The Syrian people are taking a stand, so are their oppressors, what's the world doing?

Sunday, May 1

· Deraa City center was shelled with tanks and artillery fire today, as more reinforcements came from Damascus.

· Assad security forces raided make-shift morgues and snatched dozens of bodies. A video released yesterday of one such morgue, a vegetable storage facility, showed over 60 bodies piled up on top of each other. Three morgues were said to have been raided.

· Eyewitness from Deraa City reports as well that dozens of busses poured into the city carrying civilians, they believe that the civilians will be used to stage celebrations that will be filmed on camera for the benefit of the few those who still consider Syrian TV a credible source of information.

· Eyewitness reports and videos show that all over Syria today there protests calling for the lift of the siege imposed on Deraa and declaring protesters’ intention of toppling the regime.

The Assads seem to have stumbled on an effective strategy that is allowing them to commit mass murder in plain daylight and as the entire world watches without fearing any repercussions or consequences: it’s called willful blindness. To help matters, they create cover stories about armed gangs of infiltrators and international conspiracies, stories that only the willingly blind will fail to see how transparently bogus they are. They have also resorted to the old custom of body-snatching to hide traces of their crimes, or at least the extent of their crimes, knowing that this will prove enough for the willingly blind to play along and pretend that this situation is not as serious.

But the situation is serious. And the death toll is around a 1,000 now, with hundreds more missing and presumed dead, and hundreds more under arrest and definitely getting tortured. How more serious does the situation needs to get before the international community react? Or has the entire been invaded by the willfully blind?

Serious economic sanctions and travel bans against Syrian officials need to be implemented now, Assads global assets must be frozen, and a message should be sent to the Assads telling them clearly that the time has come for them to leave.

There is no other way out of this situation. Anyone who thinks otherwise is deluding himself. Syrians will not accept to be ruled by murderers and thugs anymore. It’s time for the body-snatchers to go.

Protests in support of lifting the siege over Deraa

Deraa / Khirbet Ghazali: Banners says: “no surrender or retreat until the regime falls” “No mayhem, no sectarianism, we are the children of Syria” Chants: “Leave, leave” “God is greater than the oppressor” “We take death over humiliation” “the people want to topple the regime.”

“Long live Syria, down with Bashar the Ass.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJmo-alSvc4&feature=youtu.be

Homs / Bab Amr: night-time protest

Homs / Deir Baalba

Hama: “the people want to topple the regime” “we sacrifice our blood and soul for you Deraa”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aouX0yaZur8&feature=youtu.be

Damascus / Barzeh: small protest in the traditional Damascene style

Damascus / Kisweh

Damascus / Darayyah:

Kafar Nabel

Deraa / Ankhel

http://youtu.be/xCIJzIZtMaE

Aleppo / Tal Rifaat

Daily realities

Deraa: troops on a rampage.

Deraa / Jassem: residents collecting bread to smuggle it to Deraa City still under siege by Assad forces.

Lattakia: security officers dividing neighborhoods

Homs: new video showing security forces taking over the Clocktower Square shortly after the now infamous attack on April 18.

Qamishly: funeral of the Kurdish soldier Ahmad Fanar who was killed by his superiors for refusing to fire at unarmed protesters in Deraa. This is at least what his family and friends believe on the basis of they heard from fellow soldiers.