Another bloody Friday shows that neither protesters nor the Assads are willing to back down. Meanwhile the international community toughens its stands against the violent crackdown.
Deraa / Ankhel: Banner carried by a child: “By Allah, I am not a terrorist.” Chants: “He who kills his own people is a traitor”
Homs / Rastan: tanks enter city
Homs / Hawleh: A protest in a town that provided her share of sacrifices over the last few weeks. Banner: “the people want to topple the regime” Chant: “We sacrifice our blood and soul for you Deraa”
Hama: snipers and security fire sporadically at protesters
Deir Ezzor: “the people want to topple the regime”
Amoudeh / Kurdish protest: “the people want to topple the regime”
Damascus / Midan: protesters urging each other to go to Marjeh Square in the center of Old Damascus. They did not make it. Security used tear gas to disperse once they reached the underpass.
Damsacus / Darayyah: snipers positioned on public building
Damascus / Zabadani: protesters marched towards Madaya in order to lift the siege, before being dispersed.
Damascus / Qatana: “He who kills his own people is a traitor… God, Syria, Freedom”
Damascus / Qaboun
Homs / Rastan: tanks enter city
Homs / Rastan: the wounded left by the incursion
Homs: “Leave, leave, the people want to topple the regime… no rule lasts forever”
Homs / Talbisseh: Banner says “the people want to try the killers” Chants: “the people want to topple the regime”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XT1SMOLKvj8
Homs: mocking Syrian TV, Ministry of Information and the Baath Party
Hama: snipers and security fire sporadically at protesters
Hama: security officers are trapped in their own headquarters
Hama / Salamiyyeh: a highly mixed town of Alawites, Ismailites and Sunnis “Alawites and Sunnis, we stand for national unity”
Deraa / Ankhel: Banner carried by a child: “By Allah, I am not a terrorist.” Chants: “He who kills his own people is a traitor”
Deraa / Sheikh Miskeen: security fires life rounds into protesters leaving few fatalities
http://youtu.be/XsmBamYx5P0
Deraa / Tafas Hospital
Deraa / Corpses: the corpses of those who died over the last few days are kept in a special storage facility for vegetables.
Deraa / victim of an RBG shell
Deraa / Sheikh Miskeen: tanks enter the city
Deraa / Nimr: “We take death over humiliation… the people want to topple the regime… Down with Assad, long live Syria.”
Lattakia / Sleibeh: “We sacrifice our blood and soul for you Deraa”
Lattakia: “United, United”
Mouarrat Al-Nouman: gunfire
Idlib / Saraqib: “Stop saying sectarianism, we just want freedom”
Amoudeh / Kurdish protest: “the people want to topple the regime”
Deir Ezzor: “the people want to topple the regime”
Deir Ezzor / Mayadeenb: this happened on April 28
Right Now, Deraa City is being shelled again
Headlines:
Useful Readings
Note: for the first time since the beginning of the protests, activists (from Homs) live-streamed some of the demonstrations
http://qik.com/video/39605224 , http://qik.com/homs2011/videos
http://qik.com/video/39605224 , http://qik.com/homs2011/videos
The anticipation is over and the message is clear: unarmed protesters are still bent on regime change despite the bloody crackdown orchestrated by the Assads since last Friday. Hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets all over the country. Deraa City fielded the higher death toll as usual, but Homs (30) comes close second as tanks and artillery were used in squashing protests, followed by Lattakia (5) and Damascus (1) shed their share of innocent blood as well. The latest reports suggest that over 62 people are confirmed dead. However, eyewitnesses insist that over 60 were killed in Deraa alone. There are also reports that neighborhoods around Al-Omary Mosque were shelled at dawn of April 30.
For the first time since the beginning of the protest movement, streets in Old Damascus reverberated to the chant of “the people want to topple the regime” belted by thousands of protesters in the Midan, Al-Qadam and Hariqa neighborhoods. Armored vehicles affiliated with the Republican Guard patrolled the Beltway all day long.
The deteriorating humanitarian situation in Deraa City continues to force thousands of people to flee across the border into Jordan, and many also made it to Lebanon.
In central Syria, the residents of the city of Hama managed to outnumber security officers and trapped them in their own headquarters, effectively taking charge of the city and carrying out the cleansing ritual that usually follows such take over: the tearing down of all Assad posters. Will this pave the way for a future bloody showdown with the authorities? Will we be witnessing Hama Part II soon?
Meanwhile, the international community has toughened its stance against the crackdown, with the U.S. issuing new sanctions that included Maher Al-Assad and Syria’s General Intelligence Directorate, and the E.U. planning to follow suit soon. The passage of the UN Human Rights Council resolution, introduced by the U.S. and calling for a probe mission into the recent developments in the country also adds to the growing pressures on the Assads, as their acquiescence would surely lead to unfavorable results, while their resistance would pave the way for referral of the whole matter to the International Criminal Court.
The noose is surely tightening, the corner into which the Assads painted themselves is surely shrinking, and now will be the right time for tough and smart diplomacy to take place with the aim of helping the Assads chart an exit strategy. This would be the right time as well for the international community to reach out to high-ranking officials within the Baath Party, the army, the intelligence services and the opposition and activist scene in order to encourage them to embark on a transitional process that can safeguard the stability of the country.
People can’t fall, regimes do.
Features Videos
Deraa / Ankhel: Banner carried by a child: “By Allah, I am not a terrorist.” Chants: “He who kills his own people is a traitor”
Deraa / Sheikh Miskeen: security fires life rounds into protesters leaving few fatalities
Deraa / Tafas Hospital
Deraa / Corpses: the corpses of those who died over the last few days are kept in a special storage facility for vegetables.
Deraa / victim of an RBG shell
Deraa / Sheikh Miskeen: tanks enter the city
Deraa / Kafar Shams
Deraa / Jassem: “the people want to topple the regime”
Deraa / Nimr: “We take death over humiliation… the people want to topple the regime… Down with Assad, long live Syria.”
Homs / Rastan: tanks enter city
Homs / Rastan: the wounded left by the incursion
Homs: “Leave, leave, the people want to topple the regime… no rule lasts forever”
Homs / Talbisseh: Banner says “the people want to try the killers” Chants: “the people want to topple the regime”
Homs / Hawleh: A protest in a town that provided her share of sacrifices over the last few weeks. Banner: “the people want to topple the regime” Chant: “We sacrifice our blood and soul for you Deraa”
Hama: snipers and security fire sporadically at protesters
Hama: security officers are trapped in their own headquarters
Hama: “the people want to topple the regime”
Hama: tearing down posters of the Assads
Idlib / Mouarrat Al-Nouman: protesters tried to march towards Aleppo, but security forces managed to contain them using gunfire as the second shows, no exact report of casualty is yet available.
Mouarrat Al-Nouman: gunfire
Damscus / Al-Qadam: “the people want to topple the regime”
Damascus / Midan: “God Is Great, why are you afraid?”
Damascus / Midan: protesters urging each other to go to Marjeh Square in the center of Old Damascus. They did not make it. Security used tear gas to disperse once they reached the underpass.
Damascus / Al-Hassan Mosque: security use tear gas in order to disperse protesters
Damascus / Darayyah: “the Syrian people are united” “Hold your head high, you’re a Syrian”
Damsacus / Darayyah: snipers positioned on public building
Damascus / Zabadani: protesters marched towards Madaya in order to lift the siege, before being dispersed.
Kafar Nabel: Banner: “tanks cannot stop us from obtaining freedom” Chant: “the people want to topple the regime”
Banyas: protest leaders throw roses at the people saying “roses are our weapons”
Deir Ezzor: “the people want to topple the regime”
Deir Ezzor / Mayadeenb: this happened on April 28
Tal Kalakh: “We are not Salafis or MB, we are not brave men… we don’t love you, leave us and take your party with you… Bye, Bye Bashar, we want to see you in the Hague… the people want to topple the regime”
Amoudeh / Kurdish protest: “the people want to topple the regime”
List of Videos
Damscus / Al-Qadam: “the people want to topple the regime”
Damascus / Al-Qadam: “we take death over humiliation… the people want to topple the regime”
Damascus / Midan
Damascus / Midan: “God Is Great, why are you afraid?”
Damascus / Midan: “He who kills his own people is a traitor.”
Damascus / Midan: “The people want to topple the regime”
Damascus /Zaid Mosque
Damascus / Midan: protesters urging each other to go to Marjeh Square in the center of Old Damascus. They did not make it. Security used tear gas to disperse once they reached the underpass.
Damascus / Al-Hassan Mosque: security use tear gas in order to disperse protesters
Damascus / Midan: as security use tear gas, protesters encourage each other to hang on by simply chanting simply “don’t be afraid”
Damascus / Midan: “the people want to topple the regime”
Damascus / Saqba: “the people want to topple the regime”
Damascus / Darayyah: “the Syrian people are united” “Hold your head high, you’re a Syrian”
Damsacus / Darayyah: snipers positioned on public building
Damascus / Barzeh: “Curse those who accuse us of treason”
Damascus / Harasta
Damascus / Zabadani: protesters marched towards Madaya in order to lift the siege, before being dispersed.
Damascus / Qatana: “He who kills his own people is a traitor… God, Syria, Freedom”
Damascus / Qaboun
Homs / Rastan: tanks enter city
Homs / Rastan: the wounded left by the incursion
Homs
Homs: armored vehicle moving into Bayada Neighborhood
Homs: “Leave, leave, the people want to topple the regime… no rule lasts forever”
Homs / Aboul-Awf Street: “the people want to topple the regime”
Homs: “the people want to topple the regime, zenga zenga dar dar, let us be Bashar”
Homs / Ghouta: “Bashar’s with you, God’s with us” “the people want to topple the regime”
Homs Khalid Mosque
Homs / Talbisseh: Banner says “the people want to try the killers” Chants: “the people want to topple the regime”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XT1SMOLKvj8
Homs / Hawleh: A protest in a town that provided her share of sacrifices over the last few weeks. Banner: “the people want to topple the regime” Chant: “We sacrifice our blood and soul for you Deraa”
Homs: mocking Syrian TV, Ministry of Information and the Baath Party
Hama: snipers and security fire sporadically at protesters
Hama: security officers are trapped in their own headquarters
Hama: “the people want to topple the regime”
Hama: tearing down posters of the Assads
Hama / Aboulfida: “the people want to topple the regime”
Hama / Kafarzeta: “Lift the Deraa siege… Assad is the enemy of God”
Hama / Soraan
Hama / Salamiyyeh: a highly mixed town of Alawites, Ismailites and Sunnis “Alawites and Sunnis, we stand for national unity”
Banyas: protest leaders throw roses at the people saying “roses are our weapons”
Jisr Ashoughour: “the people want to topple the regime”
Kafar Nabel
Kafar Nabel: Banner: “tanks cannot stop us from obtaining freedom” Chant: “the people want to topple the regime”
Deraa / Ankhel: Banner carried by a child: “By Allah, I am not a terrorist.” Chants: “He who kills his own people is a traitor”
Deraa / Sheikh Miskeen: security fires life rounds into protesters leaving few fatalities
Deraa / Al-Hara: protesters sign a song mocking the entire Assad family tree
http://youtu.be/XsmBamYx5P0
Deraa / Tafas Hospital
Deraa / Corpses: the corpses of those who died over the last few days are kept in a special storage facility for vegetables.
Deraa / victim of an RBG shell
Deraa / Sheikh Miskeen: tanks enter the city
Deraa / Kafar Shams
Deraa / Jassem: “the people want to topple the regime”
Deraa / Nimr: “We take death over humiliation… the people want to topple the regime… Down with Assad, long live Syria.”
Aleppo / Al-Bab: “we sacrifice our blood and soul for you Deraa”
Lattakia / Sleibeh: “We sacrifice our blood and soul for you Deraa”
Lattakia: “United, United”
Idlib / Mouarrat Al-Nouman: protesters tried to march towards Aleppo, but security forces managed to contain them using gunfire as the second shows, no exact report of casualty is yet available.
Mouarrat Al-Nouman: gunfire
Idlib / Taftanaz
Idlib / Saraqib: “Stop saying sectarianism, we just want freedom”
Tal Kalakh: “We are not Salafis or MB, we are not brave men… we don’t love you, leave us and take your party with you… Bye, Bye Bashar, we want to see you in the Hague… the people want to topple the regime”
Amoudeh / Kurdish protest: “the people want to topple the regime”
Dirbassiyyeh: mostly Kurdish protesters chant: “the people want a new constitution”
Qamishly / Kurdish protest: “Azadi Azadi (Freedom Freedom)” Banner says: “we don’t a president for life”
Deir Ezzor: “the people want to topple the regime”
Deir Ezzor / Mayadeenb: this happened on April 28
Khirbet Al-Jaws: hundreds of the residents of this village flocked to Turkey where this video was made. It’s not clear what drove them out.
Thank you for your reporting. The difference between the reports you file and the reports in the Syrian state media is profound.
ReplyDeleteOver at Joshua Landis's blog Syria Comment, commenters seem to have zero common ground. Between the regime supporters and regime opponents is a battleground of rhetoric, and no facts can be agreed upon.
Thank you very much William, I do my best to separate opinions from facts, without doing harm to either.
ReplyDelete