problems. But the violence is regime-provoked and we shouldn't take this to mean there will be a civil war."

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Syrian regime steps up propaganda war amid bloody crackdown on protests

TV, radio and internet campaigns paint glowing picture of president Bashar al-Assad and stir up sectarian tensions

Brute force has been the main weapon of the Syrian regime as it has sought to crush growing protests, killing at least 1,500 people and torturing hundreds more. But Syrians have also been besieged by relentless propaganda.

In a week that has seen at least 40 die and escalating violence in Homs, the country's third largest city, state radio and private stations owned by regime cronies have been blaring out songs exalting Bashar al-Assad as "Abu Hafez", suggesting his son Hafez could succeed him, or anointing him president for "all eternity".

Baseball caps, T-shirts and flags adorned with the president's face are sold around Damascus. Billboards show him surrounded by pink hearts – in stark contrast to the sterner, more militarised pictures of his father, Hafez, the former president.

Television programmes show residents shopping and driving, portraying calm and order while regime supporters chant that they would shed blood for their leader.

Within weeks of the outbreak of unrest in March, posters went up around Syria warning of fitna, an Arabic word for division that has sectarian connotations.

But as Assad's use of force has failed to crush the protests, now in their fifth month, propaganda has become a key element of regime efforts to rally support.

"The propaganda is relentless," said one businessman. "The regime has hijacked the idea of national identity and is pushing divisions." Official rhetoric is sectarian and blames foreign and Islamist armed miscreants for the violence. In contrast, the protesters have been keen to portray Syrians as united and peaceful.

Such crude misinformation can be surprisingly effective in a country where there is no independent media, reporting is difficult and news comes mainly from witnesses and amateur film footage.

The regime and its opponents have become increasingly polarised, raising the spectre of clashes of the type activists say are happening in Homs, where sectarian tensions are rising amid claims that gangs from the minority Alawi sect, to which the Assads belong, have been deliberately provoked by the regime to attack protesters.

Christians and Druze have also been drawn to the cause through state propaganda. Early in the unrest protesters carried crosses and shouted anti-sectarian slogans: "Muslims, Christians, Alawis are all one." But when a sit-in was held in Homs in April the regime framed it as Salafis (extreme fundamentalists) taking over the city. State TV aired staged accounts of "armed terrorists" admitting receiving cash from foreigners and showing caches of weapons and money in mosques.

Imams report being told what to say in sermons, while a so-called "electronic army" has mounted an online campaign to fill Twitter with pro-regime messages.

But at the same time the regime has also sought to portray Assad as a reformer – with a westernised wife to boot – who is adored by his people.

Only a small minority of Syrians believe this narrative, which is contradicted by satellite channels such as al-Jazeera and material on the net. But Assad undoubtedly retains some support. "People choose to close their minds," said one young professional in the capital. "This is due to fear, but also to brainwashing and the strong idea of authority in our society."

Children are taught to exalt Assad and his father, while schoolbooks describe Syria as one of the most powerful nations on the planet. Pictures of the ruling family hang in every shop and building while many places such as sports grounds are named after members of the family, including Assad's younger brother Basil, who was being groomed for the presidency when he died in a car crash in 1994.

During Assad's first speech after the unrest began, one MP shouted: "The Arab world is too small for you, dear leader, you should rule the world!"

But propaganda can backfire. "It is all lies, lies," protested a trader in Damascus's old city, who just two months ago was blaming the unrest on Salafis.

The battle is not all one-sided. Activists had to become media-savvy to counteract the regime's domination of domestic media. They have had success – some say too much – in finding the ear of international outlets and have been accused at points of distorting information too.

A report by the International Crisis Group last week accused activists of playing down reports of sectarian tensions. "Unfortunately the propaganda could become a reality if this situation goes on too long," warns a veteran dissident.

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http://www.guardian.co.uk(...)dle-east-unrest-live

12.33pm: Today's protests in Syria are among some of the largest since the uprising began in March, activist claim. For the first time video of the demonstrations is live stream to the satellite channels al-Jazeera Arabic and al-Arabiya.