New FAZ Piece On Houla Massacre: "The Extermination"
A well regarded and qualified author of the prime German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) reported (in German) how the recent massacre in Houla, Syria, was perpetrated by Sunni rebel forces. I translated the piece to English. There was some push back against the piece and an anonymous rebuttal from Houla activists.
In a new piece (in German) the reporter, Rainer Hermann, extends on the first one and explains why his reporting is correct and why other reporting was terribly wrong.
What follows is my translation of the FAZ piece:
The Extermination
The Houla massacre was a turning point in the Syrian drama. There was great worldwide outrage when 108 people were killed there on May 25, among them 49 children. Calls for a military intervention to end the bloodshed became louder and the violence in Syria has since steadily escalated. Based on Arab news channel and the visit of UN observers on the following day, world opinion almost unanimously blamed the regular Syrian army and the Syrian regime's Shabiha militia for the massacre.
In the past week and based on reports from eyewitnesses the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung put this version into question. It reported that the civilians killed were Alawites and Shiites. They were deliberately killed by armed Sunnis in Taldou, a town in the plains of Houla, while fierce fighting between the regular army and Free Syrian Army was taking place at checkpoints around the village. Our report was taken up by many media outlets worldwide and was rejected by many as implausible. We have therefore to ask four questions: Why did the world opinion so far followed a different version? Why does the context of the civil war makes the doubted version plausible? Why are the witnesses credible? What other facts support the report?
Firstly, why world opinion follow a different version? It is undoubted that during the first months of the conflict, when the opposition did not yet possess weapons and was defenseless, all atrocities were done by the regime. The assumption is therefore obvious that this would continue. [Note by the translator: Here Mr. Hermann errs. There were reliable reports about deadly attacks against government forces by well armed perpetrators, allegedly foreign financed, as early as April 10 2011.] Furthermore, the Syrian state media enjoy no credibility. They use the standard labeling "armed terrorist gangs" since the beginning of the conflict. Thus no one believes them, when that is indeed the case. Two media outlets, the Arab news channel Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya have become key sources even as their owners, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, are two states which are actively involved in the conflict. Not without reason do we know the saying "In war, truth dies first."
Secondly, why is, in the context of the civil war, the doubted version plausible? During recent month many weapons have been smuggled into Syria and the rebels have long had mid-sized weaponry. Every day more than 100 people are killed in Syria with about equal numbers of dead on both sides. The militias that operate under the banner of the Free Syrian Army control wide parts of the provinces of Homs and Idlib and extend their dominion over other parts of the country. The increasing lawlessness has led to a wave of criminal kidnappings and also facilitates the settling of old disputes. If one looks through Facebook pages or talks to Syrians: Everyone knows everyday stories of "religious cleansing" - of people being killed just because they are Alawite or Sunni.
The plain of Houla, which lies between the Sunni city of Homs and the mountains of the Alawites, is predominantly inhabited by Sunnis and is burdened by a long history of sectarian tensions. The massacre took place in Taldou, one of the largest sites of Houla. Of the names of civilians killed, 84 are known. These are the fathers, mothers and 49 children of the family Al Sayyid and two branches of the family Abdarrazzaq. Residents of the city state that these were Alawites and Muslims who had converted from Sunni to Shia Islam. A few kilometers away from the border with Lebanon, this made them suspect of being sympathizers of Hezbollah, detested among Sunnis. Additionally killed in Taldou were relatives of the government loyal member of parliament Abdalmuti Mashlab.
The homes of the three families are located in different parts Taldous. The members of the families were targeted and killed up to one exception. No neighbor was injured. Local knowledge was a prerequisite for these well-planned "executions". The AP news agency quoted the only survivor of the family Al Sayyid, the eleven year old Ali, as saying:. "The perpetrators were shaved bald and had long beards." This is the look of fanatical jihadists, not of the Shabiha militia. The boy said he survived because he had pretended to be dead and smeared himself with the blood of his mother.
On April 1 the nun Agnès-Maryam, from the monastery of Jacob ("Deir Mar Yakub") which lies south of Homs in the village of Qara, described in a long open letter the climate of violence and fear in the region. She comes to the conclusion that the Sunni insurgents operate a stepwise liquidation of all minorities. She describes the expulsion of Christians and Alawites from their homes, which are then occupied by the rebels, and the rape of young girls, who the rebels pass off as "war booty"; she was an eye witness when the rebels killed a businessman in the street of Wadi Sajjeh with a car bomb after he refused to close his shop and then said in front of a camera from Al Jazeera that the regime had committed the crime. Finally she describes how Sunni insurgents in the Khalidijah district of Homs locked Alawite and Christian hostages into a house and blew it up only to then explain that this was an atrocity of the regime.
Why are, in this context, the Syrian witnesses (in my report) regarded as credible? Because they do not belong to any party of the conflict, but are caught in the middle and have no other interest than to stop a further escalation of violence. Several such people have already been killed. Therefore, no one wants to reveal their identity. In a period in which an independent review of all facts on the spot is not possible there can be no certitude that all details have happened exactly as described. Even as the massacre in Houla took place in the version described here, no conclusions can be drawn from it for other atrocities. As before in Kosovo every massacre must be examined individually after this war.
What other facts support this version? The FAZ was not the first to reported on a new version of the massacre of Houla. Other reports could just not compete with the big key media. The Russian journalist Marat Musin, who works for the small news agency Anna, was in Houla on May 25 and 26, in part became an eyewitness and also published the statements of other eyewitnesses. Additionally the Dutch Arabist and freelance journalist Martin Janssen, who lives in Damascus, contacted the Jacob Monastery in Qara, which has taken in many victims of the conflict with the nuns doing devote humanitarian work, after the massacre.
Sunni rebels perpetrate "liquidation" of all minorities
The nuns told him how on that May 25th more than 700 armed rebels, coming from Rastan, overran a roadside checkpoint of the army near Taldou, how these, after the massacre, piled up the corpses of the killed soldiers and civilians in front of the mosque and how they, on next day, told their version of the alleged massacre by the Syrian army in front of the cameras of rebel-friendly channels and to the UN observers. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced on May 26 at the UN Security Council that the exact circumstances are unclear. The UN could confirm, however, "that there has been artillery and mortar attack. There were also other forms of violence, including shots from up close and serious abuses."
The following sequence of events can be reconstructed: After the Friday prayers on May 25th more than 700 gunmen under the leadership of Abdurrazzaq Tlass and Yahya Yusuf came in three groups from Rastan, Kafr Laha and Akraba and attacked three army checkpoints around Taldou. The numerically superior rebels and the (mostly also Sunni) soldiers fought bloody battles in which two dozen soldiers, mostly conscripts, were killed. During and after the fighting the rebels, supported by residents of Taldou, snuffed out the families of Sayyid and Abdarrazzaq. They had refused to join the opposition.
Posted by b on June 15, 2012 at 14:02 UTC | Permalink
« previous page>>> I was asking for something deeper than simply a biography of Naif, even if reading between the lines.>>>
Alexno #84, if you really want it from the very deep, you would have to go back to Ashoura 332 years ago in Karbala, Iraq.
Posted by: www | Jun 17 2012 5:39 utc | 102
Alexno, on the plus side, maybe in a few years women will be allowed to drive.
Posted by: www | Jun 17 2012 6:08 utc | 103
Posted by: www | Jun 17, 2012 1:23:59 AM | 101
interesting bit on Agnes
NOW what do you call a person born of palestinian and lebanese parentage living in the US:
Answer: an american!
Posted by: brian | Jun 17 2012 6:18 utc | 104
Posted by: Jim Steel | Jun 16, 2012 11:41:07 PM | 96
juan cole was outed for his cia ties about a year ago. he was quite embarrassed but couldnt deny it so he ignored it
Posted by: lowern | Jun 17 2012 6:26 utc | 105
Posted by: Copeland | Jun 16, 2012 3:56:28 PM | 81
up yours ahole. your comments offer little but the most conventional analysis and routine cliches. shut up
Posted by: JL | Jun 17 2012 6:29 utc | 106
>>>NOW what do you call a person born of palestinian and lebanese parentage living in the US:
Answer: an american!>>>
Brian #104, I know 2 such persons, one living in Dallas and another in Miami, they are Canadians, not Americans.
Posted by: www | Jun 17 2012 6:43 utc | 107
www #101. i honestly don't see your point in posting the background of the nun. are
you saying she is a credible witness or not?
also would you care to elaborate on post #102 ?
"if you really want it from the very deep, you would have to go back to Ashoura 332 years ago in Karbala, Iraq."
thanks.
Posted by: erraticideas | Jun 17 2012 7:56 utc | 108
Posted by: www | Jun 17, 2012 2:43:32 AM | 107
so you see my point....good
Posted by: brian | Jun 17 2012 8:06 utc | 109
mother agnes is a credible witness...as can be understood by listening to her speak and comparing what she says with other sources
Posted by: brian | Jun 17 2012 8:07 utc | 110
Dem Now, which is funded by the same foundations who engineered the false Arab Springs, cheeleads for them accordingly. Is that really so different in intent than being owned by Qatar and doing its bidding?
Posted by: file2 | Jun 17 2012 8:34 utc | 111
Posted by: file2 | Jun 17, 2012 4:34:38 AM | 111
but why is someone like Amy Goodman deliberately destroying her own reputation? she used to be good o social justice and anti imperialism...yet here she is acting as an unpaid(?) employee of the US regime
Posted by: brian | Jun 17 2012 8:47 utc | 112
Erraticideas #108, about the nun, I was being sarcastic with Brian that claims to know everything about Syria. But you are right, the whole piece wasn't really necessary for the purpose and I realized that after I posted it and should have simply posted the line about her being Lebanese-Palestinian. He still doesn't get it.
About part 2, that date was the root cause of the rumble between the Sunni (centered in Saudia) and the Shia (centered in Iran), but I erred by I short-changing the time by a 1000 years. I'm not good with numbers. The actual date was October 10, in the year 680, which makes it 1332 years ago and the Battle of Karbala (in Iraq) the date of the shism between orthodox Sunnism and Shia't (followers)of Ali that became known as the Shia. That date October 10th that was already a movable holiday celebrated by Jews and Muslims at the time became the most holy and sad date of the year for the Shia, known as the day of Ashoura.
Sorry for the bad math.
Posted by: www | Jun 17 2012 9:06 utc | 113
but why is someone like Amy Goodman deliberately destroying her own reputation? she used to be good o social justice and anti imperialism...yet here she is acting as an unpaid(?) employee of the US regime
Amy is a member of a certain "tribe". it is well known that the tribe always stick together. She might have socialist leanings but her ultimate loyalty is to the tribe.
Posted by: hans | Jun 17 2012 9:25 utc | 114
hans @114
sorry Hans but as she has interviweed Cynthia McKinney on the latest arrest by israel...your notion that being jewish influences her is not very sound.
She interviewed McKinney for that in 2009...and yet two years later didnt interview McKinney on her trips to Libya in 2011.
If the tribe and your theory ruled, she not have interviewed her at all:
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/8/fmr_congressmember_cynthia_mckinney_back_in
Posted by: brian | Jun 17 2012 9:36 utc | 115
'Erraticideas #108, about the nun, I was being sarcastic with Brian that claims to know everything about Syria'
a slur by WWW who is miffed that i know more about syria and events there than he/she does....i admin an FB page monitoring evens in libya and syria...esp syria these days
Posted by: brian | Jun 17 2012 9:38 utc | 116
Brian, you're so-so on Syria, but still one of the good guys.
Posted by: www | Jun 17 2012 10:02 utc | 117
Hans, being Jewish has nothing to do with it; last year, she took Goldstone to task for backing out of his assertions about Gaza and she wasn't shy about saying that Israel committed war crimes. She has probably done the most to publicize the plight of the Palestinians than any other US media personality. The interview with the Syrian Rice clone did more to damage the picture of the Syrian opposition than all of Brian's links here combined. It also gave Ptrick Seale the opportunity to express his views on Israel's guilt and direct hand in the shit that happened in Iraq and is now happening in Syria. This is why I disagree with you and with JL that said that DN was a veiled operation.
Posted by: www | Jun 17 2012 10:15 utc | 118
'The interview with the Syrian Rice clone did more to damage the picture of the Syrian opposition than all of Brian's links here combined.'
oh...really? and did it change Amys view of syria? NO...so no damage done
Posted by: brian | Jun 17 2012 14:33 utc | 119
This is all about the coming New World Order, Al Quada is a CIA Operative working for the UN, US, and England (The British/Old Roman Empire), they have to destroy any nation that has the potential to stop them, any nation that does not allow Usury (FED type banking systems). The International Banking Families are at the root of all of this, and the Board Members of this movement are the Bilderbergers.
Posted by: Rene | Jun 17 2012 15:03 utc | 120
Brian, what are Amy's views of Syria? Relax, I'm not holding my breath for you to answer.
Posted by: www | Jun 17 2012 15:44 utc | 121
brian @ 90 -- We all know about "regulatory capture" which is when those regulating a business or other entity become to close to those they regulate --or see future advancement coming from those same people-- that they stop representing the general populace and find ways to protect their future source of income and security.
Same thing happens with people with respect to their employers. I noticed even in myself when I worked for a large telecommunications borg: While I knew their lobbying efforts represented to polar opposites of what I felt was good for the country, I still found myself rationalizing what they did. I was part of the group.
I noticed this painfully clearly with my nephew's wonderful girlfriend, then fiancee, then wife. She had gone back to school to study law and was a wickedly funny true liberal Democrat. Then, after getting her law degree in a slow economy and having trouble finding a decent paying job, she was hired by a firm specializing in litigating FOR private insurance companies. Gradually, patients who had experienced malpractice were being described by her as working con jobs against the docs and the insurance companies.
Employment capture. Is it partly just necessary rationalization to make it possible to work for some employers?
But it's not just for money or future advancement. Often it happens to those who give individuals their political loyalty as well. Which is a form of investment.
BTW, the law firm which hired my nephew's wife had told her they valued their employees' need to have time for their families, maternity leave, children, etc. However, when she got pregnant and took a brief maternity leave after her daughter's birth --and her billable hours were nothing during those few weeks-- she found herself off the partnership track and getting lower reviews. When the economy turned worse, all the yound women attorneys with children somehow were those let go. Nothing to do with having children, of course -- just not meeting the firm's standards.
She finally found a job in family law which fits her own principles much better, and tho' the pay is lower, she is much happier.
Posted by: jawbone | Jun 17 2012 17:59 utc | 122
www @ 101 - I appreciated your post giving some background on Mother Agnes Mariam of the Cross. I agree that her credibility for us should come from her words matching reality. Which, it appears, they do, but I have not followed her closely, so the background is helpful.
Needless to say, but I'll add that finding the truth of what's being said about Syria is not easy, and thank goodness for this blog bringing alternative links and news together in one place.
(Uhmm, could disagreements be worded more...gracefully? Be direct, absolutely, be strong, but, sheesh....)
Posted by: jawbone | Jun 17 2012 18:19 utc | 123
RussiaToday (RT.com) was mentioned earlier in the thread, and lousy news reporting was mentioned a number of times, and so it's not off-topic to add the following nugget about lousy reporting from RT:
The Lead Story on the homepage of RT.com today 17 Jun 2012 is headlined: "Not 'if' but 'when': US military intervention in Syria on countdown". The sole source for the story is Debkafile.net (an utterly unreliable source). But no doubt this headline story gets lots of click-throughs. http://www.rt.com/news/syria-rebels-us-arms-028/ . A commenter in the comment section on the webpage of RT's story says "RT's been saying the same trash for the past 6 months." He's correct. Here's an example of the same sort of trash from RT.com about Syria, sourced from the same utterly unreliable Debkafile.net, dated 9 Feb 2012 : http://www.rt.com/news/britain-qatar-troops-syria-893/
Somebody is pushing this hard, but it's not going to happen, not this time. They will have to settle for the semi-covert intervention, but there's not going to be a fullblown NATO air-raid on Syria. No chance. It's way too expensive. Enforcing a no-fly-zone in Syria wound involve bombing some very heavily populated areas, with some very effective GTA-missile system, recently upgraded by Russian deliveries. Libya was easy in comparison. When they say there's little appetite for an intervention, they really do mean it, even if not everyone agree on it, like Hillary Clinton - who pushes the interests of her primary foreign-policy sponsor - the weapons industry. Russia and China are definitely not going along with a no-fly-zone again, and NATO anyway doesn't want another overt illegal war on their hands.
Posted by: Alexander | Jun 17 2012 23:39 utc | 126
Posted by: brian | Jun 17, 2012 4:47:39 AM | 112
Brian,
Her refusal to touch the 911 issue in any substantive way has cost her dearly. Her heavy foundation funding is the culprit probably, as well as professional cageyness- those who question that event seriously are pilloried by the MSM.
Posted by: file2 | Jun 18 2012 10:36 utc | 127
at 48, 49, the Scandinavian countries are just getting on board with the plot, the agenda. I don’t think it has much to do with WW2. They see the way the wind is blowing, Europe’s mainstream. Also, this stance does not cost anything for now.
> sidebar. The demonstrators in Syria are also forced, coerced to take sides (see Parviziyi, for ex at 27, on the demos), which may cost them considerably more, they are betting their lives.
Norway, for ex, conveniently ignores that Breivik was pro-Zionism. That is why he was supposed to be declared ‘insane’, not responsible and locked up for life in da loony bin. (To be clear, it is fine to support Israel, the US, etc. but not so PC or wonderful when such attitudes lead to 70 plus young local ppl being killed.)
As for the quarrel about the Turks, my reading is that they are just watching and waiting, and watch they do with an eagle eye, but not more. They are concerned about internal matters, like the PKK. But who knows...wheels within wheels.
As for the Vatican, if it has any importance, it is ameliorating its relations with Israel, all from the Vatican Insider:
eng link
eng link
and supports the Memorandum (Greece), though this is very murky,
italian link
Posted by: Noirette | Jun 18 2012 16:02 utc | 128
re lowern | Jun 17, 2012 2:26:05 AM | 105
juan cole was outed for his cia ties about a year ago. he was quite embarrassed but couldnt deny it so he ignored it
Frankly Cole is not that - he gave one or two lectures to the CIA. Notice that he was never invited to go to Iraq.
Rather he is an American academic of the second class. He didn't mount higher to Yale, not because of his views, but because he is not of the quality.
Nevertheless he is a public academic - we hear a lot of his views. That doesn't mean we have to believe them.
Posted by: alexno | Jun 18 2012 21:31 utc | 129
How very true. In Norwegian media, they briing in foereign policy experts from universities to give statements on Syria, and they are totally colored by western media, so even our publicly verified 'experts' just don't seem to have the expertise.
Posted by: Alexander | Jun 19 2012 9:39 utc | 130
next time you see videos alleging syrian army atrocities...consider this:
'Waqqaf: If you go very far away in fabricating things that are happening on the ground, it is not only enough for the Syrian people to know exactly what is happening but when Syrian television and Syrian satellite channels show certain realities on the ground, then the surrounding environment, the Arab world or the Western environment should not really know what is really happening.
So for example, Syrian television has been, for the past few weeks, showing certain videos, unedited videos, that were captured after an operation of the Syrian army in Baba Amr in Homs and those edited videos reveal that the culprits of the videos, we had seen before on YouTube, claiming that the Syrian Army is doing this atrocity or committing that atrocity, when you see the unedited video which is like ten times longer [than the edited ones] you see that the armed groups are the ones who are actually doing this and they are, you know, quite happy about doing it.
They shout Allaho Akbar [God is great] and then they Laugh, but when you have the video on YouTube, you know, the laughing is cut for example.
The Arab world should not really see these things because they should not question the story that has been presented to them from the very beginning by the likes of Aljazeera and Alarabiya. That is why they wanted to shutdown the Syrian satellite TV channels and again there are now indications that a new chapter of the propaganda is going to take place which is about inciting a full scale civil war in Syria.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/06/14/246136/west-arab-league-try-to-silence-truth/
Posted by: brian | Jun 19 2012 12:03 utc | 131
UN Mission to Syria Observers refuse to listen to citizens' testimonies regarding armed terrorist groups
Global Research, June 13, 2012
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=31397
Posted by: brian | Jun 19 2012 12:29 utc | 132
who are the FSA insurgents?
http://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/81458
Posted by: brian | Jun 19 2012 12:36 utc | 133
Syria: As fighting continues foreign detainees may reach center stage (Op-Ed)
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
Link copied to clipboardemail story to a friend print version
Published: 16 June, 2012, 13:10
AFP Photo / HO / Shaam News Network
TRENDS: Syria unrest
TAGS: Conflict, Military, Politics, Human rights, Opposition, War, Syria, Security
While insurgents try to recapture at least some of the areas lost in the last week and make it to the outskirts of towns in western Syria, more details on foreign detainees come to light, which may start political discussions back home.
¬Consultant and peace activist Christoph R. Hörstel told RT that his information “is directly obtained from Syrian security personnel of various origins personally taking part in battles and other operations, and/or close relatives of such personnel – some are even well-known people".
“The information reaches me through a partner in Turkey. I counter-check all information obtained this way as best as possible under the circumstances,” Hörstel said.
Insurgents and terrorists are trying to infiltrate back to the lost strongholds in Hafeh and Idlib. They try to return from the rural areas, but face strong army resistance in these areas, plus in Homs and Hama. As the rebels lost most of their weapon stockpiles, they intend now to carry out terror attacks in civilian areas, using improvised bombs.
On the other hand, especially in Hafeh, it is understood that the insurgents are not capable of invading towns and town centers, even not in smaller villages. The only safe haven for the fighters seems to be right now Idlib's rural surroundings and forested stretches, reaching into the terror camps in neighboring Turkey.
Military deployment and logistic support operations are going on around town centers, rural villages close to cities are being shelled by the army, as soon as the presence of insurgents is verified.
After the capture of an ex-Guantanamo detainee in Homs as an alleged terror network mastermind, Syrian security is now researching this subject in-depth. In future, Syria may take some of these foreign elements to be dealt with in court under live TV coverage.
Sources say at least 200-300 private security company employees are captured beside hundreds of foreign military and service personnel during the last 14 months of foreign terror provocation. Among them are Portuguese nationals, who are paratroopers – and about whom Syria is asking itself how they entered the country. During interrogation they claimed to have retired from army duty, which somehow contradicts in some cases how old they look. Sources add, that some of those foreign officials somehow settled in the region at least months before they started their terror campaign.
Also 40-60 Germans are in Syrian custody, said the officials. According to these sources, the Germans were caught red-handed on the Syrian coastline as they were smuggling weapons supplies for the insurgents into Syria.
Syrian security personnel have changed their detention strategies as well, concentrating foreign nationals in a high-security environment in Damascus.
Syrian sources are irritated about the so-called international mainstream media. These officials go so far as to raise vigilance prior to important international gatherings discussing the Syrian issue, anticipating further false flag operations to discredit the Syrian government.
Christoph R. Hörstel for RT
http://www.rt.com/news/syria-foreign-insurgents-terror-974/
Posted by: brian | Jun 20 2012 1:28 utc | 134
Tweets on terror in syria:
Linda Juniper @LindaJuniper 2d
Wherever #FSA take over an area they either kill or kick out the minorities. Will you allow those in your society? #Damascus #Syria 2/2
Linda Juniper @LindaJuniper 2d
200-300 private security company employees are captured beside 100s of foreign military & service personnel during this crisis in #Syria
[mercenaries aka private security!]
Linda Juniper @LindaJuniper 2d
Several 50kg explosive devices were dismantled by the authorities between the two border villages Baxria-Khrbet Eljouz #Idleb #Syria
S. Albert García @Harkonen2 2d
@LindaJuniper I've seen on twits that spanish muslim soldiers were caught too, but on massmedia, never heard it, ever ;o(
[europe harboring jihadis…will eventually turn on them]
Linda Juniper @LindaJuniper 2d
40-60 Germans are in Syrian custody. The Germans were caught red-handed on Syrian coastline as they were smuggling weapons for FSA. #Syria
sathya sai saba @abongoman 3d
Germans caught red handed smuggling arms into #Syria & ex-guantanamo bay detainee captured in Syria...
http://www.rt.com/news/syria-foreign-insurgents-terror-974/comments/
Retweeted by LindaJuniper
Dylan.johnsons @dylan_johnsons 3d
"Strike or else" #FSA wrote on shops in #Aleppo. It's either death by hunger if they don't work or death by FSA. #Syria pic.twitter.com/5UCGAsSD
Linda Juniper @LindaJuniper 3d
While making a bomb it detonated killing notorious Tunisian Qaeda terrorist Elahabib Walid Amer & five others. #Idleb #Syria
Linda Juniper @LindaJuniper 3d
12 school kid kidnapped in ElGhab area #Hama on their way to exams. #Syria
Linda Juniper @LindaJuniper 3d
8 of the Security Forces were injured by snipers in Elkhalibya & Elwarsha. Five civilians were injured by a sniper in ElZahara. #Homs #Syria
Linda Juniper @LindaJuniper 3d
Terrorists attacked a security checkpoint in Bab Tadmour killing one of the Security Forces & injuring five. #Homs #Syria
**********
Linda Juniper @LindaJuniper 3d
Protester shot in Salah Addin #Aleppo #Syria by #FSA to be used as a prop. He bled to death as they carried him around. pic.twitter.com/lTXD1rNd
**********
Joud @Hey_Joud 3d
Terrorist Walid al Ayesh personally supervised the planting of bombs in each of the cars that exploded in #Damascus over the past months.
Retweeted by LindaJuniper
Joud @Hey_Joud 3d
Al Ikhbariya Assouriya: Jabhat Al Nusra's leader's right hand man the terrorist Walid Ahmad al Ayesh was killed by the #Syria-n forces.
Lt. Hussamov @LtHussamov 3d
In case you missed it: this is an interview with yours truly about #Syria #terrorism and #NATO #Rebels youtube.com/watch?v=79KoMU…
Linda Juniper @LindaJuniper 3d
Many of Aleppo's markets has closed today under direct threats of death from the "rebels" for all who dared break the strike. #Syria
Linda Juniper @LindaJuniper 3d
As he was throwing a bomb on the authorities in ElHarish #Latakia, the bomb exploded in the terrorist's hand killing him. #Syria
Linda Juniper @LindaJuniper 3d
The Syrian authorities found inside a car eight explosive devices set & ready for detonation, & communication equipments. #Daraa #Syria
[US comms equipment?]
Posted by: brian | Jun 20 2012 1:31 utc | 135
The Russian Misinformation Campaign on Houla Massacre
It is clear that Russian-Syrian media have launched their own campaign of misinformation to cast doubts on the Houla massacre to clear Bashar al-Assad from any responsibility. Russia and Assad are using the fact that the Syrian Government continues to deny free access to media; in doing so, the independent media would find it difficult to confirm any news item, leaving the door open to all possibilities. Russia needs any pretext to justify its position after blocking all UNSC resolutions to condemn Assad. Therefore, since March 27th,Russia Today has been continuously casting doubts on who committed the crime and pointing to opposition to have been the murderous side who killed pro-Assad people[1].
The Assad regime and its Russian ally are also taking advantage of the fact that Westerners generally do not know Arabic language, leaving them open to manipulation. Thus they managed to get the story through the media until it reached Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ).[2] on June 6th. The FAZ report echoes almost entirely the narration of Russia Today.[3] However, the FAZreport, which the National Review cited and translated into English, was more detailed.[4] The translation of the National Review reads “Those killed were almost exclusively from families belonging to Houla’s Alawi and Shia minorities… Members of the Shomaliya, an Alawi family, were also killed, as was the family of a Sunni member of the Syrian parliament who is regarded as a collaborator.”The translation of the National Review reads “Those killed were almost exclusively from families belonging to Houla’s Alawi and Shia minorities… Members of the Shomaliya, an Alawi family, were also killed, as was the family of a Sunni member of the Syrian parliament who is regarded as a collaborator.”
Amongst the dead in the Houla massacre there is no family called Shomaliy, asreported in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ). Shomaliya, in fact, is the name of another village outside Houla region. Houla consists of four villages: Taldo, Kafarlaha, Taldahab, al Tiba al Gharbiya; the massacre actually took place in Taldo. The massacre actually took place in Taldo. Going through the list of the victims will reveal to us also that there is no person from al-Mishaleb family, the family of the Syrian MP[5].
The report says that the most of the victims are converters to Shiaa Islam. While it is impossible to ensure this, we can still find some clues otherwise. Most of the victims are under 10 years which means that they have not been introduced to a first religion to be able to convert to another one. Moreover, there is a historic conflict between Shiaa and Sunni Islam, and this conflict is linked to some historic figures. Therefore, it is impossible to find a Shiaa person named after one of the most hated figures in their religion like victim no.27 whose name is Umar Mahmoud al-Kurdi. The name Umar goes backed to one of the most hated figures in Shiaa Islam, Umar bin al-Khatab. This applies also to the names of other victims, whose names are theologically Sunni specific: victim no. 90 Mo’aweh al-Said, and victim no. 59 Aysha Abd al-Khaleq Abd al-Razzaq. [6]
Attempting to manipulate the audience is a policy followed by the Syrian regime. On December 7th 2011, the ABC aired the interview Barbara Walters conducted with Bashar al-Assad. In that interview Bashar admitted committing some mistakes and said they were fixing them. Later on, the presidential e-mails were leaked and an interesting e-mail emerged as sent from Bashar al-Assad press aide Sheherazad Jaafari to al-Assad advising Assad what to say in the interview, “Don’t talk reform,” Jaafari wrote in one e-mail. “American’s (sic) won’t care, or understand that. … American psyche can be easily manipulated when they hear that there are ‘mistakes’ done and now we are ‘fixing it.’”[7]
The repercussions of Houla massacre were not expected; therefore, the Assad and his allies are trying to obscure the facts to utilize it casting the responsibility of their own massacres on the victims. They are also undermining the credibility of the revolutionary media; thereby obscuring further massacres to come.
By: Noor al-Deen al-Dimashqi
[1] http://www.rt.com/news/damascus-refutes-accusations-houla-massacre-339/
[3] http://www.rt.com/news/damascus-refutes-accusations-houla-massacre-339/
[4] http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/302261/report-rebels-responsible-houla-massacre-john-rosenthal
[5] http://dchrs.org/english/print.php?id=560&path=dchrs.org/english/news.php?id=560&idC=16
[6] ibid
[7] http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/06/us/syria-barbara-walters/index.html
Posted by: Noor al-Deen al-Dimashqi | Jun 21 2012 22:31 utc | 136
@136
let me guess...Noor is an agent of the insurgency....
'It is clear that Russian-Syrian media have launched their own campaign of misinformation to cast doubts on the Houla massacre to clear Bashar al-Assad from any responsibility. '
no its not clear...and your sources dont make it 'clear'. what is clear is whom you serve: the terrorists.
Posted by: brian | Jun 21 2012 23:32 utc | 137
There's absolutely no way right before a UN-meeting, that the Syrian government would have initiated a horrible massacre. Let alone of their own supporters.
Posted by: Alexander | Jun 22 2012 1:37 utc | 138
>>>@136
let me guess...Noor is an agent of the insurgency....>>>
Not necessarily, Brian, he may be simply a person with a different opinion. With that "you're either with us or against us" mentality, George Bush must have been one of your idols.
Posted by: www | Jun 22 2012 5:33 utc | 139
1) the FAZ journalist Rainer Herrmann does speak Arabic
http://www.faz.net/redaktion/rainer-hermann-11123673.html
2) there are basically - at least two - narratives by - at least two - political sides
3) we do not know the truth - neither does the UN who interviewed local witnesses
- Robert Mood clearly stated that the witnesses they interviewed tell conflicting stories
4)"There's absolutely no way right before a UN-meeting, that the Syrian government would have initiated a horrible massacre. Let alone of their own supporters."
We do not really know who the killed people were and why they were killed. Neither all of the insurgents (who are different groups) nor all of the Syrian regime (which is bound to consist of different interests and opinions) would be in favor of the Annan plan, which involves a peaceful transition of power with the Syrian state remaining intact. Whilst clearly the only strategy for insurgents to win absent of compromise and negotiations, would be to provoke foreign intervention, and the goal of all the exterior players is to gain more influence and leverage in the whole of the Middle East, thereby all exterior players have an interest in being mediators or being on the winning side, the sole survival strategy for a large part of the Syrian regime clearly is to be the winning side.
Assad clearly stated it is us or them in his speech, and that is not the Annan plan.
Posted by: somebody | Jun 22 2012 7:42 utc | 140
@137
Dear Brain,
You are accusing me of serving what you name as "terrorists" just cuz I refuted the Russian misinformation!!!It would have been much better had you refuted my points instead of this false accusation.
The FAZ report is based on the claim that the victims are Alwites and Shiaa and the killers are Sunnis; I showed in my article this is nearly impossible.
There is no shomalyia family at all amongst the victims as FAZ claims.
There is no victim from the family of a syrian MP.
Dear Brain, I am afraid that you are a victim of manipulation as the press aide Sheherazad Jaafari put it.
read footnote no. 7 please.
https://damascustribune.wordpress.com/2012/06/19/the-russian-misinformation-campaign-on-houla-massacre-en/
Posted by: Noor al-Deen al-Dimashqi | Jun 22 2012 13:08 utc | 141
An article on the massacre in NRO by John Rosenthal:
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/302998/houla-massacre-redux-john-rosenthal
Note, the comments section:
March 14, 2012 Sheik Muhammad Badi' Moussa said on Al-Hekma TV "brothers in the Free Syrian Army" approached him and asked if it was "permissible to kill Alawite women and their children in retaliation for their actions". — His answer: "Yes, my brother."
This was aired more than two months before the massacre.
I really cannot understand you! You are digging months ago to support what comes out to be FALSE!
here is my reply i posted on NRO, Read please
Dear,
*You said that members of Shomalyia family were amongst the dead any this is false.
*You said that they are converters from Sunni Islam to Shiaa Islam and this also came out to be more probably untrue
*You said there are members of the family of a Syrian MP, this is also false
Read this please:
http://damascustribune.wordpress.com/2012/06/19/the-russian-misinformation-campaign-on-houla-massacre-en/
Mother Agnès-Mariam is not a neutral side to cite; she is a liar. She herself claimed that Christians were kicked out of Homs by jihadists
http://www.fides.org/aree/news/newsdet.php?idnews=31228&lan=eng
YET the Vatican ambassador to Syria Nuncio Mario Zenari rejected her claims!!!!!!!
http://www.news.com.au/world/syria-is-descending-into-hell/story-fn6sb9br-1226395009989
As for Khalidiya Massacre, Mother Agnès-Mariam failed to provide any single name of a Christian and or an Alawi, while the vitims you name terrorist showed all of the victims, their names, and their Islamic Sunni burial and you can find dozens of them on youtube. The victims are Sunnins. Stop putting the blame on the victims!
There are sectarian troubles amongst the civilians but the government itself is the side that is trying to exacerbate through preventing them from solving such troubles before they increase. Therefore the Syrian government expelled Rev. Paolo Dall'Oglio who went to Qusair, Homs, to reconcile between the families. HOWEVER, the Syrian regime expelled him for that.
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/21/world/middleeast/syria-expels-activist-roman-catholic-priest.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all
STOP DECORATING YOUR BUILDING WHILE IT HAS ALREADY CRUMBLED
Posted by: Noor al-Deen al-Dimashqi | Jun 23 2012 12:51 utc | 143
Noor, your sources are as unreliable and biased as those of Brian. You quote the NYT and he quotes the Syrian Arab News Agency(SANA).
Posted by: www | Jun 23 2012 15:49 utc | 144
Dear 144
it was an interview so there is no space for any manipulation to be done by NYT. Rev. Paolo Dall'Oglio gave an interview with Al-Arabiya TV channel in which he elaborated more than the article above, but he spoke in Arabic and it will not helpful in this regard.
Posted by: Noor al-Deen al-Dimashqi | Jun 23 2012 16:32 utc | 145
>>> Paolo Dall'Oglio gave an interview with Al-Arabiya TV channel in which he elaborated more than the article above, but he spoke in Arabic and it will not helpful in this regard.>>>
Al-Arabia, owned along with the rest of the MBC Group of stations by Saudi Prince and Cabinet Minister, Abdul Aziz bin Fahd. But you don't believe al-Arabia is at all biased. As to Reverend Paolo, nothing wrong with this priest but he took sides in the conflict and the side he was against expelled him. He worked during 30 years at building Deir Mar Moussa in the desert, at getting Muslims and Christians together, which was great, but when he decided to get involved politically, it was a wrong a call and he was expelled. Post your link to your Arabia interview, I'll ask my friend to translate.
Posted by: www | Jun 23 2012 17:22 utc | 146
Reverend Paolo did not take sides; he was trying to reconcile between the families. the Assad regime believes in "divide and rule". if the people are united against him, he will be in grave danger.
Here is his interview with Jezeal Khoury (I don not know weather the transliteration is correct)
Posted by: Noor al-Deen al-Dimashqi | Jun 23 2012 18:08 utc | 147
Where is the link,Noor? Gisèle Khoury's journalist husband Samir Kassir was killed by a car bomb in Beirut about 6 years ago and the finger was pointed at Syria, although never proven or formally accused of it. So you can't expect any sympathy for the Syrian regime from the woman. Her husband campaigned many years to end the Syrian occupation of Lebanon. The European Union set up an international annual award in his name for the freedom of the press:
http://prixsamirkassir.org/intro-ENG.htm
Posted by: www | Jun 23 2012 19:02 utc | 148
oops
here is the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Yj5qLoGTn8
Posted by: Noor al-Deen al-Dimashqi | Jun 23 2012 19:06 utc | 149
By the way, US Syria ambassador Ford seems to have a problem with the comment section of his Facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150894452156938
Posted by: somebody | Jun 23 2012 22:50 utc | 150
and this here is the second German journalist reporting in German mainstream media that the Houla massacre was done by rebels - yes he speaks Arabic, yes he went there and spoke with witnesses
http://www.morgenpost.de/politik/ausland/article107255456/In-Syrien-gibt-es-mehr-als-nur-eine-Wahrheit.html
Posted by: somebody | Jun 23 2012 23:36 utc | 151
Alfred Hackensberger (Die Welt) joins Rainer Hermann (FAZ):
Syria: Another German Journalist has doubts about Houla massacre
http://www.syrianews.cc/syria-another-german-journalist-has-doubts-about-houla-massacre-845.html
The comments to this entry are closed.
>>> the syrian nun is mother agnes, i believe>>>
Brian #87, your Syrian nun has a Lebanese mother and a Palestinian father. From the Fannos site:
http://www.fanoos.com/society/mother_agnes_mariam_of_the_cross.html
"Mother Agnes Mariam of the Cross
Mother Agnes Mariam of the Cross is a controversial Lebanese-Palestinian catholic figure, based in Syria.
Mother Agnes Mary of the Cross, also known as Al Oum Agnès Mariam el Salib, or Mère Agnès Marie de la croix, is the mother superior of the monastery of James the Mutilated in Qara (Syria). Although she is Lebanese from Palestinian descent (from her father), she has served in Syria for more than 18 years.
Mother Agnes is the spokesperson of the Catholic Information Center in Beirut. She headed a visit to Syria in November 2011, organized with the collaboration of the foreign press, touring and briefing on what's happening on the ground in the areas of conflict. She was an eye witness and a translator for the western media, that reported the critical situation in some parts of Syria, where armed gangs (some of whom were not even Syrian, coming from Saudi Arabia and other neighboring countries)were causing havoc and terrorizing the Syrian people who do not take part in protests against the regime. Many citizens were dealt with in the most barbaric ways, for not complying with their demands. She visited the families of the victims there to assess the situation and empathize with those suffering from the tragic situation. She also visited the hospitals etc. A number of correspondents of foreign news agencies from Italy, Belgium, France, Spain and the United States, took part in the first mission of its kind to enter into such sensitive places.
Because of that, Mother Agnes Mariam of the Cross was placed on the online black list sponsored by extremist factions along with facebook groups supporting the Syrian National Transitional Council . She was also accused of being a recruited intelligence spy for the Syrian regime, an accusation she categorically rejects.
Al Oum Agnès Mariam el Salib is also part of those opposing the western plan that seeks the expulsion of Christians from the Middle East, that would result in ethnic and religious cleansing of the region, turning it onto cantons of extremism .A press campaign in Europe, including in Italy, accused her along with the Christians of the Orient of collusion with the dictatorships.
Posted by: www | Jun 17 2012 5:23 utc | 101