Defense of Asma Assad? It’s cowardly for someone to write a defense of her without identifying themselves. It also cheapens this sites editorial integrity.

This anonymous author must be of the same character as those at the Harvard Arab Alumni Association who gave Asma Assad a red party gala just last year for being such a “humanitarian”. If truth be told the only accomplishment Mrs Assad has ever achieved is that she managed to marry a despotic dictator.

The day is coming when she will face a noose for her crimes against humanity.

I would like to think that Asma just found herself in a difficult situation, herself in pain to watch what is happening in her country and in her family’s hometown Homs. I also wanted to think the same about Bashar, that he really wanted to change things but found all the people around him resistant. Let’s be very clear and honest with ourselves:

We have been fooled.

The shopping Asma did doesn’t bother me. Any woman, in power or not, wouldn’t hesitate to buy things if money is plentiful. Nobody should be surprised.

What the author here does not mention is the timing of her emails, and the content.

1) It is obvious that she was aware of what was happening in Homs and elsewhere in Syria. She spoke at times with others giving the impression that she was fully informed.

2) It is obvious that she used this email address to speak her mind to friends, and at times to her husband.

3) She NEVER ONCE expressed real regret at the loss of life, loss of dignity, and suffering of her people.

Her message to a friend about her being “the real dictator” gives me chills. If a joke, it shows she has no heart whatsoever! If not a joke, she should be the “real” target of sanctions, ridicule, and bullets.

Either way, she doesn’t deserve the defense given to her here. She deserves no sympathy. I will not shed a tear when she gets what’s coming to her.

Correction:

I WILL shed tears when she gets what’s coming, but only for the lives lost to the oppression of the last few decades.

Fellow Syrians, let’s not be conned any more by this regime.

when asma’s house is shelled and she’s left buried under a pile of rubble, maybe then i’ll feel sorry for her.

the sanction being applied is akin to taking her credit card away. that doesn’t warrant the melodrama expressed in this column. i’m sure the woman will live. she’s not being hung by her wrists and tortured in some dark dungeon.

mother teresa herself would be faulted if she turned a deaf ear and blind eye to war crimes going on around her.

has this columnist or this blog ever expressed half the concern for the average syrian that has been poured out in behalf of asma?

why was this column even written? which audience was the writer hoping to reach or trying to impress? what favor was the writer hoping to curry?

20 bucks on this ‘Anonymous Syrian’ being none other than Hadeel al-Ali doing some cleanup PR…

Refreshing to hear a voice of balance amidst character attacks from worthless media.

— The joke that included the “dictator” reference should not be understood as self-admission of her/Bashar’s dictator status, nor some kind of sick reveling in such. Rather, if one was regularly labeled a dictator, eventually joking about it would become part of one’s way of dealing with it. She jokingly used “dictator” in the context of their personal relationship, which was obviously a play on how they are labeled by others. I’m not saying that this government is not a dictatorship, but only that her email is nothing of a “revelation” that would elicit sanctions, outcry, etc. Simply absurd.

— Media has also decried a “Homsi” joke in one of the emails during the crackdown. They obviously don’t know 2 things: Homsi jokes are ubiquitous across Syria, propagated by Homsis as well, just as a self-identifying “redneck” might tell a redneck joke. And for further context: do people not realize that she is Homsi? So a Homsi joke passed between her and her husband is not some kind of prejudiced mockery at the expense of people in the city. Simply absurd.

Remember, the crackdown was awful, and was also a response to an armed threat to state sovereignty in its territory. The U.S. would do the same.

The European diplomats in Brussels are intervening in the affairs of Syria, standing side by side with the autocratic leaders of the Gulf. It would do them well to read the parable of “The Sword of Damocles”. A sense of peril always hangs over the heads of those who wield power, but particularly in the Middle East, where nationhood is so contested.

is this a threat??

only person to blame for putting the regime in such a precarious position is assad himself.

“It’s cowardly for someone to write a defense of her without identifying themselves.”
Coming from a ‘brave’ ‘anonymous’ ‘turk’!

The attention needs not turn to what a woman is shopping , clearly a desperate final gasp to turn the attention away from the retreat of rats from baba amr, idlib, daraa and other hijacked areas.
Please focus your attention on the country, not on names. Asma, Bashar etc are mortals, but Syria is the basin in which we Live together.
Focus your attention on how to bring the opposing parties together , if you really mean to save lives ,
Stop begging the foreigners attention, they will spit you out like garbage later on.
The opposition’s anger is so raging , they don’t mind wiping Syria as we know it from the face of the earth , if it means the departure of the regime,
Unfortunately , the exterior opposition don’t have to deal with the complications of their work, if they succeed, they can continue to live in France, USA and their other countries, but the poor Syrians , who are losing their quality of lives, struggling to eat and keep warm, even struggling to dodge a sniper’s bullet , or being kidnapped, or blown into bits and pieces if they happen to be in the wrong time at the wrong place
I give you the new Syria , the Syria you helped shape for the last year, yet I don’t lose the hope of few good men, with no hatred , no vengeance , but all love for the home they lived in
SAVE SYRIA

Back to reality.
Alqaeda power is growing over the ‘fsa’ which will make it easier to declare fsa a terrorist organization by almost every country in the world except ksa qatar and turkey
بالدليل القاطع تنظيم القاعدة جزء من الجيش الحر
http://youtu.be/UAp-Ejn-BCQ

Comical!

I tell the writer:

That’s the whole point! When push came to shove, those guys decided to use the stick instead of the carrot!

He mentions examples that date back over a year ago, little does he know that EVERYTHING changed over the past year.

If she is so noble and down to earth and affectionate and sympathetic, then why oh why is she supporting the death of all these innocents now? umm DUHH, maybe because she, like everyone else involved in a dictatorship in the region, doesn’t really care !!

If her efforts where taken seriously, then this whole thing would have never happened in Syria.

I have never read something so ignorant and baseless in my life.

What, you read a couple of articles a few years ago and dug up some archives today from the comfort of your home and wrote this up? Are you living in LALA land?

You are still falling for the trap they set up for dumb people like you. Showing you they work with NGOs and visiting impoverished areas, I ask you, where has all that formality you seem to buy so blindly lead Syria?

I would almost rather have the Asads in power that someone like you replace them.

Bashar fooled us. Asma fooled us. Whether Bashar is the dictator of this oppression, or Asma is as she described herself “the real dictator”, they both fooled us.

They had so much potential, but their hearts are not in the right place. Down with the both of them.

Complicated Syria

Regime promoters always attach a paragraph about Syria being a complicated country with rich heritage …. and so on. Take for example the first segment of this paragraph from the above “defense of Asma”

Syria is a complicated country, with a rich cultural heritage that is the result of the intermingling of the many religions and ethnicities, customs, beliefs, habits, ideas and values left behind by all the civilizations that have passed through and made Syria their home over thousands of years.

Further reading, shows the real objective of this paragraph which follows

It is at the nexus of the most heated schism our world faces today, between Iran, and Saudi Arabia, between Christianity and Islam, between East and West, and between Arabs and Israelis.

A logical link between the first and second segments is possible if one argues that 1. Syria is culturally diverse, 2. Syrians are connected, then it may follow that Syria is place where regional and global powers and cultures face each others through Syrians. This of course assumes good intention on the writer’s side. But when such argument is put forth by a regime loyalist in defense of Asma Al-Assad, it is used as an attempt to de-legitimize the revolution and to insinuate that what we see is merely the result of external forces using Syrians as if Syrians themselves have no choice or hand in their uprising and as if those dying are merely agents of external schism. The untold conclusion–premise of defense would then become: “Bashar is defending the country against these powers, and by extension, Asma is.”

Asma’s past deeds, some of which may be laudable had they reflected anything other than a PR campaign, are irrelevant to her current and recent actions. Furthermore, it is natural and common to say that she “embarked” on this or that project, but giving her the credit for the project is a neither fair, nor accurate and it reflects a grave misunderstanding of how NGOs work. NGO activists are the real ones who design the projects, they manage them, they implement them, nut the promote these projects, it is part if their work to find a “celebrity” patron to give the project visibility, and in the case of a brutal, money grabbing regime such as the Assad Mafia, some protection from the little mafiosi and some “oiling” of the machinery of the security apparatus to reduce the obstructive rejectionism so permeates the psych of the machinery. Asma Al-Assad received her rewards for playing along: a propagation of a false image of her husband and his brutal regime as a reform-minded regime, and an acceptance, and I may add, a rationalization of dealing with the regime while ignoring its continuing, but slightly lower-intensity brutality against opposition and against any attempt to establish a real powerful civil society. Not only that, she received a prime seat in the regime as its “civilized and modern” facade.

It is also well known that NGO’s approach wealthy people to serve as patrons for their projects. Some of these wealthy people are true philanthropists, and some play along for PR purposes, but in both cases, they donate money along with their celebrity status. NGOs are not shy about this, and why should they be, it is one way to provide benefit and some return to society. We are yet to find the level of Asma’s own financial contributions to her “wide network of” NGOs, knowing that her family gained significantly financially and in influence as well.

Asma’s “rose of the desert” veneer was relatively thin. It did not survive the heat produced by the first bullet her husband thugs fired at protesters. All what the email scandal did was to finish peeling off the last few specks of paint, which were more like tabloid play on speculations about whether she supports her husband or not and whether she is tormented by what he has been ordering his thugs to do. What we see is a careless woman, a woman who is fully behind her husband, and a woman fully out of touch with the multiple layers of misery her partner is causing to the people of Syria. A woman who has no qualm saying “i am the real dictator”, which reflects both bad taste and cold heart, even if said jokingly.

Her media rise as a “reform minded” “western educated” woman should in reality rile those who protest “orientalism”. Conditioning the progress of Syria on her “western” outlook (i would argue appearance) reduces Syrians to mere recipients of the “goodwill” of their “western-oriented” rulers and plays into the hand of the autocrats themselves. Not surprisingly, anonymous regime loyalists, playing a hyper-nationalist tone, rush to attack the anonymous Turk, who objected to one more attempt to rehabilitate an unworthy image and showed real respect for Syrians. The insult to Syrians posed by the west’s celebration of this fake image does not register on their radar despite of their constant stream of attacks on the west and “its evil plans” against Syria.

It would have been more appropriate to blast the EU for the ineffectiveness of these sanctions as real support to the Syrian Revolution goes. The sanction are worst than being symbolic. They are primarily at attempt to whitewash the “play along” policy over the past decade, and the propagation of the fraudulent image of the Assad mafia chieftain in hope of wooing him not cause further problem in the region. It is the west compensating itself for not challenging her and her husband to put their money where their mouths were. For that, these sanction may be condemned but never for the goodness of her heart.

The worst offense of the article is not the defense of Asma, but it is in the last few words, which tie the fate of poor women in Syria to her inability to shop. That was bad taste. Really really bad taste.

Syrian Hamster, thank you for the thoughtful critique. It is clear the commentary was written by a hardcore regime loyalist, with the intention of dampening criticism of Asma.

To Dr. Landis and others authorized to post on his blog:
It would be appreciated if you would recognize articles for what they are before posting them. Essays that do not meet basic standards of publishing in academia of objectivity and relative neutrality do not deserve to be published on your personal blog.

Asma Assad is less than a milligram of spit from a beggar on the streets of Aleppo.

Khalid Tlass,

Granted, but let’s not speak as they would speak of us. I have no wish for the opposition to stoop to their level in words or in actions.

very cheap comments … (w/exception to 7 & 8 JAD )… very cheap way of revenge that will not help Syria or Syrian people

To regime loyalists stalking these pages, give us a thumbs down if you would like to see Bashar go.

You aren’t capable of formulating arguments that can save your regime, so instead you troll these forums looking to bash whomever you can. The regime needs to go so that forums such as these and within Syria can tackle problems that Syrians have. Regime loyalists stand in the way.

With rule of law, equality, and justice, Syria can be a beautiful place again.

I linked the new film of Nadine Labaki

Where Do We Go Now? tells the story of a remote, isolated unnamed Lebanese village inhabited by both Muslims and Christians.

http://www.sonara.net/video-70071.html

“Through a large network of National NGOs like Masar, Shabab, and Firdos, she worked to empower Syrians to take ownership of their future as well as to boost entrepreneurship.”

Yes and when the people took upon their granted constitutional rights to express their opinion, especially in the internet, they get arrested, tortured and killed.

(…)”In 2008 the First Lady was awarded the Gold Medal of the Presidency of the Italian Republic for her commitment to inclusive economic growth and sustainable development in the Arab World.”

Isnt that common among heads of states to award themselves and their first ladies?
I have a copy of a schoolbook of my grandmother which is dated 1912, and there are the same kind of stories of the Emperess.” She would gently smile and have kind words for all poor and needy, and if she hears personal grim she is willingly to help those who need her…”such expected adulation has only one aim: cadaver obedience as a famous Philosopher has pointed out.

Dear AMNESIA
Thanks for your comment. A slightly edited version of my comment appears now under the title “Asma and Complicated Syria” on the OTW’s blog (7ee6an or حيطان) @ htp://7ee6an.wordpress.com/.

Thanks also for telling K.T. that we should not use the loyalists’ choice of words. Vulgar emotional bursts add nothing to the discussion.

# 11. SYRIAN HAMSTER

A particularly incisive comment.

You’ve hit the nail precisely on the head.

The whole Asma Assad phenomena shames and insults Syrians.

“Granted, but let’s not speak as they would speak of us. I have no wish for the opposition to stoop to their level in words or in actions.”

There is an urgent need for us to stoop to their level, at least in action. Thats the only way to defeat them.

#5. Silent Bob said:

“20 bucks on this ‘Anonymous Syrian’ being none other than Hadeel al-Ali doing some cleanup PR”

Yep. Probably trying to appease Asma and claw back her way back into the inner sanctum after her sleazy emails with Bashar were exposed.

This is a senseless act against a person who is not part of the Syrian government, about of whom The French ambassador to Syria, Eric Chevallier, said a mere year ago
[…]
The European diplomats in Brussels are intervening in the affairs of Syria

is the familiarity with the diplomatic world a clue? is it possible the author is this character?

Landis has been noted for his friendly relationship to the Ambassador of Syria, Imad Moustapha

underlying the missive is a sense of panic. instead of pointlessly railing against weak sanctions (which amounts to a slap on the wrist) yet signals a message that the nets are beginning to close — the assads and its loyalists should read the writing on the wall. swallow your pride, reach out to UN reps and negotiate the terms of your departure. in exchange for the UN agreeing not to seek to prosecute, members of the regime will be granted the space to flee syria and seek sanctuary abroad. do what the former ruler of tunis had the good sense to do. avoid the grisly outcomes of gaddafi and saddam. both paid a price for their deluded stubbornness.

I wonder if Syria is being attacked because of the modernization road that Asma and president Assad were trying to put Syria on.the conservative elements in Syria and the area found that corrupting to thier way of life.

I was so pleasantly surprised by the reactions to this article. Of course Hamster is always on the mark.

The only way Asma can redeem herself is if she joins the revolution by an open statement against the cruelty, the brutality of the regime; she takes to the streets, takes part in a demo, in front of the crowd. In other terms, she risks her life for the people she is supposed to have tried to help before all this happened.

Wake me up, I am dreaming, but some dreams open the door to a solution.

I agree that her emails and behavior are disgusting. I don’t believe that if she should be banned from going to Europe and Britain. She need refuge in case she changes her mind and decided to flee Syria.
http://aljazeera.net/news/pages/e628a8ff-dc49-46b7-a734-a9e841fe8172?GoogleStatID=1

اتهامات للنظام باستخدام المدنيين دروعا بشرية

70 قتيلا وتصعيد عسكري بأرجاء سوريا

: الأخبار : عربي

اتهامات للنظام باستخدام المدنيين دروعا بشرية

70 قتيلا وتصعيد عسكري بأرجاء سوريا

قالت لجان التنسيق المحلية في سوريا إن 70 شخصا على الأقل قتلوا برصاص الأمن والجيش أمس الأحد معظمهم بحمص، وجددت قوات النظام قصفها لمدن وبلدات حمص وحلب وإدلب وحماة. وقد اتهمت منظمة “هيومن رايتس ووتش” قوات النظام السوري باستخدام المدنيين دروعا بشرية.
وبحسب الهيئة العامة للثورة السورية، فإن من بين القتلى تسعة أشخاص بينهم طفل سقطوا في مدينة حمص وحدها نتيجة قصف وإطلاق نار من قوات الأمن السوري. كما قتل خمسة بينهم امرأة في إدلب، وثلاثة في حماة. وقتل آخرون في ريف دمشق وحلب وغيرهما.

وأفاد المرصد السوري لحقوق الإنسان -ومقره بريطانيا- بحدوث حملات دهم واعتقال في مناطق مختلفة من سوريا وباشتباكات عنيفة بين الجيش النظامي ومجموعات منشقة سقط فيها قتلى.

وذكر ناشطون سوريون أن قتلى وجرحى سقطوا في قصف مروحيات استهدف مناطق عندان وحريتان وإعزاز بريف حلب، بينما استمرت الاشتباكات بين الجيش الحر والجيش النظامي في مدينة إعزاز.

ومن ناحية أخرى، أظهرت صور بثها ناشطون سوريون تصاعد أعمدة الدخان من أحياء حمص القديمة بعد تعرضها لقصف من قبل قوات النظام صباح الأحد، ويقول ناشطو الثورة إن قتلى وجرحى سقطوا في أحياء الخالدية وباب هود والصفصافة وباب الدريب والحميدية التي تتعرض للقصف لليوم السادس على التوالي.
الجيش الحر أعلن أنه دمر ثلاث مدرعات لقوات النظام وقتل 15 من الشبيحة (الفرنسية)

قتلى شبيحة
من جانبهم، أفاد ناشطون على موقع الثورة السورية على الإنترنت بأن رئيس فرع المخابرات الجوية العقيد إياد مندو قتل على أيدي عناصر الجيش الحر قرب بلدة الغزلانية بريف دمشق. وقال الناشطون إن مندو هو المسؤول عن مجزرة العبادة التي حدثت في “الجمعة العظيمة” من العام الماضي.

وكان الجيش الحر قد أعلن أمس أنه دمر ثلاث مدرعات لقوات النظام السوري، وقتل 15 من “الشبيحة” في اللجات بدرعا.

وقال رئيس المرصد السوري لحقوق الإنسان رامي عبد الرحمن “يحاول آلاف الجنود وما يزيد عن 100 مركبة عسكرية دخول إحدى المناطق في درعا اليوم لكنهم يشتبكون مع المنشقين”.

وفي ريف دمشق، أفاد المرصد السوري لحقوق الإنسان بأن “مجموعة مسلحة منشقة استهدفت مفرزتيْ الأمن العسكري وأمن الدولة في مدينة النبك في ريف دمشق بقذائف آر بي جي فجر الأحد، وشوهدت سيارات الإسعاف تتجه إلى المنطقة بعد الهجوم”.

مظاهرات مستمرة
وعلى صعيد الاحتجاجات، خرجت مظاهرات في مدن سورية منها العاصمة دمشق للمطالبة برحيل نظام الرئيس بشار الأسد، ونظم سكان حي جوبر في العاصمة دمشق مظاهرتين ليليتين انطلقت إحداهما من مسجد السادات باتجاه جامع حذيفة.
مظاهرات بمدن سورية منها العاصمة دمشق للمطالبة برحيل نظام الأسد (الجزيرة-أرشيف)

وأفاد ناشطون أن قوات الأمن ومن يوصفون بالشبيحة حاولوا تفريق مظاهرة طلابية حاشدة في جامعة حلب.
وتشهد مناطق عدة في ريف حلب مظاهرات يومية يحرسها عناصر الجيش الحر، ويطالب المتظاهرون خلالها برحيل النظام، وينددون ب
[…]

This conjecture does no good or harm to the reputation of the first lady of Syria,and may therefore be safely left uncontradicted.
Am I reading OK magazine?

True character is defined by our reaction to dramatic and unforseen events. Therefore, Asma’s passive and if not complicit reactions speak volumes.

The FSA is a gang of salafist thugs and the dregs of Libya and Iraq who couldn’t beat Assad even with all their foreign training and support.

Dear Moderator/Syria Comment Commentors:

I writing here to complain about Syria Comment’s bias and slant in favor of Bashar’s 42-year-old dictatorship. Please read the headlines of the last three posts on SC:

1) “In Defense of Asma al-Assad,” by an Anonymous Syrian

P.S., could this “anonymous” person be one of Asma’s and Bashar’s propagadists?

2) News Round UP (23 March 2012)
This pro-regime “news round up” was about warning us from Islamists, al-Farouk brigade, and relying on unreferenced story from al-Vatican’s newspaper.
How come this news round up did not discuss the murder of entire family’s in Homs by the regime and its Shabiha? If you want to post from al-Vatican’s newspaper, why don’t you also post from “Islamonline” on destruction of mosques and asking Syrians to pray for “God” Bashar?! There are hundreds of YouTube videos showing Bashar’s soldiers/Shabiha asking Syrians to pray for “God” Bashar!!!!!!

3)
Upheaval within the Opposition: Defections, Terrorism, and Preparing for a Phase II Insurgency

Isn’t this headline biased against the Syrian Revolution?

Yesterday, I expressed MY OPINION that the Vatican Newspaper story wasn’t credible, and my comment was removed/banned. Is SC becoming like Tishrin, SANA, al-Dounia, al-Manar TV, al-Ba’ath?!

Recently, Syria Comment LESS “fair and balanced” to the courageous Syrian Revolution against the dictator THAN Fox News Channel is toward President Obama!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No wonder SC is becoming a bastion for pro-regime comment writers!

Free Syria, Free Palestine!

Asma is spending money she knows or should have known that the money are stolen money, and she is spending lavishly at a time the people are suffering.

However we should not forget that she has no blood on her hands, and I sense that she feels deprived depressed and powerless to do anything to help others,she knows that she is married to a brutal dictator, she is brainwashed,and out of touch. I know that finding herself among scary criminal family is shocking to her, we heared her saying in the past that Bashar is argumentative, I am sure she objected to his ideas, we do not know the real Asma, we need to judge her fairly, after we know the facts for sure.

Saying that I see a woman who crys when she is alone and realize what deep trouble she is in, I take it that she is a depressed woman.

Our enemy is Bashar himself, he is the one who is killing Syrians,and destroying this beloved country.

Is there a war coming?

افادت “صوت لبنان-صوت الحرية والكرامة” ان “الأمن العام السوري في مركز جديدة يابوس يمنع المواطنين السوريين فوق 18 سنة من مغادرة الاراضي السورية الى لبنان ويطلبون منههم العودة الى سوريا”، واضافت ان “هذا التدبير يأتي بعد ان طلبت السلطات السورية الاحتياط العام من صفوف المواطنين السوريين داعية اياهم الى الالتحاق في صفوف الجيش السوري”.
 
http://www.elnashra.com/news/show/455075/صوت-لبنان-الامن-العام-السوري-يمنع-السوريين-فوق-الـ

It’s funny to see ‘Palestinians’ echo western media talking points and hoping that Syria goes the way of Libya and Iraq, just saying.

It’s funny to see how they want Syria to fall. Who next? Iran?

Naseer
What’s really pathetic and not ‘funny’ at all is to see Syrians selling their souls for the devil by calling for their homeland to be occupied.

Isn’t telling that now the supporters of the regime have to hide behind anonymous!!!!!

If Mary-Antoinette lived now she would say: “Can’t we give them Micro Loans”?!!!!

here is finally the picture for shopping and bombing…

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=332914150091590&set=a.177702555612751.35086.100001190232455&type=1&theater

lollapalooza security operation in England!!!

Hay,Is it,to prevent Lady Asma of syria from sneaking in[no longer great britain] and extinguish the Olympic Flame?

or to keep out Prime Minister David Cameron friendly evil doers?

David Cameron regime[democracy my foot]been promoting al-Qaida and other terrorist groups to Light Up the Sky in syria with filthy like their teeth british rockets “cruel kindness” comming from David Cameron Zionist Oxymoron regime.

London Olympics…
nearly all 3,800 of Britain’s MI-5 agents staff mobilized in the capital against potential terrorist attacks by David Cameron islamic mujahadeen…In addition, Britain’s foreign security agency MI-6 and its electronic listening division GCHQ will be involved in security, along with 13,500 military personnel. There will even be surface-to-air missiles placed around London

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/mi5-puts-all-3800-agents-on-olympic-watch-7584968.html

“on Asma al-Assad, who tried to improve Syria for both the poor and women” (last sentence in silly lead article)

Until her employer (Assad Inc) decided it was time to stop the PR playacting and gun them down.

OMEN (#23), I suspect you could be right about Dr Landis succumbing to diplomatic pleading and pressure to run this ridiculous article. Syrian ambassador to the US Imad Moustapha could well have been ordered to use his friendship with Landis to make it happen.

DAWOUD (#29), You could have a point. I am sitting here wondering why comments about Mrs Assad I posted a few hours ago have not appeared. In this case, if a diplomat-driven deal has been done as Omen suggested, criticism of Mrs Assad could be being heavily moderated.

Israelians who dont hate Iran and Iranians

Good riddance to the Syrian air force intelligence chief, whose unit is the most human rights violator in Syria! Too bad he couldn’t be arrested and tried for his and Bashar’s crimes!
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/03/26/203181.html

المعارضة: مقتل رئيس فرع المخابرات الجوية بدمشق
ارتفاع عدد القتلى الذين سقطوا الأحد بنيران قوات النظام في سوريا إلى 70 قتيلاً

العربية.نت

أفادت مصادر في المعارضة السورية بمقتل رئيس فرع المخابرات الجوية في دمشق العقيد إياد مندو، ولم يتسنَ لـ”العربية” التأكد من صحة هذه المعلومة.

من جهتها، أعلنت لجان التنسيق المحلية ارتفاع عدد القتلى الذين سقطوا الأحد بنيران قوات النظام في سوريا إلى 70 قتيلاً.

وأفادت شبكة شام بسماع دوي عدة انفجارات في اللاذقية،
[…]

The lowest of the low are the informers who pass on the names and addresses of protestors, demonstrators and opposition sympathisers to the regime resulting in at least their arrest and their homes being burnt down by regime forces. [They could be informing under threat so am I being too harsh?]

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/syria-mar-26-2012-1137

Terrorist painting over a portrait of Assad ‘allegedly in Damascus’ al-Joubeh Square near the political security intelligence branch.’ These terrorists right from the beginning were pulling down statues and portrait frames of the Assads.

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/syria-mar-26-2012-1147

I think the majority of Syrians want peace instead of being taken over by Salafist proxies.

One hesitates to wonder what will come of the Alawite and Christian minorities, or the status of women once the religious nut cases take over.

Terrorists shooting and practicing how to kill Syrians, check out Alqaeda beards:

قناصة يقومون بقنص المدنيين والامن على الطرق
http://youtu.be/dluaKLDB-1I

تدريب للارهابيين بحضور مصوريين اجانب
http://youtu.be/26Z4u_RMfKE

Uzair

to what i know from studying the east german muhabarat it was clear that they not only recruited those who had a loyal belief in the regime, but they used many who were against the regime. My oncle was 19, when he made a joke about the communist party in a bar, he was sent to prison and got 1 year sentence for this joke. He got out 4 weeks later to everyones surprise. After the regime collapsed he told all of us that he got a deal with the government, if he would spy on the family and co workers he would get out from the prison. After 1 year they let him pass from this informer job because he was not cooperating as they thought. Also the secret service had a special school in which they trained the officers how to recruit, how to influence people to become an informer. They never hesitated even to recruit 15 year olds to report on their fellow classmates. Some were surely victims, so i assume many are pressured also in Syria to do this dirty work.( and i assume in an arab society there are even more pressuretools to use) It used to be that you need an paper from the secret service before opening a shop or drive a taxi, so i assume this was a perfect recruiting tool for the syrian muhabarat.

#30. Majedkhaldoun said “I know that finding herself among scary criminal family is shocking to her”

Not if you consider what we now know about her father’s attitudes and enthusiastic advice to the regime to help deny and cover up its violence.

You comments in defence of her are gentleman-like. But are they based a lot on how she looks? If she happened to be as physically ugly as her husband, I seriously ask if anyone would try to excuse her and refuse to believe she is a willing part of Assad Inc.

#42 Jeurgen

What a horrible, monstrous regime we have here.

It would be tragic if the Assads or the regime survived in power.

It would be a travesty of justice if the Syrian revolution was to fail, after the uprisings (revolutions, pseudo-revolutions, palace coups) in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya succeeded. If any country was taylor made for a revolution and most desperately in need of one it was Syria.

Asma is not the issue. this is a distraction. Time will tell if she was coerced or is willing and able to be part of the mafia.
from the e mails of her father, he clearly is a part of it.
Let us see if any one can have a defense of Fredo or Sunny Corleone or of the Corleone banker Rami or of the Corleone enforcer Clemenza Makhloof and the list goes on.
Is there anyone in defense of Drummber Muallem or of J’amuse Jaffaari or of Sherif Shehada on the airwaves?

This is a garbage and we should move to a new posting

Assad’s opponents have wished Asma had left husband and emigrated to UK months ago on this blog, now they feel betrayed when husband and wife stand together.

Article was poorly written, in my opinion. But that’s me, who personally think she has conducted herself fine and would deserve better advocate. There may be a point she did little or nothing to help stop violence in Syria, but we don’t really know enough to judge her guilty. As for Homs and Asma knowing what is going on there, she had no doubt known about ugly sectarian violence killings on all sides there, way before Army assault started. Did anyone ask themselves how would Hama or Damascus or Aleppo looked if government had allowed that to happen? Heaven for advocates of violence and killing, not so much for normal people.

There is no wish for dialogue from external opposition (contrary to government), so expecting retreat/rebellion/betrayal/support… from Asma is illusionary.

Uzair

dont worry, the regimes days are numbered. Syria wont become the North Corea of the ME as some wished here.

If the opposition can see out April without losing too much ground they could force the regime to embarrassingly postpone or suspend the joke elections in May. They won’t give the true reasons for doing so instead blaming some technicality.

With the arrival of summer I don’t think the already exhausted (mentally and physically) regime thugs will be happy chasing peaceful protestors around in scorching temperatures.

Their workload will be increased multi-fold in Ramadan in mid July (increased attendance at normal mosque prayers and the additional nightly Taraweeh prayers.)

Such factors will not affect the revolutionaries.

Another tourist season will be lost.

Btw the wasps come out in summer.

https://www.joshualandis.com/blog/?p=13243&cp=all#comment-292986

Homs demonstration of yesterday

I can’t believe SC is giving space to this idiotic PR piece on Assad’s wife. It reads like made-up filler for a cheap women’s magazine.

Facts on Asma Assad:

– She’s a gangster’s moll. She knowingly took on the job at 25, and it’s now been her active career for 12 years

– It’s a key spin-doctored role with Assad Inc, and she openly enjoys the attention and fashion side of it

– Her much raved about “career in merchant banking” amounted to junior work for less than 4 years in her early 20’s between graduation and marriage

– We now know she was reared by a father with the reasoning and ethics of a mukharabet adviser

– The “wonderful projects” she is being praised for were small-scale PR exercises that ranked nowhere much in the bigger reality of Syrian social needs, and served to distract from real issues the government was neglecting

If she looked like Mrs Gaddafi or Mrs Ben Ali there would be zero fantasies and defence of her – it’s THAT shallow.

(PS I remember the publicity years ago about Suzanne Mubarek’s wonderful caring social projects. This was probably the model for Assad Inc’s “Suzanne”).

[ Alex C, I have altered your name to prevent confusing you with another commentator and author, Alex (Camille Otrakji).]

Is this an opposition website?

If so, why is everyone drunk or high on their own BO?

Focus on the issues, which are unemployment, education, justice, healthcare, transportation, agriculture, industry….

[ Alex C, I have added a letter to distinguish you from Alex (Camille Otrakji), one of the Syria Comment editors and authors over the years.]

The comments to this article epitimise the type of contributors to SC which I have followed for many years. Incredibly this is one of the very few Asma articles posted on SC since its creation. Why is that? Were you commentators as descriptive before the crisis about her work, achievements and efforts? Unfortunately not.

It seems to me that many of the SC followers are clearly passionate about Syria but have not lived there in recent years. They are educated and opportunistic but ignorant and impotent. You seduce each other with theory and intellect but lack insight into the real dynamics on the ground. You want change but would struggle to implement it in the tough reality which is Syria.

You are very Syrian in you profound talent to criticise and ridicule what others do but not by proposing real, patient and achievable alternatives. They love gourmet microwave dinners but have never made a sandwich. Syria is not about us against them. The attitudes expressed particularly in respect to this article are a disgrace and are disgusting to anyone who knows the truth. Pointing the finger at Asma Assad only points the finger away from you. Hence, we arrive at the conclusion.

Tell or show us what you have done for or in Syria to progress it and lets talk about that. Anonymous or not your ignorance will identify you much better than any name or alias you use.

The challenge is to put forward real solutions to magnify and exacerbate our many problems…..I think Asma Assad has done that in the face of many obstacles and adversity.

To those of you in Saudi, please remind me what your queen looks like, or what she has or is allowed to contribute to society. I would also appreciate an annual shopping summary of your democratically elected Royal government. Bring it on….I cannot wait.

BTW I am a proud Syrian, and neither regime loyalist or militant/radical opposition so don’t throw that one at me….

I know the work of those NGOs belonging to the First Lady office (called the “Syrian Trust for Development”, STD). Their performance is far away from the picture given in this articule. Here are some comments about the Syrian Trust:

1. In fact, the STD is a way to centralize all the actions within the syrian civil society. Many NGOs (NGOs with a real development strategy) have suffered the oblivion of donors and partners due to the monopoly of the STD. Competing with the STD is a mission imposible for small associations and organizations: this competitiveness is far from being fair.

2. Through centralizing control of the syrian civil society you make two achievements: you kill any effort of marginal sectors to organize themeselves and you bring a friendly facade of the regime.

3. Their real impact on the field is limited to charitable actions.

4. They aren’t the development engine agent they try to sell. In fact its role is limited by the Baath aparatus. The Syrian Trsut was not able to pass a new law for the civil sector or NGOs, they do not promote real changes aiming at strenghtening the civil society, they just try to impress using the image of the First lady: empty and useless work.

SO FOR THOSE FEELING IMPRESSED BY THE FIRST LADY CHARM I’D JUST RECOMMEND NOT TRYING TO SELL US THIS IDEA TROUGH THE PERFORMANCE OF THE STD. TECHINICALLY, IN TERMS OF THE ‘TRUST’ ROLE WITHIN THE SYRIAN SOCIETY, THERE ISN’T A WAY TO ACCEPT THAT IDEA.

I WILL NOT FALL INTO THIS RECURRENT TRAP!!!

She is the most credible practitioner and leader on the ground in the past ten years….her record in a very challenging context speaks volumes. She can be forgiven for wanting Harry Potter on DVD or using iTUNES.

Alex C

If thousands of Syrians wouldnt have been killed and thousands more would be tortured and imprisoned we would all not care if she reads Harry Potter or use Itunes.

Bronco, Mawal,

تصعيد رجب طيب أردوغان حول المنطقة العازلة إستعراض مسرحي تكذبه الوقائع
كتب سومر سلطان- عربي برس

نشرت صحيفة “يني شفق” الموالية لأردوغان خبراً جاء فيه أن رئيس الوزراء التركي اتخذ قرار إنشاء المنطقة العازلة على الحدود مع سورية، وحمل الخبر عنواناً لا يقل إثارة عنه: “رئيس الوزراء ضغط على زر إنشاء المنطقة العازلة”. هذا طبعاً مع اغفال حقيقة أن اتخاذ مثل هذا القرار، وهو عملياً إعلان حرب، يتجاوز بحجمه حجم وامكانات أردوغان.
كذلك كانت لهجته، وهو الذي كثيراً ما تبجح بأنه وريث سلاطين بني عثمان، استعلائية للغاية بُعيد لقاء جمعه ووزير خارجيته ورئيس استخباراته بباراك أوباما في كوريا الجنوبية حين تحدث عن حل الأزمة السورية ضمن إطار القانون الدولي. وحفل الإعلام الموالي لأردوغان كما هي العادة بالأخبار والتحليلات، التي تعد بقرب سقوط النظام السوري. وتحدث بعضهم عن خارطة طريق إقامة هذه المنطقة العازلة.
من جهة أخرى تروي الوقائع الميدانية العكس. وإن تفاصيل معركة كسر العظم بين الجيش والأمن السوريين من جهة والجيش والأمن التركيين مع عصابات المعارضة المسلحة من جهة أخرى تشي بمأزق كبير تعانيه تركيا ولو أنها لم تستفق بعد. ولكن قبل الخوض في ذلك سنروي الحادثة التالية: سمع الكثير بأزمة التنقيب عن النفط بين قبرص وتركيا، فقد اتخذت تركيا قراراً بالرد على تنقيب قبرص عن النفط في عرض البحر عبر ارسال سفينة تركية للتنقيب عن النفط أيضاً، وهكذا وصل التحدي ذروته بحسب وسائل إعلام السلطة. لكن ما أرسله أردوغان ليس سفينة تنقيب عن النفط في حقيقته بل سفينة سبر قديمة أكثر تطوراً بقليل من سفن صيد السمك. والقبارصة بدورهم فهموا رسالة أردوغان جيداً؛ سينقبون عن النفط ما شاؤوا وليقم أردوغان بالاستعراض ما شاء أيضاً.
{…}
تتكرر أمامنا إذن بصورة واضحة حادثة سفينة التنقيب، فأردوغان يسعى على الأرض للفلفة الأمور، لكنه إعلامياً لا يتخلى عن عادته المرضية بالاستعراض. خاصة وأن طارئاً طرأ على مكانته المفترضة، وهذا الطارئ هو عدم شمول برنامج زيارات كوفي عنان لأنقرة بينما شمل قطر من اليوم الأول، وفي ذلك إهانة كبيرة لمن يعتبر نفسه وريث السلاطين، ونقطة هامة لمنافسه على الأضواء أمير قطر. وهذه نقطة هامة لتفسير الاستماتة التركية لعقد مؤتمر اسطنبول، ومنع أو تأجيل فرط عقد المعارضة السورية إلى ما بعد المؤتمر.
http://arabi-press.com/?page=article&id=29318

Continuing the ‘summer’ theme in #53.

You’d have thought this was a time Asma would blossom (spring/summer) and not be facing the greatest scrutiny in her life so far.

It seems this summer the wasps have this english rose in their sights.

JUERGEN

You seem to know exactly who is doing the killing, imprisonment and torturing. Is either side innocent? If the “rebels” use the same tactics as the regime, what makes them better? Have you seen the atrocities the rebels are responsible for? This is not black and white….its the grey middle east.

I reject the destruction and division of Syria. I reject the death of any Syrian in his country by his fellow countryman. But I also refuse to tolerate the one sided, biased and unhelpful discussion about pro and anti as being the solution to this crisis. Keep your eyes on the prize. A democratically inclusive political process. If the opposition reject the new constitution, let them propose another. If they accuse the government of corruption and mismanagment let the provide us with a manifesto detailing the prioritise and agenda….why dont they put the government on the back foot with alternatives????

The sad reason is that they have no idea how. They are divided and cannot move beyond this. They are power and priviledge hungry without providing a credible political agenda or roadmap. Better the devil I know all day, everyday…

It seems that the Asma/Syria haters are not convincing anyone…..or maybe everyone is still sleeping in the USA

David P

Your comments are so unhelpful. Are you trying to prove that all the Trusts work is unhelpful or monopolises funding?

I suspect you are a former employee of the Trust who was kicked out because you only knew how to add to the problems rather than propose solutions. Talk is cheap and particularly when all of it is blame blame blame. Pull your finger out and tell us what you have done or would do….I will understand if you dont respond

I guess my comment didn’t show for the ‘filter’, well here you go again:

Talking of 3a ra 3 eer, it seems that 3 ar 3 our Jr. is attending the meeting in Istanbul

كواليس مؤتمر المعارضة السورية في تركيا : هل يسترد قائد الثورة ” الشيخ عدنان العرعور ” زعامة المجلس الوطني من البروفيسور العلماني ؟

كتب أحمد غولير – عربي برس – إسطنبول

في خطوة مفاجئة وبدعوة من المجلس الوطني السوري بدأ اليوم في مدينة إسطنبول التركية فعاليات مؤتمر المعارضة السورية برعاية قطرية تركية مشتركة من أجل الوصول إلى التوافق على “وثيقة” تؤكد “وحدة الأهداف في الخلاص من النظام وإقامة الدولة الديمقراطية التعددية” قبيل مؤتمر أصدقاء سورية الثاني المقرر عقده في تركيا في الأول من نيسان المقبل.
هيئة التنسيق الوطنية السورية كانت قد أعلنت أنها لن تشارك في مؤتمر توحيد المعارضة بحجة عدم دعوتها بشكل رسمي، لكن مصادر المجلس الوطني السوري أكدت أن سبب عدم دعوة هيئة التنسيق يعود إلى يعود إلى أمرين أولهما الفرق الشاسع في المطالب بينها وبين المجلس ففي حين يطالب الأخير بتدخل عسكري وتسليح الجيش الحر تقوم هيئة التنسيق بزيارة موسكو من أجل الوصول إلى حل سياسي ينهي الأزمة السورية، وثانيهما الخلافات بين أعضاء المجلس أنفسهم والسعي الجاد إلى حلها، فمن غير المعقول أن تتم دعوة هيئة التنسيق للتفاوض من أجل توحيد المعارضة والمجلس غير متوحد بعد.
أجواء المؤتمرين لا توحي بإمكانية التوصل إلى حل لخلافاتهم بحسب المصادر، رغم سعي تركيا وقطر إلى الخروج من هذا المؤتمر بمظهر توحيد جميع الكتل السياسية تحت مظلة المجلس الوطني، مشيرة إلى أن ” المفاجئ “كان حضور نجل عدنان العرعور إلى اسطنبول ولقائه ببعض أعضاء المجلس قبيل دخولهم، ما طرح علامات إستفهام حول توقيت وصوله بالتزامن مع إفتتاح المؤتمر، رغم أن العرعور نفسه أعلن عن ” نزع الشرعية عن المجلس ورئيسه المتخاذل وعصابته من المكتب التنفيذي كما قال”.
{…}
أجواء حفل الإستقبال المتشنجة دفعت بغليون إلى التلويح بإنسحابه وجمع من الأعضاء ممن يوالون الدولة الفرنسية، معتبراً ان ما حصل يخالف مضمون الدعوة إلى عقد المؤتمر، فالمطلوب وضع الخلافات جانباً وليس تسعيرها، وأن الموضوع لم يعد يتعلق بإختلافات حول طريقة العمل أو تضارب في وجهات النظر، بل خطة مدروسة تهدف إلى النيل منه ومن بسمة قضماني على وجه التحديد، وتعريتهما أمام الثوار في الداخل، متهما الشيخ عدنان العرعور بتحريض المتظاهرين منذ ثلاثة أسابيع على رفع صور ويافطات مسيئة له”.
و بعد أخذ ورد عاد غليون إلى مقعده بعد إتفاق تم على أن تكون جميع الإنتقادات بناءة ولا تستهدف التجريح بالأشخاص، وأنه جاهز للإستقالة إذا كان هو السبب في لجم مسيرة الثورة متهماً في ذات الوقت أشخاصاً لم يسمهم بالسعي لإفشاله في عمله مضيفا : “منذ ثلاثة أشهر أدركت أن هناك من يعمل على وضع العصي في الدواليب، وتحديداً عندما وقعنا مع هيئة التنسيق الوطنية إتفاق لبلورة القواعد السياسية للنضال الديمقراطي والمرحلة الانتقالية، فمع الإعلان عن التوقيع تعرضت لحملة إعلامية شرسة بحجة اننا نسطو على الثورة ووصل ببعض أعضاء المجلس إلى حد تجميد عضويتهم و إضطررنا بعدها إلى إلغاء الإتفاق الذي كان من شأنه إستيعاب هيئة التنسيق تمهيداً لدمجها في المجلس”.
{…}
هل من إمكانية للتوصل إلى حل لخلافات المجلس؟
تؤكد المصادر أن الخلافات لا تقتصر على أعضاء المجلس الوطني والمقربين منه فقط، بل تتعداه إلى الدول الداعمة للمعارضة، ففي حين تطالب دول خليجية علنا بتسليح ودعم الجناح العسكري للمعارضة والمعروف بإسم الجيش السوري الحر، تنظر تركيا والدول الأوروبية وأميركا بعين الريبة إلى هذا الطرح مفضلة الجنوح نحو الحل السياسي للأزمة، وبالتالي لا يمكن أن يتفق أعضاء المجلس فيما بينهم إن لم تسوّى الخلافات بين الدول الراعية للمعارضة”.
http://www.arabi-press.com/?page=article&id=29370

Smart moderator, like it or not, if you keep letting an afghani boy writing his hatred messages I’ll not stop writing my replies.

‘It seems this summer the wasps have this english rose in their sights.’

Syialover

I remember Saddam wife, when she objected to her husband brutality, her brother was killed,and she was divorced.

King Hussain arabic wife was dead in plane .

Dictator wife are in very difficult situation, I want to know more about her.

As she was told by the daughter of prince of Qatar that she may come to live in Qatar, her response was not to answer, she could have said no and get angry, could she be willing, but can not do it?

I know for sure that when the revolution is victorious, she will be dead with him, but in my religion, no one is guilty because he is related to criminal, or is a friend of criminal.

45. Naseer Ahmad said:

I think the majority of Syrians want peace instead of being taken over by Salafist proxies.

You are absolutely right, I don’t know if you read Arabic…read:

دعا سلفيون الشباب التونسي إلى “التدرب ” من أجل “قتال اليهود” ودخول “الجنة”.وجاءت الدعوة خلال مظاهرة وسط العاصمة تونس دعت إليها تيارات إسلامية للمطالبة بأن تكون “الشريعة” الإسلامية “المصدر الأساسي والوحيد للتشريع” في دستور تونس الجديد الذي سيكتبه المجلس الوطني التأسيسي.وشارك في المظاهرة آلاف من أنصار تيارات إسلامية مختلفة

وخطب قيادي سلفي ملتح في مئات من الشبان بمكبر صوت قائلا:”هيئوا أنفسكم…تدرّبوا…القتال القتال…اليهود اليهود…القتال القتال…يا شباب يا شباب…القتال في سبيل الله.. الجنة .. الجنة . الجنة… الجنة”. وقابل الشبان دعوة القيادي السلفي بترديد “الله أكبر”.وتم تناقل مقطع فيديو خطبة القيادي السلفي على نطاق واسع في شبكة التواصل الاجتماعي فيسبوك
[…] So what happened in France is not a sporadic incident, it will be on going.
http://www.arabtimes.com/portal/news_display.cfm?Action=&Preview=No&nid=10867

Below is a News Roundup that does not appear on pro-dictator blogs:

1) Bashar al-Assad, the murderous Syrian dictator, is behind the latest terrorist attacks in Baghdad, Iraq to target the upcoming Arab Summit???
http://watan.com/news/politics/2012-03-26/6156
ديبكا: الأسد يرسل عناصر إرهابية لإفشال قمة بغداد

2) The TERRORIST Bashar al-Assad is using Syrian civilians as “Human Shields:”
http://watan.com/news/politics/2012-03-26/6170
حقوق الانسان : الحكومة السورية اجبرت السكان على تشكيل دروع بشرية امام جنود بشار فى الهجوم الاخير

3)http://watan.com/news/politics/2012-03-26/6183
اخوان سورية يتعظون من أخطاء اخوان الجوار ببيان مطمئن للقوى الثورية

4) http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayarticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2012/March/middleeast_March566.xml&section=middleeast&col=
Blasts shake Homs, 30 killed across Syria

5)http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=oUJRYwmaVt0
تدمير ناقلة جنود الخونة من قبل الجيش السوري الحر

6) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5glf82iN7sY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5glf82iN7sY

7) Bashar al-Assad war crimes against SYRIA’S SUNNI MUSLIMS:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EIFJCwJ6Fw&feature=youtube_gdata
حمص القديمة قصف على المنازل بالصواريخ والهاون

8) The terrorist Bashar bombing of Idlib:
إدلب سراقب25 2 2012قصف بالمدفعية والرشاشات الثقيلة
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVgSUz18z_4&feature=youtube_gdata

9)وغاريت دوما ريف دمشق , احد الناشطين بانفعال شديد يتحدث عت القذيفة التي سقطت على المدنيين
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMRcI0Wx2Fc&feature=youtu.be
Duma resident showing the remains of a tank shell that landed in his own house. Yes, Bashar the terrorist is bombing civilians’ homes! Bashar is as bad as al-Qa’ida!

10) ذكرى وفاة الزعيم سلطان باشا الأطرش
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=196714877074364&set=a.196711910407994.50072.114744738604712&type=3

@67 JAD

Hate? Where?

It wasn’t me who put up 2 main posts regarding Asma/e-mails.
I don’t think I’ve criticised Asma today other than make the observation that Asma is facing much unwelcome scrutiny via the 2 recent main posts and user comments on page 1 of this post.

And aren’t wasps attracted to flowers in summer? She is in the sights of the opposition (wasps) in media and propaganda terms.

I’m as much Afghani as Asma is Turkish. I’m as much english as Asma is if not more. She’s a couple of years older than me but I’m born and bred in UK only travelling abroad for 8 weeks.

This syrian issue is now not only of concern to syrians. Of course firstly it is a Syrian issue. It is then also of concern to the wider regional, arab and muslim world.

My last post for now until perhaps later today. I only respond so people aren’t fooled into thinking I’m an afghani and dismissing my comments. Not that there is anyone wrong with Afghanis and their right to comment. 🙂

لا تـُـسْـقِطوا الشام َ .. ايها
البَـقـَر
هذه قصيدة تتناول المؤامرة العربية – الامريكية – الاسرائيلية – التركية
التي تـُنفذ فصولها الآن ضد سوريا
والقصيدة ليست تأييدا ً للنظام
ولكنها دفاع عن سوريا الدولة والتاريخ والحضارة والعروبة
وهذا بالضبط ما تستهدفه هذه المؤامرة …. الشاعر

قصيدة للشاعر والاكاديمي
الفلسطيني الكبير
د. أحمد حسن المقدسي
***
لا تـُـسقِطوا الشام َ يا أعـراب ُ ، واعتبِروا هـذي جـَهنم ُ فـي بغـداد َ تـَـسـْـتعِر ُ
اللعبة ُ ابـتدأت ْ.. واللا عـبون َ أتـَـوا وكاتـب ُ النــَّـص ِّ خـلف َ الـباب ِ مـُـستـَتِر ُ
والحرب ُ توشـك ُ أن ْ تـُـلقي مَعاطِـفـَها وَقــودُها الــنـفط ُ والـدّولار ُ والبـَـشـَر ُ

ماذا أقـول ُ ؟ وهل تـُـجْدي مـُـعاتـَبَتي
وعـُـصْبة ُ الـشَّر مــن ْ صـُهيون َ تأتـَـمِـر ُ

ماذا أقـول ُ لأعــراب ٍ تـُـحَرِّكـُهم
كـف ُّ العـمالة ِ والأحـقاد ُ والـبـَطـَر ُ

فـأي ُّ جامعة ٍ تـلك َ الـتي خــَـنـَعَت ْ
فــيها التـــَّـآمـُـر ُ بالأخلاق ِ يَـعْــتـَمِر ُ

قــرن ٌ وجامـعة ُ الأشـرار ِ في صَــمـَم ٍ
فالأرض ُ تـُنـْهــب ُ، والأعـراب ُ مـا نـَـفـَروا

والقـدس ُ تـُـذبح ُ مِــثل َ الطيْر ِ راعِـفة ً
فأطـْـرق ٌ القـوم ُ ، لا حِــس ٌّ ولا خـَـبَر ُ

كـم ْ قبـَّـلوا كــَـف َّ جـَـزّار ٍ يُـقـَـتـِّـلنا
وفـوق َ أشـلائنا يا ويْـحَهم سـَـكِروا

هــل تـِلك َ جـامعة ٌ أم تِـلك َ مَـزبلة ٌ يَسوسُها في زمان ِ العـُهْـر ِ مـَن ْ صَـغـُروا
هــذي الــزَّريْـبـَة ُ ما عـادت ْ تــُـمـَثــِّـلـُنا مـادام َ تـَسـكنها الثــيْران ُ والحـُــمُر ُ

اليوم َ أنعـي لأهـل ِ الخـير ِ جامعة ً
عـَـرّابـُـها الـدُّب ُّ والأفـّـاق ُ والــقـّذِر ُ

لـو ذرّة ٌ مـِــن ْ حـياء ٍ في وُجُوهـِهـِم ُ
لأشـعلوا النار َ فـي الإسـْـطبل َ وانتـحروا

***

لا تقتــلوا الــشام َ فالــتاريخ ُ عـَــلـَّمنا أن َّ العـُــروبة َ دون َ الــشام ِ تـَــندَحِـر ُ
فــأمـَّة ُ العـُــرْب ِ لا تـَــفـْنى بـلا قـَــطـَر ٍ لـكــنها دون َ رُمـْـح ِ الـــشام ِ تنكــسِر ُ
ولــن ْ نعيــش َ كأيتــام ٍ بــلا حـَــمَـد ٍ ولـن نمــوت َ إذا مــا أ ُلغِــــيَت ْ قــَــطـَر ُ

لكـننا دون َ سـَــيْف ِ الـــشام ِ جارية ٌ
يـَـلوطـُها التـُّـرْك ُ .. والرومان ُ .. والتـَّــتـَر ُ

قـبائـل ُ النـفط ِ باسـم ِ الــحُب ِّ تقتـُــلـُنا
فالـحُب ُ فـاض َ بـهم ْ، والعـِـشق ُ ينفجـِــر ُ

عـواصِـم َ المِلح ِ عـودوا عـن مَحَــبَّتِكـُم
فلـدغة ُ الحـُـب ِّ مــنْ أنيابكم سـَـقـَر ُ

يا مرحـبا ً بـِـدِمُــقــراطية ٍ هـَـبَطـَـت ْ
مِـن َ الـسماء ِ وقــد كانوا بـها كـفروا

هـذا الـــزواج ُ مــن الموساد ِ نعرِفـُــه ُ ولــيس َ يـُخـْــطِئه ُ سـَــمْـع ٌ ولا بـَــصـَر ُ
هـذي دموع ُ تماسـيح ٍ ، فـما ذ ُرفـت ْ لـشعْب ِ غـــزة َ والآلاف ُ تـُــحْتـَضـَر ُ
هـذا العـويل ُ علــى الأرواح ِ لـم نـَرَه ُ والناس ُ تـُـطـْبَخ ُ في قـانا وتنـْــصَهـِر ُ
وفـي العـراق ِ صـَـمَتـُّم ْ صـَــمْت َ مـَــقـْبَرَة ٍ وآلة ُ المـوت ِ لا تـُــبقي ولا تـَـذَر ُ

أمـَّا القـَـطيف ُ ، فـَـهُم ْ أبــناء ُ جــاريـَة ٍ
وقـَــتـْلـُهم طــاعة ٌ للـه ِ يُعـْـــتـَبَر ُ

فما رأيـْـنـَا عــيونا ً أدْمَعَـت ْ دُرَرَا ً
ولا قـُلـوبا ً علـى الأرواح ِ تـَنـْـفـَطِر ُ

***

لا تـقتـلوا الــشام َ إن َّ الـشام َ روضتـُنا دون َ الــشآم ِ يـموت ُ الضَـــوء ُ والــقـَمَر ُ
لا تـَـذْبحوها فــهذي الــشام ُ لوحـَــتـُنا لولا الـــشآم ُ لـمات َ الــشِّـعْر ُ والــــحَوَر ُ
يا شـام ُ صبرا ً ، فإن َّ الغـدْرَ دَيـْــدَنـُهم كـم مـرة ٍ لــتراب الـقـُدس ِ قــد غــدَروا !!

ظـَـنـُّوا الـزَعامَة َ دشـْـداشـا ً ومـِسْـبَحَة ً
ولـحْيـَة ً بـِــسـُموم ِ الـنفط ِ تـَخـْـتـَمِـر ُ

حَسِـبْـتـُهم ْ مـِـن ْ خطايا الأمس ِ قد فـَهِـموا
ظــَــننتـُهم فـَـهـِموا ، لـكنـَّهم بـَــقـَر ُ

***

يا رب ُ عـفوك َ، أنـْـقِذنا بمعجزة ٍ
تـُـزلزلُ الأرض َ فـيهم ، إنـَّهم فـجَروا
http://www.arabtimes.com/Ahmad%20Hassan/01.html
Same poet wrote : أيتام بوش
أجــوب ُ شـَــرقا ً وغـربا ً في العراق ِ، أرى
أرض َ العـُـــروبة ِ لـكـــن ْ ، لا أرى عـَــرَبـَا
http://www.arabtimes.com/2009/31.html

انشاالله شي زلقطة تقرصك!

Russia has the Responsibility to Protect Circassians and Russians living in Syria

Syria’s Circassians ‘Seek Return’ to Russia – 26/03/2012

http://en.ria.ru/russia/20120326/172399389.html

Large numbers of Syria’s Circassian community are seeking a return to their traditional homeland in Russia’s North Caucasus as fighting intensifies between government forces and rebels, a Russian senator said on Monday.

“The possible coming to power of the radical Syrian opposition is viewed by the Circassian community as a direct threat to their lives,” Federation Council senator Albert Kazharov told journalists.

Analysts say the Circassian community has traditionally backed President Bashar al-Assads’s regime.

“More than 200 families are ready to pack their things today and leave immediately,” Kazharov said. “But the situation there is tough and unpredictable and many people are in no state to say what they want – but I did not meet anyone who ruled out leaving.”

Kazharov is senator for the North Caucasus republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, where the majority of Russia’s Circassians live. He was part of an eleven-strong Russian delegation that flew into Syria for a four-day fact-finding mission on March 16.

But, he said, for those who want to flee, the current chaotic situation in Syria makes it extremely difficult to get the necessary documents, including passports and visas. Kazharov has proposed changes to existing Russian immigration laws to help facilitate the speedy return of the Circassians. The Russian authorities have yet to approve the proposals.

Over 100 members of Syria’s Circassian community sent an appeal to President Dmitry Medvedev in December asking to be repatriated, Russia media reports said.

[…]

The goal of Monday’s conference is “for all forces and parties of the opposition not to be a union, but at least to have a united purpose,” said Amar Qurabi, leader of the National Change Current opposition group.

Bassam Imadi, a former Syrian ambassador to Sweden and a member of the Syrian National Council, said Monday’s meeting “is probably going to enlarge and restructure the SNC.” He predicted four opposition groups that had previously refused to join the SNC would agree to join by the end of this week.

Monday’s opposition meeting in Istanbul comes two days after a top military defector said armed rebel groups have aligned under the leadership of the Free Syrian Army.

Uniting all efforts will bolster the anti-regime movement and safeguard the nation, Brig. Gen. Mustafa Sheikh said in a video posted on YouTube.

The move addressed a key concern for observers of the Syrian crisis both inside and outside the country — that armed rebel groups were disjointed and divided.

“In these critical and difficult times that our beloved country is going through, all the honorable men and women in this nation are required to work on uniting all efforts to overthrow this corrupt regime,” Sheikh said.

//
http://www.wisn.com/nationalnews/30758769/detail.html 

If Syrian Circassians go to Russia, Syrian Arminians to Arminia, Syrian Greeks to Greece, Syrian Sunnis to Turkey, Syrian Christians to Beirut, Syrian Alawites eliminated, Syrian Druz to Jumbla6 beik, Syrian Shia to Iran, who is left in Syria for those traitor oppositions call themselve ‘Syrians’ to rule!!??
British Afghanis?

Israel quits UN’s human rights arm – Mar 26, 2012

http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_03_26/69661702/

Israel has slammed the door on the United Nations Human Rights Council.

The development follows the Council’s decision to investigate Israel’s settlement activity in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The Council said this policy violates the rights of the Palestinian residents of these territories and removes the prospect of a two-state solution for the Middle East.

[…]

@ JAD — I am not anonymous at all. I have “outed” myself on this block several times (race, religion, ethnicity, poltical persuasion etc). If anyone wants to really find me and associate me with my comments on this subject in 20 years, they most certainly can.

Annan: Possible resignation of Assad a matter for Syrians

The UN Secretary-General’s special envoy for Syria, Kofi Annan, believes that whether or not Syrian President Bashar Assad should resign is up to Syrians themselves to decide. At a press conference in Moscow on Monday, he said “It’s up to the Syrian people to make a decision. I am not the one to decide.”

[…]

http://rt.com/news/line/2012-03-26/#id28593

Quote:
“There is an urgent need for us to stoop to their level, at least in action. Thats the only way to defeat them.”

Antoine, I will address your comment as it appears. You can clarify if you’d like.

Rape will obviously not defeat them. Torture will not either. Killing their children would be very cruel and unjust. They are at war with Syrians who oppose them politically, and a war it is. Using their own tactics to fight against them is still wrong, and doing so will make it that much harder to heal afterwards.

God will curse those on both sides that commit atrocities. So far the regime is the biggest perpetrator of war crimes. The opposition cannot control every event on the ground, but they should indeed fight to do so. Individuals that transgress limits should be prosecuted during and afterwards, along with Bashar’s thugs.

The young opposition is the future of Syria. Let’s make sure these youth don’t abandon the moral high ground. Let’s make sure they retain their conscience for the peace and rebuilding of communities to come.

@ Everyone who keeps emailing me & those posting on this blog who want to know what I have against the Harvard Arab Alumni Association:

For those who are unaware, in 2010 the Harvard Arab Alumni Association (HAAA) gave Asma Assad a huge gala bash and award for her “humanitarian deeds to the Syrian people”. How can this be?

The truth is that the HAAA has become a shameful example of the Arab diaspora who are willing to legitimize despotoic regimes back home for there own self interest. It meant nothing to this elitist alumni group to honor a regime who for 40 years has killed thousands of it’s own citizens. Nor was the fact that the same Baathist regime in Damascus has directly been implicated in countless death of American service men & women.

But the HAAA never even mentioned any of this in anouncing its decision or during the ceremonies and ensuing party. What’s worse the event was part of a much larger media branding tour that the Baathist regime organized with the help of American lobbyists and consultants. Just before the Harvard bash Vanity Fair released its cover feauture titled “Asma Rose of the Desert”.

Clearly the executive of the HAAA and it’s membership who elect them decided to overlook all of this for there own reasons. The fact that many in this group have there own personal dealings with the country and regime has never ben mentioned as far as I can tell.

Now don’t get me wrong, Harvard has many progessive alumni organizations. There history of service to the community is long and honourable. But when it comes to the HAAA there are those in the academic community who feel that it actions have shown that it is a self interested group who have few concerns about there fellow Arabs. The reason that I raise it on this blog is that many of the people who come to it are also members. Maybe if more people spoke out about the shameful actions of the group, the HAAA would be truly interested in the needs of Arab people and not promoting these criminals against humanity.

Alex C,

You said, “Focus on the issues, which are unemployment, education, justice, healthcare, transportation, agriculture, industry….”

You can argue with me here, but I do not see these issues ever being addressed under the current regime. I can go into detail if you would like as to why, but frankly Bashar is no “reformer”. I am also ignoring the war crimes of the past year because you seem to not wish to discuss them.

Alex, I once nearly a year back on this forum tried to start some discussion on topics you mentioned above. Maybe if you had been present, we could have had great talks. The fact is not one person added their thoughts. People on SC are preoccupied with ideology, events, certain facts and falsehoods, and political argument. And name-calling.

In my mind, as well as yours obviously, an online forum of intellectual discussion on issues related to topics you mentioned above would be a fantastic use of our collective talent to seek out solutions to problems. This forum may need to be held offline, or if online surely not here on the SC comments section after blog posts.

Number of Iraqis welcomed in Syria 1,000,000+ and Palestinians 600,000+

Number of Syrians in Turkey reaches 17,171: official

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-03/26/c_122884424.htm

“Number of Syrians in Turkey reaches 17,171: official”

Most Syrians who escaped to Turkey and elsewhere do not live in refugee camps. Most also choose to remain anonymous and unreported for their own safety. I know many families in neighboring countries who have arrived on extended “vacations”. The actual number displaced outside of Syria in Turkey and elsewhere is much higher.

In addition, the hundreds of thousands of displaced within Syria would readily flee if they had the option. Many don’t have passports, or they have passports needing renewal but cannot travel. If it were not for shabiha and army gunmen, and the many perilous landmines laid by the regime, a million would flee. If it were not for the fear of losing property left behind, millions would leave.

ANN, your propaganda is meaningless. The situation is dire, and the war crimes are very real.