As Assad’s
all too real war against his people continues, with blessings from the BRICKS, Syria’s
new self-appointed leaders press on with their opaque process of self-selection,
while protesters cheer them on by burning the symbols of everything these leaders
had ever stood for. New Syria will not be like Old Syria even if the new temporary
leaders wore the same ideological mantle.
Wednesday October 5,
2011
16 were killed,
including 5 defectors, in crackdown all over Syria, including Homs, Hama, Idlib,
Suweida Deraa/Hauran and Damascus.
Links
SNC Update: is it SNC 3.0 or 1.5?
Despite
the announcement that happened a couple of days ago, and today’s endorsement by
“Syria’s Mandela,” Riyadh Al-Turk, wrangling as to the exact makeup of the SNC
continues, but the rather than going in the right direction, that is, of fairer
representation and greater inclusiveness, things are going in the opposite
direction. The number of seats to be allocated continues to go up and down from
one minute to another, with most of the 70 members of SNC 1.0 now back in play,
with all the baggage they bring. So we now have on board: SNC 1.0, the Damascus
Declaration, the Ghalioun Block, the LCCs, the Muslim Brotherhood and
individual Kurdish and Assyrian representatives. Out is the Syrian Revolution
General Commission which has announced that it will not take part in the
Council because their request for one third of the seats to be used as the
blocking third was denied.
The
Antalya Group is still debating whether to take part, but its share has now been
reduced to 6 seats, so its participation will not make any difference. Some
Kurdish groups have already distanced themselves from the process with others
planning to follow their lead, and the tribal coalition is divided on the
matter. Liberals, Alawites and Christians are out of any serious consideration
except as necessary decorative pieces. Exclusion rather than inclusion remains
the central theme.
Champions
of resistance ideology seem to be manipulating the process to their benefit.
Their drive, it seems, other than serving their own personal egos and
ambitions, is to ensure that regimefall does not lead to a change in “national
constants” as they, and not necessarily the people, see them. So, as protesters
burn Hezbollah, Iranian, Russian and Chinese flags (as we see here in this
video from Ghanto in the Homs province http://youtu.be/hnX1-1W2K8Q and this
video from Damascus’s Midan District http://youtu.be/1VxKHDwvflc among many
others taken earlier today in demonstrations throughout the country), given the
chance, these people will likely hoist them high.
I
am still all for regime change of course, even if it paved the way for the
temporary empowerment of these figures, but then the transitional period ahead
will not lead to democracy but to a new phase in our struggle for it. The fight
for our freedom will continue. But, for now, it’s this third rate drama that continues
to unfold, as the Assads go on with their killing spree.
Still,
the SNC should be engaged, but engagers should beware that, regardless of SNC
leaders have to say, people want a no-fly zone as well as a strong
international stance on Assad’s crackdown including recognition of the Free
Syrian Army and its legitimate role in protecting the people and fighting
against the regime with all the support that this recognition entails. Most
protesters want the SNC because they believe its development will encourage the
international community to toughen its stands on the Assads, but as far as
realities on the ground are concerned, defectors and the local popular
committees (no, not necessarily the LCCs which are small though visible part of
the phenomenon of popular committees) have far greater legitimacy than any
council.
The Zainab Saga
Well,
it has now been confirmed by Zainab Alhusni’s family that the girl interviewed
ion Syrian TV is indeed their daughter. But now the Assads look even worse.
Because, as Lebanese human rights lawyer, Nabeel Al-Halabi argued, it’s Syrian
authorities that told Zainab’s family that the mutilated body belonged to their
missing daughter, after conducting an autopsy, and they officially signed on to
it to allow for the burial of the body. So, local and international human
rights activists and organizations are not to blame here, as Syrian TV wants us
to believe, because their identification of Zainab was based on official
findings. And we are still left at end of the day with a mutilated body that
needs to be identified, a heinous crime that needs to solved, where political
motivations might still have played a role. In fact, some are speculating that
this could be the body of teenage blogger Tal Al-Mallouhi who hasn’t been heard
from since her arrest in 2009.
And
did the authorities apologize to Zainab’s family for this case of
misidentification, not to mention the death of Zainab’s brother? No, on the
contrary, as the Guardian reports:
“The Syrian Human Rights Network, a loyalist organisation, demanded an apology
for Hosni and the Syrian people.” Talk about impunity.
FEATURED VIDEOS
Damascus/Douma: residents demonstrated
day http://youtu.be/kR5ceS3HjCs and
night http://youtu.be/uTjL-M7pZkc to
protest the 100s of arbitrary arrests that have taken place over the last few
days. Harasta was among other Damascene suburbs to witness major
protests today http://youtu.be/YzNHe2B9Ooo Arbeen http://youtu.be/7LR6Xowxc68
Idlib/Kafar Nabbol: loyalist army troops
move in http://youtu.be/TJ6svhS4HSw
open fire on locals http://youtu.be/Witsm74QZ8g
Meanwhile, people take to the streets in nearby Idlib City http://youtu.be/ZIkjkTFuZjo Binnish
http://youtu.be/w2pmq6s1Mus and Jabal
Al-Zawiyeh http://youtu.be/LErje3lNR-o
Homs/Talbisseh: more videos from
September 30 invasion http://youtu.be/aU7XhWRoKS8
, http://youtu.be/fZMqFaR7v28 the
body of a local martyr lying in the street (Oct 1) http://youtu.be/hiUgRmGPhH8
Meanwhile, we have more videos from the battle
for Rastan http://youtu.be/L1rg9CF5BsI
, http://youtu.be/qw45NUtGs6Y , http://youtu.be/BzKZj95i3Xo Scenes from
the local hospital http://youtu.be/uB006JJ1zA0
, http://youtu.be/_a09ejfDdqo A
leaked video showing the loyalist tank columns that took over Rastan http://youtu.be/JCFo8rJlsYA How’s this
not Benghazi again? Oh yeah, no oil.
And in Homs City, protesters renewed
their revolutionary pledge: Qoussour http://youtu.be/0DSt7WOW11k Bab
Al-Sibaa http://youtu.be/UAtZoeE_ZFE
Khaldiyeh http://youtu.be/QtqfrtMs7wA
Insha’aat http://youtu.be/EB8YWN3nP7I
Bayadah http://youtu.be/uypYtXYgMe4
Deir Baalbah http://youtu.be/LjCasIAQ3EY
Houleh http://youtu.be/04FMErD15-w
Palmyra/Tadmor http://youtu.be/MZ9c7pVepzA
And children keep dying (Bilal Al-Talib, Deir
Baalbah) http://youtu.be/IVfJvz6Kz9I
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