Today’s Death Toll:108 (including 2 women and 3 children)
40 in Aleppo (most result of shelling in Al-Shaar)
30 in Damascus and suburbs
11 in Homs
8 in Idlib
7 in Lattakia
5 in Deir Ezzor
4 in Daraa
1 in Raqqah

Points of Random Shelling: 196
58 by mortar
108 by artillery
29 by missile
14 by war jets, and by barrel bombs

Clashes:  82

Developments: Rebels blocked several regime attempts to storm cities and towns in Eastern Ghoutah, Damascus, and blew a number of personnel carriers in different areas across Syria (LCC).

 

News

Turkey has requested deployment of NATO air defense missiles over Syria civil war concernsNATO doesn’t want to be drawn into the Syrian conflict and said it would consider deploying the missiles purely to protect Turkey, a member country. Any deployment of NATO forces needs the approval of the alliance’s governing body, the North Atlantic Council.

Syrian planes bomb Damascus suburbs, northern town; regime blasts EU for endorsing opposition

Rebels say Syria hospital strike kills 40

 

Special Reports

Syria now running a war economy as conflict spreads
“This is a war budget in which the bulk is spent on the army and state employees to keep the government machinery going so that it continues to function, especially in the areas that are still under its control, and to show that the state is still on its feet,” said Samir Seifan, a prominent Syrian economist. He was involved in policymaking before the crisis but has since fled the country.

Rebels question continued protests in ‘Free Syria’
Protests gave birth to the anti-Assad uprising, but now some in Syria say they simply make for an easy target for regime planes. Others say they’re important to keep new leaders accountable.

Syria loses influence among Palestinians
Mr Assad is no longer the patron of Hamas, a Sunni Islamist organisation which moved its headquarters out of Damascus after the Syrian uprising. Khaled Meshaal, the Hamas leader, has openly backed his Sunni brethren in their battle to oust Mr Assad’s minority Alawite regime… On Wednesday, in an apparent attempt by Damascus to remain relevant, Syrian media said a Palestinian militant group based in the country, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, had claimed responsibility for an explosion on a bus in Tel Aviv.

With Syria’s eastern oilfields in rebel hands, a brisk business in pirated crude grows
The capture of the fields is another blow to the Syrian government’s attempt to offset inflation and shortages of various goods in the areas it still controls. It also has set off a booming oil trade in this impoverished area. Dozens of trucks wait in line 24 hours a day to fill up at rebel-held wells, which produce a light crude that can be burned without refining, though the result is dense smoke. Some farmers insist the unrefined crude can be used to power farm equipment, though it seems primarily to be used for heat.

Syria opposition appeals for massive aid
Leading opposition figure says $60b needed to prevent economy from collapsing within six months if Assad’s regime falls.

China’s Role in Syria: How Beijing Can Help End the Violence
China continues to leave off the table the possibility of sanctions or other punitive measures as a way to convince the regime to stop the violence. Without them, the Syrian government has no reason to end the bloodshed: it has the upper hand both militarily and politically, and it has more sophisticated equipment and control of government institutions. So what can China do to signal it is serious about a political settlement in Syria? Given Beijing’s reluctance to impose sanctions, a small but significant action would be to recognize the recently formed National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces as representative of the opposition movement.

Great Debate: Intervention in Syria
The Syrian opposition has elected its new leaders. Will this make outside intervention more likely? Marina Ottaway, Tony Badran, Mordechai Kedar, and others weigh in.

Gunning for Damascus
The insurgents on the ground in Syria appear to be winning more and more territory and confiscating more and more high-grade materiel from President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Just as Operation Pillar of Defense was kicking off over Gaza on Nov. 14, the Free Syrian Army took the entire city of al-Bukamal along the Iraqi border, where they also sacked two major airbases, giving the opposition a strong military foothold in Syria’s easternmost province, a vital smuggling route for weapons.

Mountaintop Town Is a Diverse Haven From Syria’s Horrors
MALOULA, Syria — In a country clouded by conflict, where neighbors and families are now divided by sectarian hatred, this mountaintop town renowned for its spiritual healing qualities and restorative air is an oasis of tolerance. Residents of the ancient and mainly Christian town — one of the last places where Western Aramaic, the language of Jesus Christ, is still spoken — vowed at the beginning of the Syrian conflict 20 months ago not to succumb to sectarianism and be dragged into the chaos.

Christians in Syria: separating Fact From Fiction (PDF)
The evidence surveyed here does not, as of yet, suggest the existence of an organized campaign of militant Islamic persecution of Christians throughout Syria, especially along the lines of what has happened in Iraq since 2003. Indeed, one should not overlook the fact that Christians have been playing active roles in the opposition. At the same time, disinformation exists about this phenomenon too.

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