Will the world ever forgive us for having nothing to offer
these days but our blood-soaked bread? We’re usually much more generous than
this. But our blood is fast becoming one of our very few sources of currency.
Friday December
28, 2012 – Today’s rallies were dedicated
to the blood-soaked bread, in honor of the countless victims murdered at breadlines
by militias loyal to the Assad regime.
Today’s
Death Toll: 137, including
9 children and 17 women:, 38 in Damascus and Suburbs, 30 in Aleppo (16 in Sfeira
massacre), 18 in Daraa, 17 in Homs, 9 in Idlib, 9 in Quneitra, 8 in Deir Ezzor,
4 in Hama, 3 in Raqqa, 2 in Swaida and 1 in Lattakia. Rallies: 302: 68 in Deir
Ezzor, 57 in Hama, 54 in Aleppo, 41 in Damascus and Suburbs, 34 in Idlib, 23 in
Daraa, 14 in Homs, 7 in Hassakeh, 3 in Raqqah, and 1 in Lattakia. Points of Random Shelling:
125. Clashes:
127. In Deir Ezzor, rebels gained control
of Tanak Oil Field. In Aleppo, they gained control of Tal Annajar Battalion. In
Daraa, rebels liberated Jaziya checkpoint, arresting many loyalist soldiers and
capturing much in terms of weapons and ammunition. In Damascus, rebels gained
control of Bijo checkpoint in Sbeineh, meanwhile, around 50 soldiers from the 4th
Division taking part in the siege of the town of Zabadani defected and joined the
rebels. In Hama, rebels took control of the Jinan checkpoint. Finally, in Raqqa, rebels gained control of
Msheirfeh checkpoint arresting many loyalist soldiers in the process (LCCs).
News
Syria
opposition leader rejects Moscow invitation In an interview on Al Jazeera television,
Alkhatib said he had already ruled out such a trip and wanted an apology from
Moscow for its support for Assad. "We have clearly said we will not go to
Moscow. We could meet in an Arab country if there was a clear agenda," he
said. "Now we also want an apology from (Russian Foreign Minister Sergei)
Lavrov because all this time he said that the people will decide their destiny,
without foreign intervention. Russia is intervening and meanwhile all these
massacres of the Syrian people have happened, treated as if they were a
picnic." "If we don't represent the Syrian people, why do they invite
us?" Alkhatib said. "And if we do represent the Syrian people why
doesn't Russia respond and issue a clear condemnation of the barbarity of the
regime and make a clear call for Assad to step down? This is the basic
condition for any negotiations."
Rebels
besiege airports in northern Syria This push in many ways represents
the mismatched nature of Syria's civil war, with numerous but lightly armed
rebels fighting a highly sophisticated army, albeit one badly weakened by
defections. Rebels say they have surrounded four airports in the northern
province of Aleppo. In recent days, they have posted dozens of videos online
showing fighters shooting mortars, homemade rockets and sniper rifles at
targets inside the bases. It remains unclear whether rebels will be able to
seize any of the bases soon, but they have managed to stop air traffic at one
and limit movement at others by firing on all approaching aircraft with heavy
machine guns.
U.N.
to convene pledging conference for Syria aid The United Nations will
convene a pledging conference in Kuwait next month to try to secure more than
$1.5 billion to help save the lives of millions of Syrians facing a
"rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation," the world body said
on Friday. The conference will take place on January 30 in Kuwait City and will
be chaired by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the U.N. press office said in a
statement.
Syria
shells Damascus area as protests surge Planes pound capital and
outlying zones, as anti-regime rallies erupt across country and two generals
reportedly defect.
Special
Reports
Abu Ali Sulaibi was one of the first
people to take up arms in Aleppo. Now he controls two shattered blocks on the
frontline where he lives with his wife, four children and Squirrel the cat
As President Bashar Assad's regime
becomes increasingly isolated, Iranian officials and clerics appear divided on
how to respond to their longtime ally… On Tuesday, the pro-government paper
Etellaat, whose editor is selected by Khamenei, published a story saying that
the U.S. and Russia had crafted a joint plan for a transitional government in
Syria, which both countries have denied. It included a call by a senior Hamas
leader for Assad to be removed from power. "In the beginning we supported
the Syrian government extensively and ignored the opposition and even called
them terrorists. It has cost Iran a lot among the Muslims," Abbas Abdi, a
leader of the hostage-taking at the U.S. Embassy in 1979, said in the reformist
daily Etemad last weekend. Abdi said he believed Iran's new peace plan could
have made a difference if it had come earlier, but now it was too little, too
late. He called his piece: "Feeling sorry for the lost opportunity in
Syria."
"It's understood that Bashar
al-Assad's regime will not last long," said Georgy Mirsky, a Middle East
expert at the Institute for World Economy and International Relations in
Moscow. "But this does not mean that Russia is ready to join the West, the
Turks and the Arabs and demand that Assad go? That would be senseless. Syria is
lost (to Russia) anyway," he said. At least Russia "will be able to
say that we do not abandon our friends," Mirsky said.
A Syrian coalition that provides
physical and political protection for the Alawites and Syria’s other
minorities, while reflecting the Sunni majority’s new power, could convince
Russia and Iran that they could maintain some influence — however reduced that influence
should and would be. (Paradoxically, such a coalition might also quiet Israel’s
apprehensions about the strong presence of Islamic jihadists in the rebel
movement and exert moderating influence on Egypt’s growing derogation of
minority rights.)
The growing challenge to Bashar
al-Assad's regime raises the issue of Syria's chemical weapons, and whether
there are any feasible military options in addressing it. Here, the decisions
of the United States and Israel will be crucial.
Video Highlights
Leaked video: Loyalist militias abuse the bodies of two dead rebels
http://youtu.be/rmS2qkbkb2U
A tank high-noon showdown in the Damascene suburb of Daraya http://youtu.be/p0uHoK7414k forces loyalist
militias to flee http://youtu.be/1Y8V93tvfMQ
paving the way for aerial bombings http://youtu.be/vInUuPwI0XI
, http://youtu.be/tgTZk9-BfFM
Meanwhile, the pounding of the towns of Eastern Ghoutah, continues: Douma
http://youtu.be/DI5KpdOfxL0 Elsewhere
clashes continue http://youtu.be/fybN1bPFHsw
including in the camp of Yarmouk http://youtu.be/IGR7M2ypV1g
, http://youtu.be/627W1X1WkOk
Pro-Assad militias intensify their use of incendiary cluster bombs and
rockets in the pounding of the town of Mourek in Hama Province http://youtu.be/-b5PwvMrhe4
Rebels survey the bodies of the dead loyalist soldiers in the Tanak oilfield, Deir Ezzor, that
they have succeeded in taking over http://youtu.be/Tbbrx4iuJRQ
Rebels showcase their gains http://youtu.be/fybN1bPFHsw
Shortly after, regimes fighter jets pound the compound http://youtu.be/GBzjZgOjmuw
In Da’el, Daraa, and on the underreported side of this war, local
activists produce their local newspaper “Out for Freedom.” In song, they tell
all about the different sections of the paper http://youtu.be/tjoGzbiOTn4 In the town
of Kafrenbel, Idlib Province, local activists are working on a draft constitution
for the country (English translation provided) http://youtu.be/z_UVQHIMx88
Rallies like these took place all over the country under the slogan “Our
Blood-Soaked Bread” – Jobar, Damascus City http://youtu.be/EKnLUMbF_WU Deir
Hafer, Aleppo http://youtu.be/fsSBQydueWo
Menbej, Aleppo http://youtu.be/_sdeaj27n_4
Khirbet Ghazaleh, Daraa http://youtu.be/FgO0B148feA
Wa’er, Homs City http://youtu.be/YXSB5Y4BD5Q
Salqeen, Idib http://youtu.be/_Wv_yNpOuM4
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