Thursday, December 29, 2011

The Backburner!

Is the Syrian Crisis being consigned to the backburner of world politics? Or is the U.S. seriously willing to consider “other means” when the AL delegation fails? Inquiring minds may want to know, but Syrians are well-nigh literally burning to know. May the dawn of the New Year bring with it the needed answer.

Wednesday 28, 2011

Today’s death toll:  28. The Breakdown:  7 in Hama City, 6 in Homs City including a child, 4 in Idlib Province and 2 in Aleppo. Meanwhile 4 loyalist militias were killed in an ambush made by members of the Free Syrian Army in the town of Da’el in the Deraa/Hauran Province.

General Strike continues to be observed throughout protest communities.

Links

Dabi Speaks!

Sudanese Gen Mustafa al-Dabi, head of the Arab League Commission to Syria, went to Homs City on Tuesday and Wednesday, but failed to see “anything frightening.” In fact, he did not "see tanks but we did see some armoured vehicles." I guess, the General has a different definition for tanks, but these vehicles that he passed by during his visit do look like tanks to me http://youtu.be/eKD4aUEQIac , http://youtu.be/VUEq33AIBgA , http://youtu.be/24W4uQQNl24. And I guess, for one of the founding father of the Janjaweed, there must be something reassuring about seen a dead child laid out on the hood of his cars http://youtu.be/RZD1Qs9_w7w with the empty cartridges used in the pounding laid on top of him.

Oh, those good old days in the Darfur Killing Fields! The General must be growing nostalgic by the hour.

The Scene in Homs City

Bab Dreib: exploiting the presence of AL monitors in their neighborhood, protesters come out in the hundreds http://youtu.be/DfWxt3-6PmI and went up to army checkpoints plant the independence flags in the sand barracks, call them traitors and salute the Free Syrian Army http://youtu.be/UuzKaJTZCxQ People come under fire even with the delegation members present http://youtu.be/0tZ-2pic3oE Same things happen in Bab Al-Sibaa where the delegation was cornered http://youtu.be/hjrmoSl0oYI , http://youtu.be/2LjzVdFBIcw , http://youtu.be/b03KAeBIES4

In Baba Amr, locals meet the AL monitors with angry chants of “the people want to execute Bashar” http://youtu.be/2vT0m_OBpww In Asheereh, local protester finds the AL mission useless http://youtu.be/DaVXlYURALs The AL Delegation at the moment of its arrival in Baba Amr http://youtu.be/nLSHFztzVno the delegation is made to listen to a man describing how his brother, a ranking member of the Baath Party, was killed by pro-Assad militias and how the killing was blamed on “armed gangs” by the regime http://youtu.be/zU6Q84dif3A A woman tells the delegation about the killing of her son http://youtu.be/q4I2WLtNSRs Protesters insist on showing the body of a 5-year old martyr killed today to the delegation http://youtu.be/DKLA7iQLhA8 They finally prevail upon them to come to the local mosque to see him http://youtu.be/iIpV6HJLk10 Later, protesters still insist on laying the body of the child on the hood of the car that bright in the delegation http://youtu.be/RZD1Qs9_w7w The blood can be seen on the hood after the body is removed http://youtu.be/q8WGFuy6Sek

The local activist Khalid Abou Salah explains to Gen. Dabi that the problem is not with the delegation but with the Arab Initiative itself. He explains that the presence of the delegation has not prevented the killings http://youtu.be/H7u4yRq2pB0 The General tells Khalid to be patient and to give the delegation time to do its work and get them to dialog. Khalid replies: how can we dialog when the blog is still flowing. The moment you move to another neighborhood the killing resumes. The regime is laughing at us and is using this as respite to do more killing.

Khalid then takes Gen. Dabi to a different part of the neighborhood to show him the havoc left behind by artillery fire http://youtu.be/RRE8qSnmuv8 He explains that the population in Baba Amr is around 3,500 in all, but only few are left now http://youtu.be/5UHrpz333tg In other words, people come back at night to hold their nighttime rallies, then they leave he neighborhood again.

It is hard to estimate the number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Syria as a result of the militarized crackdowns, but even the most conservative estimates put the number at several hundreds thousands.  

Kids from the neighborhood come out chanting “the people want international protection” “the people
want a no-fly zone” http://youtu.be/BbYZaZs2tNc Others explain how soldiers who refused to fire at the protesters were shot at.

Later, the delegation comes under fire http://youtu.be/Guf-OaA55Ag

Baba Amr is pounded shortly after the departure of the AL monitors http://youtu.be/YsF9PGJAhcs

Bassel Al-Sayyid, a local activist with a camera that was documenting the scene was mortally wounded. These were the last scenes taken by his camera as he bled to death http://youtu.be/uVGoauzmHRk

But at night, people take back to the streets http://youtu.be/gQabKQEHGDU , http://youtu.be/egVExkfkXT4 , http://youtu.be/21Yg9TXVfCU

Activists say occupants of this case were fired on by a checkpoint in Shammas Neighborhood, wounding all, but killing the child http://youtu.be/UCbGYyDaHjU

 The havoc in Insha’aat http://youtu.be/HF38tfE4pvc The Havoc in Bab Al-Sibaa http://youtu.be/xygk_1tM0wE

A double funeral merge into a rally in Khaldiyeh http://youtu.be/XROtnl_3do4 , http://youtu.be/obs1n7H1dow Because people cannot go to the old Clock-Tower Square, they build a model of it http://youtu.be/huZ-QmQCM1U

One of today’s martyrs http://youtu.be/M66yjXpAkUA



HAMA CITY: Loyalist security officers prevent another attempt by local protesters to move into Assy Square http://youtu.be/_LSQk8Ikx0w , http://youtu.be/6IU0t6BJsAU Protester are chased into side streets http://youtu.be/q53s3Cd0OK4 , http://youtu.be/cZUoSky6s2Q  Protesters in Baroudiyeh come under fire http://youtu.be/vvDgUspv1wA , http://youtu.be/TvxvmU3ul0A The gunfire intensifies leaving several dead and wounded http://youtu.be/YJo4uPxwQKc , http://youtu.be/SBsAOqi2EWw , http://youtu.be/lxvdk6YAOi4 In a Sharqiyeh, people found the body of an unknown martyr http://youtu.be/x0O-h_rEbHc In Eleilaat Neighborhood, people come under fire as well http://youtu.be/zLACyNEvguQ The view from Hadir http://youtu.be/gE6nxNd9MLo Earlier the people held a major rally http://youtu.be/PxP1wy1gdeQ

At night, the inhabitants of the neighborhood of Frayeh take to the streets http://youtu.be/7p6Y5i68lkk

Earlier in the day, people had been preparing to receive the ASL delegation with a banner accusing them of being partners in crime with the regime. The old man in camera explains that he had lost his son in 982, and that the entire area where people were standing has been destroyed and bulldozed back then http://youtu.be/e_mUN9cNxyQ A long independence flag was draped from a tall building http://youtu.be/-XaQj5seOQA

A martyr from yesterday’s crackdown in Mrabit http://youtu.be/GSNFhe9-cD8


DERAA CITY: the city observes a strike amidst heavy security presence in anticipation of the arrival of AL monitors http://youtu.be/izd47bT0CgM Sabeel An all-women rally http://youtu.be/A5DCnEF828c In the Sadd Neighborhood, people hold a funeral http://youtu.be/FNuuWb0KrqM , http://youtu.be/23r81Q2IIWk , http://youtu.be/cpXkSeSTxyU for this martyr http://youtu.be/L29S_SuPj-o Kashif Street at night http://youtu.be/HXmtKWs2PpA Mahata at night http://youtu.be/Chpudjmrd-I Deraa Al-Balad at night http://youtu.be/Pka5PaR_vYY

DERAA/HAURAN: Protesters in Sanamein find themselves under fire even with AL monitors pay a visit to their town http://youtu.be/R5o6K5P7v-w But they take back to the streets at night http://youtu.be/BIFlV8ZCHf0 A martyr in Basr Al-Harir http://youtu.be/rAQfziD_oAc His funeral http://youtu.be/eqoh8sR4kt0 Protesters in Harrah come under fire http://youtu.be/p1a3y94qFUI


ALEPPO: Inhabitants of rural communities North of Aleppo City held a major rally on the road linking Aleppo City to Turkey in a sign of defiance and of growing restlessness in the Aleppo rural areas http://youtu.be/H8uTUM47V18 , http://youtu.be/IK4tUkDOzoU Soon after, loyalists rammed their vehicles into a crowd of protesters and began firing http://youtu.be/gS6FTuVzfbI , http://youtu.be/3POIMqD-F_A The wounded http://youtu.be/CPW-FfSNjdc were taken to the local hospital http://youtu.be/rqXCQEbEW68 A martyr from Marei http://youtu.be/eatGcnjf-eo Protesters from the towns of Atareb, Eizaz, Ain Arab (Kobani), Elbab, Manag, Turkman bareh, Marei, Dar Azzah, Tal Rif’aat, Anadan, Minbej, Baynaoun, Hreitan and surrounding villages and towns.

At night, some communities hold their own rallies: Abeen http://youtu.be/H2LuPQogwZM , Marei http://youtu.be/L13ctLZei7A Hayyan http://youtu.be/wA48Pr0lG6A While Elbab holds a nighttime funeral for a local defector http://youtu.be/D8CuyFaJTJA A prayer for a martyr in Anadan http://youtu.be/rq6T16k-zlM

DAMASCUS – EASTERN GHOUTAH: Saqba girls from the local high school hold a rally http://youtu.be/I-NsW_H2K2E Helicopter overflying the suburb http://youtu.be/28JwkHMmVVY At night, locals hold a bigger rally http://youtu.be/RrS-HkoWZVI Arbeen http://youtu.be/paRqYiYVI5w Protesters burn the Chinese and Iranian flags http://youtu.be/v1U9I7lcRoY

Thousands take part in a funeral for a local activist in Douma http://youtu.be/9_4LBwuJ_IQ , http://youtu.be/jxZOEKn10ec , http://youtu.be/aHGh6ojt9VA , http://youtu.be/JcfE-TaA2L4 Elsewhere, school kids organize their own protest http://youtu.be/vDEnc4-0wag At night, people take back to the streets http://youtu.be/cvVtzjLIXo8

The body of a martyred defector http://youtu.be/wiKRH9vaLNw


DAMASCUS – SOUTH: A small rally comes under fire in Kisweh http://youtu.be/39R7rDKKSKw the people in the rally were hoping to take part in a funeral for this local martyr http://youtu.be/qXCV1WXa_MI Sitti Zeinab http://youtu.be/sbCvYZUA8WU Zakiyeh http://youtu.be/nFzv-PQNtvM


DAMASCUS – NORTH: Yabroud http://youtu.be/v9N6YOuI48Y


IDLIB: Protesters come under fire in Kafroumah http://youtu.be/DMW8Ppw4qGY as army vehicles move into town http://youtu.be/hOlKRiQ7D_8 At night, people take back to the streets http://youtu.be/wrClLfO5APY

At night, the areas around Khan Shaikhoon come under fire http://youtu.be/haMY0Uk9CG4



LATTAKIA: Hiffeh http://youtu.be/-rX7cX7zo2c

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