Rime Allaf
@rallaf
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Democracy - warts and all - is always better than the alternative. Writer, Syria & ME specialist. Communications Strategist & Trainer.
Joined September 2008
The Syrian revolution changed the world. 13 years since Syrians finally protested the regime's violent injustices, taking to the streets peacefully, en masse. They wanted to improve their lives; they were abandoned to carnage and despair. We all continue to pay the price.
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20 years ago today, I was at a Damascus hair salon when an assistant rushed to tell us Hafez Assad had died. What I saw and lived in the next days and years is set in stone in my memory. This thread is but a glimpse of life in #Syria then and the slow descent into implosion. /1.
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I'm Syrian and have written, spoken & worked on Syrian affairs since 2000. I am overwhelmed by the sense of collective hope we are sharing, the determination to survive our grief & build this beautiful country after not just 13 years of war, but 54 years of violent Assadism.
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I have never seen so many grown men cry, unashamedly, openly, as they should. The Syrian trauma is immense, and we have only just begun to scratch the surface of the Assads' savagery and depravity. If this is the first time you hear about Sednaya and other jails, see this book.
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Non-Syrian 'analysts' keep explaining that Syrians do not have a national identity. Really? Here's Hama today with Janna - paradise, our nation is paradise, the song Abdelbasset Sarout used to sing in Homs as everyone sang & swayed along during the first months of the revolution.
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This was in Aleppo, Syria, in November 2016. For people with short memories. (Translated from Arabic leaflets dropped in their thousands on helpless inhabitants.)
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This is Osama Othman, civil engineer, otherwise known as Caesar, the brave man who photographed bodies of Syrian detainees who had been tortured to death & brought to the Military Hospital in Mezzeh, Damascus. Clips in this piece.
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Students at Aleppo University in May 2012. They wanted dignity and freedom too, like millions of other Syrians. Remember how it started.
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Today all of Syria was ALIVE for the first time in more than half a century. No people bussed in by the regime. No coercion, and no photos or empty slogans brandished by anyone. Just seas of people freely celebrating their country under the Independence Flag, chanting SOURIA.
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I don't think there is a woman on earth, regardless of her politics, who doesn't relate to this photo, and who is not also mentally photoshopping it with other women and men relevant to her life, from news to work to home. We need the #PelosiClap as an emoji!
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Many Syrians got emotional seeing prisoners liberated in Aleppo last night; there are still some 150,000 - 200,000 political detainees in Assad's jails (inc. many women). He refuses to release them despite Security Council Res 2254, even though it would cost him nothing.
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Many non-Syrians will not get it, but the rebels' liberation of Hama from the Assad regime is even more important than that of Aleppo. We don't know what happens next, but this is BIG.
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Syrians waiting hours (often in vain) for gas, for bread, for all the bare necessities the Assad regime is incapable of providing despite having robbed the country dry for decades. Spare us the sanctions speech; people suffer because Assad's militias and cronies take everything.
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Many are assuming Bashar Assad is (still or was at all) in Moscow, but we don't know. Meanwhile, SANA's website has been down for hours, and still no official statement or message to population from a government whose 2nd largest city has just been overtaken by armed forces.
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Friday December 27 will be a day of national mourning in Syria, to honor the memory of all those who gave their lives for a Free Syria.
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As the world rethinks its selective commitment to fighting injustice and upholding human rights, after the exposure of horrific crimes on unarmed civilians, it should help Syrians get justice too. For that to happen, Bashar Assad's 20th anniversary in power must be his last. /30.
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On September 30, 2015, Russian airstrikes killed their first few dozen Syrian civilians, as ISIS sat safely in their well-known Raqqa headquarters.
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Morning has broken in a free Damascus, world's oldest continuously inhabited capital. Assad is now the ex-president, the sitting Prime Minister has addressed the nation & will hand over power to the political opposition to lead the transitional government. Hope is in the air.
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But it was alright for you when Assad was gassing Syrians to death, which was also fine for Obama? The mass murder of Syrians who died suffocating was not a catastrophic threat to be prevented?.
What happens if Syrian chemical weapons fall into the hands of jihadist opposition groups?. U.S. and Israeli forces will likely face no choice but to intervene to prevent a catastrophic threat.
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That was Putin in 2007, pre-Georgia, pre-Ukraine/Crimea, pre-Syria, pre-Nemtsov, pre-Skripal, etc. France is a guarantor of the Minsk Agreement and must take a lead on Ukraine, but Macron of all people should know Putin is neither receptive to soft diplomacy nor to reason. 8/8.
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‘Butcher of Mariupol’ accused of ordering maternity hospital bombing six years after destroying Aleppo.
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Apart from those who still do not have electricity in my beloved Damascus, I think it's not an exaggeration to say that about 25 million Syrians are online right now, celebrating the end of the most violent regime our region has seen in the modern era. May the future be brighter.
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Within an hour of Hafez's death, parliament held a special televised session to amend the constitution. In 5 minutes, the required age for the presidency was lowered from 40 to 34, Bashar's age. We all watched in stunned silence: we expected it, but it was still humiliating. /4.
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This gluttonous, incompetent, barbaric regime is unreformable, proving repeatedly it will use all means at its disposal to maintain its violent power, 50 years on and counting. Since March 2011, most Syrians have sacrificed everything to liberate themselves, with little help. /29.
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Some welcome their football teams home like this. Syrians cheer the heroic White Helmets @SyriaCivilDef, the civil defense that for more than a decade - sometimes digging with their bare hands - rescued thousands of civilians bombed by Assad and Russia. Our national heroes.
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This thread merely scratches the surface of the trajectory of Bashar Assad and Syria, which I researched for years at Chatham House, and wrote and spoke about in hundreds of articles, talks and interviews. Expertise on Syrian affairs is needed, above all from Syrians. /27.
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Rest in peace, Khaled Khalifa, renowned Syrian author whose sudden passing fills so many of us with immense sadness. Gone far too soon, like so many we can only mourn from afar with only sad news from Syria.
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Reminds me of this Syrian joke: a guy is walking around in his neighborhood saying “damn you, Bassam” repeatedly. Regime security man grabs him and starts slapping him, shouting: “So you can’t even remember your president’s name now?”.
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When Bassel died, Hafez Assad forced the entire country to shut down & mourn for 40 days. So when Hafez died, Syrians went into self-preservation mode: within a couple of hours, streets emptied & shops closed, with people at home glued to TVs, trying to interpret developments. /5.
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Some dared to call Bashar's bluff. In September 2000, 99 brave Syrian intellectuals signed a statement asking him to lift the state of emergency (in place since 1963), free political prisoners, allow freedom of speech . if you know Syria, you know where this is going. /14.
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Since 2011, we've said that Syrians have run out of ways to die, only to stand corrected with successive calamities like barrel bombs, chemical weapons, mass drownings, suffocation in smugglers' trucks, and the barely mentioned torturing until death. We stand corrected again.
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Big names Syrians had grown up fearing, from Hekmat Shehabi to dreaded head of intelligence Ali Douba, were officially retired to ensure only the most loyal and least ambitious men stayed. Bashar never had to fight an "old guard" in later years as some clueless media claimed. /3.
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Yarmouk Camp in greater Damascus & Tadamon massacre site filmed by Assad forces themselves, where Palestinians & Syrians were carpet bombed by Russian & Syrian air strikes. Children rummage for steel and keep finding human remains. Share with anti-imperialist resistance friends.
أطفال ينبشون التربة بحثا عن مخلفات يمكنهم بيعها ليقتاتوا بثمنها، فيعثرون على عظام بشرية. كاميرا #الجزيرة في دمشق تستطلع محيط "حفرة التضامن" التي شهدت ارتكاب مخابرات النظام السابق مذبحة مروعة فيها | تقرير: ماجد عبد الهادي.#الجزيرة_سوريا #الأخبار
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Hafez liked being feared but Bashar was desperate to be admired. Over the years, he sidelined any Syrian personality who came even close to being popular or, God forbid, to outshine the king. Old wooden Baathist dinosaurs are still his core ministers & advisors for a reason. /8.
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Turns out Bashar couldn't care less if people grieved "the eternal leader" as long as they cheered "the hope" - the cute moniker his folks spread for us to repeat. Bashar was devoid of emotion, even flippant at the funeral, a bit ungrateful considering his hefty inheritance. /6.
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The so-called economic opening was merely an erratic crony capitalist economy so a few could live it up. As they watched mounting obscene wealth around them, Syrians were beginning to face rising prices, diminishing means, a dismal housing situation and a transport nightmare. /12.
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Syrians endured suffocating hardship over decades of Assad tyranny before they started the revolution - a revolution in every sense of the word. To understand this seemingly sudden unleashing of the free Syrian spirit, you need to know about the decade that preceded it. /26.
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After a long uncomfortable pause, Putin allegedly smirked and said to Sarkozy: "Are you done?" He then put up his hands, saying "your country is small like this," and then, stretching his arms, said ''and mine is big like this." 5/8.
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Hafez started preparing the ground for 2nd son Bashar in 1994 when original heir Bassel was killed in a car crash. While Bashar's meteoric rise in army ranks and early public appearances in late 90s prepared people, Hafez was busy clearing regime ranks of potential contenders. /2.
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Before Hafez died, I was one of the first few thousand Syrians to buy a mobile phone. For that privilege, in addition to the cost of the phone (illegal to bring one from abroad) + various fees, I paid $1,200 to Syriatel just to have a number. That's how Rami became cool too. /10.
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Hafez Assad bequeathed him a hereditary republic; Bashar took this massive trust fund and destroyed it over the course of 20 years, little by little at first through reckless abandon, and then with every weapon of mass terror and destruction. /28.
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Putin continued: "So you either keep talking to me like this and I will crush you, or you stop now and I will make you king of Europe." Hénin's sources say Sarkozy was stunned by Putin's discourse, full of insults and humiliation, even using the informal "Ti" instead of "Vi." 6/8.
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The bigger Bashar’s head got on a regional level, the more his actions increased Syrian despair and disparity. And when he declared in early 2011 to WSJ that Syria was immune to the Arab spring, the children of Deraa pointed to the naked emperor and wrote: it's your turn. /25.
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Syrians waited for these basic freedoms and rights for an entire decade, and paid dearly for it. While Rami scooped up every possible penny made in or coming into Syria, Bashar was scooping up Syrians who dared to speak out and populating jails with prisoners of conscience. /15.
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To be admired, Bashar strived to be cool. The rumors about work ethics, love of technology and humble demeanor, the wife, the living quarters, the interviews, the cafes, the modernity, the posters magically appearing "against his will" - all meant to drip with coolness. /9.
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Wow. 1992 report from Gen. Ali Douba to Hafez Assad on Syrian intelligence surveillance of Bashar in UK. Says Asma Akhras & her mother met with MI5 people at hotel & social event at their home. The last underlined name is my father's name, stating Bashar was asked if he knew him.
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The formalities of Bashar's "election" took place the following month, and many would have wanted the story to end with "and we all lived happily ever after" . but we didn't. To begin with, the personality cult imposed under Hafez paled in comparison to what Bashar demanded. /7.
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Syrians watched Lebanese protesters publicly insult Bashar, shaking the regime for the first time. That is when the "menhebak" (we love you) posters started appearing, and when the regime began peddling Syrianism (basically, Syria First) to replace Baathist Arabism. /21.
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The Damascus Spring, as we call it, turned rapidly into a Damascus Winter. Many old opposition figures who the world discovered in 2011 had been prisoners of conscience for years - under father and then son - for “weakening national sentiment.” Defying Bashar was verboten. /16.
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The rebels have reached Sednaya Prison. It is just past 4:30 AM in Damascus. Detainees are about to be freed from Assad's hell on earth. We are all crying before even seeing anything.
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. he killed Rafic Hariri, setting in motion a sequence of further assassinations and upheaval, and the forced retreat of Syrian soldiers who had been there since the 1970s. When brave Syrians dared to stand with their Lebanese counterparts, he threw them in jail, again. /20.
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The Congress declared that the economy (officially socialist for people, capitalist for ruling elite) would henceforth be known as a "social market economy," whatever that means. Poverty continued to rise, the velvet society continued to sip frappuccinos at the Four Seasons. /23.
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Russia's ambassador at Security Council just tried, and failed, to forbid @SyriaCivilDef leader @RaedAlSaleh3 from speaking at emergency UN meeting on Syria. After 13 years of war crimes, still protecting regime from accountability and still bombing hospitals in December 2024.
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From the start, Bashar claimed the economy would be reformed; if this was reform, imagine the rest. There were a couple of private banks, some media, a few private schools - none of which had an effect on the lives of ordinary Syrians. On the political front, empty words. /13.
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As portfolio manager of the Assad and Makhlouf clans, Rami was the most visible and most powerful "businessman." But all the children of the Hafez buddies became the new business people of the Bashar era - not that it's a feat of entrepreneurship with no competition allowed. /11.
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Abroad, Bashar played statesman with disastrous effect, giving absurd interviews pontificating on world affairs. A mansplainer of the first order, he tediously denied claims about any action by saying "it's not logical." He riled up the US by sending fighters to Iraq . /17.
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… even though he voted for Resolution 1441 on his Security Council stint, giving the US the unanimity it had sought and the justification it needed to invade Iraq a few months later (Bashar always wants to be wanted, and if that doesn't work he makes trouble to be noticed). /18.
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When terrorist Bashar Assad militias beat up #Syria cartoonist Ali Ferzat (& killed many journalists), he replied: http://t.co/4UoLNVDcOI.
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And then there was Lebanon, which he had been messing up since the day he inherited his realm. In 2004, he forced the Lebanese parliament to extend then-president Emile Lahoud for 3 years (unconstitutionally), and in February 2005, with his ever stronger ally Hezbollah, . /19.
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After the hasty Lebanon retreat, Bashar promised Syrians big changes were coming. We were not holding our breath, but when he then convened a Baath Party Congress (the first since 2000), some again dared to hope the regime had finally learned its lesson. Silly them. /22.
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When The Economist published "The death of a country" 7 years ago today, there was:.- No chemical massacres yet.- No Russian intervention yet.- No prevalent Iranian militias except Hezbollah yet.- No demographic engineering yet.- No large numbers of refugees yet.- No ISIS yet
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Salomon, Slimane, vous seriez pas un peu cousins?.Eloignés . From Les Aventures de Rabbi Jacob, a French classic released 50 years ago.
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Still under the shock of that meeting with Putin, Sarkozy proceeded to meet with the press, creating media frenzy about his "drinking." The part of Hénin's documentary summarizing that meeting is here (in French). 7/8
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Ostracized by the entire region and the world, Bashar was saved by Hezbollah's infamous May 2008 assault on Beirut which led to a reconciliation agreement sponsored by Qatar, leading itself to his reintegration into the international community and an invitation to Paris. /24.
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You probably already saw outraged posts about Israeli strikes on Syrian airports today. Here are some other airstrikes you can voice your outrage about too; there aren't many headlines about Idlib anymore, but still many, many victims under the bombs of the same criminals.
I want my mother, I want to see her one last time. The Syrian child, Ahmed, lost his mother and five siblings after a bombing by Assad’s forces and Russia targeted them after they were working in the olive harvest in the countryside of Idlib, Syria. All my thoughts are with
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Correction thanks to @MhdAGhanem: His code name was Sami, and he worked in the team with Caesar. There are several videos in the piece and I had not gone through them all before posting. Apologies!.
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9 years since Ghiath Matar, 26, was arrested for leading peaceful civil protests in Daraya, handing out water bottles & flowers to Assad's security men. Tortured for days, his mutilated body was thrown on the doorstep of his pregnant wife. This is Syria under the monstrous Assad.
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Rare Syrian news that make you smile: this is the sweet baby found under the rubble post-earthquake in northern Syria, her umbilical cord still attached to her dead mother. She has been adopted by her aunt and her husband.
Afraa lost her parents and her siblings in the earthquake which hit Syria and Turkey six months ago. ❤️ She has now been adopted and is said to "smile at everyone she sees". See more:
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We've cried for years over the bloodied, lifeless bodies of small Syrian children, but it's even worse when there's no blood. 4 years ago today, Assad launched yet another chemical attack on defenseless civilians with nerve agents in Khan Sheikhoun, Idlib.
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In his documentary "Le Mystère Poutine" broadcast in 2016, Hénin says Sarkozy broached tough subjects with Putin, including Chechnya, the assassination of journalist Anna Politkovskaya in 2006, human rights, gay rights. Putin is said to have listened in cold silence. 4/8.
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In 2007, during the G8, French President Nicolas Sarkozy came out of a meeting with Vladimir Putin to face journalists at a scheduled press conference. He shocked everyone when he stumbled & grinned without reason, struggling for words as he held on tightly to the podium. 2/8.
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Every day as I doom scroll, I feel the occasional urge to repost content or comments I see, but often stop when recalling this or that person's silence or despicable positions on Syria, maligning victims & defending the genocidal maniac - pathetic, selective anti-imperialists.
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Assad's Syria, currently a member of the Executive Board of WHO, having killed some 1,000 medical staff & conducted airstrikes on hundreds of hospitals, pharmacies and clinics, is upset by the Israeli aggression against health facilities.
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Israel strike on Damascus tonight was not near Iran Embassy as many who've never been there are excitedly or angrily reporting. It is, however, just a few 100 meters from Military Hospital where Assad regime tortured 1000s to death. Not a peep from many of these folks about that.
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Even though neither Sarkozy nor Putin usually consume alcohol, the consensus in the media was that Sarkozy appeared to be drunk, or at least tipsy. Nothing else could explain this out-of-the-ordinary behavior - not until French journalist Nicolas Hénin divulged it in 2016. 3/8.
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London friends, premiere tomorrow at @frontlineclub of @RonanLTynan and @annedaly19 film Bringing Assad to Justice, chaired by Paul Conroy @reflextv. Don't miss it. #Syria #BringingAssadToJustice
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2 couples I remember: one kissing in Budapest during 2015 exodus, as Russian jets pounded what Assad’s barrel bombs couldn’t finish off; one leaving devastated Aleppo, writing: “to the one who went through the siege with me, I love you.” Hope they're safe & still in love. #Syria
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Assad's 1st siege on civilians was in Deraa, April 2011; he cut off everything. So 1200 Syrian writers, actors & intellectuals signed this Milk Statement, asking regime to allow milk in for the children. Maher Assad responded: for 1200 traitors, 1200 nooses in Omayyad Square.
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@FranceskAlbs @alon_mizrahi This is neither a clarification nor an apology, but an embarrassing selective human rights defense avoiding Assad's crimes that even the UN mentions. Have the guts to stick to your slander of Syrians as having no agency, as a tool of imperialism, it will please your fan base.
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It is said Eskimos have dozens of words for snow. How many words, then, will Syrians have for pain, for outrage, for torment, for agony, for distress, for grief?
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To get #Syria, know how it felt to watch Abdelbasset Sarout, Karama FC goalie, leading Homs in song for freedom & dignity under savage Assad assault, as youngsters swayed in unison chanting. Rest in peace, my heart weeps for what they took from you, from them, from us all.
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Of course, because besieging and killing tens of thousands of Syrians from Qusair to Aleppo over a decade can be really exhausting.
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Aleppo students peacefully protesting in May 2011, when the Revolution for Dignity was in full bloom all over Syria. The Assad regime shot them, arrested them, killed them. Remember how it started.
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If you have Syrian friends, give them your condolences today on a tragic loss that has shaken us all, even after ten consecutive years of devastating news. We are all in mourning for Hatem Ali, the inimitable Syrian director whose untimely passing today broke our hearts .
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Glad to hear South Korea's martial law lasted only 6 hours. Syria's lasted 48 years. Fun fact: it was lifted when "traitors" & "foreign agents" began protests in 2011. You'd think that would have been the worst time to lift emergency laws, but Assad's Syria is unique that way.
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Sarajevo market, #Bosnia 1995; Douma market, #Syria 2015. One caused international intervention, one won't. http://t.co/qIYqWOjv0n.
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