Syrian Revolution Digest – Friday 8 June 2012

THE COMMENTARY IN THIS PIECE DOES NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF IMPUNITY WATCH.  

*WARNING VIDEOS MAY CONTAIN GRAPHIC IMAGES*

Genocide Foretold!

 

The killing will not stop unless it is stopped. We are now standing a breath away from full-blown genocide, because world leaders failed to act last year. By acting now they could still prevent genocide, but the wounds that have already been carved in our souls will take decades to heel. And if they failed to act still, then the blood is on their hands too.

 

Friday June 08, 2012 – This week is dedicated to the solidarity between the business communities and the revolutionaries.

 

Today’s death toll: 85. This is only a preliminary estimate, as the death toll from Daraa City is still unclear. The Breakdown: 18 in Idlib, 34 in Daraa, 12 in Homs, 11 in Damascus Suburbs, 6 in Damascus City, 3 in Hama and 1 in Deir Ezzor.

 

In Damascus City, clashes between the local resistance and Assad loyalists took place in the neighborhoods of Qaboun, Barzeh, Kafar Sousseh, Jobar and Mazzeh. Meanwhile, the pounding of old Sunni neighborhoods in Homs City continues unabated.

 

Muqtada Al-Sadr, leader of the Mahdi Army in Iraq conceded today the possibility that members of his group could indeed be taking part in the crackdown against the democracy movement in Syria. If such participation is indeed proven, Al-Sadr said, then these members must be considered as defectors used by external parties.

 

News

 

 

Syria conflict driving more to flee homes-ICRC * Access to food and medical services hampered * Infrastructure needing urgent repair * ICRC, Red Crescent supplied food, medicine to 400,000 Syrians

 

 

Syria massacre: UN observers greeted by smell of rotting flesh The sight that met the first United Nations observers to visit the Syrian hamlet of al-Qubeir yesterday was of homes gutted and burned. The smell in the air was rotting flesh.

 

Gun battles rage in streets of Damascus Syrian army and opposition fighters clash in capital’s Mezze neighbourhood, as monitors reach al-Qubeyr massacre site.

 

 

 

Op-Eds & Special Reports

 

Along Syria’s volatile border, rebels, rabbits, and ambushes A Lebanese gas smuggler was killed in a Syrian Army ambush this week, snapping the patience of locals in the Lebanese town of Arsal. Another ambush targeted rabbit hunters.

 

 

Editor’s note: Hind Aboud Kabawat is a Syrian attorney. She is also a conflict resolution specialist and senior research analyst at the Center for World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution, which is based at George Mason University in Virginia. The views expressed in this article are solely those of Hind Aboud Kabawat: “I am a devout Christian, proud and respectful of the church’s teachings. But in the political realm, I am first and foremost a citizen, a citizen of the new free Syria. I believe that my fellow Christians will come to feel the same way. I also believe the same should be true for our Sunni, Alawite, Druze and Kurdish sisters and brothers.”

 

 

Beyond the humanitarian disaster that Syria has become, the strategic damage that could result from the nightmare scenarios that could transpire in Syria should concentrate the minds of U.S. strategists. If it takes American-led intervention to prevent them, then that is where discussion of U.S. policy should begin. Time is not an ally.

 

Over 750 rallies took place all across Syria today, with hundreds of thousands of protesters defying pro-Assad militias and risking their lives to reiterate their rejection of Assad rule. Meanwhile, Assad and his militias continue to wage war against the people.

 

Video Highlights

 

Daraa

 

Live Video showing the clashes currently taking place in Daraa City can be found herehttp://bambuser.com/v/2726290 Basically, Daraa is now the second Homs.

 

Daraa City: In what seems as retaliation for the assassination of Colonel Mohammad Aslan, one of the architects of the crackdown in Daraa province, loyalist troops today bombarded the downtown areas of Daraa City known as Daraa Al-Balad, killing close to 34 inhabitants, as of latest count – the dead and injured http://youtu.be/M_HfGhFh5_g, http://youtu.be/2pzUcf6Agvc , http://youtu.be/LhYPNvSmsA4 ,http://youtu.be/Hzq9oZhlZZY , http://youtu.be/9QQIVk2ImjQ , http://youtu.be/-dvNHzBcApk , http://youtu.be/rcAZEAJczrQ , http://youtu.be/OB5qcNqIQ5c ,http://youtu.be/vULg3g6YHC0 A child among the martyrs http://youtu.be/WG5jfg3lCKg The city gets pounded again at night
 Pulling the body of a child from the streethttp://youtu.be/XYJW9u1da4M

 

Earlier in the day, protesters in Kashef neighborhood clash with security http://youtu.be/zKPVy8CJx4M

 

The town of Kafar Shams, Daraa Province, comes under fire http://youtu.be/YJ16pA8J3Hk Sanamein comes under fire http://youtu.be/SOb0nfBZBRU

 

Damascus

 

The neighborhood of Kafar Sousseh, Damascus City, gets pounded at dawn http://youtu.be/oFyFjGKkg0g And throughout the day http://youtu.be/ShTsFw5nqb8 ,http://youtu.be/1moFHhd4_nA , http://youtu.be/q4ITnG5o8JE

 

 

The neighborhood of Midan comes under fire during the day http://youtu.be/TEL59KftZTYAnd at night http://youtu.be/xQ1DeguyM7c Protesters remain defiant http://youtu.be/MQAvSVPpVAw in face of the crackdown http://youtu.be/vePJ2y1OUss

 

The neighborhood of al-Qadam comes under fire during the day http://youtu.be/Fb7KdFdIFWw Daytime protesters in Old Mazzeh come under fire http://youtu.be/sYg03ij4F9E The suburb of Tadamon comes under fire from snipers http://youtu.be/tBqvP8BW8mM

 

Heavy nighttime clashes take place in Barzeh neighborhood, Damascus City http://youtu.be/1DrZe92o988 , http://youtu.be/XSJm-fZsahY Same scenario is repeated inJobar http://youtu.be/VCeqjoSaanI

 

Nighttime clashes in Douma, Damascus Suburb, http://youtu.be/NpIiOz7bJ3Y Martyrs http://youtu.be/7AfBPg6neIs , http://youtu.be/AdjdvkOD1F8

 

Jdeidet Artouz: Martyrs http://youtu.be/gtcidXEbiU4

 

Lattakia

 

Lattakia City: Al-Ramel al-Janoubi, a majority-Sunni neighborhood, comes under fire at night http://youtu.be/N8yawCUb6wo The same scenario is repeated in Sleibeh Neighborhood http://youtu.be/3lqRpR89h7g , http://youtu.be/6sR6c1Sja40 Earlier, a peaceful daytime rally is fired at http://youtu.be/WMvo6NochlY

 

In the town of Hiffeh, activists show the impact of the continuing pounding http://youtu.be/ru7OOTIXPgI , http://youtu.be/ftjA08w3GLA ,http://youtu.be/SCumjotY39c

 

Homs

 

 

Pounding of the nearby town of Qusayr leaves several dead and many injured, including this child http://youtu.be/0xa9iZYY94A

 

Aleppo

 

Protesters in Al-Shaar Neighborhood, Aleppo City, come under fire http://youtu.be/H0mjm22obOE

 

Protesters in Salaheddine, Aleppo City, come under fire but remain defiant http://youtu.be/r9YSiK1ksy4 , http://youtu.be/yiQJKWNRGXU

 

Hama

 

A new video of Qubeir Massacre http://youtu.be/WqfcLTmwEmo

 

Idlib

 

The video of the massacre at Hammameh which I listed yesterday, has been translated by the Guardian and can be accessed here for clarity:http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2012/jun/08/syria-bashar-al-assad#block-27

 

Author: Impunity Watch Archive