Syrian Revolution Digest – Thursday 12 July 2012

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

*WARNING VIDEOS MAY CONTAIN GRAPHIC IMAGES*

More UN Shenanigans To Come?

The UN will have a chance to revisit the Syria situation again. Coming after so many conferences, high level talks and joint statements, a failure to produce concrete plan under Chapter VII will be unforgivable.

Wednesday July 11, 2012

Today’s Death toll: 78. The Breakdown: the killed include 5 women and 16 members of the Palestinian Liberation Army who were kidnapped two weeks ago, but their bodies were found only today. Despite their refugees status in Syria, most Palestinians are sympathetic with the Syrian revolutionary movements, and many have joined the ranks of the local resistance, in Daraa, Damascus, Homs, Aleppo and Lattakia. Elsewhere, 22 martyrs fell in Homs, 12 in Damascus Suburbs, 9 in Daraa, including three soldiers killed by loyalists as they tried to defect, 5 in Deir Ezzor, 4 in Aleppo, 4 in Idlib, 3 in Hama, 2 in Lattakia and 1 in Raqqah.

News

Op-Eds & Special Reports

Of course, Assad is willing to accept a ceasefire now. And of course he wants to start with the hardest hit areas. Ceasefire will give Assad’s armies a chance to regroup and reconsider their strategy. Pullout of loyalist troops from certain regions, like rural Aleppo and certain parts of Idlib, might allow Assad a face-saving solution to surrender areas that he can no longer control while appearing to cooperate with the international community.

On a more macabre level, the move could also pave the way for the use of WMDs against the local resistance – a possibility that many local activists continue to dread knowing that Assad is capable of any depravity.

But, and for the time being, Assad can enjoy the re-legitimating aspect of Annan’s new plan. After all, he is now seen as a cooperative figure, and Annan insists on equating him with the resistance by asking the UN to send a message to the regime and the opposition alike that “there will be ‘consequences’ if they don’t comply with demands for an immediate cease-fire.” But, so long as the consequences do not include military strikes, neither side will likely give a damn.

Still, it will be interesting what sort of resolution will pass soon.

Video Highlights

Activist Khalid Abou Salah continues to distinguish himself from traditional opposition figures by his political acumen and growing popular appeal. In this video clip, he calls on the Kurdish revolutionaries in the city of Kobani, and elsewhere, to pay no mind to the bickering of traditional Kurdish parties and keep standing by their Arab revolutionary compatriots until the revolution achieves its goals. By wrapping himself both in the Revolutionary and Kurdish flags, he did more than any traditional opposition figure from either side to appeal to both Arabs and Kurds http://youtu.be/5neI8C6srlM Salah hails from Homs city and is a moderate Islamist in his political views. He only recently left the country and over the last few weeks, he attended a conference of pro-revolution Islamic religious scholars in Istanbul and the Friends of Syria meeting in Paris, where his address was the most clear of all.

A tank takes part in the pounding of the Damascene suburb of Zabadanihttp://youtu.be/kdtJBJ6bWpY , http://youtu.be/QNSItkS21Vs Sounds of daytime clashes in the Suburb of Saqba http://youtu.be/VzqfR_iJnSc , http://youtu.be/KkpfPy_2fcw

Sounds of nighttime clashes in Al-Qadam Neighborhood in Damascus Cityhttp://youtu.be/XHAZsLhjPY0 , http://youtu.be/twqEYBTMNbk Clashes continue until dawn http://youtu.be/6UNZN6vBowM Clashes take place in the neighborhood ofDafalshawk as well http://youtu.be/Z0ZDlgBEg6Y and in Al-Tadamonhttp://youtu.be/1jkODHYzJjk

The maniacal pounding of Old Homs continues: Jouret Al-Shayahhttp://youtu.be/sNc8bHT612Y , http://youtu.be/a_qsQ0Ey9pE ,http://youtu.be/uJTQf745I84 , http://youtu.be/hs2qmGF6UZE ,http://youtu.be/Xek1STLDj_4 , http://youtu.be/1ns1KlUdeLM ,http://youtu.be/kAeqlHG4prU Tanks keep pounding their way through the neighborhood ofQarabis http://youtu.be/AnxnasghKXo , http://youtu.be/kYyA5oBl2jQ And the neighborhood gets pounded by heavy artillery http://youtu.be/CQ9XIbAukR0 ,http://youtu.be/VzrJJ1Kyycs , http://youtu.be/XiujwHCc-SM Khaldiyeh is pounded as well http://youtu.be/hkHc2QAtX0A , http://youtu.be/lu5NiZX75BY

The pounding of nearby Rastan is as intense http://youtu.be/LCKiCESMa6c ,http://youtu.be/5WBp9cwLSc0 , http://youtu.be/hzBuGFNTdXw Two children among the dead http://youtu.be/rXTgCkXDIHg

Foreign correspondents take part in documenting the shelling of the city of Eizaz in Aleppo Province http://youtu.be/susQV4-sCOo The tanks and artillery taking part in the pounding are hidden in the tree lines outside the city http://youtu.be/s5O70e5GWEE

The pounding of Mouhassan in Deir Ezzor Province http://youtu.be/H6RoXcPNS4w ,http://youtu.be/NEJjUeGtlL0 , http://youtu.be/cvo5_aABdcc

Author: Impunity Watch Archive