More condemnations
and sanctions will not be enough. If we don’t draw the line at Houleh, larger
massacres will follow and the fragmentation of Syria will become unstoppable,
with regional and global consequences.
Saturday May 26, 2012
Death toll: 41,
including 13 in Homs City (including 6 women), 11 in Damascus and suburbs, 8
soldiers in Hama executed on the spot for trying to defect, 3 in Idlib, 3 in
Daraa, 2 in Aleppo and 1 in Hassakeh.
Locals in Houleh District,
Homs Province, are still tallying the number of the dead from Friday May 25
massacre. Latest figures put the number of confirmed dead children at 47 with
three more still reported missing. The adult toll is now put at 64, including
34 women. A mass burial was held on Saturday noon for many of those already
identified.
Other hotspots on Saturday
include Eizaz and Al-Atareb, towns in the province of Aleppo, where continued
operations by pro-Assad militias disrupted talks aimed at securing the release of 14 Hezbollah members captured
earlier by units affiliated with the local resistance.
Meanwhile, the Kurd
Mountain and Hiffeh District, a majority Sunni area in the coastal province of
Lattakia, came under pounding from pro-Assad militias for the second consecutive
day.
News
Op-Eds & Special Reports
The Houleh Massacre
The
pounding of Houleh District (an amalgamation of towns, the largest being Tildo
and Kafar Laha; population estimated at 100,000 mostly Sunni Muslims) by
pro-Assad militias on Friday May 25, left close to 100 locals dead, including by
latest counts 47 children (below the age of 10) and 64 adults. This is just the
latest episodes in a series of massacres perpetrated by Assad loyalists since
the beginning of the Syrian Revolution, but the first such development on this
scale since the beginning of the Annan Mission. The massacre came on a Friday
dedicated to the anniversary of Hamzah Al-Khateeb, a little boy from Daraa
Province who was captured, tortured and killed by pro-Assad security forces.
The fact
that UN monitors ended up confirming the massacre should come as a further
proof of the accuracy of reports and videos produced by field activists. News organizations
might continue to repeat the mantra that they have no way of verifying the
accuracy of the videos they show, but whenever they did gain access, they have always
been able to verify that the videos and reports were indeed accurate. Perhaps they
should modify their mantra to reflect this as well out of respect for the bravery
of all those field activists who risk their lives to get the truth out.
As usual,
rather than inspiring fear, the massacre inspired rage, and people all over the
Syria took to the streets in a sign of increasing defiance. Units of the Free
Syrian Army have also conducted a number of reprisal attacks against loyalist
military checkpoints and convoys. Deir Ezzor City in the northeast particular
witnessed intense clashes between member of loyalist militias and local
resistance.
Houleh: The dead children (WARNING:
video is gruesome) http://youtu.be/gosLh8HvCEU Some of the dead adults
http://youtu.be/q2jUq3N4ubI Close-ups
http://youtu.be/0tZMvnQ3Wc0 , http://youtu.be/w9dUN5pN8IU Preparing
the dead for burial http://youtu.be/ocfT2tFOg4w
The Mass Burial http://youtu.be/cnnX7wUB7cI , http://youtu.be/cz8UUCll46E Some of the survivors: women
and children come together under the shelling for comfort, as we can see here. http://youtu.be/6Rl8NyRvu1s That was the
problem. A couple of homes were hit, and the result was a massacre. Monitors
arrive to inspect the situation http://youtu.be/9B_yxZPDMQ8
, http://youtu.be/5W2T-doUSPg They
later confirm the massacre.
Video Highlights
Hama
In Hama
City, on May 24, a woman and her 4 children were slaughtered in cold blood
by pro-Assad death squads http://youtu.be/Lb1D5fme2oo
In Kafrenboudeh,
Hama Province, pro-Assad militias in action http://youtu.be/gUxKWawLOhg
Damascus
In
Damascus City’s Midan District, protesters take to the streets in defiance
shouting “where are your dogs, Assad?” http://youtu.be/Olskg7dVvAs
Earlier in
the day, the suburb of Arbeen was pounded http://youtu.be/ffh4lQRP_ds , http://youtu.be/LmMaMg1VjWw
Locals in Al-Qadam
Neighborhood come under fire as they took part in the funeral of one of their
colleagues http://youtu.be/GwX9XvlvotU
Some of
Today’s martyrs from Damascus: Naher Eisheh http://youtu.be/eZVgFmaTGsk Al-Qadam http://youtu.be/7FSWuzXUnLw
Funerals
in Damascus City: Kafar Sousseh http://youtu.be/si7KwYXB1nw
, http://youtu.be/Dcu3mEvW0iA Zamalka
http://youtu.be/yAMWhjJQ7q4
Saturday Rallies
in Damascus: Tadamon http://youtu.be/nNy1BGDCdG0
Ruknaddine http://youtu.be/ELwqiVqifXE
Yabroud http://youtu.be/2kE9yyPZRfg Zamalka
http://youtu.be/yQ-cT35kGKM Zabadani
http://youtu.be/x4TILQYnQZ0 Eltal
http://youtu.be/qiEosxNjuJU Barzeh
http://youtu.be/R-8Kk47OfRo Jazmatiyeh
http://youtu.be/-dGOtgk907A Mazzeh
http://youtu.be/fRkV4aEec-Y
Similar
rallies took place in communities all across the country.
Aleppo
In Aleppo
Province, the town of Eizaz came under renewed pounding by heavy artillery
http://youtu.be/vRNKCdqtFzk , http://youtu.be/mVKKftCq_PA
In Aleppo
city’s Salaheddine Neighborhood, protesters clash with local security http://youtu.be/02Shm8F1tkY Before the
clashes http://youtu.be/pM7lf9muqmE then,
protesters come under fire http://youtu.be/3SjX0tBmorc
Daraa
In Daraa
Province, the town of Khirbet Ghazaleh comes under intense pounding http://youtu.be/JJtNrT-xntM , http://youtu.be/JdAWGyLTwCQ
Homs
In Homs City,
Qoussour Neighborhood comes under fire at night http://youtu.be/blVWR44e_sY
In the
town of Rastan, UN monitors relay the regime’s conditions to local
leaders of the FSA: they want them to put all their weapons in one area. Of course,
no agreement is reached. This is an aimless mission http://youtu.be/nwDqYH3k9nQ
In Qusayr,
a failed attempt at reviving a wounded man http://youtu.be/QtkqQSLnQH4
Martyrs http://youtu.be/XE3RWad6Xsc ,
http://youtu.be/yAblB4LYTg0
Idlib
In Kafar
Takhareem, Idlib Province, the sounds of automatic gunfire ring through the
night http://youtu.be/MDcWq5LM6kU
In Khan
Shaikhoon, Idlib Province, locals find a mass grave for people killed by
pro-Assad militias http://youtu.be/6g0X3fugsYI
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