If anyone can explain why the west, the Israli, USA want islamists to rule the middle east that would be the answer to the dilemma we have in Syria and else where.
obviously, it is no coincidence that the west is keep eye blind on all this radicals who are composing the Syrian oppositions.
Qatar and KSA must be paying billions to the West to agree with this movement.
Now Gaza blew up, it is another example how the west is seeing the conflict as radicals trying to destroy Israel, time when Egyptians show their core radical roots and the volcano is on.
can’t wait.

Dr, Landis you really need to reconsider posting articles by Jeffery White, I’m sure an ivy league degree gives him some legitacy, but he hasn’t proven very accurate since the crises in Syria started, just a thought from a loyal reader.

Lavrov went to GCC seeking forgiveness and get some warmth after losing his out in the wind Geneva figleaf, but the only thing he got was cold water from superpowers Qatar and KSA.

When Khatib says Shia are rawafid, he is only saying what every Muslim knew for the last 1400 years. Shia ARE rawafid. So, what is new?

Badr Hassoun is a kafir. Full stop.

The use of the term ecumenical to describe some dialogue between Muslims and non-Muslims is not appropriate. Ecumenism does not apply in this case. We can talk, but there is and will be no ecumenism.

Islamic conquests were not political. They were meant for spreading the True Faith. Crusaders, however, were a bunch of rogue and backward heathens who came to Muslim lands and later kicked out as civilized beings knowing more about religion than when they first came in. They should be thankfull to Salah Din for allowing them to live and go back to where they came from.

4 helicopters shot down today?

http://yallasouriya.wordpress.com/2012/11/16/4-helicopters-have-been-shot-down-today-eastern/

1. Erin

The hypocrite MBers and Gulfies won’t do a thing about Gaza.

And all the hypocrites here can shut the hell up about this Gaza war taking attention away from Syria. Hell if it does, the Western AND Gulf media are all blaming Hamas for the violence.

Without Syrian and Iranian weapons, Gaza would be defenceless right now, and Tel Aviv wouldn’t be covered in craters as we speak.

Sunnis and Shias are facing the same enemies; Israel, the US, and the Gulf hypocrites.

the cubicle jews must be watching their criminal assault against palestinians.

the other cubicle haters are … still asleep?

getting their keyboarding points from their masters?

6. 5 dancing shlomos

They’re still here, just see all the thumbs down.

They just don’t know what to say, they know they’re hypocrites. Perhaps they’re ashamed? Lol.

RanaKabbani54
According 2 a doctor I spoke 2, 1 MILLION PPL IN #SYRIA may require artificial limbs as a result of carpet bombardment + mines #AssadCrimes

http://yallasouriya.wordpress.com/2012/11/16/arabic-speakers-you-can-listen-to-nadim-koteich/

MB8649@SHAW.CA (previous thread)

Copy: TARA, VISITOR

Thank you for your response.

I am baffled by the negative reactions to my comment that I hope a Nelson Mandela-like figure emerges in Syria when the time comes for elections and legitimate government.

I can give two compelling examples of why I said that.

In Africa, when the dumb thug military dictators stepped down they then returned to power in the first democratic elections held in their countries. They had the money, the organizing systems and airplay to swing it.

So misrule, corruption and non-consultative government has continued in those now-democratic countries on a military scale.

African democracy crusaders who had sacrificed and struggled all their lives to get rid of military government (prison, physical attacks, enforced exile, the works) were devastated to see the military and their puppets return by the ballot box – and keep returning.

People from those countries have told me they wished there had been a Mandela-like figure emerge on the political stage to unite some of the civilian opposition parties and lead them to electoral victory. The opposition failed to get clear and compelling messages out externally because they were bogged down internally by personal rivalries, competing agendas and jostling by tribal, regional and religious factions.

In Tunisia, those leading the interim government have all the right credentials on paper but they are failing dismally and inexcusably to deliver the messages and vision needed to stop thousands of young Tunisian men still rushing to leaky boats to become illegal immigrants, or successfully counteract the extremists getting a lot of airplay.

One senses a lack of unifying – and unified – sectarian leadership and notes the absence of visible popular election-ready figures in Tunisia, and this could play out badly when elections are held.

Those and other examples should serve as alerts that the Syrian revolution is at risk of going to waste through the longed-for ballot box, unimaginable as it may seem at the moment.

Which is why I desperately hope for ELECTABLE candidates to be put forward by the good guys in post-Assad Syria. Because the bad guys are going to rush in to compete.

Someone who is a unifying political party leader with strong credibility and respect across a wide spectrum, an intelligent and convincing speaker, a strong and calm reassurer, conciliator and non-egotist. Someone like Mendala was at a crucial time.

And who can be trusted to tackle difficult issues and operate with visible integrity and determination within the party and parliamentary system.

Moaz Al-Khatib, from watching and listening to him and reading about him, is the first one I have spotted that could be a candidate. There may well be others, and that would be wonderful.

TARA and VISITOR, any objections to that?

What unworthy junk Landis collected, promoted and written about in this latest post, it is not even worthy of a single comment.

According to Nashaar, Israel is bombing Gaza to help Bashar:
قال المعارض السوري سمير نشار، إن العملية العسكرية الدائرة في غزة تدفع إلى الاعتقاد بأن إسرائيل تريد تقديم “طوق نجاة” للرئيس بشار الأسد، مستغرباً إقدام النظام على استنكار الغارات التي تستهدف القطاع بينما تقوم آلته الحربية بقتل المدنيين بمختلف مدن سوريا
meanwhile, the coastal cities of Latakia and Tartus have received hundred of thousand of internal refugees from other provinces, those refugees are filling available apartments and houses quickly, Latakia is now full and people have to go to neighboring villages looking for rent. The positive side of this story is how Syrians from different sects can do business and live together if left alone,most of the refugees are Sunni and most of the land lords and the hosts are Alawis. I asked whether this is creating frictions or incidents, the answer was that people are getting along and adopting to the new reality very well but we are only worried that an islamist thug may try to sneak in the crowd and detonate a bomb then blame it on the regime or the alawites.

Lavrov went to GCC seeking forgiveness and get some warmth after losing his out in the wind Geneva figleaf, but the only thing he got was cold water from superpowers Qatar and KSA.

For Lavrov to sneeze on such superpowers! He do not care how fries Saudi and Qatar lizards in the desert.

Joshua,

Thanks for the information and analysis on Syria’s religious leaders in your lead post. Very interesting and helpful in getting the picture.

Their very positive statements seem to be undermined by a bit of unworldliness and lack of political awareness, but nothing sinister.

One would expect al-Khatib to have the brainpower to separate out his religious thoughts from real-world social and political issues.

My feeling is that any legitimate post-Assad leadership may need some religious community credentials to win votes because people will be looking for an antidote to the extreme corruption, cruelty, lies, fear, injustice, inequality and selfish elitsm that has “ruled” Syria the past 42 years.

But we must never lose sight of the risk that the intentions of the revolution could be lost by default at the post-Assad ballot box (my post #9 above).

In the meantime, I’d like to repeat some delightful words from TARA from the previous thread:

“Syrians are moderate without any western influence. Damascenes might not go to bars or the opera, but they sure never miss an occasion to picnic out, sit on their portable chairs, drink tee, smoke argileh, and flirt with the moon. You can see all Damascus out in a late summer night. And the “secular” regime deserves no credit for that.”

10. Syrian Natonalist Party

“What unworthy junk Landis collected”

Just because it’s not NAZI doesn’t make it unworthy.

AIPAC in America, American and Israeli plans and objectives in Palestine,the Middle East and Iran.
http://mycatbirdseat.com/2012/11/34456-aipac-in-america-american-and-israeli-plans-and-objectives-in-palestinethe-middle-east-and-iran/
“In the US the Jewish lobby’s power at the Congress and its influence on both the Democratic and Republican party prevents any executive power from achieving the Israeli withdrawal from the Occupied Palestine Territories.”

“In the US the Jewish lobby’s power at the Congress and its influence on both the Democratic and Republican party prevents any executive power from achieving the Israeli withdrawal from the Occupied Palestine Territories.”
I’ve stressed this before and I reiterate here, in presenting or illustrating the threat of Israel and Zionism to world peace and the role they play in the present outrage which is happening in Gaza, focusing on the day-to-day atrocities they are committing in Gaza, the bombings, the shootings (see the video), the stuff of what I call, “blood, body parts, bullet holes and babies” that we may be correctly focusing on the horror of blood and body parts, we should always ensure we donot distract attention or focus away from the circumstancesof the underlying cause behind it all, the US-Israeli alliance and the inordinate influence of Israel lobbies over the US and European government’s foreign and domestic policies, and internal political affairs.These latter matters are the real concerns of the day, and, to pull that poisoned and poisoning tooth will clear up the problem and give the world patient an opportunity to recover.

Something impressive and heartwarming to read in the current context of a reorganized opposition.

The Free Syrian Army Proclamation of Principles:

http://www.syrian-expatriates.org/seo/?p=866

Now there’s a great political manifesto and election platform if ever there was one!

Why haven’t I printed it out and pinned it on the wall before now.

Ahdaf Soueif
The Guardian, Friday 16 November 2012 20.00 GMT

A Palestinian woman makes the victory sign during the funeral of a child killed in an Israeli attack in Gaza last week. Photograph: Said Khatib/AFP/Getty Images
If you click here, you can listen to the Israeli attacks on Gaza. You can hear explosions, drones and ambulances. This is the soundtrack of the lives of Palestinians there now. They’re recording it and transmitting it, and their friends all over the world – particularly the Arab world – are listening to it live.

We are also reading the tweets and blogs the young Gazans are putting out, and taking a good look at the images they’re posting – like the one of Ranan Arafat, before and after. Before, she’s a pretty little girl with green eyes, a green halter-neck top and green ribbons in her hair. After the Israeli bomb, she’s a charred and shrunken figure. Her mouth is open. A medic lifts – for just a moment – her blue hospital shroud.

In that hospital, Shifa in Gaza City, we watched the Egyptian prime minister, Hisham Kandil, this morning. For the first time in 42 years an Egyptian prime minister was where we Egyptians wanted him to be. For the first time a government official was telling the truth when he said he spoke for the Egyptian people. And he was spot on when he referred to the Egyptian people first, before the Egyptian president.

Since he won the presidency, Mohamed Morsi has tried to be a pragmatic politician. He pressed on with “security co-ordination” with Israel in Sinai; he started sealing up the tunnels that provide a lifeline to the besieged Gazans; he rejected the proposal of a free trade area on the borders between Egypt and Gaza; and he sent an ambassador to Tel Aviv with a fulsome letter to Shimon Peres. And so he found himself uncomfortably cosied up with remnants of the Mubarak regime and aficionados of the military government.

The rank and file of the Muslim Brotherhood and their Freedom and Justice party had a hard time justifying the actions of their man in the presidential palace to the rest of the country. Progressives and liberals mocked them for their big talk on Palestine all the years they were in opposition, and their resounding silence now they were in power. Skits about Morsi’s “love letter” to Peres appeared online and parodies on Cairo walls.

Now, the Israelis have pushed him – pushed him perhaps into a position where he’ll find himself more at ease in his presidency, and more in tune with the people. Large groups of young Egyptians have been heading for Gaza; my youngest niece is one of them. Like the efforts of the world’s civil society to send ships to Gaza, young Egyptian civilians with a passion for freedom are going to support their friends. And on a more “official” level, medics and pharmacists have already arrived there. Abdel Moneim Aboul-Fotouh, a presidential candidate and doctor, has gone – as he did in 2008 during Israel’s “Operation Cast Lead”, long before he had political intentions. The Arab Doctors’ Union has called for donations and volunteers.

Israel has always sold itself to the west as a democracy in a sea of fanaticism. The Arab spring has undermined that narrative, possibly fatally. So Israeli politicians have been pushing hard for a war against Iran and, in the interim, they’ve gone on a killing spree in Gaza. If they had wanted to instigate violence against themselves they could not have done better than to assassinate Ahmed al-Jaabari, the Hamas commander who’s prevented attacks on Israelis for the past five years. With his killing they’ve raised the probability of these attacks resuming, as is happening now. They can then try to hijack the narrative of the Arab spring and wind the clock back to “Islamist terrorists v civilised Israelis”. Meanwhile, they take the heat off Bashar al-Assad’s murderous activities in Syria – and, of course, score hawkish points for Binyamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak before the coming elections.

But they have served to remind the world that Israel is a democracy where politicians may order the murder of children to score electoral points. Palestinian children, true. But the citizens of the world don’t make racist distinctions. On Thursday there were protests for Gaza across the world. They continued today. And there will be many more.

In every Arab country where the people rise up to demand their rights, they demand action on Palestinian rights as well. Tunis has just announced that its foreign minister is heading for Gaza. In Jordan today, hundreds of thousands were on the streets and, as well as demanding the fall of their own regime, they’re also calling for justice for Palestine. Protesters are out in Libya. In Egypt, people are heading for Rafah. We are heading for true representation of the people’s will in the region and, in the coming years, governments will need to follow the road shown to them by their people.

Wait, here’s a more easily printed version of the inspiring FSA Proclamation of Principles:

http://syriansupportgroup.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/PoP-n.n..pdf

#1 Erin
These guys have read Machiavelli. They know that only Islamists will be able to overrun the Islamists. And we badly need to get out of our oil addiction. Get the picture?

16. Syrialover

Principles are useless if they aren’t followed, and if they have only been adopted to appease the West (so they will send weapons).

Lavrov: 100 meters from the crash

Saudi slides

Sergey Lavrov in Riyadh tried to cool the hot heads
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
November 16, 2012.
“Rossiyskaya Gazeta” – federal issue № 5938 (265)
Text: Yevgeny Shestakov (blog author) (Riyadh)

http://www.rg.ru/2012/11/15/er-riyad-site.html

Riyadh airport refused to accept the plane of Foreign Affairs of Russia. Lavrov when the plane hovered just 100 meters from the ground over the runway, pilots suddenly turned on the engine at full power and went to take off again. As it turned out, without explanation Saudi side at the last moment changed the airport, which was to land the Russian side. But it was not only “the Saudi hills”, encountered during a visit to Riyadh, the foreign minister.
For the ministerial meeting of the Strategic Dialogue Russia – Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf Lavrov has prepared a detailed, four-page statement. But it did not happen. As the “RG”, instead of the pre-written speeches, the participants agreed to proceed immediately to the discussion. It was conducted in English. Its main theme was the situation in Syria. Lavrov’s visit to Saudi Arabia took place on the day after the decision of the Syrian opposition to establish a unified National Coalition, who immediately asked the sponsors to provide military assistance. Gulf countries welcomed the new structure the opposition, which, according to the Foreign Minister of Bahrain, has joined the majority of the Syrian people. France, United States, Qatar and Turkey have expressed their readiness to fully support the opponents of Bashar al-Assad.
Russia tried in Riyadh cool “hot heads” who believe that the overthrow of the Syrian president now deal foregone. First, Lavrov pointed colleagues that as part of the National Coalition no representatives inside the Syrian opposition. It is against the methods that Assad opponents are trying to take power. Second, the National Coalition of achieving complete destruction of all existing institutions of power in Syria and refuses to cooperate with her government. But such a position is contrary to the plans of the international community for a peaceful resolution of the conflict and an end to the bloodshed.

“If the fate of Assad’s most important for you, the price for such a priority will be more victims,” ​​- Lavrov snapped in response to another replica of the Saudi Journalists need to care about the Syrian president. However, fully supported the Syrian National Coalition Gulf countries to take a more moderate position declined.
In this regard, finally became meaningless new meeting “Action Groups” in Syria. The first and only took place in Geneva with the Gulf countries. It produced a consolidated plan of action to end the war in Syria. However, the adoption on the basis of numerous compromises document never earned. According to Lavrov, Moscow offered to host the second meeting of the “Action Group” in August in New York. But not supported by the partners. Although in general, the results of the Geneva meeting received positive feedback from all participants of the ministerial discussions in Riyadh, to perform in practice its agreement Gulf countries do not intend to. Especially, in the Geneva documents in question on how to disarm the opposition. A regional monarchy, however, going to her arm rapidly.
All these contradictions seem irreconcilable, despite the sincere efforts of the countries of the Persian Gulf to keep at least external positive relations with Moscow. Moreover, that a number of essential issues for the Arab world Russia is close to the position of countries in the region. That the principles of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and plans to establish a Middle East nuclear-free zone. But these matches for lasting friendship today is not enough. Therefore, the statement of Foreign Minister of Bahrain at a joint press conference with Lavrov sounded quite eloquently: “We hope that the atmosphere of friendship and cooperation again reign in our relationship.”
At the end of the ministerial meeting in Riyadh did not include joint statements. The extent to which the parties’ positions on the Syrian issue gone, Lavrov said the decision to abandon a working dinner with the participants of the ministerial meeting. Previously it was assumed that the main discussion on the Syrian question is on it. But apparently in the evening it was clear that there is simply nothing to discuss – and all it said. As a result, Saudi cook Lavrov did not surprise nor numerous varieties of roasted meat, ice cream, made from specially brought to the forum in Riyadh, selected camel milk.
The ministerial meeting in Saudi Arabia was much talk about the “right to the benefit of the Syrian people” and “the wise Arab people”, which in time will understand, Russia lost or gained by refusing to support UN Security Council resolution that grants the foreign invasion of Syria. But the fact of the dialogue between the Persian Gulf and Russia demonstrates preserved Moscow’s influence in the Arab world with which to reckon even the rich oil monarchies of the region are rarely inclined to listen to the opinions of others.
sorry for google translation

Black Sea Fleet Ships Deployed Longer in Mediterranean in 2012
15.11.2012
http://rusnavy.com/news/navy/index.php?ELEMENT_ID=16452
In 2012, intensity and overall deployment duration of Black Sea Fleet (BSF) ships in the Mediterranean Sea has grown. That region is considered the fleet’s area of responsibility.

BSF warships and auxiliary vessels have performed 9 deployments and 12 visits to foreign ports this year. Range of tasks, deployment geography and performance intensity have considerably expanded as well.

Following BSF assets were on mission in the Mediterranean Sea and the Gulf of Aden in the current year: hydrographic ship Donuzlav, landing ships Nikolai Filchenkov, Novocherkassk, and Caesar Kunikov (2 times), frigate Ladny, destroyer Smetlivy, floating workshop PM-138, replenishment oiler Ivan Bubnov, seagoing tug MB-304, and rescue tug Shakhter. BSF diesel submarine Alrosa carried out long-range cruise from Kronshtadt to Sevastopol.

Overall deployment duration of BSF ships at remote sea zones in 2012 is about 15 months.

Guard missile cruiser Moskva, destroyer Smetlivy, landing ship Saratov, floating workshop PM-56, replenishment oiler Ivan Bubnov and seagoing tug MB-304 currently continue performing tasks in the Mediterranean Sea.

Russia’s Secret Weapon
There is a saying: “the cat out of the house – the mouse to dance.” A clear and familiar to almost any of us it is an illustration of the behavior of students when the class teacher for a minute goes. Immediately starts a lot of talk, flew into someone a piece of eraser and if the lack of teachers is slightly delayed, and then start running around the classroom, and the noise level increases. And that’s going on in the classroom for those teachers who have the reputation of people “with a greeting,” you do not have to tell: some characters and they sing and splyashut and pomychat and everything, including going to the toilet on the lesson by “Farewell of Slav”.

Now, after a digression into the school years wonderful try to extrapolate this experience to the international situation. In the Middle East we have, among other things, there is Turkey. Which has a common border with Syria. And, continuing in the style of “The House that Jack Built” in Syria is a civil war. A civil war, once again resorting to the folk wisdom that “you can not make an omelet without breaking eggs.” In this particular case, the chips do not fly, and artillery shells, but the fact that they were from Syria regularly fly to Turkey. In fact, the phenomenon is difficult to ignore such a principle, and especially hard to ignore their Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan, who has long demonstrated a clear intention to be the “alpha male” and to this end a threat to all who can and can not.

Particularly well for him in this case, the fact that President Barack Obama is focused now on something completely different (as well as the second part of his previous tenure), which may allow Turkey to rise to the heights to which breaks Erdogan
A former senior Turkish diplomat Ozden Sanberk in an interview published in the newspaper the other day, “Hurriet”, with characteristic bluntness only diplomat expressed confidence that Obama – partner of Turkey in its ambitions, the Middle East, and this partnership will not only continue, but also to advance ” in a new direction. ” On the occasion of the “Arab spring” in the U.S. “drifted” from direct involvement in the events, said Sanberk, and he was confident that the management of the transition to democracy in the Middle East, the United States is indispensable partner in Turkey. Well that thing to do, No worries Washington. As he put it, in this case, the transition will occur “with far less trouble and concern.”

Of course, in this situation, Syria is a serious problem for Turkey, because it is not a friendly Assad regime in Syria falls persistently. But here we have some ideas Sanberk: “Turkey has been unable to properly influence on Syria. We tried to persuade the current regime to make a number of reforms, but did not succeed, and it annoys us. We believed that the regime will fall much faster, and we counting on the international community to take a more active part in the overthrow of Assad. But we were wrong. Nevertheless, we are not going to give up, we have already crossed the line on this issue, and we will continue to conduct conceived our policy on Syria. ” …/../..
http://polit.ru/article/2012/11/16/syria/

Do not laugh!

Salam Alaikum

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=DRheviJ9cZA

ع راسي

HABIB #20

Those FSA principles are very useful principles.

Imagine how drastically different Syria would be if the Assad regime had followed even 1% of them!

You can go through the list and see check, check, check, every single FSA principle is the extreme opposite of the “Assad principles” for running Syria.

How inconvenient for the FSA to be revealed to be governed by such excellent and inspiring, yet practical and normal, principles.

There’s zero there about religious motives or Sunni alliances – quite the opposite. The first two principles make powerfully clear the FSA stands for equality for all Syrian citizens, regardless of religion or ethnicity.

I like it!

Good videos Hanzala@24 & 26.

If I am not mistaken, six aircraft were shot down today including the helicopters.

That will keep Lavrov warm and cozy for quite sometime courtesy of Superpower FSA.

أعلنت كتائب القسام، الجناح العسكري لحركة حماس اليوم الجمعة ، عن اسقاط طائرة حربية إسرائيلية بصاروخ أرض جو، وأنها أطلقت صاروخ على مدينة القدس.
وقالت الكتائب إنها أطلقت صاروخ قسام بعيد المدى باتجاه القدس وذلك بعد دقائق من سماع صفارات الإنذار في محيط المدينة المحتلة، ما أثار حالة هلع شديد بين المستوطنيين.
وقالت إذاعة العدو الإسرائيلي أن الصافرات دوّت في الأحياء اليهودية والمستوطنات في القدس،ولفتت الإذاعة إلى أن هذه الصافرات لم تنطلق في المدينة منذ سنوات طويلة جداً.
وكشفت سرايا القدس عن انها قصفت بئر السبع واوفاكيم واسدود بصواريخ غراد وموقع صوفا بصواريخ من عيار 107.
وفي ذات السياق، قال بيان آخر للكتائب إنها أسقطت طائرة حربية إسرائيلبة بصاروخ أرض جو.
وأضاف البيان أن عناصر من كتائب القسام يقومون الآن بالبحث عن حطام الطائرة، في المنطقة الوسطى من قطاع غزة، وسط أنباء تتداول عن اعتقال طياراسرائيلي، و لم يتم تأكيدها بعد من كتائب القسام.
فيما أعلنت القناة الثانية لتلفزيون العدو الإسرائيلي عن فقدان طائرة عسكرية فوق قطاع غزة وفقدان الإتصال بالطيار.
وهذه هي الطائرة الثانية التي تسقطها صواريخ المقاومة في غزة. فقد أعلنت كتائب القسام أمس الخميس، أنها استهدفت طائرة استطلاع إسرائيلية من دون طيار بصاروخ أرض جو. وعرضت كتائب القسام تسجيلا مصورا يظهر الطائرة بعد إسقاطها.
http://www.shukumaku.com/Default.php?id=54425

The side show in Gaza will determine when and if Israel will attack mullah-Stan for the purpose of destroying its so-called nuclear program and possibly the regime itself.

With only four Iron Dome batteries deployed in the south near Gaza, the system intercepted 187 missiles out of 500 fired from Gaza so far. Another battery is on its way to be deployed.

In theory, 8 more batteries should have intercepted all 500 missiles.

Israel may eventually decide to go on its own and forget about Bronco Bama based on the outcome of its Gaza experiment. Does it make you wonder why the Gaza offensive happened less than two weeks after Bronco made it back to the White House?

The wonderful spirit of Syrians – still doing exuberant flash dancing in Damascus, ignoring the regime’s attacks and terror tactics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=PROtLIvd8uk

Imagine the dancing when Assad goes.

your Naval units will be destroyed shortly !!!

SL@9

I have no issues with anything you have said. A unifying charismatic leader acceptable to a broad segment of the society is crucial in moving us forward.

It is just that we were deeply burned out by the personality cult that we do not want to run any chance of creating a new monster like the half-man we currently have at the helm. Unfortunately, when you idolize a leader, it gets in his head and he starts believing he is all that and then some more. He slowly but surely detaches himself from the actual reality and only believes the reality portrayed to him by his entourage. Future leaders need to learn from the very get go that they will be judged by their accomplishments and that regardless of their accomplishments, they will be booted out after 2 terms.

CITIZEN

You must be so bored, jaded and weary having to endlessly churn through all that Russian propaganda stuff.

Take an energizing break. Watch the video above and sing and dance along with the guys in Damascus.

TARA,

That scenario you paint shouldn’t really happen if you have a proper system and free press in place.

It’s interesting that the military-dictator-thugs-turned-elected presidents in Africa don’t even bother with the personality stuff or addressing the masses. They just do things their way, neglect the nation and work on spreading the country’s wealth around their backers and families.

Meanwhile the opposition groups just splinter and squabble and fail to make progress at the ballot box. The others stay on in power by default.

It’s a warning for Syrians to get the system, political organization and candidates right when their turn comes for an election.

(I hope you don’t mind me recycling your words in #13).

All Syrians learned to have a double face since early childhood.. 

In war-torn Syria, secrets and double lives

IDLIB, Syria (Reuters) – Every morning, Amjad goes through two army checkpoints to attend a school run by the Syrian government. Every night, he sits by his father’s side to plot attacks to bring that government down.
Amjad doesn’t see the strangeness of his predicament – reciting chants of loyalty to President Bashar al-Assad in the army-controlled city where his school is, and going home to a village where everyone knows his father’s rebel unit just blew up an Assad tank convoy.

To the scrawny 16-year-old, living a double life has become the norm, as it has for many as the country’s 19-month-old uprising descends into civil war.
—-
With the lines of loyalties drawn, the cost of those classifications can be deadly for men like Ahmed, a Shi’ite Muslim fighting with the Sunni-led rebels. Syria’s conflict has increasingly been infused with sectarian overtones.

“My family are opposition sympathizers but we’re from a Shi’ite town that supports Assad. If the neighbors knew I had defected to the rebels, my family would be targeted,” says the pale 20-year-old fighter, who walks with a slight limp.
Ahmed has not even spoken to his family since he fled, hoping the lack of contact will protect them. “They don’t even know I’ve been wounded twice fighting here on the border.”
(…)
http://news.yahoo.com/war-torn-syria-secrets-double-lives-194505192.html

أعلنت الحكومة البرازيلية بأنها لن تعترف بائتلاف المعارضة السورية الذي تشكل نهاية الأسبوع الماضي في الدوحة.
Bradil says No to the new opposition body

Those who claim that they are against the regime and understand its mistakes but are not with the revolution, do not have a position. They have a moral dilemma.

Israel war against Gaza is a test for Mursi,and Erdogan. and for political reason

The war in Syria is a stalemate,but with slight edge to the rebel.

SHEILA #38

I don’t know whether you’ve read Maysaloon on those “neutral” stancers.

He’s written a couple of excellent blog posts on them and the sinister significance of their refusal to endorse an alternative to Assad.

http://www.maysaloon.org/2012/10/a-letter-to-closet-shabiha-assad.html

http://www.maysaloon.org/2012/10/the-philosophy-of-tyranny.html

Syria is no more in the news. Except for the GCC and France, there are no hurrays for the new coalition theatrically promoted by Hollande. Just a big yawn…
No one seems to believe that the revamp of the SNC to edulcorate its Islamist smell will do much better.
In the meantime, on the ground, the rebels with their laptops and satellite internet are still waiting for Godot, the long waited heavy weapons that will bring them a sure victory.
They may wait forever. Now, the international community is worried for ‘victim’ Israel and the three stooges Qatar, Egypt and Turkey are giving emotional rhetoric to “slam” Israel and that’s all they do. Qatar is zero without the protection of the USA, Egypt is zero without the USA billion dollars aid and Turkey is wondering how it can threaten the Kurds, Syria and Israel at the same time.

Talking about isolation, who is more isolated now?

Protesters in Jordan capital call for king to quit

16/11/2012
http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=1&id=31828

AMMAN, (Reuters) – Around 2,000 people called for the removal Jordan’s King Abdullah at a rally in downtown Amman on Friday in protest at fuel price hikes, in a marked escalation of street anger in the third day of demonstrations in the Western-backed kingdom.

“Go down Abdullah, go down,” the protesters chanted as police, some in riot gear, largely stayed away from crowd, near the main Husseini Mosque.

The crowed also chanted “The people want the downfall of the regime”, the rallying cry of the Arab Spring uprisings that have shaken the Middle East and toppled leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen.

“Shame. Shame. Prices are spiking and Abdullah gambles,” people shouted.

38. Sheilasaid:
Those who claim that they are against the regime and understand its mistakes but are not with the revolution, do not have a position. They have a moral dilemma.

________________________________________________________________

NO, THEY HAVE NO MORAL DILEMMA. THEY STAND ON THE SOLID HIGHER MORAL GROUND AND THE DILEMMA THEY HAVE IS; SHOULD THEY HELP AND STAND BEHIND THE MORAL REGIME, OR THE IMMORAL OPPOSITION/ MERCENARIES, THAT IS THE DELIMMA.

41. ZOO:
♣ Syria is no more in the news. Except for the GCC and France, there are no hurrays for the new coalition theatrically promoted by Hollande. Just a big yawn…♣

Well the UK will make a decision within days, whether to recognize the NCSROF and Al-Khateeb as the new government of Syria.

I think the Russian side is the one falling apart, not the Freedom Fighter side. If you weigh which side has more resources: the West can tear Bashar al-Assad apart.

So, what are you hoping for exactly? That Medvedev and other retards will resurrect communism again? Er, no.

It is only a matter of month when Assad will be muammar-ized.

27. Syrialover

Yet again, principles are only so in name unless they are followed. Everything indicates they’re just empty words to get the support of the West.

30. Visitor

So this fool cheers Israeli aggression on Gaza and Iran, while crying for the poor FSAlafist babies in Syria. This sure is the season for hypocrisy.

Hello Dolly

The UK, together with all the Western countries, except for France but including Turkey are clear: they want a negotiated political settlement to the crisis, not a military escalation. This is why I believe that they will not allow weapons to be given to the rebels, despite Hollande’s push with Qatar behind him.
The UK may recognize the coalition only as a legitimate party in a negotiation and not as an ally in a war.
If the coalition continues rejecting the option of negotiation, they will end up like the SNC, doomed.

HABIB,

Have you read the FSA principles?

They have more significance for Syrians than the west.

It’s a powerful statement about what they are fighting for.

Or do you consider things like:

– “we believe in the freedom of association and assembly. No Syrian shall be forced into apolitical association or denied equal participation in political life” and

– “we believe that the rule of law shall apply equally to all Syrians and shall be governed by the governing bodies of Syria and shall reign supreme throughout the nation”

are just showcase comments and not really meant?

Millions of Syrians are making massive sacrifices in the hope of one day living under such conditions.

ZOO #45

What are you talking about?

The prime escalator of military action and non-negotiator from day 1 of this crisis has been Syria-hater Bashar Assad.

He was the one who shocked the world by suddenly declaring war on unarmed Syrians and making it clear that his position was non-negotiable.

Every day he demonstrates his determination to burn Syria and kill off all Syrians who have been “disloyal” rather than lose even the tiniest fragment of power and privilege.

Why keep denying that? That’s trying to rewrite history on the run.

Only an American style republic can survive and be useful in Syria, Syria and the US have a lot in common, Multi ethnic, multi religious and multi languages,

#47 SL

I am talking about what the West expressed clearly. . Just read all the declarations: No military intervention and no offensive weapons, what does that mean?
You are the one refusing to face the bitter reality.

When will Qatar and Turkey do the same?

Iranian parliamentary delegation will visit Gaza Strip, MP says

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/11/17/272771/iranian-lawmakers-to-visit-gaza-strip/

A senior Iranian lawmaker says a parliamentary delegation will travel to the Gaza Strip to express solidarity with the oppressed Palestinians in the besieged territory that has recently been under intense Israeli attacks.

Members of Iran’s Majlis (parliament) National Security and Foreign Policy Committee will enter the coastal enclave via the southern Rafah border crossing, Mansour Haqiqatpour said on Friday night.

Do you need help understanding what this means?

Opposition leaders ‘credible’ says Hague

Although no options had been ruled out, he said the UK’s priority was still securing a negotiated solution as part of a process of political transition while continuing to provide humanitarian assistance.

http://arabic.rt.com/news_all_news/news/599985/

Any condemnation by the new friends of Syria?

It seems that the attack on Gaza is such a suprise for Morsi and Erdogan that they can’t think of more urgent than having a future meeting. Sounds like the SNC and alike.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/58349/Egypt/Politics-/Turkish-PM-to-meet-Egypts-Morsi-in-Cairo-to-discus.aspx

Some “well informed” source revealed to al Ahram that a humanitarian crisis MAY occur!! So well informed that it didn’t read the reports on the outgoing and for quite a long time, humanitarian crisis.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/58337/Egypt/Politics-/Egypt-fears-humanitarian-crisis-in-Gaza-following-.aspx
(Playing the hero by staying 3 hours in Gaza? Is that the only thing they are good at?)

This is why this is not more than criminals and wahabi gangs (revolution ) that should go to hell:
http://www.syriatruth.org/الأخبار/أخباروتقاريرأخرى/tabid/94/Article/8649/Default.aspx

Alkateb stated that his Islam hugs minorities … The fact is his islam f..ks minorities.minorities have 2 choices in Syria now: fight to death or leave Syria
Immediately.

Syrian troops rattle armed militias in Damascus’ district: report – 2012-11-16

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-11/16/c_131979848.htm

DAMASCUS, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) — Syrian troops clashed on Friday with armed militias in a conflict-battered district in the capital Damascus, inflicting hefty tolls on the armed men, pro-government media said, as activists said the rebels had downed a helicopter gunship in another suburb of the capital.

The clashes broke out in al-Ameen Street in the district of Tadamun, the pro-government Sham FM radio said, adding that many of the armed men have been killed while others fled to neighboring districts.

It said the troops also destroyed a booby-trapped car in Tadamun, claiming that the armed militias have killed many civilians in the surrounding of al-Zubair Mosque in Tadamun.

In al-Qaboun suburb of Damascus, the troops destroyed on Friday a hideout of armed groups and two cars outfitted with anti- aircraft machine guns, the report said.

Meanwhile, the Local Coordination Committees (LCC), an activists’ network, said the rebels downed on Friday a helicopter gunship in the eastern al-Ghouta area in Damascus’ countryside.

Also, the LCC said that over 10 were killed Friday in Bustan al- Qaser district in Aleppo due to the government troops’ shelling on that area during an anti-government protest. It added that the reporter of the Saudi-funded al-Arabiya TV has been injured along with a Dutch one. It is worth mentioning that the injured reporters have entered Syria illegally through the borders with Turkey.

The activists’ network also said that six people were killed on Friday in the Damascus’ suburb of Daraya due to the shelling of the government troops.

The LCC placed the initial death toll of Friday’s violence at 59. However, the account could not be checked or verified independently as those accounts often place all the blame on the government troops without mentioning the other part that has become more resourceful and in some cases infiltrated by extremists and fanatics.

[…]

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-11/16/c_131979848.htm

Professor Landis Said:

“””The US Must Supply anti-Aircraft Missiles to the Syrian Opposition
– Monday, October 22nd, 2012″””

Dear Prof. Landis, should the US supply anti-Aircraft missiles to the Palestinians in Gaza?

Thank you

Petraeus Resignation is About Putting Arms and Men in Syria – November 10, 2012

http://www.infowars.com/petraeus-resignation-is-about-putting-arms-and-men-in-syria/

The resignation of CIA Director David Petraeus is not about an extramarital affair with his biographer, reserve Army officer Paula Broadwell. It’s about U.S. policy in the Middle East, the ongoing “color revolutions,” and specifically the operation underway to arm al-Qaeda, the FSA in Syria, and overthrow the al-Assad regime.

Radio talk show host John Baxter told CNBC’s Larry Kudlow the step-down may be part of a deal made by Petraeus to avoid testifying before a closed-door session of the Senate Intelligence Committee next week about the CIA’s role in the September 11 assault on the diplomatic facility and a CIA annex in Benghazi.

The House Intelligence Committee has also scheduled a hearing to grill Petraeus and National Counterterrorism Center Director Matt Olsen.

The chairman of the House committee, Rep. Mike Rogers, has vehemently criticized the Obama administration for its role in the attack that left ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans dead.

“Benghazi is not about Libya, Benghazi is about the policy of the Obama administrtion to involve the United States without clarity to the Americvan people, not only in Libya but throughout the whole of the Arab world now in turmoil,” Baxter told Kudlow. “Benghazi is about the NSC directing an operation that is perhaps shadowy, perhaps a presidential finding, perhaps doesn’t, that takes arms and men and puts them into Syria in the guise of the Free Syria Army.”

[…]

http://www.infowars.com/petraeus-resignation-is-about-putting-arms-and-men-in-syria/

Now that the Israelis are bombing Hamas headquarters in Gaza, it is going to be very clear if some informed comments on Morsi (on Malbrunot’s website) has having been “returned” by the Russians are true or not.
Israel has no problem with the end of the Syrian regime (against an idea Le Monde is trying to sell since yesterday: http://www.lemonde.fr/proche-orient/article/2012/11/16/gaza-le-gouvernement-israelien-va-etre-mis-a-l-epreuve-si-l-offensive-dure_1792108_3218.html … what a nice title…)
but ONLY if the strong connections between the MBs and Hamas vanish. They are vanishing right now, the rest are “collateral damage”.
Apart from that, Morsi, Erdogan, Qandil, Qardawi and Ar’ur can continue to show up on TV here or there and play the heroes. Boys will be boys.

Israeli aircraft delivered up to 130 strikes on Gaza last night – Nov 16, 2012

http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_11_16/Israeli-aircraft-delivered-up-to-130-strikes-on-Gaza-last-night/

Israeli combat aircraft delivered up to 130 strikes on the Gaza Strip last night following a missile attack on Tel Aviv by Palestinian radicals.

The air raids were conducted as part of the Cloud Pillar operation, which was launched Wednesday to stop the Palestinian rebels’ attacks.

Both parties to the conflict have already suffered casualties. In Gaza, 16 Palestinians died, while 150 others were wounded. In Israel, three civilians were killed by rocket fire, while 45 others were injured.

To boost the operation, the Israeli command has moved the Givatielite infantry brigade to the administrative border of Gaza. Givati has already fought in the Gaza Strip and, according to the UK media, is best prepared to fight the rebels of HAMAS radical movement. Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak has already ordered the call-up of 30,000 reservists.

[…]

If anymore proof is needed on what a massive fiasco the 2006 war with Israel was for Hizbollshaytan, just look at how that pussy Nasrallah is staying nice and quite on Israel’s northern border while Gaza gets pounded into the stone ages. Nasrallah doesn’t dare repeat the disastrous misadventure he launched six years ago, and the Iranians are too bankrupt to rebuild the Dahiya for a third time.

An organization that was founded on the premise of killing infidels, can’t even do that. Hizbollshaytan aren’t interested in improving the quality of life for the average Lebanese, but only in murdering infidels. A country ruled by an organization whose sole obsession is “martyrdom” has no future.

“Dear Prof. Landis, should the US supply anti-Aircraft missiles to the Palestinians in Gaza?”

Typically simplistic menhebakji thinking. Israel is a country that has signed and upheld numerous peace treaties with former enemies. The country had a peace movement Hamas could have talked and negotiated with.

In contrast, in Syria we have a regime whose avowed slogan is “Batta or we burn the country”, and a leader whose standing instructions to his gang was to tell foreign diplomats what they wanted to hear, because it would be six months before the lie was exposed.

“Dear Prof. Landis, should the US supply anti-Aircraft missiles to the Palestinians in Gaza?”

Typically simplistic menhebakji thinking. Israel is a country that has signed and upheld numerous peace treaties with former enemies. The country had a peace movement Hamas could have talked and negotiated with.

In contrast, in Syria we have a regime whose avowed slogan is “Batta or we burn the country”, and a leader whose standing instructions to his gang was to tell foreign diplomats what they wanted to hear, because it would be six months before the lie was exposed.

Kafranbel

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=489814144375436&set=a.218447978178722.56168.218270188196501&type=1&theater

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=489814701042047&set=a.218447978178722.56168.218270188196501&type=1&theater

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=450374701665309&set=a.186824541353661.34965.182806365088812&type=1&theater

Merci France 

New Syrian ambassador to France is named
ELAINE GANLEY, Associated Press

(…)
http://www.seattlepi.com/news/texas/article/New-Syrian-ambassador-to-France-is-named-4030711.php

David Petraeus: Benghazi attack ‘was terror strike’

Former CIA chief Gen David Petraeus has told lawmakers that the deadly assault on a US consulate in Libya was a terror attack.

During two appearances on Capitol Hill on Friday he said the public explanation had been edited to prevent alerting groups under suspicion.

He gave evidence to the House Intelligence Committee and its Senate counterpart, both in closed session.

The testimony on Benghazi came one week after Gen Petraeus quit over an affair.

Gen Petraeus has said he left his post at the CIA only because of his extramarital affair with biographer Paula Broadwell, and not because of the CIA’s handling of the attack.

He was briefly questioned over his personal life at the start of the morning’s proceedings, but lawmakers accepted his word that his affair had not compromised national security.

Republicans have criticised the White House over the events in Benghazi, saying the administration misled the public.

US Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens was among the four Americans who died in Benghazi on 11 September.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20362941

Gaza crisis: Israeli air strikes hit Hamas HQ

Israel has targeted the headquarters of Hamas leaders and other key facilities in Gaza, on the fourth day of Israeli air strikes in the territory.

Prime Minister Ismail Haniya’s office, which Egypt’s PM had visited on Friday, was among the buildings destroyed.

At least 39 Palestinians and three Israelis have died since Israel killed Hamas’s military chief on Wednesday.

Israel earlier put 75,000 reservists on stand-by amid speculation of an impending ground invasion.

Militants in Gaza have continued to fire rockets into Israel, after aiming at Tel Aviv and Jerusalem on Friday.

Following a lull in Israeli action, Gaza City was hit by a string of large explosions shortly after 03:00 (01:00 GMT) on Saturday.

There was another series of strikes in and around the city after 05:00, with several targeting Hamas’s cabinet buildings, which correspondents say were likely to have been empty.

Another of the targets was the house of a Hamas leader in Jabaliya, north of Gaza City.

The BBC’s Paul Danahar tweeted from the scene: “A mother in her wrecked home… is scurrying around collecting her daughter’s dolls, dusting them off.”

Our correspondent said Mr Haniya’s HQ was the most damaged of any building he had seen. Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Qandil had visited it on Friday morning.

At least nine Palestinians are reported to have been killed in strikes since Friday evening. They are said to include three members of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing.

Israel said it was targeting rocket launchers, weapons storage facilities and smuggling tunnels on the border with Egypt in southern Gaza.

Israeli military spokeswoman Avital Leibovich said 200 targets had been hit overnight. The army told the BBC it wanted to hit hundreds more and that it was legitimate to target anything connected with Hamas.

There are rumours that a ground attack is imminent, but Israeli officials say no decision has been made.

Government spokesman Mark Regev told the BBC the operation would end when Israeli citizens were safe, and that all options – including a ground incursion – remained “on the table”.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20374282

__________________________________________________________________

Israel is really taking it to the sunni terrorists, good on them!

The ikwanis and salafis are nowehere to be seen: what cowards! lol

Where’s Mursi’s Egypt? Where’s Al Thani’s Qatar? Where’s Abudallah’s Wahhabistan?

Where are the loudmoth sunnis? I know where, they are too busy whinging to the Europeans & US to intervene and overthrow the last secular regime in the middle east.

Amjad of Arabia al-Munafiq:

You are a hypocrite from the first degree. That is why the name Munafiq suits you.

You said: “A country ruled by an organization whose sole obsession is “martyrdom” has no future.”

Dude, again you either show your lack of knowledge about Islam, or your Nifaq makes you forget things. Or could we say that simply you do not know.

The concept of “martyrdom” is stressed upon heavily by Islam, with your sect putting the utmost of emphasis on it. Martyrdom dominates the arena in the Syrian conflict. Have you heard of the chant ” We are going to Paradise. Martyrs in the millions..
عالجنة رايحين شهداء بالملايين.

Also, does “Martyrdom” for certain causes the norm in Saudi Arabia where you live?

I do not see this strange from someone like you, who called his dick the 7th pillar of Islam.

Keep on showing your lack of knowledge about Islam.

By denying the rules of “martyrdom” for your sect, you are showing your ignorance of their history.

Positive view of the coalition in the press…  A first step for more recognition then military help.    

Is Batta’s days numbered?  What is his obituary going to write?  Would be 1965-2013?

Syria opposition offers inclusive government
From: AFP November 18, 2012 12:37AM

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/syria-opposition-offers-inclusive-government/story-e6frg6so-1226518840384

SYRIA’S newly-formed opposition coalition signalled hat it intends to move quickly to establish a broad-based alternative government.

After talks with French President Francois Hollande, coalition leader Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib assured the international community that the transitional government will be composed of technocrats rather than politicians, and include representatives of all the war-torn country’s ethnic and religious groups.

“There is no problem. The coalition exists and we will launch a call for candidates to form a government of technocrats that will work until the regime falls,” Khatib told reporters after the talks in Paris outlining the alternative to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

France, which on Tuesday became the first Western state to recognise the coalition as the sole representative of the Syrian people, is pushing for the rebels to be given greater support, including some arms.

“I can’t hide the importance of this question,” Hollande said, while acknowledging that France could not act without agreement from its partners in the European Union, which currently has a strict embargo on arms deliveries to Syria.

“The (rebel) Syrians need military means but the international community also has to exercise control,” he said.

Hollande also said that France would increase its recognition of the National Coalition by allowing them to appoint an ambassador in Paris.
(…)

Yemen’s Minister of Human Rights Says Country Is ‘Collapsing’

SANAA, Yemen — As Yemen’s minister of human rights, Hooria Mashhour knows she has her work cut out for her.

International organizations continue to raise concerns about human rights violations in the country, ranging from revolutionaries being detained to schools being occupied by armed groups. Moreover, Mashhour says the country is “collapsing” on security, economic, social and political fronts, and former President Ali Abdullah Saleh and his supporters are stunting the country’s transition from his 33-year rule. And yet, Mashhour says, there’s no alternative but to be optimistic. In her mind, the way forward calls for innovation — finding new methods to tackle terrorism and other towering problems. In place of drone strikes, which she says leave innocent people dead, other strategies to target extremists should be explored.

A widowed mother of four, Mashhour served for years on the government’s Women National Committee of Yemen and resigned in early 2011 from her post in a show of solidarity with the revolution. She’s a robust woman in a small build now overseeing more than 100 employees at Yemen’s Ministry of Human Rights. Since her December appointment, Mashhour has created new ministerial units on volunteering, social responsibility, transparency, anti-corruption and transitional justice. She also maintains a prolific Twitter feed on her own.

Dressed in a pink head scarf and charcoal blazer, Mashhour said in her office recently that Yemenis rose up last year because they had been denied their rights. Among her priorities has been defining a national strategy for human rights and creating an independent human rights institution, which she hopes will be in place by the end of next year. But much depends on the parliament, which under the so-called Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) initiative signed last year required that half the seats went to opposition parties and the rest be made up of Almotamar, Saleh’s party.

“Saleh and his supporters are still undermining the process of the transitional period,” said Mashhour. “The ex-president and his supporters still want to tie us to the past, when we want to move … to do the best for the current situation and to look forward for the future of Yemen. This is the main obstacle for the country.”

Although the GCC initiative granted Saleh immunity, a transitional justice law to investigate alleged violations under his rule has been in the works. But it has yet to pass. Mashhour said there was resistance from some ministers and moving the law along is now up to current President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. In addition, Hadi issued a presidential decree in September to establish a commission to investigate human rights violations from 2011. Mashhour says she’s pressing for officials to swiftly name who will be in charge of that effort.

Some youth arrested in last year’s revolt are still being held and there have been cases of enforced disappearances, Mashhour said. She’s worked to release some or at least find details on their whereabouts. But she said there are nearly 28 cases in which families have no information about their missing loved ones. The human rights ministry received many complaints against government forces, namely the Republican Guard, national security, political security and central security units over detainees. After writing to these authorities, Mashhour said they denied the allegations. She’s also pushed the issue in the cabinet and to Hadi.

“Right now, we still have challenges in releasing some of those detainees, because, I’ll tell you frankly, the government, they don’t have control on all army groups,” Mashhour said. “Army groups are still controlled by Ali Abdullah Saleh’s family — by his son, by his nephew — this is the problem. And the government is not strong enough to do its job.”

For Mashhour, it gets personal. Saleh and his backers have given her “a real headache.” She said they’ve attacked her in their party forums and media outlets, accusing her of “encouraging sexuality” or wanting to remove some verses in the Quran. “I never ever said that,” she said. “They want to incite some extremists in the society against me…they are trying to attack me or to undermine me or to stop me. But anyway, I accepted this job and I am doing my job and I will continue.” (She has some cases pending in court over such attacks, she said.)

In looking ahead, Mashhour said that as long as the state remains weak, the country must rely on the international community for help in several sectors, including on security issues. To that end, President Hadi has condoned the United States’ use of drones to target terrorist operations in Yemen, a program that Mashhour notes predates the current government. But human rights activists have condemned drone attacks and Mashhour echoes some of their worries.

“I ask to change the strategies of fighting Al Qaeda. Because many times, these drones also hit innocent people,” with many children, women and men not involved in terrorism being struck, she said. “Of course, we are still committed to fight terrorism, but also we have to change our strategies. We don’t need just to use the drones. Maybe this is one of the scenarios, but we will have many scenarios, and we can fight Al Qaeda effectively, much more than [with] the drones, which many times hit innocent people.”

Just as terrorism has wrecked havoc abroad, Mashhour said it’s devastated Yemen’s development. She largely attributes poverty as one of the reasons for creating extremism, but she also said Saleh and his proponents provided some armed secessionist groups with funding and supplies.

Mashhour said officials have approved a government-wide strategy to fight terrorism, with each entity doing its part. One of her ministry’s first steps will be reaching out to imams and religious leaders next month during what’s billed as Yemen’s first human rights conference. Workshops “will target the religious men, the religious guidance, the preachers in the mosque, because this is very important and their voice is very crucial. If we deliver messages through the mosques—this message against extremists, against terrorism—I think we will succeed to convince many people not to push their sons to this, to be involved with the extremists.”

The government will also have to alleviate poverty and build up its education system to include “tolerance values” within school and university curricula to help eliminate terrorism, she said.

Mashhour, a longtime advocate of women’s rights, said women are still not enjoying their full rights here. After being key actors in the revolution, she said women’s political rights must be guaranteed in the new constitution to be drafted.

As one of only three female ministers in the government, Mashhour feels the weight of being a model for others but remains upbeat.

“Women in the highest positions, all the time they are under the observation of everyone. And it is a matter of competition between men and women. We want to prove that women in the highest position can do their part for their country and they can succeed in these positions,” she said. “We want to pave the road for other women to be in the highest position.”

Nafeesa Syeed is a freelance writer and editor based in Washington, DC, on Twitter at @NafeesaSyeed.

Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2012/al-monitor/yemenhooriamashhour.html#ixzz2CUQhmBsU

Merci France
http://www.aksalser.com/?page=view_articles&id=c1c7eebb8f271a9c56b2b002b68df7a4&ar=641510411

Kandi,

My next vacation is in the French Rivera to support their economy. They proved themselves true friends to the Syrian people.

Friends of Syrian people don’t send them سيارات مفخخة …..

Criticism In Arab World Over Exploitation Of Syrian Refugee Girls For Purposes Of Marriage

Introduction

The Syrian crisis, ongoing since March 2011, has so far claimed the lives of some 35,000 people and has also forced hundreds of thousands of Syrians to flee to neighboring countries, especially Turkey and Jordan, where they are living in refugee camps established for them. Recently, a new aspect of this humanitarian crisis has come to light: a phenomenon called “protection marriage” (sutra in Arabic), which involves Arab Muslim men marrying female Syrian refugees, often girls aged 12-16, under the pretext of saving them from the harsh living conditions in the refugee camps, protecting their honor, and assisting the Syrian revolution. According to reports, the girls’ families are often willing to marry them off for a very low bride-price in order to spare them life in the camps while securing some income for the family’s subsistence. Media reports indicate that these cases exist in Jordan, Turkey, Libya and other countries, and that Muslim men from across the Arab world travel to the countries neighboring Syria in search of a young refugee bride. Some reports claim that certain Muslim clerics encourage this practice, calling it “a national duty,” and are even taking part in it themselves.

The Arab media’s recent exposure of this phenomenon has triggered a wave of outrage among Syrians and other Arabs, and activists have launched a campaign against it, including on Facebook. According to the activists, these marriages constitute an exploitation of the refugees in the camps, especially of young girls. They have reported cases of girls marrying elderly men, marriages leading to rape and prostitution, and men from different Arab countries bargaining for Syrian women on the internet. In light of this, the phenomenon has been nicknamed the “lust jihad,” in mockery of those who present it as a form of jihad for the sake of the Syrian people.

It should be mentioned that the extent of the phenomenon is unclear. The media campaign being waged against it, and official measures that have been reportedly taken by the Jordanian authorities to curb it, suggest that it is a relatively widespread phenomenon; however, some claim that it is limited to a small number of cases, or even suggest that it was invented or exaggerated by the Syrian regime with the aim of harming the revolution and its supporters.

This document will review the phenomenon as it is depicted in the Arab media, as well as criticism of it.

The Reason For Marriage: The Low “Price” Of Syrian Refugee Girls

It should be mentioned that the phenomenon of marrying refugee women is known from previous wars, such as the 2003 war in Iraq, and that Syrian women have long been considered desirable brides in the Arab world. However, with the outbreak of the Syrian crisis and the growing number of Syrian refugees fleeing to neighboring countries, the phenomenon took a dangerous and exploitative turn, since Syrian families often agree to the marriage even if the girl is young and the union does not guarantee her personal safety and future, as long as she is spared the harsh living conditions in the refugee camps.

Some reports come from Jordan, which hosts more than 250,000 Syrian refugees, specifically from the Al-Za’atri refugee camp, where harsh living conditions recently sparked violent protests by refugees and even requests to return to Syria. Zayed Hammad, head of the Kitab Wal-Sunna Society in Jordan, which supervises aid to Syrian refugees, said that the association had received 500 requests by Jordanian men to marry Syrian women. He explained that many young Jordanian men wished to marry Syrian women to avoid the high bride-price customary in Jordan. According to Hammad, there was originally a mafia in Jordan that attempted to trade in refugee marriages, but it was exposed and its activity was stopped.[1]

A Syrian sociologist living in Amman who has investigated the phenomenon called these marriages “disastrous,” and said that the practice had taken on a dangerous and obscene aspect as the living conditions in the refugee camps worsened, and as refugee families began seeking any way to avoid poverty and suffering. He added that many Jordanians took advantage of this distress, since marrying a refugee girl is cheaper than marrying a Jordanian one, and especially since these marriages are considered an act of charity and aid to the Syrian revolution. Another longtime Syrian resident of Jordan said that Syrian families married off their daughters to Jordanian relatives or acquaintances to spare them the harsh life in the camps, and added: “An elderly Jordanian married a 12-year-old Syrian girl. Is there anything more cruel than these crimes committed against our Syrian people?”[2]

http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/6806.htm

Christian Arabs Targeted Throughout the Middle East

The nations of the Middle East have been steadily forcing out Christian Arabs that have lived there for centuries, often in the most brutal fashion. This is the hallmark of Islam that has no tolerance for any other religion. Islam is a cult that has been at war with all religions, using terror, intimidation, and deception to achieve its goal.

The process has a long history. A recent Wall Street Journal commentary, “When the Arab Jews Fled”, tells a story rarely told; the story of how an estimated 850,000 Jews living in Arab nations, many of whose families had lived in Middle Eastern nations for centuries, were forced to leave. What happened to them after Israel declared its sovereignty in 1948 is now occurring again, but for Christians in the wake of the so-called Arab Spring, the ascendency of the Muslim Brotherhood, and the militancy of al Qaeda and the Taliban.

United Nations in maintaining the myth of refugees

Cynically, Arab nations have pointed to the Palestinians as an example of people made refugees by the creation of Israel but, generally unknown to most Americans and others has been the role of the United Nations in maintaining the myth of refugees via its Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), established to aid Palestinians in the wake of the 1948 war on Israel.

As Middle East experts, Steven J. Rosen and Daniel Pipes, pointed out in a Jerusalem Post article on July 10, 2012, “UNRWA’s most consequential problem is its mission. Over 63 years, it has become an agency that perpetuates the refugee problem rather than contributing to its resolution.

URNWA does not work to settle refugees; instead by registering each day ever more grandchildren and great-grandchildren who have never been displaced from their homes or employment, artificially adding them to the tally of ‘refugees’. It adds to the number of refugees said to be aggrieved by Israel. By now, those descendants comprise over 90 percent of UNRWA refugees.”

This presupposes that there is or ever was a state of “Palestine”, but that is a name given the region by the Roman Emperor Hadrian to replace the name of Israel. It was unsuccessful but centuries later was incorporated into the Palestinian Mandate given England to administer following WWI. In point of fact, Palestine was never a state, has no borders, has no capitol city, has no currency, and was declared by Yassir Arafat as a means to wage war on Israel. Today, this so-called state is divided into two separate entities; the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza. They cordially hate one another.

After 1948, the Wall Street Journal article noted, “Jews began fleeing—to Israel, of course, but also to France, England, Canada, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, and the U.S.” Yemen had been home to more than 55,000 Jews’ in Aden, (where) scores were killed in a vicious program in 1947. An airlift dubbed ‘Operation Magic Carpet’ relocated most Yemenite Jews to Israel. In Libya, once home to 38,000 Jews, the community was subjected to many brutal attacks over the years.”

“In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Jews continued to pour out of the Muslim countries. The Six-Day War of June 1967 brought some of the most violent anti-Jewish eruptions.

UNRWA, however, was only concerned with the so-called Palestinian Arabs. “The number of UNRWA refugees has steadily grown since 1949, from 750,000 to almost five million. At this rate,” wrote Rosen and Pipes, “UNRWA refugees will exceed 8 million by 2030 and 20 million by 2060.” This is, of course, absurd. The “Palestinians” are now the world’s oldest “refugee” population.

In addition to the obstinence of UNRWA, its existence has been an obstruction to a resolution of the conflict between the “Palestinians” and Israel. This is a violation of the UN Refugee Convention. In a January 16, 2012 article by Anne Bayefsky in The Jerusalem Post, noted that “Years of UN-driven anti-Semitism have clearly deadened the nerve-endings of democracies…”

The UN General Assembly has annually sponsored a Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, followed by the usual anti-Israel agenda items.

“By the end of a year of double-standards, discrimination and hate-mongering eighty percent of all 2010 General Assembly resolutions criticizing specific countries for human rights violations were directed at the Jewish state alone. Only six of the remaining 191 UN member states face human rights criticism at all, one of which was the United States.” The United States!

Will the UN declare its solidarity with the Arab Christians now under siege throughout the Middle East and across northern Africa? Don’t count on it.

The world, worried about the spread of war in the Middle East as the result of the Syrian conflict, is not paying much attention to the plight of the millions of Arab Christians being driven from their homes. It is a tragedy of immense proportions and it is one that is entirely the result of the inherent hatred by Islam for all other faiths.

http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/50449

Wait Out the War in Syria

Bashar al-Assad’s wretched presence in the Presidential Palace of Damascus may, contrary to Western assumptions, do more good than harm. His murderous, terroristic, and pro-Tehran regime is also non-ideological and relatively secular; it staves off anarchy, Islamist rule, genocide, and rogue control of Syria’s chemical weapons.

As Syria’s civil war intensifies, Western states are increasingly helping the rebels overthrow Assad and his henchmen. In doing so, the West hopes to save lives and facilitate a democratic transition. Many Western voices call for more than the non-lethal aid now being offered, wanting to arm the rebels, set up safe zones, and even join their war against the government.

Helping the rebels, however, neglects a fundamental question: does intervention in Syria against Assad promote our own interests? This obvious question gets missed because many Westerners feel so confident about their own well-being that they forget their security and instead focus on the concerns of those they perceive as weak and exploited, whether human (e.g., indigenous peoples or the poor) or animals (whales and snail darters). Westerners have developed sophisticated mechanisms to act on these concerns (e.g., responsibility to protect, animal rights activism).

For those of us not so confident, however, fending off threats to our security and our civilization remains a top priority. In this light, helping the rebels entails multiple drawbacks for the West.

First, the rebels are Islamist and intend to build an ideological government even more hostile to the West than Assad’s. Their breaking relations with Tehran will be balanced by their helping to forward the barbaric force of Islamism’s Sunni forces.

http://www.danielpipes.org/11843/syria-intervention

60. Amjad of Arabia

Lol, tell me again what any Sunni groups or countries are doing or have ever done for the armed Palestinian struggle for the past 20 years.

Hamas only has Syrian and Iranian made weapons to defend with right now.

So please shut the fuck up, hypocrite.

56. ann

That won’t earn him no money, remember.

Jordan unrest: Clashes after fuel protest

Clashes have broken out in Jordan between anti-government protesters and supporters of King Abdullah II.

The skirmishes followed a demonstration by thousands of people in the capital, Amman, over the government’s lifting of fuel subsidies earlier this week.

Some protesters chanted for the king’s downfall – a very rare occurrence in the country.

Since the lifting of subsidies, the price of domestic gas has risen by more than 50%.

Diesel and kerosene prices, meanwhile, have increased by a third.

‘Playing with fire’

The protests are one of the most serious challenges to King Abdullah’s 13-year reign, says the BBC’s Dale Gavlak in Amman.

In a largely peaceful protest in Amman on Friday, thousands of marchers near the main Husseini Mosque chanted the Arab Spring slogan: “The people want the downfall of the regime.”

But Abdullah loyalists clashed with anti-government protesters near the city’s Wasfi al-Tal square on Friday night, with dozens of protesters reportedly being beaten by the king’s supporters.

Jordan has mostly avoided the protests that have swept across the region in the past two years, but the decision to raise fuel prices sparked demonstrations.

“Raising prices is like playing with fire,” read one banner.

Protests elsewhere on Friday – in the northern city of Irbid and in restive southern towns of Karak, Tafila and Maan – passed off peacefully, reports said.

The subsidy cuts announced by Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour saw the price of gas, used mostly by low-income families for heating and cooking, rise by 54%.

This angered a public already suffering from high unemployment, poverty and inflation.

As the fifth prime minister appointed by the king since the outbreak of protests in Jordan nearly two years ago – following the start of the Arab Spring – Mr Ensour said the measures were needed to reduce a massive budget deficit of $5bn (£3.1bn).

Analysts say the opposition Muslim Brotherhood and its political wing, the Islamic Action Front, may be stoking the flames of dissent in a bid to raise its own profile ahead of the parliamentary elections on 23 January, which it has vowed to boycott.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20373021

Habib

“Hamas only has Syrian and Iranian made weapons…”

The Palestinian has Russian weapons and they are selling it to the Syrian rebels in Lebanon. They probably purchased it with Gulf money.

I never heard that there are Syrian made weapons…

Please do not make up facts.

76. Tara

Your Zionist pals tell us otherwise: http://www.theisraelproject.org/site/c.hsJPK0PIJpH/b.2904001/k.ED3B/An_Inside_Look_at_Hezbollahs_Iranian_and_SyrianSponsored_Arsenal.htm

In any case, it is completely bedsides the point. The weapons are supplied by Syria, there can be no doubt about it, the manufacturer is irrelevant.

What was the deal and who is that delegation who negotiated?

“In other news, Turkish cameraman Cuneyt Unal who was captured by Syrian forces while covering fighting in the city of Aleppo in August has been released and will return to Turkey, a delegation who negotiated his freedom told Turkish media.”
…
“There will be an ambassador of Syria in France,” Hollande, with al-Khatib at his side, told reporters after the meeting. He conceded later that a proper locale must still be found to house him. The current Syrian Embassy building doesn’t belong to France, he noted.”

The new planned Syrian ambassador to France is Mounzir Makhous, an alawite

http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-ambassador-france-named-112625262.html

Erdogan gives his usual passionate rhetoric of future God’s justice but in the present he proposes no serious action to stop the massacre in Gaza.

Erdogan says he wants Israel held to account for Gaza ‘massacre’

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/erdogan-says-he-wants-israel-held-to-account-for-gaza-massacre.aspx?pageID=238&nID=34878&NewsCatID=352

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that Israel would be held to account for the children among 40 people dead in three days of air strikes on Gaza.

“Everyone must know that sooner or later there will be a holding to account for the massacre of these innocent children killed inhumanely in Gaza,” he said in a speech at Cairo University.

Erdogan, who had earlier met President Mohamed Morsi, has blamed Israel for the latest round of fighting around the Gaza Strip. The United States wants both Turkey and Egypt to pressure Gaza’s Hamas rulers to stop firing rockets into Israel.

November/17/2012

Cocky Habib and the other love-u-4ever cocky coackroaches continue to shed snake’s tears over Hamas forgetting that even when Hamas was still in bed with their so-called resistance axis of thugs, this axis sat idle and watched when Gaza was pounded to dust in 2009.

FYI, Habib, the Iron Dome has so far proven to be 90% effective,

http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/11/17/250174.html

It is unfortunate that Gaza had to pay the price of the experiment. But I will surely celebrate when your mullah thugs become the receiving end of the pounding.

Why is Turkey quiet lately about Syria?

Israel intentively uses the social media, Youtube and twitter to show the “survival” fight against the Palestinians.
Are Arabs responding similarly?

http://www.kernelmag.com/yiannopoulos/3604/oh-israel-spare-us-this-meretricious-war-porn/

Terrorists have long used the internet to co-ordinate and intimidate across borders. Now, their victims are responding in kind. Milo Yiannopoulos reports.

This week, the state of Israel did something really rather extraordinary. You’ve probably read about it elsewhere already. The country used social software services like Twitter, Facebook and Flickr to document the latest episode in its fight for survival against the Hamas terrorists in Palestine, posting videos to YouTube of its rocket offensives and live-tweeting the assassination of Hamas military chief Ahmad Jabari.
..
The high production values of the IDF’s website and the extraordinary agility of its tweeters, bloggers and photographers have demonstrated that it ain’t just Muslims who can use the internet to reach, and perhaps scare, millions.

Opposition bloc in Syria welcomes Iran conference on Syria – 2012-11-16

• A coalition of opposition groups inside Syria welcomed the upcoming meeting on Syria.
• Iran will host a meeting between the Syrian government and its opponents.
• Syrian state-media said the Syrian army battered “terrorists” in suburbs of Damascus.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-11/16/c_131977500.htm

DAMASCUS, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) — A coalition of opposition groups inside Syria on Thursday welcomed the upcoming meeting on Syria to be held in Iran, saying that the conference aims to bring the Syrian opposition together to discuss differences.

The National Democratic Bloc (NDB), which combines various opposition groups and currents inside Syria, said at a press conference on Thursday that the meeting in Iran, which will start on Sunday, will be confined to the opposition to discuss their differences, adding that the Syrian authorities will not be represented.

However, media reports said Iran, the main regional ally of Syria, will host a meeting between the Syrian government and its opponents, aiming at solving the country’s conflict. Syrian officials have not been immediate available for comments.

“We thank the Iranian state because it has proposed to host this conference. Iran pledged to be a host country without intervening in the decisions of the conference,” Barwin Ibrahim, a member of the opposition bloc, said during the press conference.

She said invitations have been sent by Iran to all spectra of the Syrian opposition to attend the conference. However, the National Coordination Body, a major opposition party inside Syria, announced Thursday its boycott to the meeting, claiming that Iran is a player in the Syrian crisis.

The National Coordination Body did not take part in the opposition meeting in the Qatari capital of Doha last week.

Meanwhile, Ibrahim said the NDB totally rejects the opposition meeting in Doha and the formation of a new opposition coalition that has been recognized by some Western and Arab countries as legitimate representative of the Syrians.

“We totally reject the results of the Doha meeting of the opposition forces abroad and also the coalition that has been formed there,” Ibrahim said, adding that “we reject the idea of considering any group of certain current as legitimate representative of the Syrians.”

The opposition parties’ wrangle over unifying their stance in order to come up with a solution to the protracted crisis in Syria comes as violence in the country is on the rise.

On Thursday, clashes between the government troops and armed rebels intensified in the southern suburbs of the capital Damascus, such as Tadamun al-Hajar al-Aswad among others.

Syrian state-media said the Syrian army battered “terrorists” in suburbs of Damascus, northern Aleppo and eastern Deir al-Zour provinces, while activists reported shelling by government troops on a number of hotspots nationwide.

[…]

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-11/16/c_131977500.htm

Mortar shell kills 8 near Syrian capital – 2012-11-18

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-11/18/c_131981514.htm

DAMASCUS, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) — Armed men fired a mortar shell on the Damascus’ suburb of Jaramana Saturday evening, killing eight people and injuring many others, witnesses and the pro-government al-Ekhbaria TV said.

The TV said that the mortar had been followed with the launching of a hand-made missile on the same area by the armed groups but stopped short of giving further details.

Meanwhile, the pro-government Sham FM radio said the shell struck a passenger bus at the entrance of Jaramana.

Meanwhile, activists reported clashes and government troops’ shelling on hotspots in the southern countryside of Damascus, reporting many deaths due to the ongoing violence.

Pro-government reports also said that shell bombs struck the Palestinian camp of Yarmouk on Saturday, as an amateur video footage appeared online claiming to show a destroyed residential building in the Yarmouk area.

[…]

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-11/18/c_131981514.htm

Israel’s supporters are responsible for atrocities in Gaza: Jalili – 18 November 2012

http://www.tehrantimes.com/component/content/article/103385

TEHRAN – The secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council has said that the Western governments that support the Zionist regime should be held accountable for its criminal actions in the Gaza Strip.

SNSC Secretary Saeed Jalili made the remarks during a meeting with Syrian Deputy Prime Minister Qadri Jamil and Syrian Minister of State for National Reconciliation Ali Haidar in Tehran on Saturday.

“The Western governments that support the Zionist regime account for the blood of Palestinian women and children that has been unjustly shed in Gaza,” Jalili said, in reference to the recent Israeli attacks against the Gaza Strip.

He also stated that the silence of the United States and certain other Western countries on the Zionist regime’s crimes in Gaza is in direct contradiction to their claims about democracy.

Commenting on a Syrian “national dialogue” meeting, which will be held in Tehran on Sunday, Jalili said that the meeting will be a turning point in Syria’s developments and is a step forward to restore stability and security in Syria.

Qadri Jamil, for his part, said that the United States does not intend to promote democracy in Syria, but it is seeking to undermine the achievements of the Syrian nation.

[…]

http://www.tehrantimes.com/component/content/article/103385

80. Visitor

Answer my questions and quit tap-dancing as always.

Who has done more for the Palestinian cause, Iran and Syria, or worldwide Salafism?

Habib

Who has massacred more Palestinian? Syria or the GCC?

87. Tara

Within the last 20 years as specified earlier, neither. If we go back further than that, everyone was slaughtering Palestinians at some point. The Gulf countries were only enablers, since they never had sizeable Palestinian populations.

But you haven’t answered my question.

The answer to your question, you schmuck, Is simpe and every one knows it.

It is Assad Syria and mullah-Stan.

Stop the aggression! this is a warning! you know that you can not block the sun!

Israel-Hamas ‘Open War’: LIVE UPDATES
http://rt.com/news/gaza-israel-hamas-attack-687/

Global anti-Israel protests staged as fears of Gaza ground invasion escalate (PHOTOS)
http://rt.com/news/israel-gaza-attack-protests-932/

Palestinians: 13-year-old boy is killed in Gaza
http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/08/world/meast/gaza-violence/index.html
This is what started the violence. Shooting a child who is playing soccer from a helicopter is a brutal and inhumane act. It was clearly intended to provoke a reaction by the Palestinians, who react to the murder of their children in exactly the same way you would. The Palestinians shot at the IDF soldiers. Israel retaliated by shooting two more children, then opened fire on the funeral for one of them. Each act by Israel was intended to provoke the maximum rage in the families of the victims. Meanwhile, in the United States, all we saw on ABCNNBBCBSFOX was Penisgate, and the first news about Israel and Gaza reported to the American audience was when Gaza fired some rockets into Israel and was portrayed as the unreasonable aggressor who started it all.

Obama has given Netanyahu a green light for the IDF to kill as many Palestinians as is humanly possible in the coming ground invasion.

There will be no “de-escalation of Gaza violence”; only more slaughter, and Obama understands this completely.Shame for those War maniacs !

U.S. gives ‘full backing’ to Israel while urging de-escalation of Gaza violence
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/11/16/u-s-gives-full-backing-to-israel-while-urging-de-escalation-of-gaza-violence/

Who slaughtered Palestinians in the Yarmuk camp? Who re-displaced them again in revenge if supporting the revolution?

Do you not agree that Mnhebaks are willing to sell Palestine and part of Syria too if they get a guarantee from the superpowers to leave Batta in the chair. Don’t bother to answer this particular question to me but answer it to yourself and that is enough.

This wave of being pro-Palestinian by mnhebaks is a mere act of propaganda nothing more and I am so unimpressed.

Now the joke is on all the new backers of Hamas, certainly not the other way around, no matter how people spin it. Tough times ahead for Morsi, when he is proved powerless his and his party’s poularity will take quite a hit, and there’s nothing Erdogan and Hamad can do.

btw I just read that some rats think Israel will attack Iran on its own, while the US is decidedly uninterested. Thing is, the Israelis know better and they aren’t as brain-damaged as said rodents.

92. ALBOBOBOBO

“said rodents”

You are a wretchedly verbose little tool, aren’t you?

89. VAT

“You schmuck”

Another wretchedly verbose little tool

Hibib, don’t waste your energy – That person is by far “akber Munafiq and Dajjal”. He/she has been encouraging hate, revenge, death and distraction in Syria since March 2011.

Really? Merci France????

After having fought to abolish article 8 from the constitution, we’re putting now new monopolists? What about Syrians that have different opinions than the ones of the Syrian National Coalition? What about supporters of other opposition groups? What about those Syrians who still support the regime? We just ignore them? This is not democracy! This is not what we are fighting for!

Qatar PM urges Arab League to do more than talk on Palestinian issue

Qatar’s prime minister on Saturday delivered a biting criticism of Arab League meetings during emergency talks in Cairo, and called for a review of the pan-Arab body’s dealing with the Palestinian issue.

“Our meetings have become a waste of money and a waste of time,” Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem Al-Thani told Arab foreign ministers gathered to draw up a response to Israel’s attack on Gaza.
“We are meeting today and we will issue a statement. The statement will mean nothing,” he said.

“The whole situation needs a clear and honest review… We can’t keep giving hope without delivering,” Sheikh Hamad said.
Qatar is to give Egypt $10 million (7.8 million euros) to help treat Palestinians wounded in Israeli air strikes on the neighboring Gaza Strip, state news agency QNA reported on Saturday.

The oil-rich Gulf nation will also send emergency aid including medical equipment and medicines to Hamas-controlled Gaza, it said.
Sheikh Hamad complained that money pledged to the Palestinians after previous Israeli attacks had failed to reach the Palestinians.

http://arabnews.com/qatar-pm-urges-arab-league-do-more-talk-palestinian-issue

__________________________________________________________________

Bluster and posturing is the only thing sunnis can do.

# 87

jews.

Qatar-Israel Relations: A Historical Overview

Qatar, the “rising start” of Middle Eastern diplomacy, has been engaged in its bilateral relations with the State of Israel for exactly 20 years now, since the former Emir Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani expressed his support for the Arab-Israeli peace conference in Madrid in 1991. Its bold commitment to actively engage in regional diplomacy and raise Qatar’s position internationally contributed to a slow but steady process of normalisation of the interstate relations between the two countries, Qatar becoming de facto the first GCC state to grant official recognition to Israel by establishing mutual business and trade relations in 1996, when the first Israeli Trade Office in the GCC opened in Doha following a visit by the then Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres.

Following the Oslo Accords and Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa’s presence at the signing ceremony of the “Oslo 2” agreement, a number of trade ventures were initiated and a recognisable warming of the inter-state relations took place. However, the election of Benyamin Netanyahu to the Israeli prime-ministerial office, followed by the opening of the Western Wall tunnel in 1996 led to a significant deterioration in their relations. Despite the freeze in the Arab-Israeli peace process at the time, Qatar invited Israel to participate in the MENA Economic Conference hosted in Doha in 1997, which caused a clear Arab outrage with Saudi Arabia calling the move as threatening “the higher interest of the Arab Nation.” However, further stagnation of the peace process made the Qatari government increasingly uncomfortable at justifying the presence of their mutual trade relations, and although the situation did not force Qatar to sever its ties with Israel, the government decided to distance itself from its partner.

Qatar-Israel relations suffered another setback as an effect of the Al-Aqsa Intifada in 2000 that led to massive protests against the Israeli state all throughout the Middle East, including Qatar. The Qatari authorities did not refrain from harsh criticism of their Israeli counterparts and successively turned down Ehud Barak’s request to visit the emirate, a move that constituted a sign of support for the popular discontent with Israel but did not lead to any conscious policy change; Sheikh Hamad eventually met Barak at the UN Millennium Summit in September 2000. In the run-up to Doha’s Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) meeting in November 2000 Qatar’s continuous engagement with the Israelis caused a major political row with Saudi Arabia, Iran, and other states. Finally, succumbing to various regional pressures Qatar announced the closure of the Israeli office in Doha on 9th November 2000, however further secret meetings between the two states did take place and the unofficial co-operation continued.

Qatar’s non-permanent representation at the UN Security Council (UNSC) in 2006-7 supported by the Israeli authorities, and its effective assistance offered to Lebanon during the 2006 Lebanon War revealed another important aspects of Qatari political behaviour in the face of changing regional circumstances. Despite being a vocal advocate of dialogue between Israel and the official Lebanese government, Qatar maintained dialogue with Hamas and Hizbullah representatives, a position that was disconcerting not only to Israel but also Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Additionally, Qatar abstained from the vote on Resolution 1757 (May 2007), which called for international tribunal to investigate the Rafiq Hariri assassination, a move that raised a few eyebrows in Washington. Following the eventual ceasefire and successive 18-month long political deadlock in Lebanon, which originated in their Parliament’s inability to elect a President, Qatar; arguably due to its neutrality and the ability to engage politically with numerous political players on an equal footing; emerged a triumphant regional peace broker that helped to strike a much-needed, yet for long seemingly improbable power-sharing agreement.

Qatar’s policy towards Israel reached a turning point in December 2008 when Israel attacked Gaza in what Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani called “the flagrant savage aggression against the Palestinian people.” As an effect of the Operation Cast Lead Qatar severed all its ties with Israel, shut down the trade office and expelled all Israeli representatives. Not surprisingly, however, once the international and regional condemnation of Israeli actions in Gaza lessened, Qatar attempted re-establishing the ties again in 2009 and 2010. This time however, the Qatari initiative was met with a clear rebuttal from the Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and the Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.

More recently, however, in a yet another interesting shift in the Qatar-Israel relations, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani is believed to have held secret meeting with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu in London earlier this month. As indicated by various media reports Qatar has an eye to future LNG sales to Israel. Due to recent unrest in Egypt, Israeli imports of gas from that country have been largely severed and it wouldn’t be surprising if the Qataris wanted to fill that gap by exporting their LNG to Israel, even below market rates as some indicate.

The history of Qatar-Israeli co-operation is long and perfectly exemplifies Qatar’s foreign policy of independent diplomatic engagement with all its international partners indiscriminately, thus allowing Qatar “to assert its independence in the Arab arena and compete as an emerging regional political power.” Qatar’s understanding of non-commitment to a particular political group or country allows the state the flexibility to engage politically with many sides of the political spectrum and gives it the comfortable room to re-evaluate its policies according to the changing geopolitical realities and to manoeuvre quite easily within its own diplomatic balancing game.

http://www.matthewmachowski.com/2011/05/qatar-israel-relations.html

93. JOHANNES DE SILENTIO

Dear Silentio, you must have mistaken me for someone who gives two sh*** about what you say.

#99

j d silentio and the other cubicle jews are here to harass, waste time, lie, promote lies, deceive, divert, and lie.

Hey Habib schmuck, I was, in 89, answering Tara’s question not yours. But I hope you got the picture. Assadistan and mullah-Stan killed more Palestinians than any other party beginning with Tal el-Zaatar, Biddawi, Yarmuk and all he other camps.

But to answer your question, birdbrain, what did Assadistan do when asshole Meshaal took an oath in Mecca back in 2006? Meshaal went back to Damascus next day and renounced his oath!

Do you know the answer to your question now? If not then here it is.

You cannot help someone who refuses to help himself or who is part of the axis of thuggery. So Hamas ended up paying for its bad choices and continues to do so.

To hell with Hamas and let the Palestinians wake up and do what is best for them which is to sack the axis of thuggery once and for all, and to know who their real backers are that are none but the GCC.

100. THE FIVE DANCING SHLOMUCKS

“J D Silentio is here to harass”

Ooooh, struck a nerve.

Even so, welcome back, Dancing Boy. It’s good to see you posting much-needed information about the International Jewish Conspiracy (also known as Zionism). Many of us missed your deft touch on the keyboard and your wry understated wit.

It would be useful if you posted the certificate from the clinic stating you are no longer insane. A clean bill of health would go far toward giving those among us who have doubts about you a certain, much-needed comfort level. And again, don’t worry about that rape charge from the nurse. She changed her mind. I guess she enjoyed it.

Nicholas D. Kristof: Men are vanishing in northern Syria – 11/17/2012

Groups of fighters have realized that the best way to get weapons is to grow beards, quote from the Quran and troll for support in Saudi Arabia and Qatar

http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_22005598/nicholas-d-kristof-men-are-vanishing-northern-syria

President Barack Obama and other world leaders have avoided intervening in Syria for fear of destabilizing the region and empowering Islamic fundamentalists. The West is also nervous of the rebel Free Syrian Army, which includes extremist elements and has committed atrocities itself.

The Western concerns are legitimate, and plenty of Syrians have mixed feelings about the Free Syrian Army. Some fighters engage in looting or kidnapping, and many are poorly trained and unprofessional. (The establishment of a new umbrella coalition of the Syrian opposition, immediately recognized by France, may help a bit.)

My take is that rural Syrians are generally supportive of the Free Syrian Army, while most city dwellers resent it as an armed mob that irresponsibly moves into neighborhoods knowing that the result will be government bombs that will devastate those streets.

It’s also true that Islamic militants and foreign fighters are playing an increasing role in the combat. Some of that is real, and some is Kabuki: Groups of fighters have realized that the best way to get weapons is to grow beards, quote from the Quran and troll for support in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

[…]

http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_22005598/nicholas-d-kristof-men-are-vanishing-northern-syria

UK recognition of the Syrian opposition is expected in a statement on Tuesday, according to a tweet from Roger Boyes, Diplomatic Editor of The Times UK

https://twitter.com/rogerboyes/status/269766962366779393

Must read
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/57986/Egypt/Politics-/ElHelbawi-Brotherhood-leadership-is-wavering-and-i.aspx

Syria: strategic shift
http://translate.google.de/translate?hl=de&sl=ru&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Finteraffairs.ru%2Fread.php%3Fitem%3D8910

It seems like both sides are trying to play the Palestinian card, and suddenly you guys competing and racing to show the love for Palestinians. I say this is all RUBBISH.

Neither Assad nor opposition paid any attention or respect to the only fighting nation in our Arab existence. Assad’s (the father) last advise to his crew is to keep killing Palestinians, and the son kept the promise in addition to crack the PLO with his puppet Palestinian factions in Syria. The opposition on the other side, was not any better as they kept attacking Palestinian refugee camps all over Syria while posting their threats to Palestinians; we all remember when the FSA armed gangs killed 16 Palestinians conscripts from the Palestinians Liberation Army while they were on their way home for Eid vacation from Mesyaf.

I say for Syrians’ benefit to keep Palestinians in Syria neutral without forcing them to take a side.

Some damaged brains say GCC has given more to Palestinians than Syria, I call that a big BS. Simply check when was the last time Palestinians allowed to any Gulf country!!

Look at this! “ANN” alters stories from the original publication before posting them. The cheap fraud tricks of a propagandist.

Random example from #103 above:

Actual article: “…rural Syrians are generally supportive of the Free Syrian Army, while SOME city dwellers resent it..”

Excerpt faked by “ANN”: ” ..rural Syrians are generally supportive of the Free Syrian Army, while MOST city dwellers resent it..”

Actual article ” … It’s also true that Islamic militants and foreign fighters are playing an increasing, BUT STILL TINY, role in the combat.”

Excerpt faked by “ANN”: “… It’s also true that Islamic militants and foreign fighters are playing an increasing [key phrase removed] role in the combat.”

Kissinger very sharp analysis on Syria Rock the world
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/syrian-intervention-risks-upsetting-global-order/2012/06/01/gJQA9fGr7U_story.html

A few minutes ago Dzheramana district of Damascus, was attacked by terrorists from the mortar. As a result of entering the mines, destroyed minibus. Reported 6 dead and 7 wounded civilians.

The city has been increasing checks at roadblocks. Thoroughly inspect vehicles, resulting in huge traffic jams formed.

After a quiet day again heard the guns.

Syrialover

Kindly email the links about Ann’s alterations of excerpts to JL to his personal email address and not to the SCmoderation. That is not acceptable and if the site respects itself, Ann should be banned.

Ann, you are a disgrace.

#105 MINA

You can see why that old fool got kicked out of the MB in Egypt. His quaint, extremist, unwordly views were too much even for them.
He’s made a career out of his dream world, but when reality arrives his game is up!

Is that what you were hoping to tell us?

TARA, (#111)

Sure, anything in the hope of getting “ANN” banned from trying to dominate this forum with junk.

That member of the “ANN” team will probably be getting their performance bonus cut for being caught (#108).

Calais after Sangatte: The migrants ‘worth less than cattle’

Near the port I meet Anwar, an unkempt, sallow Syrian man in his 30s who tells me he fled in terror from his home town near Damascus after his younger brother was tortured by supporters of President Assad’s regime.

I learn that he is unmarried, is very close to his little brother and that he is an industrial chemist. He has only been in Calais for six weeks but he has already tried more than 30 times to climb into, under and above lorries in his bid to get to England.

“Why England?” I ask. “You speak fluent French, why not claim asylum here?”

He looks at me for a few seconds before saying: “Come with me, come and see where I live.”

In the next street, directly opposite some private houses, I see a row of makeshift tents fashioned from patched tarpaulin, rubber sheets and supermarket carrier bags.

Anwar lifts one of the tarpaulins and shows me a filthy mattress littered with damp blankets, odd shoes and some mouldy bread. It smells as acrid and rotten as a sick room and I have to withdraw my head quickly.

“Seven of us sleep here. But in the night the police come,” he says. “They spray everything with gas so we can never use it again and then we have no cover from the rain and no more clothes.

“In Syria,” he continues, “we see television programmes about France – we learn it is the country of freedom, of human rights and solidarity.”

He looks at me closely and asks: “Do you think this is a country which respects human rights? I have nothing here, Madame.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20356446

__________________________________________________________________

Europe is tired of refugees and illegal immigrants, you guys aren’t wanted!

Hey WARREN

You missed the punchline. It was that the guy had desperately fled Syria after his brother was tortured by the Assad regime.

PS He’s in France – where’s the Manaf Tlass aid program for Tlass’s fellow Syrian refugees there?

“while crying for the poor FSAlafist babies in Syria”

This is how a typical minhebakji justifies the murder of innocent Syrian children like this one, Ya 7eef…

And this person was calling for dialogue the other day, perhaps he meant dialogue de sourds?

Salafi Lover

Europeans are sick and tired of refugees/illegal immigrants from the Middle East & Africa!

Europeans have their own internal radical sunni terrorist threat and economic problems to deal with. Without adding more pro-Islamist unproductuve and workshy refugees flooding in!

Why do you think right wing anti-immigrant parties are so successful in Europe these day? lol

US not impressed with Arab spring reaching Jordan? – 17 November, 2012

http://rt.com/news/jordan-protest-king-leave-899/

Clashes broke out in Amman, as thousands of Jordanians took to the streets, protesting against corruption and a sharp increase in gas and petrol prices. The US is supporting the Jordanian monarch, ignoring a potential Arab Spring there.

On Friday the demonstrators were reportedly blocked by riot police on the way to King’s Palace, later dispersing the crowd with rubber bullets, water cannon and teargas.

With more than 158 people arrested, 71 injured and one killed since the start of Jordanian protests on Tuesday, tonight Amman saw the escalation of the unrest in a way Jordan has never seen. Angry crowds have been shouting out Arab spring slogans and demanding King Abdullah go.

“Freedom, freedom, down with Abdullah,” protesters chanted, despite public insults of the Jordanian King being punishable with time in jail.

The people were calling on the Jordanian government to cancel the price rises and carried banners with slogans like “playing with prices means playing with fire” or “long live the revolt of Jordanians,” AFP reports.

Protests flared up in Amman on Tuesday after the Jordanian government said it had removed fuel subsidies aimed at cutting the budget deficit. The resulting 53% rise in household gas price and 12% in petrol prices was deemed “necessary” by Jordan’s Prime Minister Abdullah Nsur.

Smaller demonstrations were underway all across the Arab kingdom, embracing at least 7 Jordan’s municipalities, media reports.

Despite this, the US State Department spokesman Mark Toner voiced support for the King of Jordan urging the protesters to express their discontent “peacefully.”

“We support King Abdullah’s road map for reform and the aspirations of the Jordanian people to foster a more inclusive political process that will promote security, stability as well as economic development,” Toner said.

Serving as a buffer state between Israel, Iraq and Syria, the Western-backed Hashemite Kingdom remains an “important strategic partner” of the US in the region.

King Abdullah II has also seemingly followed the line of change by repeatedly reshuffling his government and promising a “genuine political reform”.

Muslim Brotherhood’s leader Zaki Bani Rsheid doesn’t believe either, calling the King’s policies “wrong” and dubbing protests as “a wake-up call to the king,” media reports. “Those who are calling for fall of the regime are increasing… This cannot and should not be ignored. The regime must reform before it is too late,” Zaki Bani Rsheid claimed.

[…]

http://rt.com/news/jordan-protest-king-leave-899/

SyriaLover,

Who would’ve thunk the spawn of SatANN would be so low as to personally edit chinese and russian propaganda to better suit her master Asshat the Second? Somehow I am not shocked at all!

Hat tip for actually reading her junk as well!

Ann

You really are satanic. I feel bad for people around you. You have no shame. What phrase did you change now?

No way I would like us to reconcile with someone like you.

Zoo,

You have always defended Ann. What say you now?

Ann is a glimpse of what you are defending.

alahu akbar.. alahu akbar.. alahu akbar.. “BOOOOOOOM”.. ALAHU AKBAR.. ALAHU AKBAR.. ALAHU AKBAR..

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=d91_1353104691

SAMI (Son of Damascus),

In this case “ANN” is doctoring the writing of a well-known American columnist. I noticed because I’d already read the piece in its original form.

My thesis is that “ANN” is an acronym. Some here think it probably stands for “Assadist Nonesense News”. Anybody got any other suggestions?

WARREN

What if that refugee guy in France turns out to be a Christian victim of Assadist terror?

You’ll have to fine-tune your nasty racist hatred rant and make it less anti-Muslim.

Egyptian Cleric: Hurricane Sandy A Soldier of Allah, Inflicted Upon America

123. Syrialover said:

“”” Anybody got any other suggestions? “””

SHUT IT!

Salafi Lover

France has always provided refuge & shelter for Christians of the East, for example when Sunni terrorists attacked the Syriac Catholic Church in Baghdad in October 2010. France gave refugee status to Iraqi Christians and provided health care for the victims of sunni terrorism.

__________________________________________________________________

Iraqi Christians hurt in church attack arrive in France

Thirty-four Iraqi Christians and a Muslim guard hurt in last week’s al Qaeda attack on a Baghdad church arrived in Paris late Monday. French Immigration Minister Eric Besson said it was in France’s “tradition of asylum” to offer them treatment.

http://www.france24.com/en/20101109-iraqi-christians-hurt-baghdad-church-attack-arrive-france-hospital-besson

Hostage drama ends in bloodbath at Baghdad church

Seven security force members and 37 Christians were killed when US and Iraqi forces stormed a Baghdad cathedral to free dozens of hostages, an official said Monday, as an Al-Qaeda group claimed the attack.

Among those killed in the Sunday night hostage drama were five women, seven children and two priests, an interior ministry official and witnesses said. Ten women, eight children and a priest were among the wounded.

“The latest toll is that 37 of the hostages were killed and 56 wounded,” the official said, adding that seven security force members were killed and 15 wounded. He did not specify if any Americans were among the dead.

Five attackers were killed and eight arrested, he said, adding there had been more than 100 worshippers at the Sayidat al-Nejat Catholic cathedral in central Baghdad when the hostage-takers stormed in.

The gunmen had attacked during evening mass after killing two guards at the nearby headquarters of the Baghdad stock exchange.

At least one of the deaths came before the rescue operation: one of the freed hostages, an 18-year-old man, said the first thing the gunmen did when they entered the church was to shoot the priest.

“They entered the church with their weapons, wearing military uniforms. They came into the prayer hall, and immediately killed the priest,” he said, declining to give his name.

All the hostages had been huddled into the main prayer hall when the gunbattles began with security forces, he said.

“We heard a lot of gunfire and explosions, and some people were hurt from falling windows, doors and debris.”

The Chaldean bishop of Baghdad, Bishop Shlimoune Wardouni, said that two priests had been killed, and one shot in the kidney.

“It’s a great sorrow, because this was an inhuman act. Even animals are not doing this to each other,” Wardouni said.

Officials had said that at least one of the gunmen who raided the cathedral in the Karrada neighbourhood had blown himself up with a suicide belt as police made a first attempt to enter.

“We came here to help the police and army free the hostages, and we released them with the help of the Americans,” a member of Iraq’s anti-terrorist unit told AFP.

Wardouni said earlier that the gunmen were demanding the release of detainees held in Iraq and Egypt.

The SITE monitoring group said Monday that the Islamic State of Iraq, the local branch of Al-Qaeda, had claimed the Baghdad attack, saying its fighters had captured the Christians and also gave the Coptic church in Egypt a 48-hour deadline to release women it said were being held captive by the Christians.

It said an “angry group of mujahedeen from among the supporters of Allah raided one of the filthy dens of idolatry that was always used by the Christians of Iraq as a headquarters to fight the religion of Islam and to support those who fight that religion,” SITE said.

The group in a statement posted on jihadist websites said it was giving the Coptic Christian Church in Egypt 48 hours to release Muslim women “imprisoned in… the monasteries of disbelief and the churches of idolatry in Egypt.”

SITE said the threat comes amid calls by jihadists and Al-Qaeda’s media arm for Muslims to take action against the Egyptian Coptic church over the alleged imprisonment of two women, both wives of Coptic priests.

It said jihadists believe one of the women had converted to Islam and was then imprisoned in a church, while the second had allegedly wanted to convert to Islam and suffered the same fate.

The Vatican, Italy and France were among the first to condemn the hostage-taking in Baghdad.

Around 800,000 Christians lived in Iraq in 2003 but their number has since shrunk to 550,000 as members of the community have fled abroad, according to Christian leaders.

Iraqi Christians have frequently been the target of violence, including murder and abductions. Hundreds have been killed and several churches attacked since the US-led invasion to oust Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Violence has abated in Iraq since its peak in 2006-2007, but deadly bombings, gunfights and kidnappings are still routine.

The US military officially ended combat operations in Iraq at the end of August, but 50,000 troops still remain in the country.

http://www.france24.com/en/20101031-hostages-released-catholic-church-baghdad-gunmen-iraq

__________________________________________________________________

An example of sunni terrorism and persecution against Christians.

Deporting Millions Of Muslims May Be Necessary – Geert Wilders

Courageous Dutch politian Geert Wilders speaks out against Muslim immigration into Europe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rfm1l9g8UAY

__________________________________________________________________

Europeans like Geert Wilders are confronting radical islamism. European patience and tolerance for radical islamism is ebbing away by the day!

I repeat, anybody got any ideas what the initials “ANN” could stand for?

“ANN’s” reaction in #126 shows panic.

omarsyria
The NCB (anti-West non-NC opp) refuse invitation to attend a dialogue summit held by Tehran bc “they are part of the crisis.” Good move.

http://yallasouriya.wordpress.com/2012/11/17/omarsyria-the-ncb-anti-west-non-nc-opp/

Attention Lover:

Your such an attention seeker,get over yourself, you ain’t nothing special . … such a drama queen. Stop barking like an ugly pitbull! you’ve exceeded attention seeking by far, now it’s more like a desperate cry for help and acknowledgement by the janitor (visitor), Ajrab (Amjad), and 6ara (Tara).

Leave the kid alone and just focus on your sh!t, of all the things Christ wants for us, loving Him and focusing our attention on Him are the most important rather others shortcomings.

Ali, the clown twerp,

So far you have been trampled upon twice. You think name calling will gain you any credibility?

You keep coming back for more trampling, I am more than happy and willing to oblige, lamebrain!

Why is Amjad not answering you? You probably know already!

ALI #132

It’s not clear, but are you talking to me? Looks like you are attention-seeking and wanting a response:

Three things:

– You sound suspicious and a bit desperate, supporting fraudster “ANN”

– That’s a Christian command you’ve stated, so please follow it YOURSELF. (That includes following it with regard to the victims of Assad – who you apparently don’t include.)

– Enough of the jealous sulking, accusing people of “attention seeking”. YOU are the most demanding attention seeker we have seen here for ages, posting long lightweight statements and demanding people respond to you.

Don’t accept gifts from Qatar, they are deadly.

During his visit with his wife Moza, the emir of Qatar generously offered a car to Ahmed al-Jaabari who lost his life while driving that same car. Was it a coincidence?

Israel air raids kill 10, destroy Hamas HQ in Gaza

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\11\18\story_18-11-2012_pg7_4

GAZA CITY: Israeli strikes on Gaza killed 10 Palestinians and destroyed the Hamas government headquarters on Saturday as Israel called up thousands more reservists for a possible ground war.

After Palestinian militants fired rockets at the heart of Israel on Friday, Israeli warplanes carried out 180 air strikes overnight, Israel TV reported, with the strikes levelling the headquarters of the Hamas government. “It’s like a real-life horror movie, what I saw today … It’s a miracle we’re still alive,” said 18-year-old Suha, standing in front of her house.

Medics said 40 Gazans have been killed and more than 350 wounded since Israel launched an aerial campaign on the enclave on Wednesday afternoon, with at least five militants among the 10 people killed in Saturday’s raid

“Gazans watch with pride as Hamas strikes Israel”.. with long range Fajr rockets that the Iranians provided to Hamas in the hay days when Hamas was not flirting with Qatar and turning its back to its long time allies and supporters.

http://news.yahoo.com/gazans-watch-pride-hamas-strikes-israel-203133648.html

In Gaza, Hamas was basking in its newfound appeal. Government spokesman Taher Nunu claimed, without providing evidence, that the level of popular support for firing rockets at Israel is unprecedented.

The current mood in Gaza can quickly turn on Hamas, especially if fighting drags, the death toll rises or shortages are felt more keenly. But for now, Gazans seem to enjoy the rare feeling of keeping Israel off guard.

ZOO,

Enough distractionism. We don’t need you to give us posts on Israeli crimes in Gaza and the horror there, we can read our own sources.

Information for you:

The daily death tolls in Syria are still running at 4 times that of Gaza, pointed out by a number of commentators on twitter.

‏In a total confusion over the killings in Gaza, the ineptia of the Arab League is evident even to its bankroller, HBJ.

http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/middle-east/you-will-pay-for-killings-erdogan-tells-israel

The Qatar’s prime minister also called for a review of the pan-Arab body’s dealing with the Palestinian issue.”Our meetings have become a waste of money and a waste of time,” Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem Al Thani said.

“We are meeting today and we will issue a statement. The statement will mean nothing,” he said.”The whole situation needs a clear and honest review … we can’t keep giving hope without delivering,” Sheikh Hamad said.

Read more: http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/middle-east/you-will-pay-for-killings-erdogan-tells-israel#ixzz2CWnhF7GP

113. Syrialover and TARA, (#111)
Since JL has not banned anyone since Aboud times, we are stuck with Ann and with a few other nuisances here.

don’t give them any of your precious time. it is time lost . I confine my reading to my favourites and they know who they are.
Good night

Dear Syrialover,
Thank you for sharing the two articles by Maysaloon. I had read one of them enforce, but the other was completely new. As always, Maysaloon’s articles are a pleasure to read.
When I was reading the letter to a friend, I thought about Ghufran. I feel that this letter could have been directed to him. He always comes across to me as a tortured soul trying to shove the crimes of the regime under the rug while talking ad nausum about the “mistakes” of the opposition. Obviously, the biggest mistake was opening their mouth and asking for their rights.

There are news coming from Aleppo about the defeat of the 46 battalion in Alattareb. . This is very significant if true.

I believe Syria No Kandahar thinks that Syria’ s history started when the Assads took control of the country. To him, the minorities can only survive if the Assads stay in power. He is urging all the minorities to fight to the death or leave, because the Sunni monster will eat them up. Please let me know when your birthday is, so that I could send you a book about the history of Syria. In that book you will “find out” that these minorities have been living with this same majority for hundreds of years. You will also “discover” that the minorities in Syria declined as a percentage during the rule of the Assads.

I think that the new body will have the same fate as the old one, they are two of the same, they needed some movement so they changed the color of the VW and called it an Audi, thinking that they got a winner, long shot. Only a system that guarantees free election is acceptable.

Shiela
I know the history of syria better than you,but who cares about history any more?
It is all about Allah Akbar and our leader forever sedna Mohammad while killing
or doing some criminal wahabi activity.Syria was a great Nation for 10000 years
but who cares? Now it is a crap.What happened to Syria over the last 18 months is
IRREVERSIBLE regardless of the cause which does not matter any more…It ia like
smashing a glass of flowers on the floor then burning them then trying to put all the pieces together,it is impossible.I dont tell any one to fight to death I actually
encourage all christians to flee Syria immediately.Kurds practically are going into
Semiindependence,Allawis have more power and may be able to survive for a while.
Your (revolution) is a shame not only in Syria’s history but all the humanity history.
You did nothing good to Syria, you destroyed Syria forever.This revolution destroyed Majority more than minorities,it turned syrian sunnis into sunnis sunnis.
Did you ever over the last 19 months heard any terrorist calling or saying any none
religious stuff? How may terrorists know the history of Syria? Or care about it.
For Islamic terrorists there is nothing none-islamic they can be proud of.Your friend terrorists are the kind of loving history and loving minorities gangs like the guy who was calling for destructing the pyramids and Abo-Alhool in Egypt few days ago or the Talibans who destroyed Botha’s staue few years ago.
My friend dont worry about syria’s history any more for Syria is actually a history.

This is what was sent to 5,000 cell phones in Israel :
السبت 71 /11 – نص الرسالة التي أرسلتها سرايا القدس على الهواتف المخترقة..
אנחנו נהפוך את עזה לבית עלמין לחיילים שלךם ולעשות תלאביב של להבה (גדודי אל קודס )
نحن سنحول غزة إلى مقبرة لجنودك وتل أبيب لكتلة من اللهب (سرايا القدس)
I am glad to see that Sheila can read my mind, I hope she will try to read my posts before accusing me of ignoring regime crimes and focusing on those of the opposition. We were asked to accept the rebels as our saviors only to discover that they are a collection of violent thugs who recruited few decent Syrians to use them as a cover. Because this war is between two untrustworthy factions, the future is as dark as the soul of Talibani Syrians, only a third movement can save the country, members of that movement are everywhere in Syria but they do not have guns and do not believe in violence.

‘رئيس كل المصريين’ يرفض المشاركة في طقس تاريخي للاقباط
الكنيسة المصرية تعلن ان مرسي لن يحضر حفل تنصيب بابا الاقباط الجديد في خطوة تمثل استسلاما لضغوط مارستها جماعات اسلامية.
Watch Morsi’s rhetoric and compare it to his actions. To be fair to the man, he is an improvement over Mubarak when it comes to Gaza but he will not depart far from the redlines drawn by Washington and his own MB friends.

Norman 144,

It doesn’t matter if it is a VW or an Audi, your thug and its band of thugs are on the run on all fronts.  For you, it is probably better off if you turn your back and stay in your US home forever.  

http://www.aljazeera.net/news/pages/c9f9267f-95ae-4409-9261-fdab3ca905a5?GoogleStatID=1

SHEILA #141,

You are right. GHUFRAN might decry what Asssad is doing, but he has also found it impossible to acknowledge the FSA and Opposition, denying and rejecting their basis in the Syrian population.

He now suggests there should be a “third movement” who should run the country instead of Assad or the opposition. (#146)

Well, BIG NEWS Ghufran, that group will have their chance to participate and compete legitimately for a role in post-Assad Syria (unlike now).

But it will be entirely thanks to the enormous sacrifices and courage of the FSA, LCC and those opposition leaders who have done the heavy lifting to rid their country of this psychopath dictatorship.

NORMAN scornfully dismisses the opposition, and states:

“Only a system that guarantees free election is acceptable.” (#144)

Question for Norman: Really? And what system do you think so many Syrians are currently fighting to achieve?

If the FSA can take one airbase, they can take others. All indications show the regime continues to weaken and to lose ground.

ANN is one of those people that quotes “Russia Today” and CHANGE the wording of the articles? Mmmm. That’s kind of cheap. Not that I read it’s articles anyways. Not only that, IT gets all surly because someone called IT out on it.

To Warren: Ha ha ha. Sucks to be on the losing side. Ha ha ha. You can whine about the opposition all you want, but you’re the one backing the losing horse.

SL 149,
Wrong again,I wholeheartedly support anti regime figures and parties who advocate regime change without participating in destroying Syria in the process. There are many decent patriotic Syrians who want Assad and his thugs to go but they do not trust the new thugs who use religion and sexy slogans to justify violence. It is naive for any of us to expect oppressed and threatened people not to try to defend themselves but rebels and their supporters went too far, they will be remembered as partners of regime forces in turning Syria into a burnt dysfunctional state, emotions and ideology make it hard for many Syrians to admit this fact but the truth will eventually shine and the reality of the new Syria will sink in after it is too late, there can not be free elections when millions of Syrians are hungry,displaced,wounded and have hearts full of hatred and resentment and minds that are suffocated by bitter memories and pictures of death and destruction.

Pfffft. Against a regime like this, non-violent means are useless.

It’s time to teach the regime and its supporters a harsh lesson and maybe their communities will behave better in the future. The regime understands force, and only force. Talking to it right now is pointless.

Poor poor lonely miserable NOVO RICH 🙂

If you are going to troll someone, you should learn better English. What sort of insult is that?

Anyways, I’m glad you’re finally posting your own thoughts, instead of copying and pasting from other people. That way everyone can finally see what a creep you are.

155. MarigoldRan

Lonely?

Are you a prostitute or something? Why are you always asking people if they’re lonely?

What a weirdo.

157. MarigoldRan

Takes one to know one!

In the future, if you’re going to say something, just say it. Don’t waste everyone’s time by copying and pasting articles from rubbish sources like Russia Times, that no one’s going to read anyways.

I may not agree with Albo, and Zoo, and Ghurfan, but at least they present their own opinions, unlike you and Warren, who spam links all the time. The only coherent idea I have got from Warren is that he thinks Muslims stink, and that’s why he supports the regime. To go and post things like this on a blog about Syria is simply rude.

With you, I don’t even know what your opinions are except that apparently you read RT a lot and like to plagiarize and misquote articles.

Can’t get a date out on a Saturday night?! 8)

Sigh. As a matter of fact, I do. Good night.

When I said a date, I meant to say a date with a real woman 😀

Interesting news indeed.

All of us here know how fractious Syrians are. Even in the same apartment building they cannot agree on who pays the common electricity bill. At one point for the presidential elections 10% of the votes had the name God on it. An indication of how little fundamentalism there is compared to Iran which has God’s sovereignty as the first article of its constitution.
Yet we have over the last 18 months the formation of a coalition of groups and political and ethnic spectrum. In 18 months we have something that the regime has been trying to prevent and to divide and to deceive and to threaten and to cajole and to exile and to torture and detain.
Amazing that the 40 or so years of intended corruption and oppression and enticement to hatred and sectarianism has been removed in 18 months.

There is daily erosion of the control of the regime. If it thinks that it can maintain its legitimacy by holding to some areas here and there while losing much of the country then someone needs to get them to have their heads examined.

Now the story coming out from the pro regime is not one of a victory but how this revolution has destroyed the so called wonderful Somaria Alathad.

Amazing how sectarian some have finally shown themselves to be. They even now call the Sunnis as a sect. Even an atheist like me scoffs at such hatred and sectarianism. All of sudden we discover hatred of Sunnis that explains fully the 40 years of oppression. It was and remains pure hatred and if they had the means they would perpetrate a holocaust on them.

Cheers.

Israel and Syria exchange fire in Golan – 18 November, 2012

http://rt.com/news/syria-israel-fire-golan-963/

Israel artillery has fired back at Syria after gunfire hit an Israeli military vehicle in the Golan Heights. The incident comes amid high tensions in the region as Israel is waging an offensive against Gaza while civil war continues in Syria.

No one was injured in the exchange of fire on Sunday, the Israeli military said. This has been the latest spillover of violence from Syria, where rebel fighters are trying to topple the regime of Bashar Assad.

“Shots were fired at IDF (Israeli army) soldiers…in the central Golan Heights,” an army spokeswoman told AFP. “Soldiers responded with artillery fire towards the source of the shooting.”

The Israeli military however did not know if they were attacked by Syrian rebels or forces of the Syrian government.

[…]

http://rt.com/news/syria-israel-fire-golan-963/

‘The West wants to install a puppet regime in Syria’ – 18 November, 2012

http://rt.com/news/syria-france-opposition-interview-957/

France is set to raise the issue of lifting an EU arms embargo against Syria at an upcoming meeting with EU foreign ministers in Brussels. Journalist Neil Clark told RT western imperial ambitions have come at the expense of Syria’s popular will.

RT: London and Paris have said they’ll raise the topic of lifting an EU arms embargo in Brussels on Monday, hoping for direct weapons deliveries to the rebels. Do you think their wish will be granted?

Neil Clark: It’s back to 2011, isn’t it? It’s Libya mark two, because back in February/March 2011, it was the same scenario, wasn’t it? What we have is, we get together some opposition puppets if you like, knock our heads together, call them the government of Libya and now Syria, and then we work to end the arms embargoes. And very soon you’ll be hearing talk, I expect, of no-fly zones. This is all part of the plan to topple President Bashar al-Assad, and of course things haven’t gone to plan for the Western powers, have they, because President Assad is still in power. It wasn’t meant to have gone this way, so now they are going back to what they did last year.

RT: If Western states begin official arms supplies, wouldn’t nations that back the Syrian government have the right to do the same?

NC: Oh, absolutely, but this hypocrisy has been absolutely glaring. We had [British Foreign Secretary]William Hague, and then we had French leaders and the Americans claiming that Iran is backing Syria. And of course we have the furore with the Turkish bringing down a Syrian plane, which they claim was carrying Russian guns to Syria, and of course we never saw those. So the hypocrisy for the Western powers is absolutely glaring; It’s okay for us to arm the rebels in Syria, but for anyone else to arm the Syrians, it’s not allowed.

RT: Britain says it wants a political transition plan from the new Syrian opposition coalition before it recognizes them as legitimate. Why is it that Western allies other than France haven’t jumped on the bandwagon and recognized this new coalition?

NC: I think the Americans are a bit concerned at the moment. [President] Obama is caught between two stones here. After what happened in Libya, he’s a bit concerned the weapons will get into the hands of people who may turn and use them against the US a year from now as they’ve done there.

I think the French are the most aggressive of the lot, even more aggressive than Britain. [French President] Mr. Hollande is trying to recreate the French empire I’m afraid. I mean, 40 years ago the great Charles De Gaulle, and now we have the grotesque spectacle of so-called Socialist Francois Hollande actually trying to recreate the French empire following on from [former President] Sarkozy. The French line is absolutely appalling what they’re doing here; they have absolutely no right at all to say who the government of Syria is. It’s up to the Syrian people to decide that. And I expect Britain will follow unfortunately on Monday of next week.

RT: The new opposition coalition’s founding document expressly rejects any talks with the regime. With that in mind, how can the alliance expect to achieve peace?

NC: They don’t want peace. What they want is the violent removal of President Assad. That’s been clear form the start. We’ve already got a democratic framework in Syria. We had the constitutional vote back in February; 87 percent of Syrians voted for it. We had elections in May There has been every possibility of change in Syria through the ballot box, but the West doesn’t want that because they know that President Assad is too popular. The Ba’ath probably has majority support inside Syria. So they can’t go down that root, and therefore they need violent regime change…because that’s the only way they are going to get what they want, which is a puppet regime in Damascus.

RT: If they want that regime change, would Turkey be the country to actually spearhead the military operation bearing in mind it’s now in talks with NATO to set up missiles on its border with Syria?

NC: It’s very likely that would happen because the likes of Britain, France and the US wouldn’t want themselves to be taking the lead in this. They would like a Muslim country, preferably Turkey, to take the lead, otherwise people are just going to say this is a Western operation, which it is. And of course Turkey has changed its policy on Syria. In the last 18 months it’s moved towards the Qatari/Saudi/Gulf bloc. So I think the West would much prefer for this sort of intervention, when it comes, to come through Turkey. I think what we’re going to get next week is more talk about no-fly zones, which is interesting because we’ve got Gaza going on; we’ve got the Israeli air force bombing Gaza. And of course there’s no call for no-fly zones there from William Hague and Francois Hollande, but of course there will be for Syria?

[…]

http://rt.com/news/syria-france-opposition-interview-957/

WRETCHEDLY LONELY ANN

Poor poor lonely miserable NOVO RICH

Lonely?

Takes one to know one!

Can’t get a date out on a Saturday night?!

When I said a date, I meant to say a date with a real woman

ANN KNOWS SHE’S ABOUT TO BE BOOTED OFF SC. SHE DOESN’T SEEM TO CARE. SHE’S SETTLING ACCOUNTS NOW WITH SOME OF US FOR WHOM SHE HAS PARTICULAR HOSTILITY. AND SHE’S CUTTING AND PASTING AS ALWAYS.

SHE’S QUITE INSANE. SHE AND DANCING SHLOMO SHOULD MOVE IN TOGETHER. THEY COULD LIST THE COST OF THEIR THERAPY SESSIONS ON A JOINT FILING AND GET A HEFTY TAX REFUND.

Christians Flee Syria in Wake of Targeted Violence: Vatican Radio (17-11-2012)

Christians are among the hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing Syria in fear of militant Islamist extremists who are targeting minority ethnic and religious groups while fighting under the name of the “Free Syrian Army” (FSA).

John Pontifex, who is head of press and information for Aid to the Church in Need, spoke with Vatican Radio about the growing violence against these minority groups, noting the attacks.

“There is a range of factors at work which are making it very difficult for minority groups,” he said. “As part of the mix of different militant groups at work in the region now, we are seeing a systematic assault on minority groups, and a lot of this is organized along ethnic lines, but particularly religious lines. And the Christians would seem to be in the line of fire.”

Pontifex gives the example of a Syrian priest whose body was found brutally mutilated on a Damascus road. The significance of an act of desecration against a religious person such as this one, he said, now “shows that there is a specific religious dimension to the violence.”

With Christians leaving Syria en masse, Pontifex noted, there is concern that Syria will go the way of Iraq, where the number of Christians declined from 1.4 million in 1987 to barely 200,000 today.

“If that happens in Syria,” he said, “where next for Christians across the region?”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cec0IZHL4Vo&feature=g-all-u

__________________________________________________________________

Sunnis once more persecuting and murdering anyone who differs from them. No doubt salafi apologist and propagandist will deny the truth as always.

Orthodox Church says 90 per cent of Christians have been expelled from Homs

Almost the entire Christian population of the Syrian city of Homs has fled violence and persecution, according to Fides, the news agency of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples.

The mass exodus of 50,000 or more people to villages and towns around the city comes amid reports that the homes of Christians in Homs have been attacked and seized by militants.

The Syrian Orthodox Church has told Fides that 90 per cent of Christians have been expelled amid what it fears is “an ongoing ethnic cleansing”.

Until now, Homs has been home to one of Syria’s largest Christian populations, and Church sources have said the faithful have borne the brunt of the violence, escaping to villages in mountains 30 miles outside the city.

Islamists have reportedly gone from house to house in the Homs’ neighbourhoods of Hamidiya and Bustan al-Diwan, forcing Christians to leave without giving them a chance to take their belongings.

According to other reports, Christians have left their homes voluntarily, in effect making way for others to occupy them to shelter from the violence.

Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need today announced an urgent €80,000 aid package providing food and shelter.

The assistance will provide each family with $60 each month for basic food and lodging, with the hope that by the summer they can return home.

ACN is also helping families caught up in a car bomb explosion last Sunday which targeted the Christian quarter of Aleppo, close to the Franciscan-run Church of St Bonaventure.

Overseeing the aid programme, Bishop Antoine Audo SJ of Aleppo told Aid to the Church in Need: “The people we are helping are very afraid.”

Speaking today from Aleppo, the bishop said: “The Christians don’t know what their future will hold. They are afraid they will not get their homes back.

“It is very important that we do whatever we can to help the people.”

In his application for ACN aid, the bishop stated: “Please speed up the implementation of the project because of the difficult circumstances that Christians face in Syria.”

The bishop, who heads Aleppo’s Chaldean diocese, paid tribute to ACN benefactors, adding: “Thank you for helping us. Pray for us and let us work together to build peace in Syria.”

His comments come as fears grow of Syria becoming a “second Iraq”, following a similar pattern of church attacks and forced expulsion and kidnapping of Christians.

If the attacks continue, Syria could suffer the same fate as Iraq where Christians have plummeted from 1.4 million in the late 1980s to perhaps less than 300,000 today.

In both cases, the Church has been targeted for perceived close links with regimes under fire from opposition parties and rebel groups.

The Homs crisis has prompted increased fears that Islamists are gaining influence in the region, filling the power vacuum left when decades-old regimes across the Middle East were overthrown at the start of the so-called Arab Spring.

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2012/03/26/orthodox-church-says-90-per-cent-of-christians-have-been-expelled-from-homs/

“Sunnis once more persecuting and murdering anyone who differs from them. No doubt salafi apologist and propagandist will deny the truth as always.”

And when the Christians are all gone and the only people left are the dumb-as-dirt Sunni Muslims, they will say, “I can’t understand it. We all got along so well. Why, there was a nice Christian family that lived two doors from us. I can’t understand why they left. Yes, it is a real mystery.”

The historic Evangelical Church of Aleppo destroyed with explosives

The historic Arabic Evangelical Church of Aleppo, in the Jdeideh district (the old town), was mined with explosives and blown up “by armed men, for pure sectarian hatred”: This is what Pastor Ibrahim Nasir, spiritual leader of the Arabic Evangelical Church in Aleppo says, in a statement sent to Fides Agency, referring to the explosion which occurred two days ago.
Rev. Ibrahim Nasir expressed “bitterness and sadness of all Syrian citizens” for an act that makes Christians “inconsolable”. The message sent to Fides says: “Today we are announcing the destruction of the Arabic Evangelical Church, the first martyr Church. Today the Mosque of the Umayyad of Aleppo and the Evangelical Church of Aleppo met in an embrace of pain, as they were embraced, since 1848, in the worship of God and service to man. Today is the day when we cry out to Christ to say: my God, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
In the tragedy that the Syrian people live, says the leader, “every church, every mosque is a haven for all those who have been forced to flee their homes.” And states: “We will overcome our pain and rebuild our country, our church, our mosque and our humanity.”
The text concludes: “We cling with faith to the words of our Lord Jesus Christ: I leave you my peace, my peace I give unto you, not as the world gives you,” thanking “all those who have expressed solidarity” and praying to God “to pour out upon all Syrians the spirit of love.”

http://www.fides.org/aree/news/newsdet.php?idnews=32613&lan=eng

Is it true ?

“Just got the news

Regiment 46 near Aleppo is no longer….
For those who don’t know, this regiment has been responsible for many fatalities and destruction in Aleppo, it is one of the key sources of mid-range bombardment and rockets.”

Hoping it will now be safe for deserters to join the FSA

164. ann said:

‘The West wants to install a puppet regime in Syria’ – 18 November, 2012

Well, the despicable Russians already have a puppet regime in Syria.
And that fact has made Syria one of the top 10 most miserable places on Earth.

And wahabi Saudi terrorists will make it one of the best 10 places to live in.

Why not, GCC is already a better place to live than any Russian-influenced landfill such as Ukraine, Serbia, Belarus.

GHUFRAN #152

Thank you for responding.

But it feels like you are making statements in a vacuum, as if you have no clear sense of who is fighting to get rid of Assad or why or how it came about and continues.

You said: “I wholeheartedly support anti regime figures and parties who advocate regime change without participating in destroying Syria in the process.”

What? You think anyone other than Assad CHOSE this?

It is Assad’s evil and ruthless determination to burn the couunty that is pushing things “too far” and “too late” as you put it.

The regime has driven and decided every death, act of cruelty and all the destruction in this nightmare. They created all the dark forces and hell and ratcheted things up.

When I urge you to try to have some sympathy, faith and vision for the Syrian people and not write the place off, I am repeating a discussion with you that has persisted over the last 20 months.

You expressed a negative view about Syria’s future well before the extremes of Assad’s destruction emerged.

Kandahar 172,

You cab always buzz off to Qom and rot until hell freezes.

JUERGEN,

Thanks for the links to the latest posters by those clever and courageous people in Kafranbel in #62.

Assad’s recent attempt to punish and silence them with bombs hasn’t worked!

It’s estimated over 45,000 people have now died in Assad’s burning of Syria.

To give some sense of that number here’s a picture of 40,000 people from a twitter post by Yasmeen Mobayed:

pic.twitter.com/LjhqSnGa

Obviously the friends of Qatar, Turkey and Egypt on this blog prefer to avoid dwelling into the cowardice of these ‘regional powers’ when it comes to defend their weakest ally and ideological friend, Gaza.
Blames, rhetoric, threats of God’s justice is all they can do to help the people who are dying in Gaza.

These loud-voiced ‘regional powers’ show what they really are when it comes to acting decisevely: three pathetic powerless stooges.

Is Hamas punished because it refused Qatar’s conditions to break with Iran and to negotiate with Israel? Is Qatar accomplice to the murder of the pro-iranian Ahmed Jaabari in a car offered by the emir of Qatar, just a few days after his short visit to Gaza. Sources indicate that the visit was a failure as Hamas rejected all the conditions set by Qatar. Let’s see if Hamas would return to Iran, especially after the successful impact of the Iran supplied weapons on Israel.
Are the Jordanian been blackmailed by the Moslem Brotherhod gang to participate actively in the military attack on Syria?
Qatar is becoming increasingly seen as a accomplice to Israel and its US and EU allies in their goal of crushing any resistance in the Arab World to impose their own version of a peace.

http://www.almanar.com.lb/french/adetails.php?eid=85451&cid=18&fromval=1&frid=18&seccatid=20&s1=1

Obviously the friends of HA and Batta on this log prefer to avoid dwelling into the cowardice of these two “regional powers” when it comes to defend their weakest ally, Gaza.

What have they done during Gaza bombardment 2009?

174. SYRIALOVER

“What? You think anyone other than Assad CHOSE this?”

It takes two to tango.

173. DOLLY BUSTER

“Why not, GCC is already a better place to live than any Russian-influenced landfill such as Ukraine, Serbia, Belarus”

Without large oil, gas reserves, GCC would be a collection of Yemens.

Iran holds Syria reconciliation conference today, between the regime and itself.  Fooling none but oneself..  

Iran holds Syria reconciliation conference

http://news.yahoo.com/iran-holds-syria-reconciliation-conference-104659643.html

The report said the one-day meeting of some 200 opposition members and Syria’s National Reconciliation Minister Ali Haidar could be a step toward a future, broad-based opposition gathering, although it did not say if any of Syria’s major rebel or exile groups had attended. Most of those groups distrust Iran, a key ally of their adversary President Bashar Assad.
(…)

Ali

I thought you are worth discussing with.

I thought wrong.

6ARA.

180. Tara

They supplied weapons, not luxurious trackable radio-wired cars to murder unwanted Hamas leaders.

In 2009, funnily it was Mobarak the dictator, who called for an emergency session of the UNSC on the Gaza attack.

What are the “Palestinians defenders” Morsi, Erdogand and HBJ doing, besides nibbling their finger nails in confusion and blaming everybody?
Will they wait that more Gazaens die and that Hamas weakens? Probably.

Albo

You are unfair to Yemen. It had an interesting culture, great architecture and varied nature. The GCC has none.

173
enjoy watching dude !
Russian Spetsnaz vs USA Para Rescue

Qurdahan Mjabali

“I do not see this strange from someone like you, who called his dick the 7th pillar of Islam.”

Sixth pillar, not seventh. Can’t you get even small facts right? LOL!

And what happened to the campaign you were going to launch by calling up the satellite sheikhs and whining about my mighty pillar? Come on, tell them that you think a guy in Saudi “insulted Islam”.

As always, menhebakjis write cheques their mouthes can’t cash. Just like their pathetic Ayatollahs and Hizbollshaytan, who apparently didn’t support Hamas out of any genuine love for “Palestine”, but now consider them enemies and opponents. Support from Shia groups like Hizbollshaytan “Kill the infidel and forget about making Lebanon a civilized country” and the Ayatollahs comes with many conditions; break one of them, and you are lumped in with the “evil Jews”.

Just ask Azmi Ebshara, how he suddenly became a “tool of the Zionists” after being welcomed as a hero in Damascus for years.

And let’s not forget the days when Sunni Qatari money was rebuilding that sh*hole of a neighborhood, Al-Dahiya;

http://www.spiegel.de/international/qatar-s-reconstruction-aid-in-lebanon-envy-conspiracy-and-a-lebanese-motor-city-a-471382.html

LOL! The days when the Shia “muqawama” was begging for handouts from the great and generous and benevolent Emir of Qatar.

Hey Albong, don’t diss Yemen, you should love it there, they allow bong-heads like you to chew on drugs on public. Hehehehe.

“Christians in Syria, Separating Fact from Fiction”

http://t.co/j9ZxVOyV

Hey Albong, why haven’t you taken in any of the so called Christian refugees? Saudi and the GCC have taken in tens of thousands of Syrian refugees. Heck, if you only knew all the Lebanese Shias I know here in Saudi who would rather cut their balls than move from Saudi back to that pathetic state Hizbollshaytan built hehehe.

فيديو /الحر يقتحم الفوج 46 في حلب

كتبها يقال
السبت, 17 نوفمبر 2012 18:30

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlJre6ONNzw&;feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziPnRxg_Cho&;feature=player_embedded

27 km range guns in the hands of the FSA
YouTube:http://youtu.be/kujy_Spy-mM

Qurdahan Warren Pretending to be a Christian.

“Why do you think right wing anti-immigrant parties are so successful in Europe these day? lol”

There has never been a BNP member of parliament. There have been many, many Muslim MPs, even in the government. Hehehehe, and we got a Muslim in the White House, biaaaaatch.

“Why is Amjad not answering you? You probably know already!”

I have such immense power that I don’t need to be on this forum everyday for the feeble and weak-character menhebakjis to be tormented by me. And also, many times, their own words are damning enough, you just let them keep yapping on and on and they eventually give you enough rope to hang them.

Like Mjabali who can’t even remember how many pillars there are in Islam LOL! Or Albong who says that the state can’t do anything to impose common human rights and protect vulnerable foreign workers. Hey bong-boy, you think the state is so powerless? Try hitting your bong in public and see how powerless the state is. But your Shia Hizbollshaytan care only for murdering “infidels”, they don’t give a crap about common human decency or developing the country they supposedly rule.

An organization set up to “kill Jews”, and they can’t even do that. I’m proud of the fact that more Hizbollshaytan ekhwat el manyoki have been killed in Homs than Israel ever managed to cleanse from this Earth.

“Obviously the friends of HA and Batta on this log prefer to avoid dwelling into the cowardice of these two “regional powers” when it comes to defend their weakest ally, Gaza.
”

What ally? Hamas made its bed, now it can lie in it.

185 ZOO

Yes, I appreciate its culture and ancient civilization but can’t overlook its current socio-economic conditions, which are nearly sub-saharian. Saudi Arabia as a proeminent actor in their internal politics and civil war has had disastrous effects on the country over the years, and the recent political settlement is as precarious as it can be. Food for thought regarding Syria.

Christians flee Syria in wake of targeted violence

(Vatican Radio) Christians are among the hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing Syria in fear of militant extremists who are targeting minority ethnic and religious groups.
John Pontifex, who is head of press and information for Aid to the Church in Need, spoke with Vatican Radio about the growing violence against these minority groups, noting the attacks.
“There is a range of factors at work which are making it very difficult for minority groups,” he said. “As part of the mix of different militant groups at work in the region now, we are seeing a systematic assault on minority groups, and a lot of this is organized along ethnic lines, but particularly religious lines. And the Christians would seem to be in the line of fire.”
Pontifex gives the example of a Syrian priest whose body was found brutally mutilated on a Damascus road. The significance of an act of desecration against a religious person such as this one, he said, now “shows that there is a specific religious dimension to the violence.”
With Christians leaving Syria en masse, Pontifex, there is concern that Syria will go the way of Iraq, where the number of Christians declined from 1.4 million in 1987 to barely 200,000 today.
“If that happens in Syria,” he said, “where next for Christians across the region?”
Listen to Ann Schneible’s full interview with Aid to the Church in Need’s John Pontifex:

http://www.news.va/en/news/christians-flee-syria-in-wake-of-targeted-violence

__________________________________________________________________

Is anyone going to challenge the source and dispute the information, apart from Amajad the salafi catamite?

Syrian Chief Justice announces defection from regime

Sunday, 18 November 2012

Chief Justice Ali al-Aoun, who was also a member of the ruling Baath Party, said that dozens of Syrian officials and party members are going to follow in his footsteps very soon. (Al Arabiya)

http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/11/18/250330.html

Note: He is the Chief Justice of the court in Deir al-Zour.

Amajad the salafi catamite

You are such a cretin, right wing parties campaigning on anti-Islam and anti-immigrant platforms are succeeding in Europe!

It doesn’t make a bit of difference whether the BNP has a member in the House of Commons or not. The BNP had a member in the London Assembly and 1 MEP at present. What matters in respect of the UK is that issues that were once forbidden and taboo such radical Islam and Muslim immigration. Is now part of acceptable and mainstream political and cultural discourse, credit has to go the BNP and EDL! Islamic extremism is threat the UK and this is acknowledged by the UK government. For example the UK has extradited Islamic terrorists like Babar Ahmed and Abu Hamza to the United States.

My comments were about Europe as whole, not the UK specifically you idiot. You really have profound reading and comprehension problems.

National Front in France
Vlaams Blok/Belang in Belgium
VPP in Netherlands
Golden Dawn in Greece
Lega Nord in Italy
NDP in Germany
DF in Denmark
True Finns in Finland

All these right wing pro-European Christian identity parties are gaining popularity each day!

I’ll give Ann the benefit of the doubt. I’ll put the error down to a malfunction due to overuse/burnout of the copy/paste function.

I’d suggest she take her machine to the nearest computer maintenance store and get it serviced. Or even upgraded.

While it’s getting fixed take a few days off if there’s no risk of withdrawal symptoms or going cold turkey.

I’ll presume her innocence. The alternative would be indefensible, unacceptable and possibly unforgivable. In that case the least we would expect from the Admin would be to issue a stern warning along with a threat of a permanent ban on repetition.

while it is true that the regime used excessive force from the beginning and is responsible for much of the damage done in areas like Bab Amr and Deir Azzour,etc,one can not escape the fact that rebels presence and their use of weapons is the reason why there is intense fighting and herrific destruction in most cities especially Aleppo, keep in mind that rebels for over 18 months now are ATTACKING the army not just simply defending civilians, the FSA led us to believe that they are only protecting civilians then we find out that they allowed islamist terrorists to join them and started engaging in assassinations,suicide car bombs, torture, looting and sensless violence killing poor syrians who happen to serve in the Syrian army,the FSA and many of you lied from the beginning and are unwilling to admit that this is not a revolution any longer,it is a dirty war where the alleged victim is becoming as evil as the alleged aggressor,playing with words will not change this tragic fact.

Egyptian Salafi Sheik Murgan Salem Calls to Destroy Pyramids, Tax Christians, and Says: Bin Laden Greater than Saladin

http://www.memri.org/clip/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/3636.htm

I’d still like to believe that the uprising is more than simply a class/sectarian conflict.

ريف دمشق والاحياء الجنوبية للعاصمة خزان المقاتلين المعارضين
دمشق ـ ا ف ب

وخطت المعارك والعمليات العسكرية في دمشق وريفها خطوط تماس لا تقوم على معايير طائفية كما قد يخطر للبعض، انما هي رسمت، كما هي الحال في معظم الحروب، بين المناطق الفقيرة والمناطق الاكثر ترفا
…
وغالبا ما تشكل الاحياء الفقيرة والمهمشة في كل الدول تربة خصبة لتسلح الناس وغضبهم
في منطقة المزة مثلا، لم تطال الاشتباكات الاحياء الراقية انما البساتين، كذلك في كفرسوسة تتركز المعارك خصوصا في اللوان الذي هو على تماس مع ريف دمشق
ولا وجود بشكل عام للمجموعات المقاتلة المعارضة في الاحياء البعيدة نسبيا عن المعارك في دمشق مثل قاسيون (شمال) والمهاجرين (شمال غرب) ودمر (شمال غرب) والسروجة (وسط) والقنوات (وسط) والشاغور (شرق) ودمشق القديمة (وسط)، وهي مناطق يسكنها بغالبيتها اناس من طبقات ميسورة يفضلون الامن والحفاظ مصالحهم على الانخراط في النزاع

PTO

” The BNP had a member in the London Assembly and 1 MEP at present”

Wow SUCH POWER!!! OMG “had” a guy in the London Assembly? And ONE member of the european parliament? OMG what a political streamroller! Not.

Look at the most recent number of votes the BNP have gotten. The last election was their worst ever LOL! Mainstream? When a website leaked the name of some BNP members, the advice the party gave to those same people was to deny their membership. That ain’t mainstream, ya neo-Nazi Qurdahan inta, that’s disgusting vermin living under rocks and too ashamed to come out. Like Qurdahans have become.

“Pontifex gives the example of a Syrian priest whose body was found brutally mutilated on a Damascus road”

John Pntifex is a guy who takes the name of an ancient pope, and who works for an organization that has a vested interest in making things look as bad as possible for Christians worldwide, as it increases donations to that organization. Hundreds of thousands of Christian refugees? Where are they all then? I know Warren the Qurdahan Neo-Nazi hasn’t taken any in hehehehe.

And Pontifex (what a ridiculous name) has no proof that “salafis” murdered the Christian priest in question. Considering what happened to the Christian fimlmaker Bassel Shehade and how the Qurdahans bashed up his funeral, it is likely that the regime took a disliking to the late priest and made an example out of him.

Terrible, disgraceful, neo-Nazis hand in hand with menhebakjis. Is nothing too shameful for the regime’s base of support?

A new Assadist helicopter is down in the Ghouta of Damascus downed today
http://youtu.be/oaLKoSxVb6c
Also the capture of rockets launchers in Aleppo
http://youtu.be/nSZfbEc0oUg

I wonder if Abdelbari Atwan’s articles on Syria will be influenced by the current Gaza crisis? Same with Palestininas in general. Surely the similarities between their (palestinian and syrian)situations will increase empathy for the Syrian plight.

Also Buthaina Shaaban used to be a regular face on the BBC during the 2006 Isreal-Hezbollah war and possibly the previous Gaza crisis. Will she resume her role for the current Gaza crisis? I doubt it.

Another thing. Regarding the appointment of the new ambasador to france. I was sure the previous ambassador was that woman who early in the uprising was thought to have resigned until she denied it. I looked her up and yes she was the ambassador to france. Lamia Shakkour. Remember her?

“John Pontifex”…hahahaha. Yeah, definitely an impartial,non-partisan observer of events. Why not get your information from a guy calling himself Richard the Lionheart.

Hey guys, CNN has a new reporter who goes by the handle “Adnan Ar’our” LOOOOL!

Cairo ceasefire negotiations have failed – Hamas official – 18 November, 2012

http://rt.com/news/hamas-ceasefire-negotiations-failed-004/

Hamas official Abu Zahri says that ceasefire negotiations in Cairo have failed, Israeli TV reports.

An Israeli envoy arrived in Cairo on Sunday for Egypt-mediated truce talks with Hamas.

The meeting was focused on agreeing guarantees for ceasefire conditions.

[…]

http://rt.com/news/hamas-ceasefire-negotiations-failed-004/

The victory over the so-called regiment 46 is definitely a momentous event in this revolution.

Syria troops kill 42 armed rebels in clashes countrywide – 2012-11-18

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-11/18/c_131982731.htm

DAMASCUS, Nov. 18 (Xinhua)– A total of 42 armed men were killed Sunday during clashes with the Syrian troops in the east and north of Syria, the pro-government Sham FM radio said, as activists reported shelling and clashes in some areas in the capital Damascus.

The pro-government Sham FM radio said that 17 members of the al- Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front were killed Sunday at al-Jubaila district in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour.

It said that other 25 armed men had been killed in the northern province of Aleppo.

Meanwhile, activists reported heavy government troops’ shelling on the Damascus district of Darya and the Kafar Souseh orchards, which emerged as strongholds for armed insurgents.

An amateur video footage appeared online claiming to show thick smoke bellowing from the Kafar Souseh orchards the adjacent Darya suburb.

Earlier in the day, mortars fired by armed men were most likely from the Kafar Souseh area, which struck parts of the Mazzeh area and seriously injured two people, causing heavy property losses, the state-run SANA said.

[…]

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-11/18/c_131982731.htm

Iran deputy FM warns Israel of “serious developments” of Jihadist resistance – 2012-11-18

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-11/18/c_131982797.htm

TEHRAN, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) — Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian warned Sunday that Israel will face “serious developments” as a result of Jihadist groups’ resistance if it does not stop its aggression on Gaza, semi-official Mehr news agency reported.

Talking on the sidelines of a meeting on Syria here Sunday, Amir-Abdollahian said what is happening in Gaza is the outcome of the past 20-month developments in the region, which are aimed at weakening the axis of resistance against Israel.

The West and Israel intend to eliminate Syria from the resistance axis, he said, adding that they suppose that the time is ripe as Hamas and the Jihadist groups in Syria are not in the condition to defend their territories.

However, Hamas showed that it has made remarkable advancements in terms of defensive and aggressive means and in case the Zionist regime does not stop its aggression on Gaza, there will be ” serious developments” as a result of Jihadist groups’ resistance in the coming hours.

[…]

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-11/18/c_131982797.htm

Pictures you won’t see in The Guardian US edition
http://english.al-akhbar.com/live-event/israel-declares-war-gaza

نصرةً لأهل غزة
الشيخ محمد أبو الهدى اليعقوبي
غزة … وهي غزة هاشم … ذلك البلد المبارك الذي توفي فيه هاشم بن عبد مناف جد النبي عليه الصلاة والسلام وولد فيه الإمام الشافعي وخرج منه أكابر العلماء يحتاج منا اليوم للنصرة والدعاء …
غزة اليوم تئن وطائرات العدو الإسرائيلي تقصف وتقتل وتنتقم … فهل يشغلنا ما نحن فيه عن نصرة إخواننا ؟!
إن أهل الشام رغم ما نزل بهم من البلاء ، ورغم الدماء التي تسيل من الجراح
لن ينسوا أهل غزة وأهل فلسطين …
خصوصا بعدما قلب النظام لحماس ظهر المجن وكشف الغطاء عن زيف الادعاءات بالمقاومة …
ومن بين آهات السجناء وأنات الثكالى ونداءات المشردين في مدن الشام وقراها …
تنطلق الأصواب بالدعاء لأهل غزة بالنصر والفرج
اللهم ادفع عن أهل غزة كيد الأعداء ، وارفع عنهم ما نزل بهم من جهد البلاء ، وانصرهم نصرا مؤزرا وهيئ لهم فرجا عاجلا ، واجعل النصر والفرج يا مولانا يا إلهنا يا خالقنا نصرا عاما وفرجا واسعا يعم المسلمين أجمعين إنك على كل شيئ قدير. وصلى الله على سيدنا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين.

http://www.facebook.com/shaykhabulhuda/posts/10151246276317580

Who believed Erdogan was in Egypt because of Gaza?
http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/egypt-government-offers-turkey-new-investment-opportunities

‘DSyrer
Here is a sample of the “opposition” that attended the Tehran meeting –

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HMGYhxavMU&feature=player_embedded

#LOL’

http://yallasouriya.wordpress.com/2012/11/18/dsyrer-here-is-a-sample-of-the/

Assad you vandal!
Stop mutilating this thousand’s of years old nation!

Assad still has his supporters.

http://s11.postimage.org/nfaszib7n/syria_protest405.jpg

Btw there is no longer any editing time. I would’ve removed the apostraphe in previous comment.

GHUFRAN #197,

You have a mindset that is doing your head in.

What is it you can’t bear to face?

The FSA is attacking the Syrian army because the army became a ferocious mass destruction and killing machine against the people of Syria and the only relief is to stop it at its root source.

Look back over the past 20 months and you’ll see Assad escalated and escalated the threat and violence, justifying this with preposterous claims about “foreign conspiracies” and bringing in Iranian and Russian advice and assistance.

Do you want him to keep going until Syria is totally levelled to rubble and hundreds of thousands are dead? Because he will, even if the FSA does a mass surrender tomorrow. He is hellbent on savage revenge and punishment against millions of Syrians who “disrespected” and embarrassed him.

He will stop at nothing to make his point – killing tens of thousands, permanently disabling many many more, massive destruction of homes and infrastructure and trashing Syria’s precious heritage. He continues to increase the tempo.

ASSAD’s actions have led to many ordinary Syrians on both sides of the conflict becoming desperate and savage as they fight to survive. Big surprise?

I will not miss what Ar’our has to say, so I’ll only watch CNN from now on.

————-

Uzair,

Editing time is not gone. It should never go because I hardly make a comment without few typos.

———————–

Do not waste time arguing with Ghufran who is a shabi7h in sheep’s clothing. He is slightly smarter than the lamebrain Ali.

“IDF must learn from the Syrians how to slaughter the enemy,” says prominent Israeli rabbi

Sun, 11/18/2012

http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/idf-must-learn-syrians-how-slaughter-enemy-says-prominent-israeli-rabbi

Art in my opinion is not defined by the artist.  It stands on its own merits
—–
Syrians want to know: ‘Are you okay after Superstorm Sandy?’
With the sound of mortars in the background, Syrians in Aleppo express concern for our American correspondent and his storm-battered homeland.

By Tom A. Peter, Correspondent / November 18, 2012
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2012/1118/Syrians-want-to-know-Are-you-okay-after-Superstorm-Sandy

I had just sat down to interview a commander of the Free Syrian Army in Aleppo and we were exchanging the normal pre-meeting pleasantries as some distant gunfire cracked in the background. After 20 months of conflict here, most artillery and gunfire goes unnoticed unless people are close enough to be directly affected.

As a Californian living abroad, I was aware of Sandy. I had seen a few pictures of the aftermath, but I hadn’t even followed the Sandy news close enough to know that it had been classified as a “superstorm,” as a opposed to a hurricane. Yet here was a man whose nation is being torn apart by a violent civil war that had claimed the lives of several friends and tens of thousands of Syrians, and he’d been following Sandy news. 

I initially thought the comment was a one off, a lone hurricane watcher, perhaps he was a Syrian with an interest in meteorology. Yet it has happened again and again and everyone who asks knows that it was a superstorm, not a hurricane.

One night, I found myself with a group of FSA fighters watching Jumanji on an Arabic movie station that gives Arabic subtitles. We got into a debate about whether the child actress in the film was a young Drew Barrymore or someone else. (It was a teenage Kirsten Dunst.)
….
A few days later, I sparked a heated discussion when I jokingly asked a Syrian activist wearing a glove on only one hand if it was a tribute to Michael Jackson. The person wearing the glove argued that while Michael’s music was impossible not to enjoy, it had been tainted by the scandals surrounding his personal life. His friend argued that art is not defined by the artist and Michael Jackson remains hands down one of the best singers ever, regardless of what happened off stage.

In all the conflicts I have ever covered, I find myself in these conversations. Everyone tries to hold on to a normal world of news and pop culture to take them beyond their current hardships.

Strange Questions from Academia

The Khatib Controversy – How Liberal is He?

Professor Josh,

Why is this such an important question for you? You supported Assad for all those years. How liberal was Assad?

UzIr8@217

“IDF must learn from the Syrians how to slaughter the enemy,” says prominent Israeli rabbi.

Above is what should be written on Bata al Assad’s tomb stone.

It simply summarizes what this man stood for.

Need I remind you Akbar @ 219 that Assad made it clear that he runs his dining room based strictly on democratic principles?

Or do I need to link the proof to you?

http://abcnews.go.com/International/transcript-abcs-barbara-walters-interview-syrian-president-bashar/t/story?id=15099152

Dear Warren,
I hate to break it to you, but it is not just the Christians in Syria that are fleeing targeted violence, it is everybody in Syria fleeing targeted violence. If you open up your horizon a little and try to see beyond your blinders, you can clearly see that Syrians from all sects, religions and ethnicities can be counted among the refugees and that for every church that was bombed, there are at least 10 mosques that are destroyed to smithereens.
How much hatred do you have for Muslims to fail so miserably to see such an obvious truth?

Dear Ghufran,
Again blaming the victim. Do you know why the FSA has to attack the regime? Because the regime is bombing our cities from its barracks and flying its military jets from it airports and detaining our children in cultural centers and even in hospitals.
You want Syrians to die in silence and without causing a commotion?
You are working so hard to convince yourself that the opposition is just as bad as the regime. You are playing all sorts of acrobatic mind games to get to that point, but alas, it is not working so well. I can sense the tortured soul. You know that the opposition is far from perfect, like we all do, and you know why. It is life under this monstrous regime that created these monsters. It will be a long thorny road, but getting rid of the regime is the only way we can get to the starting point.

VISITOR #216

Maybe GHUFRAN is a sheep in shabeeha clothing?

Either way, he is wobbling badly on the fence.

But I guess he’s human and not alone in his double-think and clutching hard to some faulty rationalizations and delusions.

This war is not at a stalemate. Most newspaper correspondents are as good at reading war situations as they are at reading Farsi. The regime is getting owned.

If you look at the fighting from a day-by-day basis, the rebels are not making much progress. But if you look at it from a week-by-week basis or a month-by-month basis, the rebels are DESTROYING the regime.

Air bases are falling, Damascus is under sustained attack again, 1-3 helicopters/jets are being shot down every week. Most of the north and the West are in rebel hands. Jordan has thrown in their support for the FSA. The FSA are capturing more and more heavy weapons.

All the weapons in the world will not help the regime if its soldiers will not fight for it.

For the records, I believe most of the regime supporters on SC are closet shabeeha, but I do not believe Ghufran is one of them. I think he is sincere. I understand the revolution supporters’ feeling about him but I think he is just afraid for the future of the minorities. I do not believe he condones Batta’s regime or that he gives a damn about Batta himself. I think Ghufran is a respectful person. This is my honest opinion.

Sio-Muslim Brotherhood now Targeting Jordan – US Boots on Ground to Protect King
http://investmentwatchblog.com/muslim-brotherhood-now-targeting-jordan-us-boots-on-ground-to-protect-king/
The US was on the side of those poor people struggling against a brutal dictator ?

BREAKING: NATO to Deploy Patriot Missiles in Turkey on Syrian Border using German Troops. UK Royal Marines on Standby
http://investmentwatchblog.com/breaking-nato-to-deploy-patriot-missiles-in-turkey-on-syrian-border-using-german-troops-uk-royal-marines-on-standby/

British troops are on standby; German troops may be called in to operate NATO’s Patriot missile defense systems in Turkey; and the US’s Sec Def Panetta has approved Turkey’s request for NATO’s Patriot missile batteries to be deployed in Turkey.

All the elements seem to be falling into place for an outright Western invasion of Syria, which will mean that Iran will be treaty-bound to come to Syria’s assistance militarily.

And Iran is the country in which the US desperately wants regime change, because Iran refuses to sell all of its oil in US dollars. Aiding Syria against a Western invasion will be the US’s (and Israel’s) causus belli for war against it.

IT appears that such an invasion is not a matter of if, but a matter of when.
http://stratrisks.com/geostrat/9407

Unlike the Syrian dictator, the Jordanian king does not send bombers at his own cities. I think that by itself makes him a better ruler than Assad, don’t you agree?

I second Tara’s take on Ghufran, I might not agree with him (or some of his sources) but I do not think he is a closet shabeeh or otherwise.

He has condemned the regime all along, my issue with him is comparing the crimes or faults committed under the name or banner of the revolution to that of the regime, but that certainly does not make him a shabeeh or a sheep in shabeeh clothing.

Another thing the language being used against the minorities on this blog is extremely unfortunate, wholly uncalled for, and tremendously shortsighted.

There are many Sunni’s not only supporting this criminal regime, but have enabled it in its systematic annihilation of our Country. Make no mistake about it, a 70% majority would NEVER stand to be ruled by a mere 10-15% minority for over 50 years.

The position that some members of the Syria’s minorities have taken vis-à-vis the revolution and fear of the unknown is inexcusable yet that does not mean that we should disregard those fears or ridicule them for it, instead we should do what we can to help alleviate those fears.

I hope I am not alone when I envision the future of Syria as an inclusive society that is free from ALL tyranny, especially the sadistic and poisonous Assadism and the sectarian garbage that he has instilled upon us to turn Syrian against Syrian.

The way I see it each time we utter sectarian language Assad wins a little bit more, for the only way this pencil neck dictator will ever survive is by turning us on each other which is what he was doing from day one.

Assad’s army is still the leading supplier of arms to the Free Syrian Army:

“Unlike the Syrian dictator, the Jordanian king does not send bombers at his own cities. I think that by itself makes him a better ruler than Assad, don’t you agree?”

It’s early days still, give it another year. Jordan is making all the same mistakes Batta did.

SAMI #231 said:

“I hope I am not alone when I envision the future of Syria as an inclusive society that is free from ALL tyranny, especially the sadistic and poisonous Assadism and the sectarian garbage that he has instilled upon us to turn Syrian against Syrian.”

SAMI, anything else is unthinkable. Otherwise the revolution has been for nothing.

I too am uncomfortable with the sectarian language and abuse here. Its spirit actually goes against the mainstream religious doctrine of every side involved.

On GHUFRAN, my concerns are not confined to the issues you mention. I called him out a long time ago for his early and persistent dismissal and doom about the future of Syria and its people and lack of empathy for those seeking change.

He may be a decent man as you and TARA say, but his attitude is solidly downbeat and defeatist, and he avoids any trace of acknowledgement of the strength,courage and sacrifice of Syrians who are fighting for their freedom and dignity and to stop the total burning of Syria by Assad.

Syrians who want Assad and his thugs to continue to rule Syria are either connected to the regime or are genuinely unfit to live with most Syrians who made it clear that they are sick of this regime and its disregard for human lives, however,Assad opponents have made it very hard for many Syrians to join this uprising, and we all should understand why,just watch rebel forces in action and read the statements of their spiritual leaders and their commandors, another alarming development is the domination of Takfiri and Talibani elements of rebel factions. Before blaming minorities and many moderate Sunnis for refusing to fight this war on the opposition side you should address their grievances and kick out extreme elements in the opposition, press conferences and theatrical gestures will not be enough,call me when you have a plan,as of now the only plan I see is the destruction of Syria and everybody who says NO to the rebels,do not waste your time trying to beautify the ugly face of either the regime or the rebels,we know better, this war will not end until Syria is partitioned or both parties magically decide to talk to each other, no military victory is possible in this war,you guys are in denial.

235. Ghufran

“Syrians who want Assad and his thugs to continue to rule Syria are unfit to live”

Okay, Ghuffie, I’ll have Dancing Shlomo and Spammie Annie give you a gun and you can start killing them…

Ghuf, don’t suggest moral equivalence between the KGB/Alawite alliance, and the Free Syrian forces. There is a Good side and an Evil side. The ones arming the Baath party are the bad guys. You can see that Russians themselves live under dictatorship, and they try to export it beyond their worthless country.

In my experience, there can be no Reasoning and no peace with such people. If you offer good will – they will take it as a sign of weakness. So the only option is to up the military component.

GHUFRAN,

You and I apparently read, hear and see very different things, come from different places, know different people, and have different information sources – which is the only way I can explain our radically different perceptions of the opposition movement.

You say you want Assad to go – so please, give us a realistic non-military solution. You can’t. Assad makes it impossible.

I see you as actually cold and dismissive of all the people who have sacrificed and struggled to stop Assad and his thugs ruling Syria.

And your stubborn and ill-informed mantra that the rebellion is run by salafists is disrespectful to countless sincere, brave, decent ordinary Syrians who feel they have no option but to join the struggle against Assad. It also happens to be Assad’s line, whether by coincidence or not.

If you honestly and heartfeltedly want Assad gone, you have to think clearly about how that can happen and who is doing their best to make it happen.

This war can be won militarily and the FSA knows it. In fact, Iran and Russia knows it too, which is why they’re desperately trying to brainwash people like you into thinking that the war “cannot be won militarily.” The Iranians and the Russians want to negotiate because they know they’re backing the wrong horse.

Just look at the situation on the ground and follow the direction of fighting. Focus on WHERE the fighting is taking place. Formerly quiet, controlled regime areas are falling into chaos and war. In the meantime, the regime has been kicked out Idlib, and most of Aleppo province. The regime has lost the major provinces in the East, and now Raqqa is coming under attack. The rebels have managed to do this in 7 MONTHS of war. Imagine what they can do in another year, especially as they capture more and more weapons and ammo.

The more the Russians the Iranians whine about “a negotiated solution,” the more you know that their side is LOSING.

If they were winning, or if they had any chance of winning, they wouldn’t be saying “let’s negotiate” like that.

This revolution required a prerequisite for its survival due to the nature of the criminal regime.

The Army had to be reclaimed first to become an army for the people instead of a protector to the nazi apparatus which hijacked both the country and the army.

Therefore, anyone who attempts to discredit the FSA is a traitor to this revolution. No other revolution was and will be possible in Syria except through fulfilling the aforementioned prerequisite.

This is the criterion upon which each and every individual should be judged with regards to his/her loyalties to the revolution.

Any one who speaks Ill of the FSA is out of this revolution by de-facto. Furthermore, he/she will not be able to produce ANY revolution in Syria regardless of any sweet talk he/she may utter. The FSA is the true product of the Syrian people and society. Those who find it unpalatable to their tastes, then there is a problem with their tastes and not the product of the people.

With regards to minorities, they have been given ample time to make up their minds. Those who chose the revolution will be rewarded as citizens of equal rights and duties as everyone else. Those who chose otherwise may yet change their minds but it may be too late for them and they may have to make hard choices after that time that may affect their well-beings. There will be no such thing as minority rights or guarantees since all will be equal under the law. The revolution cannot be held hostage to unfounded fears since it is a train that has left the station. You either hop in or you will be left behind.

Need I remind you Akbar @ 219 that Assad made it clear that he runs his dining room based strictly on democratic principles?

Visitor,

Hello. Long time, no see.

I don’t think Besho will be using his dining room much in the near future. I’m not sure who will be taking his place, but I’m willing to bet the Syrians will be free for the first time in a generation. It was long wait, no thanks to the ME “Professors” and “resistance professionals” who excused this murderous empty suit all these years.

Dear Ghufran,
I share Tara and Sami’s opinion about you. I do not believe that you are a Shabeeh. I have always seen you as a genuine person with a tortured soul.
I disagree with your assessment about the outcome of this revolution. Against popular belief, this can be won militarily and it is happening as we speak. And no, Syria will not be divided. There are no pure contiguous Alawii areas to form a state. Sadly, by the time this revolution is over, the Alawii community will be very short in men. Curse this man for killing so many of all Syria’s sons.

As expected, the EU, like the USA is saying NO exclusivity of the Syrians representation to the new coalition. NO also to the lifting of the arms embargo promised by France.
Like the SNC that could never get beyond France, Turkey and the GCC’s recognition, the new coalition is on the same path: A dead end.
With a tap in the back, it is strongly encouraged to work harder.

EU ministers unlikely to fully recognize Syrian opposition
By Sebastian Moffett | Reuters – 1 hr 13 mins ago

http://news.yahoo.com/eu-ministers-unlikely-fully-recognize-syrian-opposition-003042426.html

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – EU foreign ministers will on Monday thrash out positions on increasingly thorny problems in the Middle East, but the bloc will likely not follow France in giving full recognition to the new Syrian opposition, diplomats said.

..
The bloc’s 27 foreign ministers would try to reach conclusions that encourage the new coalition but stop short of giving it full recognition, another diplomat said.

However, the current EU arms embargo on Syria would not yet be lifted to help the opposition, diplomats said.

Dining room? Did someone say dining room?

Here’s the world’s least respectable foreign minister Walid Moallam responding to the call:

http://akhyasouria.tumblr.com/post/29984363488/walid-muallem-during-lunch

The key for the Coalition to get weapons and cash from potential donors is to prove its efficacy and leadership over the fighters and activists inside Syria.  If Muaz al Khatib was successful in forging a command structure of the array of the independent brigades and battalions that is fighting the Assad’s regime but do not take orders from anyone else; as sell as the activist inside Syria, then Batta’s days are really numbered.
—-

Syrian Revolution Seeks Commanding Position
 
If this organization is going to have any effect on how this war is fought, they need to become effective pretty quickly
 
The Syrian coalition, put together in early December, is under pressure to convince potential donor nations that it has support from inside Syria if it expects to get the cash and weapons that might be available. At the same time, the coalition hopes to convince the fighters and activists inside Syria it can deliver the foreign support needed for success.
 ….
Three months ago, experts on Syria’s armed revolution called it a guerilla war run by an array of independent brigades and battalions, each flying its own flag.  Many units have succeeded in conducting hit-and-run campaigns in Hama, Homs, Deraa and later in Aleppo, Idlib and Damascus. They have often been unable, however, to hold urban positions against Syria’s tanks, jets, attack helicopters, rocket fire and cluster bombs.  As outside military experts see it, the rebels are not able to mount an effective nation-wide military campaign against the Syrian army.

Much has been made of the threat of extremists that have joined the revolution in recent months, said Joseph Holliday, a Syria expert at the Institute for War.  But he adds that “what we don’t understand is the broader opposition group.”
….
Holliday wrote a report that described opposition fighters as an aggregation of divisions, brigades and battalions that battle the Assad regime but do not take orders from anyone else. He notes, however, that opposition military councils have emerged in about nine of Syria’s major governorates and that military and political cooperation could improve.

Four commanders and counting

But finding an effective military commander may be more difficult. One candidate was Riad Asaad, an Air Force colonel who defected in June of last year, set up shop in a Turkish refugee camp and announced he was commanding the Free Syrian Army.  But even though Asaad established a public affairs office and a well-designed web site and Facebook presence, there were serious questions about what, exactly, he commanded.

“Col. Asaad’s influence never extended far beyond the refugee camps in Turkey where he is based,” wrote Aron Lund this September in a report for the Swedish Institute of International Affairs.  Lund said the recently created military councils in the governorates only “pay nominal respect, at best, to Col. Asaad.”

Lund wrote that another potential leader of the opposition military effort was Col. Col. Qasem Saadeddine of the Homs Military Council. He added, however, that even though Saadeddine expanded his command to include four more military councils, the military command structure appeared to be dysfunctional.

The former director of Syria’s National Defense College, Major General  Muhammad Hussein al-Haj Ali, also is a potential leader. He defected this past June and told reporters he was taking over the opposition military effort and was renaming the rebel forces the Syrian National Army.

Yet another potential military leader for the opposition is General Mustafa al-Sheikh, the highest-ranking member of President Assad’s military to defect.  Al-Sheikh is now described as the commander-in-chief of the Higher Military Council of the rebel Free Syrian Army divided into five geographic divisions.  But some military experts are not convinced al-Sheikh is the opposition’s true military leader. According to Holliday, Col. Riad Asaad and Gen. al-Sheikh have been locked in apparent competition for leadership. “The two of them have this little jousting match up in Hatay, Turkey, going back and forth about, ‘Well, we’re both FSA and now we’re part of this larger organization that al-Sheikh runs, we’re partner organizations …’  

“I characterize these two characters … as leaders more interested in figuring out how to gain power for themselves …,” Holliday said.

“My sense is Mustafa al-Sheikh is more important,” said White of the Washington Institute, but he added that no one will command the respect of the fighters unless they are inside Syria directing the actions of brigades and battalions.
—–
Young political activists may hold the key to rebel union

Holliday proposed that the new National Coalition start with the local activists – the Syrians who started the protests last year.  Most are organized into one of two larger networks, the Local Coordinating Councils of Syria that is strong in Damascus, Deraa and the south, and the Syrian Revolutionary General Commission that holds sway in the north.
….
In many cases, Holliday said, the military councils have blended, overlapped and in some cases merged with the unarmed political activists who have established their own networks of revolutionary councils.
 
These activists continue to serve the revolution by uploading YouTube videos of protests, funerals, victims and keeping careful records on the 30,000 or so Syrians killed since the uprising began.  “And here is where the ties really matter,” said Holliday. “They have been providing some of the basic measures of governance … They are staffing hospitals and schools and coordinating trash pickup, primarily in Idlib and Aleppo, but also the Homs and Hama countryside.”  Holiday said the activists rely on the militants for protection while they conduct the demonstrations, strikes and funerals and provide medical care and food.

http://www.voanews.com/content/syria_revolution_seeks_a_commanding_position/1548306.html

Zoo- 244
The “coalition” can’t even get an endorsement from the thugs
of the so called FSA, who clearly rejected it in this video and called for an Islamic emirate. Unfortunately, Syrians will continue to suffer, as the west and their GCC evil puppets continue to tear Syria apart.

Syria Slams France – November 19, 2012

http://www.thefrontierpost.com/article/192847/

Damascus (Agencies): Syria on Sunday slammed as “hostile” a French decision to host an ambassador from the opposition National Coalition.

“France is acting like a hostile nation,” National Reconciliation Minister Ali Haidar told AFP in key ally Tehran. “It’s as if it wants to go back to the time of the occupation,” he added, of the French mandate in Syria after World War I.

Haidar was speaking as Iran prepared to host talks between Syrian officials and opposition groups tolerated by President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

“Invitations were extended to all those who accept dialogue, not to those who refuse to talk as a matter of principle,” Haidar said.
Opening the meeting, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi warned against sending weapons to Syrian rebels, saying that this would threaten regional stability and increase the “risk of terrorism.”

Despite the French offer to host an envoy, Paris remained cautious on the issue of supplying weapons to Syrian rebels amid fears of the conflict spreading.

Despite the French offer to host an envoy, Paris remained cautious on the issue of supplying weapons to Syrian rebels amid fears of the conflict spreading.

[…]

http://www.thefrontierpost.com/article/192847/

The heroes of the Syrian Revolution and it’s people, the FSA, are marching from victory to victory despite the sinister skepticism of hostile regime apologists, or more precisely shabi7ha, who have begun to feel the impending doom and fall of their corrupt and criminal nazi regime of thuggery. Furthermore, the FSA are receiving weapons that are flowing to them through many open borders as well as from inside Syria. They are in no hurry whatsoever to discuss conditions from outsiders regarding supply of weapons. They will only accept unconditional support since they only rely on the support of the Syrian people who have shown their determination to make this revolution triumphant.

The truth is stubborn:
اصدرت تشكيلات عسكرية في حلب و ريفها بياناً عبروا فيه عن رفضهم للائتلاف الوطني المشكل حديثاً و اجماعهم على تأسيس دولة اسلامية عادلة .
و أعربت الكتائب عن رفضها لأي مشروع خارجي من ائتلافات و مجالس تفرض على الداخل من أي جهة كانت .
و وقع على البيان لواء التوحيد ، جبهة النصرة، كتائب أحرار الشام، لواء أحرار سورية، لواء حلب الشهباء الاسلامي، حركة الفجر الاسلامية، لواء درع الامة، لواء عندان، كتائب الاسلام،  لواء جيش محمد، لواء النصر، كتيبة الباز، كتيبة السلطان محمد، لواء درع الاسلام، كتيبة الظاهر بيبرس , و غيرها من الكتائب .
Translation: Islamist thugs have made up their mind, all of the sugar-coated talks on this blog are either naive or outright deceptive.

A report surfaced about the death of Qasem Saad Eddin in Homs, another report denied that rebels took over Fawj 46 in Aleppo. I tend to believe the first report but I am not sure about the second , I agree that controlling Reef Halab will be crucial for the battle of Aleppo, but I think many of you,and may be me, are only reading the news that support their narrative, this is where western press and cross matching reports come handy.
Damascus is now being locked in by the army and security forces while fighting continues in reef Dimashq , do not accept initial news as facts,both sides lie and both sides are far from being defeated or emerging as victorious, what some of you said about a “military victory” is not supported by facts on the ground,victory has been predicted by rebels since the days of Bab Amr,then in the summer after the assassination of 4 top army and security chiefs ,then again in July when rebels marched to “liberate” Aleppo. Call me when you have news I can believe,psychoanalysis by Sheila, which I think is far more sensible than our hallucinator in chief ( he knows who he is) is true for most Syrians who love their country,but leads to the wrong conclusion,in my humble opinion, the opposition is still unable to win on the ground and win politically, I remain skeptical and,yes, pessimistic.
Watch Gaza, the war there is making all Arab leaders look naked.

251. GHUFRAN

“Watch Gaza, the war there is making all Arab leaders look naked.”

I think the Iron Dome is scaring them. It seems to be working.

7hamas has proven to be a rogue entity long before the current events took pace as well as before the unfortunate 2009 events that caused the death of more than 1500 Palestinians. 7hamas should be held responsible for its history of betraying the people of Gaza and Palestine based on its bad choices and for going to bed with rogue regimes.

7hamas comnsciusly chose to be in the axis of rogue regimes since 2006 when it reneged on its own commitment which it made in a city none other than Mecca. Of course it did so based on dictates of the rogue regime which is currently being fought by the Syrian people and the courageous and victorious FSA. The result was the continued suffering of the people of Gaza and likewise the Syrian people who are being murdered in far greater numbers than the people of Gaza by the Assad thuggocracy which hijacked the country.

Have no doubt about it that both the Syrian people and the people of Gaza are fighting the same war against regimes of thugs and murderers.

The Arab world and the Palestinians will be much better off without a rogue entity such as 7Hamas, which is responsible for the unfortunate and tragic killing of innocent Palestinians based on the above.

We must concentrate on the Syrian revolution since its eventual triumph will open the doors for better future for both the people of Syria and the people of Palestine. The Gaza events are nothing but a side show which the thugs of the murderous regime still occupying few parts of Syria and their apologists are seeking to manipulate in order to gain respite and breathing space from the daily defeats they are being subjected to.

Facts on the ground show that the regime is losing territory with each passing month.

Facts on the ground show that the FSA is fighting on territory that would be unthinkable 3 months ago.

Facts on the ground show that the regime has lost most of its border crossings in the north and the east.

Facts on the ground show that rebels are beginning to capture tanks and heavy artillery, which they’re using to good effect.

Facts on the ground state that the Assad regime has a finite number of helicopters and jets. Even the loss of 1-2 per week will cripple the air force within a year.

Facts on the ground show that the rebels can sustain an offensive in both the North and in Damascus.

Facts on the ground show that the number of rebels and different fronts have grown over the last six months.

Facts on the ground show that the regime has used everything over the past six months, except chemical weapons, and yet failed to stem rebel gains.

You can find a variety of news reports from many different sources that validate the facts above. All these facts indicate that the regime is slowly losing militarily, though it may yet take a while before it collapses.

Guerilla wars take a long time to finish, which is why it seems like a stalemate. But if you look at the situation from a monthly/bi-monthly perspective, the trends are obvious: the regime is losing militarily.

The regime will be defeated checkpoint, by checkpoint. It’s a painful process, but unstoppable once begun. The only way the regime can survive is through a political solution, but the regime is politically dead.

Three must-see ‘inventions’ by Syria rebels of make-shift mobile weaponry. Basic but mega interesting.

– from Hassan Hassan (https://twitter.com/hhassan140)

Remote-control machine gun http://goo.gl/h0eLX

vehicle-attached ‘artillery’ http://goo.gl/tZ7Bj

another artillery http://goo.gl/ZrDwH

After the EU and the USA’s snubbing of the “made in Qatar” coalition, in Syria not less that 14 islamist groups including Al Qaeeda’s inspired Al Nusra and Al Tawhid bluntly rejects it.

In addition, it claims Aleppo an islamic caliphate.

Syrian Islamist groups reject opposition coalition
Associated Press – 1 hr 7 mins ago

http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-islamist-groups-reject-opposition-coalition-110730907.html

BEIRUT (AP) — A video posted online says a group of Islamic extremist factions in Syria have rejected the country’s new opposition coalition.

The statement was posted on a militant website Monday.

The opposition coalition was formed Nov. 11 in Qatar to unite factions opposed to President Bashar Assad. The new grouping also was seen as a way to counter the growing influence of Islamic extremists in the rebellion.

But the statement suggests the extremist elements — including the al-Qaida-inspired Jabhat al-Nusra — want nothing to do with the new, Western-backed bloc. It also declared the embattled city of Aleppo, where many radical groups are fighting, an “Islamic state.”

Zoo

The lack of support of the US and the EU of the legit representative of the Syrian people is the reason why jihadist groups are emboldened. Can the west get any stupider handling the Syria crisis? The lack of support is radicalizing people and more to come.

News like ” Syria rebels say seize airport near Iraqi border” are never followed through about what happened a bit later: Did they keep it?
That would not make the news.

In addition to its military accomplishments, the heroic FSA establishes its control over the means of economic production ensuring in the process the speedy collapse of the thuggocracy currently occupying few parts of Syria,

http://aljazeera.net/ebusiness/pages/b6771dc3-dd4b-4cbc-9953-09bb4a2e355f?GoogleStatID=9

And while some canines continue to bark on this forum, the caravan of the revolution continues to march leaving them in the wilderness with nothing but echoes of their barks. Unlike what these canines continue to insinuate about Europe, Italy today announced its recognition of the new coalition with more Europeans expected to follow suit shortly.

#257 Tara

Qatar, Saudi and some Western countries are exclusively concentrating on a violent military solution to topple the Syrian government. The financial and moral support they are giving to that option is the only responsible for the radicalization of the Islamists on the ground. These groups are confident of the unlimited support they’ll get from these rich countries.
The Syrian government has always warned of that danger that fell on deaf ears.
Some sensible Western countries are starting to unplug their ears.
In the meantime, like Iraq and Yemen, Syria is getting infested.

Hamas is testing Egypt, Qatar and Turkey’s “Brotherhood”
credibility and solidarity by calling for an end to Gaza blockade.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/19/world/middleeast/an-outgunned-hamas-tries-to-leverage-rise-of-islamists-in-region.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Hamas’s aggressive stance in the cease-fire talks is the first test of the group’s belief that the Arab Spring and the rise in Islamist influence around the region have strengthened its political hand, both against Israel and against Hamas’s Palestinian rivals, who now control the West Bank with Western backing.

It also puts intense new pressure on President Mohamed Morsi of Egypt, a former leader of the Muslim Brotherhood who was known for his fiery speeches defending Hamas and denouncing Israel. Mr. Morsi must now balance the conflicting demands of an Egyptian public that is deeply sympathetic to Hamas and the Palestinian cause against Western pleadings to help broker a peace and Egypt’s need for regional stability to help revive its moribund economy.

After 7hamas found out that it lost credibility as evidenced by its past history of betrayals of the Gazans as well as its own commitments, it is now seeking forgivenestoni an attempt polish its credentials by agreeing to ceasefire, sources say.

More details will follow.

This is good not for 7hamas but for the innocent Palestinians of Gaza and also for the Syrians who want to concentrate on their revolution and are not interested in side shows of empty bravado and futile so-called resistance mumbo jumbo from rogue entities and criminal regimes.

Zoo,

Had Batta been a non psychopath, he would signal to Russia and Iran that he is willing to step down as long as a system is put in place to ensure equal rights to all. He would have announced he is willing to resign when an acceptable outcomes of the dialogue emerge. Unfortunately, he interested in nothing except the chair and he is dragging Alawis down with him until the last willing Alawii. .. The opposition has signaled many times the willing to dialogue if he to step down.

It is his love of the chair that costs us the lives of 40.000 Syrians and then some more.

Some people need to know the difference between waging guerilla warfare and gaining actual control of an area. This is why better informed people always refer to the Somalian case, and failed states in general, while others are so delusional as to think that, for example, seized economic assets could be put to meaningful productive use anytime soon in this situation.

The reality that Syria has become a failed state will seep in with time, and people will have to acknowledge that what they only see as regime losses are also theirs, a sort of scorched earth policy that equates cutting their noses to spite their faces.

The UE embargo is going nowhere

“However, a senior EU official said if an arms embargo against Syria was restructured to allow arms to go to rebels but not to the regime, it would be very difficult to police. For that reason, the EU is unlikely to change the embargo, the official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of standing EU rules.”
http://news.yahoo.com/uk-european-nations-debate-syria-arms-embargo-092703731.html

Sorry for those into magical thinking/opioids or lacking common sense. Analysts discarded the idea almost immediately, the official here is probably pissed because he knows that it’s a kind of cop-out from Hollande, in order to have people blame the EU rather than his government.

Public opinions are less supportive of the rebels anyway, especially with Liwa Al-Tawhid and Al-Nusra Front taking the stance they took. Things like that, unsurprisingly, are sinking the coalition’s credibility and put increasing pressure on its backers. Other governments knew better and must feel vindicated.
People who see things clearly, like Ghufran, understood it immediately and discarded this Qatari stunt, others want to be delusional and will remain so.

I’m not sure that B.A. could step down of his own volition. Remember his cousin’s interview with NY Times:

Mr. Makhlouf … suggested that the ruling elite — staffed by Mr. Assad’s relatives and contemporaries — had grown even closer during the crisis. Though Mr. Assad has the final say, he said, policies were formulated as “a joint decision.”

“We believe there is no continuity without unity,” he said. “As a person, each one of us knows we cannot continue without staying united together.”

Listen to the audio at the bottom of the following page (link):

The Crisis in Syria: Is There a Way Out?

Tuesday 13 November 2012 13:00 to 14:00 GMT

Location

Chatham House, London

Participants

-David Butter, Associate Fellow, Middle East and North Africa Programme, Chatham House
-Martin Chulov, Middle East Correspondent, The Guardian
-Chair: Bill Neely, International Editor, ITV News

http://www.chathamhouse.org/events/view/186451

“After the EU and the USA’s snubbing of the “made in Qatar” coalition etc etc etc”

Menhebakjis seem to think that the way Batta was handed power on a silver plater should be the template and norm for every political system. The political opposition has to prove itself, not just to the world but first and foremost to the Syrian people. If they can’t do that, they will be discarded for someone better.

History is full of political parties that couldn’t keep up with the times, and it is a sign of a vibrant and healthy political dynamic when a society changes leadership and direction. In contrast, the menhebakjis would get behind a donkey if it had the Assad family name. Remember that were it not for a drunk driving accident, it would have been Basil who the shabihas would be burning the country for.

257. Tara

Sure, just like in Libya, lol.

Albo (265) apparently needs lessons in English 101. He obviously doean’t know the difference between depriving the rogue regime of the benefits of economic assets and putting those assets into actual production.

But still Albo thinks he deserves a Phd. in economics even before he learns the alphabets.

Talk about delusional economists??!!

But, despair not. You still can shoot for the numerologist degree based on your outstanding skin-head, neo-nazi credentials!!

“The UE embargo is going nowhere”

Thank you for finally admitting that the whole “NATO conspiracy against the great mega-ohm resistor” crap was the great big lie sensible, rational people have always known it to be. I’ve never heard of a NATO conspiracy where the EU refused to provide arms to its so called mercenaries. How do the rest of the menhebakjis on this forum feel about this clumsy admission?

You Batta supporters just can’t have it both ways; you can’t have a NATO conspiracy where NATO isn’t providing arms to the people who are supposed to be its pawns. It just doesn’t work in a logical world. Therefore, your regime’s entire reason and rational for murdering its own people is shown to be a pack of horse manure.

But don’t worry, more than enough shabihas around who are desperate for drug money, and will sell video clips of their sisters sucking off a donkey for a few hundred dollars, let alone arms. The shabihas are the biggest suppliers of arms to the FSA.

“He obviously doean’t know the difference between depriving the rogue regime of the benefits of economic assets and putting those assets into actual production.”

Where did you see that I was responding to you? Some attention whore this Visitor. Sorry mein Führer, that’s not at all what I was saying.

I had in mind many people thinking that the rebellion will benefit from the oil rigs and other riches they seized. As I said, in a failed state, destruction of infrastructures and insecurity means economic gains in general are a thing of the past. So you people deprive the regime and you also deprive yourselves.

Zoo

Your disdain to the people of the GCC is clearly evident, yet you had a better perception of Yemen. I am curious.. Don’t you think they are the same people?

Additionally I am also curious to know why all this contempt to the gulf states? Was that a long-standing feeling based on your perception of their accomplishment or a feeling that is shaped by their current stand against Batta?

To say the truth, I (being al Baath’ product) have always harbored similar disdain towards the Gulf states… up until the Syrian crises started and I felt the pouring of emotion and support by the people at large and by HBJ specifically. This has transformed my disdain into appreciation…

“You Batta supporters just can’t have it both ways; you can’t have a NATO conspiracy where NATO isn’t providing arms to the people who are supposed to be its pawns. It just doesn’t work in a logical world. ”

UE =/= Nato.
And in the logical world, there are many shades of grey between full-fledged intervention and total indifference.

There is also something called plausible deniability, which means you let some third actor provide support when you don’t want to do it officially for one reason or another. For example, when the USSR began to sold weapons to Nasser in 1955, they used Czechoslovakia as a front rather than doing it directly. It’s the same division of labour between Nato and Gulf countries.

I wonder if Tara ever met some khaliji tourists who visited Syria.
Many Syrians (of all sects) used to resent their manners and arrogant attitude, for a start, they treated Syrians as inferiors while so many Syrian doctors and engineers are working in their country, and not the other way around.

“There is also something called plausible deniability”

Uh, and why would plausible deniability be needed in Syria and not Libya? Not only have you stretched the limits of what is possible, you’ve broken the laws of physics to justify a non-existent conspiracy.

“Many Syrians (of all sects) used to resent their manners and arrogant attitude, for a start”

Which is an age old whine every tourist spot has ever said about the wealthy tourists who come in hordes to their shores. Just look at how much Egyptians in Sharm el Sheikh complain about the disgusting “new rich” Russians, or the Spanish complain about the British, or etc etc etc etc.

Tara

“Additionally I am also curious to know why all this contempt to the gulf states? ”

I believe you will find the answer involves a great big stick lodged in places sticks were never meant to be lodged in. I know numerous Shia Lebanese who would sooner cut their balls than leave Saudi and go back to that miserable failed state of Hizbollstan.

A huge cash of ammo falls in the hands of the FSA, NOT courtesy of NATO/EU or Qatar/KSA. In addition to that, the FSA is reports that it also captured about 20 tanks, few heavy artillery, and some rocket launchers. All of that after the liberation of the the Special Forces base known as “Fawj 46 Quwwat Khassah.”

http://youtu.be/FMtH0OdGWdM
ج2 http://youtu.be/76fdWxgFink
ج3 http://youtu.be/dpHj1ZE7HZc

I ma hearing that the shabiha thugs in Aleppo are feeling a bit uncomfortable after the fall of this strategic base. I can’t blame them.

Let’s see what the coming days bring.

This is a graphic video showing an Assad thug mutilating a dead FSA soldier.
The video also shows Assad thugs taken as prisoners after the liberation of the Battalion 46 Special Forces base. The video purports to show that one of the captured prisoners was the one mutilating the body of the FSA soldier at the beginning of the video.

If you want to understand why those who ceaselessly sing the praises of mullah-stan and hizbistan have all this contempt to Gulf Arabs, then you have to dig deep into history.

There are two things to look for. First you have to consider the so-called Persian factor. Those who consider themselves Persians cannot understand up till today how their so-called superior (superior my butt) civilization was destroyed for ever by none other than so-called ‘backward bedouins’ according to their way of thinking – hence the assassination of Omar and hence the preservation of the assassin’s tomb as a holy shrine in present day mullah-stan.

You also need to look at the other thing called Shiism. The Shia have contributed zilch to Islamic conquests and deep down feel utterly inferior towards those who hold Umayyad in high regards, since all the conquests were achieved exclusively by the Umayyads. hence you should understand now mjabali’s drive to re-write history in order to compensate for this deficiency of underachievement of his tribe.

Too bad for the likes of jabali, history has already come and gone

the representative govt of syria is evolving while the unrepresentative govt of u.s. is devolving quickly into a militarized, police state.

u.s. creates its own problems while syria’s natural evolution is thwarted by terrorists.

the jewish state of the jews is a savage state of savages.

the iron dome will turn out to be a rusty toilet dropping crap or to jews, manna from their peculiar heaven.

cubicle jews, scurry to work.

remember, you get paid per your lying keystroke.

The news about the fall of Fawj 46 in Aleppo proved to be premature, the battle is still raging on and it covers an area larger than Lebanon. There is over 1,000 Syrian army officers in that area. capturing Fawj 46,if it happens, will make life easier for those who want to create a safe zone in Northern Syria, I tend to rule out a full retreat of regime forces in that area for obvious reasons unless things in Aleppo deteriorate quickly, not the case yet since we have an actual stalemate, another indicator will be Haarem and Al-Marra which are still receiving gun fire from both sides, a defeat in any of the three zones will change matters in the north.

“Uh, and why would plausible deniability be needed in Syria and not Libya? Not only have you stretched the limits of what is possible, you’ve broken the laws of physics to justify a non-existent conspiracy.”

I’m curious, have you heard of UN security council resolution 1973?

Some people are still in denial about the advances of the FSA. Meanwhile, the FSA is busy transporting the ammo and heavy weaponry that has fallen into its hands in the last few days.

http://youtu.be/NBcRsS_qHRE
ج2 http://youtu.be/2C32E9o_Xkw
ج3 http://youtu.be/cbWHRny-0Bc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rQlTEJtrx4&feature=youtube_gdata%2F

Latest joke: “The news about the fall of Fawj 46 in Aleppo proved to be premature, the battle is still raging on and it covers an area larger than Lebanon. There is over 1,000 Syrian army officers in that area.”

The area of Syria is about 18 times larger than that of Lebanon. However, we’re supposed to believe that the area of Fawj 46, is 1/18th of the total area of Syria. That’s only one Fawj of the Syrian Army, which constitutes, in terms of man power according to what I was able to find out, about no more than 1% of the Syrian Army. We’re also supposed to believe that “over 1,000 Syrian army officers in that area” are able to hold an area 10,000 km² (100 km x 100 km) against the attacks by various units of the FSA. Maybe they are some kind of super heroes. One person per 10 km². Someone please contact Guinness World Records.

Some people need to take a break. They have have already taken a mental break as evident by the non-sense they are spewing out, so maybe they should take a full break before they have a full mental melt-down.

AYR.Expat 284,

If you meant Ghufie is in state of denial, then you should give him an excuse. you should know that sometimes he suffers from BMS.

It usually takes hime longer than other people to digest the news, just like the food he is forced to digest.

Lucky for him, despite his condition, he can still recognize not only those who halucinate but also the chief halucinator.

But according to some well intentioned contributors here on this forum, Ghufie is so sensitive as to tell that contributor sensitively that somehow that contributor is disconnected in his/her stream of thought as to make false conclusions, despite Ghufie’s admission about the accuracy of the contributors conclusions regarding Ghufie’s own presumed qualities of sensitivity.

Shabi7h or not. That looks like a very sensitive hypocrite to me.

But I still go for shabi7h in sheep’s clothing.

Tara

Like Syria, Yemen has a long history and traditions in arts, music and architecture. Sanaa is an architectural marvel.
In the GCC countries the overwhelming influence of the Wahhabi ideology has blocked any artistic or cultural development. Therefore most GCC citizens are encouraged to work in trading and business rather then in music, social sciences, literature and arts.
For me, this makes the majority of them rather dull and as they could be very arrogant with their money, they are not my cup of tea.

There is hope as lately, the new generation is more in contact with other cultures and may move away from this pattern.

Italy to the new coalition: Bravo! but NO exclusivity and NO weapons.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/italy-recognizes-syria-opposition-bloc.aspx?pageID=238&nID=34991&NewsCatID=359

Italy has recognised the newly formed opposition National Coalition as “legitimate representatives” of the Syrian people, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti told reporters in Doha today, AFP reported.

Syria: Jihadists Declare Islamic State, Reject ‘National Coalition’

A meeting of most powerful insurgent groups in Syria rejects the Syrian National Coalition and declares an Islamic State in Aleppo. The statement is sanctioned by the most influential rebel formations in Syria, foremost among them being Al Qaeda in Syria (Jabhat Al Nusra).

The speaker, a member of Al Qaeda, rejects the Western backed National Coalition lead by Mouaz Alkhatib as an outside plot and mocks it’s lack of influence. The speakers read a list containing all the major rebel factions rejecting the opposition bloc, most of whom are alligned with Al Qaeda before declaring an Islamic State and dismissing the Western backed National Coalition before declaring the Qur’an to be the only constitution for Syria.

The insurgents’ decision to condemn the National Coalition conmdemns the Western backed project to failure only days after it was announced. The US and other Western powers had hoped that it would appeal more to fighters inside Syria and allow the West to exert more influence. It’s dismissal by the most influential armed groups suggests the effort has backfired and further underlines the West’s inability to influence the Al Qaeda dominated insurgent groups whom it continues to support.

Expat: “Some people need to take a break. They have have already taken a mental break as evident by the non-sense they are spewing out, so maybe they should take a full break before they have a full mental melt-down.”

Indeed, read carefully, he merely wrote that the area is disputed and that the battle is ongoing, not that the battalion ruled each square cm of the zone. Seriously.

Press articles from everywhere don’t inform us well, much less Youtube videos.
The general picture is that a large portion of the Syrian territory is suffering guerrilla warfare and scorched earth policy.

State control has often become meaningless in these zones, but when you see that there are still fights in Harem on the ground, and regularly in every rebel “held” zone, you understand that rebels aren’t consolidating anything either. And checking the last headlines, what do I see? “Syria rebels clash with armed Kurds”, “Syrian Islamists Reject Western-Backed Opposition”. That just looks like a giant, and growing, clusterf*ck, not a coherent movement making great strides, sorry. And that’s what all sane observers, analysts or politicians, concluded long ago.

So tell us ZOO is this excellent news. good news, or bad news that Italy recognized the National Coalition? I am not sure.

The EU is also saying that the Coalition represents the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people leaving the door open for the regime to sit to some negotiations.

I am not sure whether it is recognition that the regime represents one part of the sects of Syria meaning some Alawis and some Christians and some Druze and some Sunnis and therefore is worthy of some consideration or whether it is an attempt to allow for more defections lest the Alawi community think and feel that they will be completely destroyed if any legitimacy is withdrawn.

I like to read the pro regime sites. SANA had pictures of destroyed homes and killed children in Gaza exactly similar to those of many towns in Syria. How ironic.

Al Manar had a quote from the Supreme Leader stating the solution in Syria is to stop arming the opposition; well good and dandy if the regime is willing to withdraw its troops otherwise it is going to be a turkey shoot.

Well well, the regime wanted it militarized and wanted it sectarian and wanted it regional and wanted it scorched earth and wanted it barbaric and wanted it terror and it got what it wanted and maybe 1000 times fold in return.

Wow to those adoring fans on this site when their infatuation ends and they wake up with the worst hangover in the universe.

Cheers and justice for Hamza Alkhatib

Al Nusrah Front claims yet another suicide attack in Syria

The Al Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant, an al Qaeda-linked jihadist group that is fighting Bashir al Assad’s regime in Syria, has claimed credit for yet another suicide attack. Al Nusrah claimed the attack in a statement released on jihadist websites on Nov. 18. The date of the attack, which took place in Barad in northern Syria near the Turkish border, was not disclosed by Al Nusrah. Below is an excerpt of the statement, which was translated by the SITE Intelligence Group:

Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/threat-matrix/archives/2012/11/al_nusrah_front_claims_yet_ano_1.php#ixzz2CiOZZz9g

On Both Sides of the Golan by Robin Yassin-Kassab

November 18, 2012
The picture on the left is doing the rounds on the internet labelled as a Palestinian child victim of US-backed Zionist bombing in Gaza. In fact, it seems that it depicts a Syrian child injured by Russian and Iranian-backed Asadist barbarism. No matter – the two are interchangeable today. Both are fighting hyper-violent tyrannies rooted in the Sykes-Picot carve-up of bilad ash-Shaam. And while Zionism bombs Palestinian refugees in Gaza, Asad’s forces continue to bomb Palestinian refugees in the Yarmouk camp, Damascus. The film below shows some of the aftermath of this bombing. Below that we reprint an article by novelist Ahdaf Soueif, in which she describes the changed Arab environment meeting the latest aggression on Gaza, and points out that Israel’s action is in part aimed to take “the heat off Bashar al-Assad’s murderous activities in Syria.”

http://youtu.be/1GMBos0g_eQ

Full article here : http://pulsemedia.org/2012/11/18/on-both-sides-of-the-golan/

“Indeed, read carefully, he merely wrote that the area is disputed and that the battle is ongoing, not that the battalion ruled each square cm of the zone. Seriously.”

To suggest that the fawj’s area is greater than Lebanon, regardless of how much is under its control at the moment, is the joke that I was referring to. A fawj (regiment) consists of 2,000 to 3,000 soldiers and officers. To suggest that 3,000 are supposed to watch out over an area of more than 10,000 km² is lunacy of the highest order.

You can use Google map to scan the area of the fawj and see for yourself.

As far as the FSA is concerned, they claim to have completely liberated the fawj and have the video and photos to show it, not to mention the huge cash of ammo and heavy equipment they got. From my perspective, even if the fawj is still fighting, the huge amount of ammo captured by the FSA soldiers, including 20 tanks according to them, should hasten the fall of many other outposts of the Syrian army.

Note: Some of the weapons captured from the fawj include anti-aircraft rocket launchers.

فوج وحدة عسكرية تتألف من عدة كتائب يقودها ضابط برتية عقيد، عدة أفواج تشكل قوة عسكرية بحجم لواء.

القوى البرية
200 ألف مقاتل وحوالي 300 ألف مجنّد تتوزع في :

ثلاث فيالق، الأول قيادته في دمشق والثاني قيادته في الزبداني والثالث قيادته في حلب
ثماني فرق مدرعة (الفرقة 1، 2، 3، 5، 6، 8، 9، 11)
ثلاث فرق مؤللة (منقولة آلياً) (الفرقة 4، 7، 10)
أربع ألوية مشاة (مستقلة لا تتبع الفرق العسكرية السبعة)
فرقتين قوات خاصة مدرعة (الفرقة 14، الفرقة 15)، منها 3 أفواج قوات خاصة و10 أفواج مستقلة
لوائي مدفعية (مستقلة لا تتبع أي فرقة)
لوائين مضادات دروع (مستقلة لا تتبع أي فرقة)
ثلاثة ألوية صواريخ أرض-أرض في كل منها ثلاثة كتائب
لوائي دفاع بحري، صواريخ أرض-بحر
لواء حرس حدود
فرقة حرس جمهوري (فوج مدفعية، لواء مؤلل، 3 ألوية مدرعة) قائدها العميد ماهر الأسد شقيق الرئيس بشار الأسد.
[عدل]

It looks like Syrians have only themselves and the jihadists to help them.  I am slowly but surely changing my mind favorably in regard to the jihadists from other countries.  The responsibility to protect is human responsibility and if the civilized west failed the Syrians by continuing to blind itself to the human suffering, then anyone who is willing to help is welcome.  

France eyes Middle East influence, image with Syria gamble
By John Irish | Reuters – 4 hrs ago

PARIS (Reuters) – President Francois Hollande’s decision to recognize Syria’s new opposition bloc aims to secure long-term French interests in the region and boost his foreign policy image but, with few allies following suit, Paris may risk isolation.
With his economic policies under harsh scrutiny at home and abroad, Hollande’s hesitant response to the Syria conflict before last week had been unflatteringly compared to the decisive approach of predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy when he led Western efforts to oust Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
Breaking with allies and the Arab League, Hollande took a leaf out of Sarkozy’s book last week by recognizing the Syrian National Coalition and backing it to replace President Bashar al-Assad’s government. He said France would even study arming rebels waging a 20-month-old uprising to topple Assad.
The move, he hopes, will hand Paris a decisive role in shaping Syria’s future and give his sagging approval ratings a boost with a show of decisive statesmanship.
“Hollande was accused of not being Sarkozy’s equal so he wants to show he is capable of dynamic foreign policy,” said Denis Bauchard, who was the foreign ministry’s Middle East director in the 1990s.

….
Hollande is running the risk, however, that this new coalition may not win broad international backing in the end and meet the same fate as the SNC, which has gradually unraveled as the main opposition movement despite French support.
Hollande’s decision took many by surprise given that the new Syrian National Coalition has yet to prove itself on the ground. Questions remain among France’s allies over how representative it really is of the Syrian people and what values it stands for.
..
“I think it has already backfired. France is really alone on this as its partners do not yet see eye-to-eye on it.”
At a meeting in Brussels on Monday, European Union foreign ministers said they deemed the new coalition to be “legitimate representatives” of Syrians but stopped just short of giving the full recognition as France itself has done.
French officials are adamant that the likes of the United States, Britain and the Arab League will soon come around.

http://news.yahoo.com/france-eyes-middle-east-influence-image-syria-gamble-194543716.html

Zoo,

I too value societies based on their heritage of art, music, and literature, etc.. just in the same way I value individuals.. My heart has however soften to Qatar because of HBJ.

Let’s throw some cold water on the love-u-4ever-die-without-u so-called muqawama screw-ups hoping to gain respite from daily defeats at the cost of Palestinian blood.

A ceasefire will be signed in Egypt between 7Hamas and Israel,

http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/11/20/250635.html

Bye bye muqawama a**holes piece of sh*t.

Hello GCC/Egypt/Turkey.

Syria Islamist fighters in Aleppo reject new opposition

Islamist rebel groups in the Syrian city of Aleppo say they reject the new Western-backed opposition coalition.

In an internet video, they denounced what they called “the conspiratorial project” and said they intend to establish an “Islamist state” in Syria.

The EU recognised the new coalition on Monday as “legitimate representatives” of the Syrian people, but did not grant it full recognition.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20404175

U.S. stops short of recognizing Syrian opposition body

The United States declined to follow France in fully recognizing a fledgling Syrian opposition coalition on Wednesday, saying the body must prove its worth, after its predecessor was dogged by feuding and accusations of Islamist domination.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the formation of the coalition, which supersedes the widely discredited Syrian National Council as the face of the Syrian opposition, was an important step, but did not offer it full recognition or arms.

“We have long called for this kind of organization. We want to see that momentum maintained,” Clinton told reporters in the Australian city of Perth. “As the Syrian opposition takes these steps and demonstrates its effectiveness in advancing the cause of a unified, democratic, pluralistic Syria, we will be prepared to work with them to deliver assistance to the Syrian people.”

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/19/us-syria-crisis-idUSBRE88J0X720121119

US still not ready to fully embrace Syrian opposition

The United States (US) said on Monday it is closely monitoring the progress of a new Syrian opposition alliance as it weighs whether to recognise the body as the sole representative of the Syrian people.

“We’re obviously looking at this day by day, week by week. We’re getting to know them better. We’re encouraging them to make more progress,” said State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland.

“But we will see how things go over the coming weeks.” European Union foreign ministers on Monday said they viewed the just-formed National Coalition as “legitimate representatives” of Syria’s people.

But a statement from the bloc’s 27 ministers after a day of talks did not go as far as France, which last week recognised the coalition as the sole representative of the Syrian people and is mulling accepting an ambassador.

http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/world/story/us-still-not-ready-fully-embrace-syrian-opposition-20121120

Hamas and the ‘Islamic Winter’

The elimination of Ahmed Jabari (Abu Mohamed) caused shock waves within the ranks of the Hamas organization. High-level Hamas members are now in hiding, and no final decision has yet been made regarding Jabari’s replacement as Hamas’ military head.

Pictures of Jabari and family members such as grandchildren and children have been displayed on the various Hamas sites. Jabari’s familial connection to Salah Shehadeh is emphasized; Shehadeh, founder of Hamas’ military wing, was eliminated by a one-ton bomb that exploded on his house in July 22, 2002. Videos about Shehadeh show Jabari in the company of his grandchildren, who are also Shehadeh’s grandchildren (Jabari’s son married Shehadeh’s daughter). In the clips, Jabari promises to continue the struggle.

Hamas higher-ups competed among themselves in their denunciations of Jabari’s assassination. Hamas official Mushir al-Masri said in an interview with the Arabs Today site that “this is about a cowardly Zionist action, an action severely harming a great man and the resistance. This is a dastardly crime. But the enemy and those responsible for this deed must understand that this aggression and threats will not weaken us nor prevent us from continuing to defend our nation with all the means at our disposal. The Zionist enemy will not evade our retribution.”

The emir of Qatar

But it seems that the most worrisome phenomenon from Israel’s point of view is the implication of the visits of ministers and prime ministers of Arab countries to the Gaza Strip. In the course of the “Arab Winter,” the governments that rose to power are affiliated with the world Muslim Brotherhood movement under Mohammed Badie. This has changed political attitudes toward the Hamas Muslim Brotherhood government — especially now, when Gaza’s Hamas is under attack.

The forerunner was Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, who committed himself to donate funds to the Gaza government during his royal visit to Gaza. During the weekend [Nov. 16] it was the turn of Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Qandil to express support of the Palestinian nation and declare, “Palestine is the only country in the world under conquest and siege.”

Qandil told his hosts that his country aligns itself with their cause until the establishment of a Palestinian state whose capital will be Jerusalem. He made no reference at all to the issue of borders — neither the 1948 borders nor the 1967. This was on purpose. The Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas hold that Israel has no right to exist as a state on any portion at all of Palestinian land.

The Egyptian prime minister, of course, praised the shahids (martyrs) and the staunch resistance of the Gaza residents, while luridly portraying the crimes of the Zionists, saying, “The blood of the shahids is our blood, and the suffering of the Gaza Strip residents is our suffering as well.” The Islamic countries have shown clearly and unequivocally that they have closed their ranks. Egypt’s absolute identification with the Hamas government shows that it views that government, and not Abu Mazen’s, to be the legitimate government of the Palestinian nation.

Jabari’s death

At a press conference held over the weekend [Nov. 16] in the Shifa hospital in the Gaza Strip , Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh cited the Egyptian prime minister’s presense as a historic visit of a high-ranking Egyptian to the Gaza Strip. He claimed that this visit would open a new era demonstrating the new regional alliance.

Meanwhile, another royal visit has taken place in Gaza: that of Tunisian Foreign Minister Rafik Abdessalem representing Rashid al-Ghannushi’s government. Al-Ghannushi himself participated in the assembly in Sudan, which featured the following speakers: Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Muhammad Badie and Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, who heads the Syrian branch of Hamas’ political bureau. Their speeches included support of Hamas, denunciation of the Zionist occupation and calls for a continuation of resistance by any means possible.

Due to the recent Israeli operation, Hamas enjoyed unprecedented political flowering. Ismail Haniyeh’s government has been officially recognized by Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey, Sudan, Qatar and Morocco — all of which view him as the representative of the Palestinian nation. Jibari’s death now constitutes an impressive show of force for the events of the “Islamic winter” originally known by the deceptive label of “Arab Spring.” What significance does all this have for Abu Mazen’s continued relevance? Only time will tell.

The author is a lecturer in Bar Ilan University’s Middle East department and an expert on Hamas.

Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/politics/2012/11/israels-south-under-fire-hamas-v.html#ixzz2CiqhTZji

Those who ‘encourage or incite’ terrorism could be barred from Canada under guidelines tabled by Jason Kenney

Those who publicly glorify terrorism or incite hatred could be barred from visiting Canada under guidelines to be tabled Wednesday by Jason Kenney, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration.

The minister was to brief the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration in the afternoon on details of a controversial proposal that would give him the authority to keep certain foreigners out of Canada for “public policy” reasons.

While critics are concerned about the vague wording of the legislation, the new guidelines list the “behaviors and activities” an immigration minister could consider when deciding whether to use the extraordinary power.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/10/24/those-who-encourage-or-incite-terrorism-could-be-barred-from-canada-under-guidelines-tabled-by-jason-kenney/

__________________________________________________________________

This is very much needed; Canada must protect itself from the malignant virus that is radical islam. I’m confident the CSIS already has lists of Islamic terrorists and their sympathizers.

Harper says ‘Islamicism’ biggest threat to Canada

In an exclusive interview with CBC News, Prime Minister Stephen Harper says the biggest security threat to Canada a decade after 9/11 is Islamic terrorism.

In a wide-ranging interview with CBC chief correspondent Peter Mansbridge that will air in its entirety on The National Thursday night, Harper says Canada is safer than it was on Sept. 11, 2001, when al-Qaeda attacked the U.S., but that “the major threat is still Islamicism.”

“There are other threats out there, but that is the one that I can tell you occupies the security apparatus most regularly in terms of actual terrorist threats,” Harper said.

Harper cautioned that terrorist threats can “come out of the blue” from a different source, such as the recent Norway attacks, where a lone gunman who hated Muslims killed 77 people.

But Harper said terrorism by Islamic radicals is still the top threat, though a “diffuse” one.

“When people think of Islamic terrorism, they think of Afghanistan, or maybe they think of some place in the Middle East, but the truth is that threat exists all over the world,” he said, citing domestic terrorism in Nigeria.

The prime minister said home-grown Islamic radicals in Canada are “also something that we keep an eye on.”

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/09/06/harper-911-terrorism-islamic-interview.html

__________________________________________________________________

The PM is spot on; radical islam poses an existential threat to the West. This threat needs to be confronted and annihilated; radical islamists cannot be reasoned with or appeased.

FSA Recognition of the National Coalition
http://freehalab.wordpress.com/2012/11/20/fsa-recognition-of-the-national-coalition/

Aleppo military security branch is the most important branch in all of Syria. محمد مفلح, the head of the branch, left his position and his whereabouts are not known.

What a refreshing contrast it will be for foreign Ministry officials of France and Italy to find themselves dealing with intelligent, well-educated, principled representatives of the Syria coalition!

Former Syrian ambassadors were typically corrupt, ill-qualified appointees like Syria’s last ambassador to France Lamia Shakkour. The main reason for her being in that plush overseas post was that her daddy, a Christian Assadist, had also been Syrian ambassador to France.

Remember also that Syria’s ambassadors were expelled from most western countries in May this year after the Houla massacre – this included the US, France, UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, Australia and Canada.

But the bad news is that Lamia Shakkour has managed to hang on enjoying life in Paris because she’d been appointed Syria’s permanent representative to UNESCO.

There have been strong objections to her continued presence on that body by a number of countries – and even the Director of UNESCO herself – but the dysfunctional and bizarre UN system enables absurdly inappropriate appointments to happen and these can’t be easily unravelled.*

(I recall in Libya a few years ago my shock at seeing Gaddafi’s triumphant posters announcing Libya’s leadership of the UN Human Rights Committee.)

* Story on inappropriate countries serving on UN bodies: http://bostonglobe.com/opinion/editorials/2012/11/18/evenezuela-rights-council/OYu5YRA3HHEROGWprhGBxK/story.html

#296 Tara

… and Moza

HAMOUDEH AL-HALABI #303

Thankyou for another terrific announcement.

FSA now stands beside the National Coalition with formal recognition.

YESSSS!!!!!

Internal and external recognition now really getting momentum.

And there’s nothing non-recognised and non-legitimate “leader” Bashar Assad can do about it.

It must feel so demeaning, inconvenient and frustrating for him. How “disrespectful” and embarrassing. How he wishes he could bomb Paris and Rome to show them how he feels.

Meanwhile, his head will be shrinking a few cm more, his voice getting squeakier

Zoo

As opposed to the luminous, joyful, and kind face of..

May I remind you?

What are Hamas’s negotiation cards?

Mashaal seems to be cornering Erdogan and Morsi by making very hard to meet conditions for a ceasefire with Israel.
What makes him so sure of himself? What card does he hold? Is he possibly blackmailing the three Moslem Brotherhood musketeers threatening to reintegrate Iran camp if they can’t remove Gaza’s blockade by using international diplomacy?
Iran will be more than happy to welcome Hamas again as it would be a blow to the three musketeers.
Egypt’s Morsi is on the hot seat now with much of his credibility to loose if he fails or more much international recognition if he wins.

The EU refused to support France:
اعترف الاتحاد الاوروبي يوم الاثنين 19 نوفمبر/تشرين الثاني بالائتلاف الوطني السوري المعارض لنظام الرئيس بشار الاسد “ممثلا شرعيا لتطلعات الشعب السوري” ولكن ليس “وحيدا”.
واعلنت كاثرين اشتون الممثلة العليا للسياسة الخارجية والأمن في الاتحاد الأوروبي ان دول الاتحاد الاوروبي لا تعترف بائتلاف المعارضة “ممثلا شرعيا وحيدا للشعب السوري” ، كما طالبت بذلك فرنسا.
واوضحت قائلة: “لقد اخترنا عبارة وافقت عليها جميع الدول الاوروبية” وهي الاعتراف بالائتلاف “ممثلا شرعيا لتطلعات الشعب السوري”.
A coalition that excludes many Syrian groups and is rejected by Islamists is now in trouble

#309 Tara

Moza in on an intensive botox treatment to appear young and luminous. Yet to appear light and joyful, he needs to send her husband to a weight watcher spa or to get involved with Petraeus.

#304 Hamoudeh al-Halabi

FSA Recognition of the National Coalition?

“The FSA army is led by Colonel Riad al-Asaad who is the Commander-in-Chief, Colonel Malik Kurdi is his deputy, Colonel Ahmed Hijazi is the Chief of Staff and General Mustafa al-Sheikh is the Military Council head.
…
The regional commanders include Colonel Qasim Saad al-Din who directs military operations in Homs province and Colonel Khaled al-Haboush who directs military operations in the capital”

None of them made such recognition.

As the nights draw in and the temperatures drop, Save The Children has made an urgent appeal for funding to provide tens of thousands of families that have fled the war in Syria with adequate supplies to survive.
“Unless we can help families get ready for the harsh weather ahead, we could see the weakest and most vulnerable succumb to the cold and associated diseases,” said Mike Penrose, Save the Children’s Humanitarian Director.
More than 400,000 registered refugees have fled their homes to live in crowded camps in countries bordering Syria. A further 2.5 million people are internally displaced. More than half are children.
Many are living in emergency accommodation that will not withstand the torrential rain and blizzards that affect the region. Inside Syria, close to the border with Turkey, thousands are living under blue tarpaulins in a muddy olive grove with no water or sanitation as they wait to escape the country.
Once across the border they are mainly housed in flimsy tents. In Lebanon refugees are sleeping on the cold concrete floors of abandoned schools and farm buildings.

EU views Syria opposition ‘legitimate’ representative
By Claire Rosemberg (AFP) – 6 hours ago
  
BRUSSELS — European Union foreign ministers dealt a new blow to President Bashar al-Assad’s regime Monday, saying they viewed Syria’s just-formed National Coalition “legitimate representatives” of Syria’s people.

A statement issued by the bloc’s 27 ministers after a day of talks welcomed the November 11 formation of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces.
“The EU considers them legitimate representatives of the aspirations of the Syrian people. This agreement represents a major step towards the necessary unity of the Syrian opposition,” it said.  “The EU looks forward to this new coalition continuing to work for full inclusiveness, subscribing to the principles of human rights and democracy and engaging with all opposition groups and sections of Syrian society.  “The EU stands ready to support this new Coalition in these endeavours and is relations with the international community,” it said.

France, which last week became the first Western country to recognise the Coalition as sole representative of the Syrian people, had urged fellow EU nations to follow in its footsteps.

Monday’s statement was a step short of the French stance.

Italy however joined France on Monday in full recognition of the group, with Britain expected to clarify its position in a parliamentary debate on Tuesday.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said at the close of the meeting that all his EU counterparts had expressed “much sympathy vis-a-vis the coalition”.
“I think we will invite the Coalition leaders to our next meeting (in December) to allow them to talk to all of the foreign ministers, which will be highly symbolic,” Fabius said.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i-qVeEInoOTVkMbHe–041BmmeFw?docId=CNG.40fe35c36b547709785d27a27248134e.301

Arab Spring Reach Palestine!

Zoo

Moza prefers heavy weight. It is a matter of taste. When she looks at him, she does not see his weight. She sees the tender, loving, charming, and sophisticated prince he is…

This is from SOHR:
هل تتوقع نجاح الائتلاف الجديد للمعارضة السورية
نعم – 59.7%
لا – 40.3%
This new coalition is a stunt that is doomed to fail because it is not inclusive and is not good enough for Islamists. I am not even sure that Qatar wants it to succeed.
Expat: we may disagree on politics but facts of geography are indisputable:
Aleppo province is 10% of Syria in size and 22% of population, the battle for its Reef can not be separated from that in Aleppo proper, relax.

Syrialover

Read Ann’s statement in 315. You notice the grammar? Do you believe now she is a Syrian product.

Circumventing sanctions: Iran begins construction of $10bn gas pipeline to Syria. To be ready in 2013.

http://rt.com/news/iran-syria-gas-pipeline-support-064/

Iran has begun building a US$10 billion gas pipeline to Syria as part of efforts to boost its energy sector, as well as help its war-torn neighbor. Tehran has also been battling Western sanctions ever since it refused to abandon its nuclear program.

­According to a report by Fars news agency, Iran has begun construction of the first phase of the project. It involves a 225km (140 mile) stretch and will cost approximately $3 billion. The 1,500km (750 mile) pipeline will pass through Iraq before reaching Syria.

The entire project is to be completed in the second half of 2013. The deal was signed between Iran, Iraq and Syria last July, Fars said.

The pipeline would help boost Iran’s gas output, which the country hopes will exceed Qatar’s by 2016.

Iran has the world’s second-largest gas reserves, estimated at 28 trillion cubic meters.

Great news for Syria’s Christians from `turkey’s islamist terrorists

Syria Islamist fighters in Aleppo reject new opposition – 19 November 2012

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20404175

Islamist rebel groups in the Syrian city of Aleppo say they reject the new Western-backed opposition coalition.

In an internet video, they denounced what they called “the conspiratorial project” and said they intend to establish an “Islamist state” in Syria.

In Syria’s second city, Aleppo, Islamist rebels are unimpressed with the new grouping.

In a video posted online, an unidentified speaker sits at the head of a long table with at least 20 others, in front of a black Islamist flag. He lists some 13 armed Islamist groups who reject the opposition coalition.

“We are the representatives of the fighting formations in Aleppo and we declare our rejection of the conspiratorial project, the so-called national alliance,” he says. “We have unanimously agreed to urgently establish an Islamic state.”

US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said it was “not surprising to us that those who want an extremist state, or a heavily Islamist state in Syria, have taken issue” with an opposition endorsing pluralism and tolerance.

But it will serve to increase fears among some Western nations who are already concerned that any arms sent to help the rebels in Syria could end up in the hands of extremists, observers say.

[…]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20404175

317. Tara

And he sees a dominatrix wax mummy…

Zoo

No he doesn’t. He sees an inside beauty..

#315 Tara

The EU subtly refusing to grant the full recognition to the coalition is a blow to Qatar, not to Bashar al Assad.
The SNC was also recognized as “A” legitimate representative of the Syrian aspirations and it ended up in the ‘dustbin of history’

If the coalition does not deliver quickly, it will follow the SNC.

Those backward and pesky NOVO RICH need to SHUT UP and mind their own miserable existence.

What is it with number 46?

The war of the regiments is still ongoing.

Regiment 246 in Damascus suburb has just fallen to the FSA with all its ammos and weapons. Watch the video and see the FSA heroes maneuvering newly captured weapons,

http://aljazeera.net/news/pages/4f672b59-f189-4520-80ca-f4879ac4062c?GoogleStatID=9

Zoo

Al khatib appears to be a dynamic personality. I suggest that he forgets about the international community for now and focuses instead on the FSA and the activists inside Syria. Once he has them in some kind of governance structure and perhaps appoints or get an honest Alawi elected as the third VP, he can then approach the international community for cash and weapons. He should target Syrians first.

Ann

It is a matter of time. JL is a busy man. Once he gets up to date with his emails, and discovers your criminal alteration of excerpts, you will be banned and no one will miss you including the regime supporters as they seem all honest and you are not. I told you before, what you have done is satanic but unfortunately you have no shame.

Hezbollah leader vows support for Hamas despite Syria rift – 6 hours ago

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gd2mnveJ7Y4gWCDRUkgt1NtkCUFA?docId=CNG.40fe35c36b547709785d27a27248134e.791

The Hezbollah leader called on Arab leaders on Monday to send arms to Hamas, mocking Gulf Arab states such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia that have championed arming the Syrian rebels.

“Some who are sending arms shipments to Syria don’t dare send a bullet to Palestine because of Israel’s presence”.

[…]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gd2mnveJ7Y4gWCDRUkgt1NtkCUFA?docId=CNG.40fe35c36b547709785d27a27248134e.791

Abdul Bari Atwan:
اهل القطاع لا يريدون الشفقة، ولا الكلام المعسول، وانما اسلحة حديثة متطورة يدافعون بها عن اطفالهم وكرامتهم، في مواجهة ارهاب اسرائيلي حصد حتى كتابة هذه السطور ارواح اكثر من ثمانين انسانا، نسبة كبيرة منهم من الاطفال.
لماذا لا يتزاحم هؤلاء، مثلما رأيناهم في الاسابيع الاخيرة، على تقديم صواريخ ‘ستينغر’ المضادة للطائرات الى فصائل المقاومة في القطاع، حتى يحيّدوا سلاح الجو الاسرائيلي، ام ان هذه الصواريخ ‘حرام’ ان تستخدم ضد الاسرائيليين، وان تحمي الفلسطينيين المسلمين ‘السنّة’؟
The GCC thugs and their Talibani sheikhs want a cease fire in Gaza but a full bloody war in Syria, go figure !!

# 266. BADR

Your comment on Bashar Assad not being able to step down of his own volition rings true. Since he “took office” in 2000 it’s known that failed mustache-grower, squeaky-voiced Bashar had to keep in good with violent thug brother Maher.

You quoted the interview with his cousin Rami Makhlouf in the NY Times a few months ago about the tight unity and joint decision making of the family.

But since then, we’ve had the explosion in July which killed his “muscle” Assef Shawkat and others in his inner circle, disabled Maher and led to tough-girl sister Bushra fleeing Syria.

No doubt he still has Maher’s sharp eyes on him, but that inner circle is getting thinner and those Iranian and Russian advisers are probably taking a seat at the family table these days.

Is this true?
(اللواء البخيت للتلفزيون الاردني)
“عندما جاءنا خبر ان رياض حجاب  اراد الموافقه من قبلنا على الدخول الى الاراضي الاردنيه…. قمنا بالاتصال بالرئيس السوري بشار الاسد… لاخذ موافقته  على دخول حجاب الي الاردن
I will try to get the full text when I have time, this “secret” if proved to be factual is nothing less than a mini political bomb.
A friend from Jordan believes that Abdullah is out of favor now after trying to keep
شعرة معاويه with the Syrian regime.

TARA #318

I pointed out in the past some suspicious variations in the language and style of the “ANN” posts.

It’s very likely to be a team, at least one of whom is all-American.

Tara

I don’t think Ann cares. Either that or she’s mad as a hatter…

Syrian Rebel Commanders Killed in Clashes with Kurdish Fighters – 20/11/2012

http://www.rudaw.net/english/news/syria/5446.html

http://www.rudaw.net/english/thumbnail.php?file=891878_01_02_opt_834600807.jpg&size=article_medium

The pro-Kurdish Firat News Agency (ANF) reported that Ghurba’ al-Sham and Jahbat al-Nusra opened fire on a YPG checkpoint after they refused entry of Kurdish demonstrators demanding the armed groups to leave Sere Kaniye.

A report by the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, “rebel fighters assassinated Abed Khalil, the president of the local Kurdish popular council in the city of Ras al-Ein, a grassroots organization trying to run public services. He died from wounds of sniper shots that targeted him.”

Perik maintained that Monday’s attack was the most violent. He said that the Islamic fighters have alienated local residents by “insulting the Kurds in their areas, attacking churches, and even shops selling alcohol are barbarically targeted by the so-called ‘FSA rebels’”.

“This means they are declaring a war against the Kurds, Christians, Druses, and everyone who doesn’t belong to them and their extremist mentality,” Perik added to Rudaw.

Xeber24.net reported that Majed Abdullah (Abu Asad) and Waek Haj Rahim—two Syrian Arab rebel leaders—were killed in the clashes. Meanwhile, the Ahrar Brigade, a pro-FSA group posted on Facebook the YPG had killed commander Ali Aksoud from Ghuraba al-Sham.

According to the Syrian Revolution Coordinators Union, 12 Syrian fighters were killed and 16 wounded and that talks are underway to reach a ceasefire.

The Union claimed that the YPG had shot Majid Abdullah (Abu Asad) who was heading an unarmed delegation to broker a peace deal with the Democratic Union Party (PYD). This was not confirmed by other sources.

Dr. Alan Semo, PYD’s foreign representative told Rudaw that in a separate incident, FSA rebels had killed four YPG members in Tal Abayd and beheaded two of them.

“These armed groups get support from Deir al-Zour and the armed group of [tribal Sheikh Nawaf] Bashir. While the people of Sere Kaniye get support from the people of Qamishli.” Semo said.

The Kurdish National Council (KNC) –a coalition of 11 political parties –issued a statement regarding Monday’s ‘dangerous’ developments in Sere Kaniye, and condemning the clashes.

[…]

http://www.rudaw.net/english/thumbnail.php?file=891878_01_02_opt_834600807.jpg&size=article_medium

http://www.rudaw.net/english/news/syria/5446.html

332. Syrialover

“as I pointed out in the past, “ANN” is very likely a team, at least one of whom is all-American.”

And I told you before that Ann is not American. She makes mistakes in her English no American would make. Her fondness for Russian news services and other hints lead me to believe she lives in Eastern Europe. Her concern for Syria’s Christians suggests she’s of a Syrian Christian family. But she was born outside Syria, probably in Romania or Bulgaria.

And oh yes, she’s a bitter hateful lying double-dealing maniac. She and Dancing Shlomo would make a lovely couple, screaming bloody-murder at each other for all the neighbors to hear, throwing furniture and plates and cups, smashing windows. A true romance made in Heaven…

The Kurds are always on the wrong side. When the U.S. launched the unjust Crusade against Iraq in 2003, the Kurds carried pictures of Bush with the caption “Hero of Peace.”

And today, when we have a completely justified campaign against the sick Nusayгis, now the Kurds’ pastime is to fight against the rebels.

It is no wonder that the Kurds are the lowliest people in the cosmos.

Some update tweets from Jon Wilkes, UK Special Representative to the Syrian Opposition:

– Successful meeting Friday in London between countries supporting the opposition and the National Coalition, opened by the Foreign Secretary.

– Agreement on a range of actions for the next 2/3 weeks, including more non-lethal aid from donors and establishing new Coalition offices.

– Making sure these offices are staffed by technocrats who can manage the relationship with donors will be key.

– I’m off to Saudi Arabia now for consultations on the Syrian opposition. I’ll raise the need for opposition to reach out to minorities.

– And to keep to a pluralist, democratic vision and commitment to respect human rights. Growing sectarianism should be a concern for us all.

Jon Wilks ‏@JonWilksFCO

#326 Tara

Al Khatib appears to be a moderate sheikh, not a politician and not a military. In my view he stands no chance.
The FSA seem to have lost their leadership as Ryad Al Assaad has disappeared into thin air. The regional mini-leaders have no respect for a man outside the army and they are fighting for revenge not for the Syrians, welcoming Islamic extremists to help them.

I fear for Al Khatib’s life if he tries to impose anything on them. His coalition is stained by its affiliations with people who never fought on the ground.
Note that Al Khatib was not invited in Turkey.
Turkey, Egypt and Qatar just want a moslem brotherhood leadership in Syria, they’ll do anything to get to that.

Alarab online claimed that Muhammad Makhlouf ( 80 years, Bashar’s maternal uncle ) is Syria’s strong man who with support from his sister Anisah and son, Rami, was behind the removal of key competitors to Bashar before and after 2000, the list included both Sunni and Alawi officers and politicians. People who knew Bashar often express their conviction that he is unfit to lead a country like Syria. True or not, Syria failed because albaath then Assads destroyed key institutions and used loyalty,not qualifications, as the litmus test for government positions, it would be a tragedy if a new regime in Syria uses the same method. Makhloufs money is for the most part safe and secure through a network of partners , including Miqatis in Lebanon, and secret foreign accounts beside their large holdings in Russia,a key supporter of Muhammad Makhlouf. The Assads and Makhloufs will be remembered as the two families that sacrificed alawis to stay in power and collect their billions of blood money. Pity the nation.

Silentio

… would make a lovely couple, screaming bloody-murder at each other for all the neighbors to hear, throwing furniture and plates and cups, smashing windows. A true romance made in Heaven…

Very vivid image. Are you a screenplay writer? You really are funny. I can’t stop smiling. Anyway have a good night and do not believe what Warren tells us about the boggy men Sunnis persecuting Christians. It is simply not true in Syria. I promise you.

# J DE SILENTIO

Before jumping in and commenting, I recommend you go back over my observations on “ANN” posted over the past year or so to get the complete picture.

Or even the past 4-5 months would fill you in.

The US does not want to go to the UNSC because they will be obliged to veto any resolution condemning Israel.
Russia may force it.
Russia accuses U.S. of blocking U.N. action on Israel-Gaza conflict

By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS | Mon Nov 19, 2012 10:51pm EST

(Reuters) – Russia accused the United States on Monday of blocking a bid by the U.N. Security Council to condemn the escalating conflict between Israel and the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and said other council members were filibustering the issue.
…
Russia’s U.N. envoy Vitaly Churkin said that if the council could not agree, he would put a resolution – a stronger move by the council than a statement – to a vote on Tuesday to call for an end to the violence and show support for regional and international efforts to broker peace.

Zoo,

He must possess some leadership qualities to have been elected. We are disparately in need for a charismatic figure who can win the heart of the fighters and activists inside Syria. Asaad was just a figure head of the FSA and had no
control beyond the camp in Hatay. He really has no weight. If I was al khatib, I would start with the activists, the LCC, who seems to work hands in hand with the fighters on the ground and through them reach to the fighters. Suhair al Attasi should be able to help him with the LCC as I believe she was one of the founder. Time will tell what he is capable of..I hope though he forgets about the international community for the time being and avoids the mistake that SNC has had. He should start with the Syrian house first.

GHUFRAN #339

Good comment.

Makhlouf may flee, but Assad will die in Syria. There is no where for him to go. Also, Assad knows at this point that he must choose to die in Syria. Otherwise even the Alawites will curse his name.

To set up a sectarian war and then to abandon his supporters? Even evil has its standards.

Hello,
I checked into the forum to see how people are reacting to the new National Coalition. I’m surprised that many of the people who oppose the rebellion because it is purportedly dominated by Islamicists are now counting the Islamicist rejection of the new Coalition as a flaw. That takes some chutzpah, if you’ll excuse my Yiddish.

There could never be a lovely coalition that is “inclusive” in the perfect sense. This is it, the best that can be hoped for, and the positive breakthrough that changes everything.

ZOO wrote (#338):

“I fear for Al Khatib’s life if he tries to impose anything on them [Islamists]”

Comments: Is this a heads up on an Assadist assasination plot and its diversionary cover story?

and

“His coalition is stained by its affiliations with people who never fought on the ground”

Comment: Not any more, the KSA has just joined with them.

Most of them are not battle field candidates because of their age. And in any case al-Khatib, Seif and Sabra have very powerful credentials for courage and physical strength, having spent time in Assads dungeons.

“A ceasefire will be signed in Egypt between 7Hamas and Israel,

Bye bye muqawama a**holes piece of sh*t.

Hello GCC/Egypt/Turkey”

lol, idiot “western-friendly” islamists who bark all day are full of hot air.
Nothing is signed yet, if and when a deal is struck, its terms will certainly be favorable to israelis, which would just build up popular discontent and postpone the crisis. All those sh*t-eater islamists always need to look and talk tough, in reality they are so weak and can’t help being so whiny all the time.

CORRECTION to #347

It should have read:

“His coalition is stained by its affiliations with people who never fought on the ground”

Comment: Not any more, the FSA (repeat, FSA) has just joined with them.

(Apologies to fellow FSA and Coalition supporters)

On the direction the Arab Spring is taking, this case in Tunisia is important and symbolic

http://www.opendemocracy.net/kacem-jlidi/salafi-accusations-in-tunis

Salafist are trying to impose their lifestyle on others, it’s been months that Salafis harass the students of this university, one outsider even took down the Tunisian flag from its rooftop and replaced it with the salafi/al qaeda black flag.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUnMTZds_X0 There already were beatings and destructions, and the so-called “moderate” islamist state has been quite lenient so far. Now it remains to be seen how the case will be settled.

340 TARA

“do not believe what Warren tells us about the bogey man Sunnis”

Actually I not only believe it. I know it. First of all, we still have family in Syria and we believe what they tell us. And secondly, information through the church I attend supports that. Christians will suffer and many of them will end up in Europe and the Americas. It will be just like what happened to the Armenians.

Increasing violence against Christians in Syria

Violence against Christians and other religious and ethnic minorities in Syria is on the rise, according to John Pontifex of Aid to the Church in Need.

Pontifex fears that Syria, like Iraq, could lose the majority of its Christian population.

“There is a range of factors at work which are making it very difficult for minority groups,” Pontifex told Vatican Radio. “As part of the mix of different militant groups at work in the region now, we are seeing a systematic assault on minority groups, and a lot of this is organized along ethnic lines, but particularly religious lines.”

http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=16283

__________________________________________________________________

Sunnis have an appalling track record of persecuting and committing genocide against Christians.

Sunni Turks committed geneocide against the Armenians, Syriacs, Assyrians in 1915
Sunni Turks committed genocide against the Asyrians in the 1890s, 1915 and 1922.
Sunni Arabs massacred Assyrians who wanted an independent state in 1933.

Right now in Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya, Pakistan and of course in Syria; Sunnis are once more persecuting Christians and people of other faiths.

312. ZOO:

FSA recognition was already implied in Doha. Of course confirmation directly from Col. Riyad al-Asaad and Gen. Mustafa al-Shaykh would be welcome, however, Col. Abdul Jabbar al-Akidi’s confirmation in response to the video of the groups that rejected the coalition suffices. He’s the head of the military council in Aleppo and spoke for all of the military councils.

Visitor:

Thanks for letting us out of the guilt of “Islamic” conquests.

Your sect is very aggressive and shows off with the fact that they conquered other races and religions. What are your plans for the future? Go back and besiege Vienna? عد للقرون الوسطى ياأحمق

As for history, for your bad luck there is the internet these days and you, and your likes, can not dominate the airwaves. A new history is coming out and you can not stop it.

Later, after work, I will reply to you about the Ummayyads, Shia and Persians.

Next building , the presidential palace?   

Mortars hit Syria information ministry, clashes erupt in capital
Reuters – 

http://news.yahoo.com/mortars-hit-syria-information-ministry-clashes-erupt-capital-125236147.html

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Two mortar rounds struck Syria’s Information Ministry building in the capital Damascus on Tuesday, state television said, causing some damage but no casualties.
….
Activist Samir al-Shami said the mortar rounds that hit the Information Ministry building, which is located in the central Mezzeh district of the capital, may actually have been aimed at a football stadium nearby.
“We believe the stadium is being used by the army and has been used to fire mortars on the rebels, so it may have been the target. The rebels may have been responding to army fire,” al-Shami told Reuters on Skype.

#348 SL

Whatever one commander in Aleppo declares, as long as the FSA Chief and high command leadership do not announce officially that the FSA recognizes the coalition, it is just speculation and wishful thinking. We have seen many of these commanders speaking for themselves several time with no avail.
By the way about physical strength, Seif has a cancer and prison time have never been good for the health.

صباح الخير Zoo

I was worried lately with you sleeping until noon time. 😉

Shouldn’t the Qatari rep bring a motion to the General Assembly to vote on the same?  What a humiliating morning to Batta al Assad.

The UK foreign secretary, William Hague, says the UK is to recognise the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary & Opposition Forces as the “sole legitimate representative of Syrian people”.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2012/nov/20/gaza-conflict-ceasefire-talks-live#block-50ab7bfe95cb1a2f396680bf

358. Tara

good morning

The Qatar will not dare present anything because the USA will veto any resolution about Israel. Qatar is a big fat poodle when it comes to stand against Israel and the USA.

In Syria, the desperate and divided opposition is now relying almost exclusively on Islamist groups to sustain the mortar attacks in Damascus while Aleppo has been declared ‘an islamic state’.

As for the embattled “coalition”, the day Al Khatib, Seif and Attasi would come to the ‘liberated’ areas of Syria, I will start to review my opinion about it.

FSA victories are now achieved wholesale. It is no longer possible to keep track.

http://aljazeera.net/news/pages/5c976105-8721-4437-93d7-2b60d2fb9c51?GoogleStatID=1

It may be feasible now to reschedule forward all plans for visits. New year may turn out to be a possible target.

Love-u4ever: if you do not like what FSA are saying then you know what to do. You can buzz off to Qom or if you are in a western country, then you can always stay where you are.

Jeblawi: what makes you think I am interested in your nonsense?

Tara

The UK recognition is an encouraging point for the coalition but refusing to arm the rebels show that the UK is still not after a military change of regime, but rather after a negotiated political settlement. Therefore by boosting the coalition it will eventually force it to the political dialog.
It is clear that the EU and the US are wary that a forced regime change by military means will have Syria taken over by Islamist militias.
Therefore they need an opposition that can stand unified and representative on the negotiating table that the UN though Al Akhdar Ibrahimi is preparing.

#356 Zoo:

Al-Akidi is not ” one commander in Aleppo” but the head of the military council in Aleppo, as was mentioned in the post as well as my comment #353. In other words, he is the head of the FSA in Aleppo. Also mentioned was that he spoke for all of the military councils, what reason do you have to contest his representation of them or of al-Asaad and al-Sheikh? It cannot be you seeing “many of these commanders speaking for themselves several time with no avail” because none of this applies to a head of a military council. And if it does, why would that make al-Asaad and al-Sheikh exempt from it for you to be concerned about their particular declarations? In the end, the alternative to the FSA having recognized the coalition is the FSA top leadership not being relevant to begin with, because there is nothing to lead without the military councils.

Meshaal is still defiant and uncompromising. Who and what give him that assurance? What is his calculation?

Hamas Leader Dares Israel to Invade Amid Gaza Airstrikes

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/20/world/middleeast/israel-gaza-conflict.html?_r=0

GAZA CITY — The top leader of Hamas dared Israel on Monday to launch a ground invasion of Gaza and dismissed diplomatic efforts to broker a cease-fire in the six-day-old conflict,

#362 Halabi

Do you say that the FSA leadership is irrelevant? I thought they have announced the ‘unification’ of the FSA under one leadership months ago.
Then who will talk to the new coalition to agree on a common ground? I guess it would be a very hard challenge.

Zoo,

In regard to all those names from the FSA, did you read what I posted earlier?

https://www.joshualandis.com/blog/?p=16718&cp=5#comment-335300

But finding an effective military commander may be more difficult. One candidate was Riad Asaad, an Air Force colonel who defected in June of last year, set up shop in a Turkish refugee camp and announced he was commanding the Free Syrian Army.  But even though Asaad established a public affairs office and a well-designed web site and Facebook presence, there were serious questions about what, exactly, he commanded.

“Col. Asaad’s influence never extended far beyond the refugee camps in Turkey where he is based,” wrote Aron Lund this September in a report for the Swedish Institute of International Affairs.  Lund said the recently created military councils in the governorates only “pay nominal respect, at best, to Col. Asaad.”

Lund wrote that another potential leader of the opposition military effort was Col. Col. Qasem Saadeddine of the Homs Military Council. He added, however, that even though Saadeddine expanded his command to include four more military councils, the military command structure appeared to be dysfunctional.

The former director of Syria’s National Defense College, Major General  Muhammad Hussein al-Haj Ali, also is a potential leader. He defected this past June and told reporters he was taking over the opposition military effort and was renaming the rebel forces the Syrian National Army.

Yet another potential military leader for the opposition is General Mustafa al-Sheikh, the highest-ranking member of President Assad’s military to defect.  Al-Sheikh is now described as the commander-in-chief of the Higher Military Council of the rebel Free Syrian Army divided into five geographic divisions.  But some military experts are not convinced al-Sheikh is the opposition’s true military leader. According to Holliday, Col. Riad Asaad and Gen. al-Sheikh have been locked in apparent competition for leadership. “The two of them have this little jousting match up in Hatay, Turkey, going back and forth about, ‘Well, we’re both FSA and now we’re part of this larger organization that al-Sheikh runs, we’re partner organizations …’  

“I characterize these two characters … as leaders more interested in figuring out how to gain power for themselves …,” Holliday said.

“My sense is Mustafa al-Sheikh is more important,” said White of the Washington Institute, but he added that no one will command the respect of the fighters unless they are inside Syria directing the actions of brigades and battalions.

#365 Tara

You prove my point: Until now, none of these FSA ‘leaders’ has announced the official recognition of the new “coalition”.

It’s the job of Al Khatib to convince them that the coalition is not a Western creation and that they should distance themselves from the Islamists groups. Let’s wait and see if he is capable of such daunting task.

363. Zoo: “Do you say that the FSA leadership is irrelevant?”

I don’t, you do. I’m saying that the FSA recognizes the coalition, you on the other hand deny this. The alternative to such a recognition is its top leadership being irrelevant, as explained in the previous reply. To add, al-Akidi has merely spoken in response to those rejecting the coalition and because they were from Aleppo. If they wouldn’t have, there would be no confirmation on his part either and you would be under the impression that absolutely nobody in the FSA supports the coalition, even though such support was clearly already implied in Doha.

As for your other question, you answered it yourself: apparently al-Akidi has been spoken to. I on the other hand maintain that he speaks in the name of not only the military council of Aleppo that he’s heading, but all of the military councils as well as the top leadership. Tell us though, if not recognizing then what are al-Asaad and al-Sheikh currently doing, negotiating? Those who reject it have clearly spoken out, and so you answered your own question again.

More cold water on the so-called ‘muqwama’ idiots.

Hamas high ranking spokesman, Ayman Taha: Ceasefire begins 1:00 AM, Mecca time.

Meshaal posturing is nothing but piece of crap baloney. He still cannot think outside the box: posture, then posture then posture until you become a poster posturer. That is all they learn while with the axis of rogue resistance.

Is Israel really accepting Hamas conditions? This would be a great victory for Hamas. That will surely embold the Palestinians in for further concessions from Israel.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/middle-east/2012/11/20/egypt-israel-gaza-offensive-end-tuesday/m5DMdG40BNf593uCy5NaxJ/story.html

“In Brussels, a senior official of the European Union’s foreign service said a cease-fire would include an end of Israeli airstrikes and targeted killings in Gaza, the opening of Gaza crossing points and an end to rocket attacks on Israel. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.”

The petty little Qurdahan said

“Your sect is very aggressive and shows off with the fact that they conquered other races and religions”

Wow, talk about being clueless on history. Do you remember who were the prominent empires of the time? The Romans and the Persians, and they got that by “conquering” other people (but they got their butts handed to them eventually by the glorious 7th century Jihadis. Allahu akbar bitch).

What about the Catholic Christian Spanish conquistadors? Ask the people of central and south America how benevolent their treatment was. Christopher Columbus these days would have been called a war criminal.

And three incidents the Qurdahan Warren mention do not come close to the ethnic cleansing that Europeans inflicted on themselves during and in the aftermath of World War 2.

Everytime the split personalities of the Qurdahans Mjarrenli bark about how Sunnis were the worst people in history, two things happen; 1) they expose what ignorant simpletons they are on history 2) they confirm to us just how wide the stick up their rectums are. Or maybe it isn’t a stick, but a mighty pillar hehehe.

#367 Halabi

“363. Zoo: “Do you say that the FSA leadership is irrelevant?”
I don’t, you do.”

These are you words not mine:
“the FSA top leadership not being relevant to begin with”

“Tell us though, if not recognizing then what are al-Asaad and al-Sheikh currently doing, negotiating?”

In their Turkish bunker, they are silently waiting for instructions from Turkey and Qatar on what to do next.

#367 Halabi

“363. Zoo: “Do you say that the FSA leadership is irrelevant?”

I don’t, you do.”

These are you words not mine:
“the FSA top leadership not being relevant to begin with”

“Tell us though, if not recognizing then what are al-Asaad and al-Sheikh currently doing, negotiating?”

In their Turkish bunker, they are silently waiting for instructions from Turkey and Qatar on what to do next to avoid been sidelined by the islamist militias who are doing the bulk of the attacks.

Do you mean, that if one does not reject the coalition, it means they recognize it?
That’s a strange logic.

Did someone mention the start of constructing a pipeline from Iran to Syria?

Syrian rebels eye Assad’s economic lifeline in east
By Khaled Yacoub Oweis

(Reuters) – A Syrian rebel offensive that captured border crossings with Turkey and Iraq aims to cut off supplies from the country’s main grain and oil-producing region and speed President Bashar al-Assad’s downfall, a tribal leader said.

[Sheikh Nawaf al-]Bashir, from the main Baqqara tribe, said in a telephone interview: “I expect the military situation to change in Hasaka because Assad’s forces are isolated. We are moving to cut off a vital economic supply line from the regime which will disrupt its military operations.”
…
Bashir, whose tribe extends into Iraq and Saudi Arabia, said that most oil fields in Deir al-Zor had stopped operating because of the presence of rebels, leaving Assad with Hasaka, which accounts for more than half of the country’s 370,000 barrel per day capacity.
…
“The economic pipeline from Deir al-Zor has already stopped. The Free Syrian army will receive a boost by moving into the oil and agriculture region of Hasaka,” he said.

Is the regime in it’s final weeks?

A selection of tweets. There were more:

___________________________________________________________

✩ Syrian Commando ✩
‏@syriancommando 16h

While all eyes are on #gaza, #Syria is falling. Matter of weeks now.

https://twitter.com/syriancommando/status/270692701207400450
____________________________________________________________

✩ Syrian Commando ✩
‏@syriancommando 16h

Terrorists numbering 6500 entered regiment 46 like last time in Hanano, no telling how much arms they stole.

https://twitter.com/syriancommando/status/270691879329361921

_____________________________________________________________

✩ Syrian Commando ✩
‏@syriancommando 6h

Sad to say it, but the #Syria-n army is collapsing by the hour and the incompetent administration is not getting the message.

jasper ‏@_jasper___
@syriancommando Yes, the war is lost….

https://twitter.com/syriancommando/status/270847466973319169

______________________________________________________________

Zoo #319 (RE: Iran oil pipeline to Syria)

✩ Syrian Commando ✩
‏@syriancommando 6h

#Iran is bluffing, no pipeline to #Syria-stan will be built. It’s a hopeless mission with a country whose bases are being overrun.

https://twitter.com/syriancommando/status/270847587052044288

Those Brave Syrian Kurds Kicking Ottoman Islamist Terrorist Butts!

Dozens dead after clashes in Syrian border town – Tue November 20, 2012

http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/20/world/europe/turkey-syria-violence/

Istanbul (CNN) — A flashpoint Syrian border town recently captured by rebels was reeling Tuesday after deadly clashes erupted between Syrian rebels and a Kurdish militia.

The battle left dozens of fighters from both sides dead, including one prominent ethnic Kurdish leader.

“Today it is quiet. I hope in my heart that there will be no more fighting between Kurds and Arabs because we are all brothers,” said a Kurdish activist and resident of Ras Al Ain, who asked only to be named “Baran” for his safety.

“But I am sure there will be more fighting,” he predicted, adding that both the Syrian rebels and Kurdish fighters were calling for reinforcements.

According to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least four Kurdish militia members were killed in the clashes, as well as prominent Kurdish community leader Abed Khalil. Fourteen fighters affiliated with the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) died as well, the observatory said.

A spokesman for the opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria in the northern province of Hasaka confirmed the death of Khalil, but said the death toll among combatants was much higher, with 20 FSA rebels and 25 Kurdish fighters killed on Monday.

“There are many dead bodies still lying in the streets,” said the LCC spokesman in Hasaka, who asked only to be identified as Abu Muhaned. “They are afraid to pick them up.”

Until two weeks ago, Ras Al Ain was a safe haven that had largely escaped the conflict that is ripping Syria apart. Syrians sought shelter in this small, ethnically-mixed market town populated by Arabs, Kurds and Christians.

The town was built along train tracks that divide the border between Syria and Turkey.

On November 8, Syrian rebels mounted an assault on Ras Al Ain. After less than 48 hours of fighting, they overwhelmed a small garrison of Syrian government forces there.

The rebel assault triggered an exodus of thousands of civilians, who fled across the border to Turkey. The flood of refugees increased in the following days when Syrian helicopters and jets began bombing Ras Al Ain, spreading fear throughout the neighboring Turkish town of Ceylanpinar.

A few shopkeepers were seen hurriedly emptying their businesses of all merchandise, clearly afraid there would be more fighting. There were no victory scenes of jubilation among locals.

Some refugees told CNN they were unhappy with the arrival of FSA rebels. That was echoed by a Kurdish umbrella group, which issued a public statement demanding that all armed groups evacuate Ras Al Ain.

“Most of the Kurds want neither the rebels nor the regime,” said Rashid Mohammed, a Kurdish farmer who had fled to neighboring Turkey, in an interview last week with CNN.

Tensions between the predominantly Arab rebels and members of the militia affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) erupted Monday. However, Arabs and Kurds offered contradictory accounts of how the fighting began.

Kurdish activists said snipers opened fire on a demonstration organized to demand the withdrawal of FSA fighters.

“The reason why they organized the demonstration was to bring the refugees back to Ras Al Ain and to tell the FSA to leave the town,” said Nurooz al Ahmad, a female Kurdish activist and Ras Al Ain resident, in a phone call with CNN.

“This was a safe area before the FSA came to Ras Al Ain.”

The deadly ethnic clashes appeared to have embarrassed prominent officials in the Syrian opposition movement.

“I have been trying to organize talks between the Kurds and the FSA since yesterday,” said Malik al Kurdi, a spokesman for the FSA based in Turkey.

“It was wrong for the FSA to enter Kurdish areas like Ras Al Ain,” he added.

[…]

http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/20/world/europe/turkey-syria-violence/

372. UZAIR8

Nice compilation, but a cruel one. You should have doen it over time, like one tweet a day. The last thing we want is to cause sever depression to the supporters of the terrorist Syrian regime.

One thing about these latest FSA victories is that they were accomplished, as far as we can see, using weapons captured from Batta’s army. By the time the West makes up its mind about supplying heavy weapons to the FSA, the FSA would not need them.

Let’s see what the next few days/weeks bring.

Kelly McParland: Islamists in Aleppo raise the bar of fear another notch

In Aleppo, site of some of the fiercest fighting of the war, a gathering of 13 extremist factions united long enough to denounce a coalition of more moderate rebel groups, and declare that they had formed an Islamic state.

“We are the representatives of the fighting formations in Aleppo and we declare our rejection of the conspiratorial project, the so-called national alliance,” they announced via video. “We have unanimously agreed to urgently establish an Islamic state.”
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It’s a statement that represents good news for no one, other than the forces of hatred. For Syrians it could mean the suffering of the past two years could ultimately end in one autocratic, dictatorial regime being brought down, only to be replaced by another of similar character, but with a taste for intolerance and terror as well. As little loved as Assad may be, until the onset of civil war Syrians might at least have considered they were better off than their struggling neighbours in mullah-run Iran. Now they face the prospect of a leadership consumed not just with political power but religious rage as well.

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2012/11/20/kelly-mcparland-islamists-in-aleppo-raise-the-bar-of-fear-another-notch/
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Western commentary on Syria is now changing, gone is the facile and specious narrative of innocent sunni peaceful protestors wanting democracy. The true face and nature of the sunni insurgency is now being exposed and openly discussed. It’s no longer a taboo to mention the fact the FSA initials really stands for: fundamentalist sunni army. The objective and agenda of the sunni insurgents is absolute power and the persecution of Syria’s minorities. The western media has already highlighted several incidents of sunni insurgent war crimes, such executing and torturing prisoners. Vandalizing Christian churches, homes, businesses, expelling Christians from cities such as Homs and abducting Christians for ransom in Aleppo.

The announcement by the sunni insurgents of the Aleppo command that they intend to establish a theocratic islamic state and impose sharia on the population they dominate over is gaining widespread publicity and scrutiny in the west. This is a real wake-up call and a reality check for the naive supporters of the sunni insurgency in the West. These sunnis if they gain power in Syria will be no friends of the West, and will unlikely sign any peace treaty with Israel and recognize its right to exist.

The West’s desire to topple Al Assad has been tempered by the hard reality that Al Assad’s violent opponents are the same radical sunni islamists that the West has been combating since 9/11. The US has been especially reticent in arming and recognizing the sunni insurgents as the legitimate government of Syria. The onus is on the sunni insurgents to purge the terrorists in their ranks and gain the respect of Syria’s minorities, if not the US and by extension the West will continue to pay lip service only to the sunni insurgency.

370. Zoo:

You should quote me in full. I said: “In the end, the alternative to the FSA having recognized the coalition is the FSA top leadership not being relevant to begin with, because there is nothing to lead without the military councils.” The point didn’t come across and you asked “Do you say that the FSA leadership is irrelevant?” to which I responded: “I don’t, you do. I’m saying that the FSA recognizes the coalition, you on the other hand deny this.”

The premise here is the military councils and the top leadership not being on the same page when it comes to recognizing the coalition. This is not what I believe, it is what you believe. You might not have realized this when referring to al-Akidi as “one commander in Aleppo” when he is in fact the head of the city’s military council and was speaking for al of the military councils.

If the top leadership is not with him, as you believe, then the top leadership cannot reach Aleppo. If he indeed speaks for the rest of the military councils, it cannot reach anywhere inside Syria. And when that is the case, such top leadership and their words you are looking for are irrelevant. Why would you be looking for something you find irrelevant to begin with?

I don’t believe any of that obviously, because I believe the FSA top leadership along with the military councils are unified and recognize the coalition. This was implied in Doha and confirmed by al-Akidi by way of incident due to that video by Jabhat al-Nusra and others.

Your answer to my question on what the top leadership would be doing only adds to the confusion. It’s fine by me if you think they can be neither in favour of nor opposed to the coalition, do you believe they are neutral? Stranger even is that you think they are waiting for instructions by Turkey and Qatar. Those were mailed out a week ago, not on Islamists or other topics you might want to drag into it, but on the topic at hand: the coalition. They didn’t know that Qatar hosted the entire thing and that Turkey was there? By the way, if the top leadership has to refer to others as you believe, then you’ve made my point that what you said about al-Akidi you can also say about them, which makes the entire thing only more irrelevant.

Damascus Demonstration: To Hell with Freedom, We Want an Islamic Caliphate and Weapons

http://www.memri.org/clip/en/0/0/0/0/207/0/3632.htm

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At least the sunnis on this video are honest about their undemocratic and violent intentions; unlike the sunnis on this board that shamelessly practice taqqiyya to the western audience.

Egyptian Cleric Abdallah Badr: Hurricane Sandy Is a Soldier of Allah, Inflicted upon America

http://www.memri.org/clip/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/3637.htm

Egyptian Salafi Sheik Murgan Salem Calls to Destroy Pyramids, Tax Christians, and Says: Bin Laden Greater than Saladin

http://www.memri.org/clip/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/3636.htm

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The Egypt replaces Mubarak with people like this!

It is clear,from recent events in Syria that Assad regime is getting weaker

For Syrian rebels, a relentless game of cat-and-mouse

In the flat, open Syrian-Lebanese border region, the strapped Syrian rebels have no choice but to let ground they capture fall back into enemy hands.

The Free Syrian Army (FSA) lacks the weaponry it needs to hold ground in the face of the regime forces’ air strikes. Instead, it attacks Syrian Army positions along the southern border, takes them over just long enough to rush supplies and fighters in from Lebanon, and retreats before the regime planes arrive.

The rebels farther north have managed to take and hold a solid bloc between Aleppo and the Turkish border, which they have dubbed “Free Syria.” (Read this story about the “uneasy normal” of life in rebel-held Syria). But it is a very different story between Homs, Syria’s third-largest city, and the border with Lebanon, some sparsely-populated 20 miles away. (See a map here.)

The endless battle for turf underscores the challenges the rebels face simply holding ground as the conflict enters its 21st month. Short on supplies and heavy weaponry, and up against a regime believed to be getting help from Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah, the rebels have struggled to break a stalemate and are desperate for something, whether it is more weapons or new tactics, that could tip the scales in their favor.

Two FSA fighters – who tote mismatched weapons and whose civilian clothing and shoes are ill-suited for fighting, or even sneaking across a border – rest in the living room of a local Sunni who lives about 10 miles from the border and trains FSA fighters. Having just crossed into Lebanon for medical supplies overnight, they describe a battleground always in flux. Towns and border crossings constantly change hands, and the rebels have no permanent bases.

The two men belong to one of several 25-man units that make up Jihad to Liberate Syria, the local anti-Assad force. They have long lived among the roughly 25 villages inside Syria that are populated by both Sunnis and Shiite Lebanese, and that have split down sectarian lines since Syria’s war began. The Sunnis typically back the FSA, while the Shiites typically back the regime – particularly its ally, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, believed to be fighting alongside the Assad regime’s forces. Borders and nationality matter much less than religious sect there.

The men say they know they are fighting Hezbollah, not the Syrian Army, because although the men wear Army uniforms, they “don’t look Syrian” and their bandannas bear the inscription “Ya Ali,” a Shiite battle cry.

Both the Lebanese FSA and Hezbollah fighters know the territory well. While there is a tacit agreement that they will not attack each other while in Lebanon, once back in Syria, that intimate knowledge of the battleground will be used against each other.

But a home advantage only goes so far. Echoing comments from rebels elsewhere in Syria, the FSA fighters say they are outmatched by the Army’s air power. Without adequate anti-aircraft weapons, they can only hold territory for a couple hours before regime planes swoop in, forcing retreat. Now, attacks are not to hold ground, but to build up capabilities.

Rabiye, a fighter who sports a dark blue track suit and sneakers more suited for city streets, says that they have more weapons than before, but still not enough. The ones they have – 23-millimeter anti-aircraft guns – aren’t capable of shooting down the regime planes.

“The main objective of the Free Syrian Army attacking Syrian Army bases is to capture many weapons and retreat quickly,” says the local Sunni who trains FSA fighters. “We need an air defense system. We can’t keep anything on the ground.”

http://www.minnpost.com/christian-science-monitor/2012/11/syrian-rebels-relentless-game-cat-and-mouse

Release the Kraken!
They’re baaaack! All those missing pundits who had little to say about the tragic developments in Syria over the last few months are now back and at it again, tackling their favorite topic in the whole wide world and making their usual sweeping assertions about its centrality to the regional woes: who cares about authoritarianism and corruption, it’s the Arab-Israeli Conflict baby. What they have missed in the midst of their ideological orgy is the simple fact that the Conflict has long morphed into an Israeli-Iranian affair with Turkey trying to work herself in, and Arabs, rich and poor alike, being nothing more than glorified proxies. Meanwhile, Russia and China play the spoilers when it suits them, as America stands disinterested, and perhaps a little puzzled, if not clueless. Meanwhile, in Syria, the Islamists pursue their hijacking of the revolution.

http://www.syrianrevolutiondigest.com/2012/11/release-kraken.html?spref=fb
Ammar Abdulhamid

the syrian govt, syria, will outlast the obama govt and the occupiers of palestine.

Amajad the salafi catamite

You’ve been spouting the same ridiculous bravado of imminent sunni victory for the past 20 months!

Sharia is barbaric and acknowledged throughout the world as such!
As for your farcical threat against Iran, go ahead and attack Iran. You sunni cowards don’t have the guts to fight Iran on your own, this was illustrated in the wikileaks documents that stated the wahhabi maleek Abdullah the geriatric was begging Dubya to do the job for him. Considering how inept the wahhabi armed forces were in the Houthi conflict, you ragheads won’t be fighting the Parsis for a long time to come if ever!

You Khalijis are too cowardly to fight and too lazy to work, all this sunni support against Bashar Al Assad and he is still in power. No wonder the Jews don’t respect you sunnis, you are all bravado. You ragheads are lions in peace and mice in war.

You think you can take over Iraq? Go ahead try, I’d like to see you sunni allah hu akbar screaming clowns try it. By the way I notice you sunni tough guys no longer talk about Falastine? I presume you’ve given up on it? Or is this some grand elaborate sunni taqqiyya game where you guys pretend to be friends with the west, seize power in Syria and elsewhere and then suddenly attack Israel under the cover of darkness?

The wimp isn’t President Obama, who is in Asia right now advancing and protecting America’s legitimate interests. And countering China’s bellicose posturing and policies, the US has no obligation to install a sunni regime in Syria to appease an uppity salafi catamite living in wahhabistan. Get over yourselves you arrogant stupid cyber jihadi raghead turd.

Syria troops besiege town near Damascus

SYRIAN troops have besieged Daraya and rained shells on the town near Damascus, killing a woman and a child, in a fresh attempt to storm it, activists and a watchdog say.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported that at least 29 people have died over the past 24 hours in clashes between Kurdish militiamen and rebels in the northern Syria town of Ras al-Ain, near the Turkey border.

“We have been under constant rocket and artillery fire,” Abu Kinan, an activist from Daraya southwest of Damascus, told AFP via Skype, adding that troops had rigged the area with checkpoints and arrested scores of people.

“There is no life in all of Daraya,” he said, estimating that 90 per cent of the residents had fled the town in panic.

“The clashes are some of the heaviest we have seen. The Republican Guard came to reinforce the regime army,” he said.

Rebel Free Syrian Army fighters are locked in fierce battles with regime troops on the edge of the town, he added.

At least two civilians, a woman and a child, were killed by army bombardments on Daraya, the Observatory said, in the latest of several attempts to storm the town over the past few days, the watchdog said.

Considered a heartland of non-violent activism, Daraya was the site of the worst massacre in Syria’s 20-month conflict, with more than 500 people killed there in late August, according to monitors.

The Observatory also reported shelling attacks across the eastern outskirts of Damascus while state media said two mortars hit the ministry of information in the west of the capital, causing no casualties.

In the northern province of Aleppo, rebels attacked the Sheikh Suleiman air defence battalion, less than two days after a military source said the insurgents took control of the sprawling Base 46 in the same province.

The Observatory said casualties from clashes in Ras al-Ain included four Kurdish fighters, a local Kurdish official, and 24 members of the Islamist Al-Nusra Front and Gharba al-Sham rebel battalions.

The Kurdish fighters are members of the People’s Defence Units, the armed wing of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), which is linked to Turkey’s rebel Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), said the British-based watchdog.

A Ras al-Ain activist, who gave his name only as Hevidar, said that tension has been high between rebels an the PYD since the insurgents took the town last week.

The clashes on Monday erupted after a Kurdish demonstration, which demanded that all rebels not from the town leave, was met with refusal.

The Observatory, which relies on a network of activists, lawyers and medics in civilian and military hospitals, gave an initial toll of at least 30 people killed across Syria on Tuesday.

The dead include nine soldiers who died in the central town of Mahin, east of Homs, when a truck rigged with explosives was detonated near a weapons depot. At least 20 soldiers were wounded in the blast.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/syria-troops-besiege-town-near-damascus/story-fn3dxix6-1226520814013

A couple of days ago Radio 4’s The World Tonight had a good discussion over the media coverage of the Gaza crisis. Guests Mehdi Hassan (Huffington Post) and Jonathan Freedland (Guardian).

Listen from 15:35 till 23.35.

The World Tonight
19/11/12

Intro:

“Reporting on the Isreali-Palestinian conflict is a challenge for journalists seeking to present a factual record of what’s happening. The sensitivity of the subject matter and the deeply entrenched historical differences can often make it difficult to say anything without being accused of bias. To discuss this we brought together 2 journalists Mehdi Hassan, political editor of the Huffington Post UK, and the Guardians Jonathan Freedland.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01nxh33

Quote: “In the absence of a diplomatic solution, [William Hague]told MPs the UK would not rule out any action – subject to international law – to save lives.”

Story: Syria conflict: UK recognises opposition, says William Hague

Excerpt:

Foreign Secretary William Hague has said the UK has decided to recognise the Syrian opposition coalition.

He told MPs the National Coalition of the Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces was the “sole legitimate representative” of the Syrian people.

He said they were now a “credible” alternative to the Assad government.

In the absence of a diplomatic solution, he told MPs the UK would not rule out any action – subject to international law – to save lives.

At a meeting last week, Britain urged the newly formed coalition of opposition groups to put forward a clear plan for political transition in Syria.

In a statement to Parliament, Mr Hague said the Syrian opposition would be invited to appoint a political representative to the UK and would be given £1.6m to help with communications equipment.

The UK will also offer assistance to help the coalition set up political and humanitarian structures and deploy a “stabilisation response” team in Syria to help provide basic services to people in opposition-controlled areas.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-20406562#

U.S. Oil Output to Overtake Saudi Arabia’s by 2020

U.S. oil output is poised to surpass Saudi Arabia’s in the next decade, making the world’s biggest fuel consumer almost self-reliant and putting it on track to become a net exporter, the International Energy Agency said.

Growing supplies of crude extracted through new technology including hydraulic fracturing of underground rock formations will transform the U.S. into the largest producer for about five years starting about 2020, the Paris-based adviser to 28 nations said today in its annual World Energy Outlook. The U.S. met 83 percent of its energy needs in the first six months of this year, according to the Energy Department in Washington.

“The IEA outlook feeds into the idea of a shift in the center of influence in the world oil market,” said Gareth Lewis-Davies, an analyst at BNP Paribas SA in London. “Given Saudi Arabia is willing to shift production up and down it will retain a large degree of influence, and remain important as a price-influencer.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-12/u-s-to-overtake-saudi-arabia-s-oil-production-by-2020-iea-says.html
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America doesn’t need you raghead wahhabi parasites.

Desperate Assad Army dropping leaflets over Damascus suburbs pleading with soldiers who ran away offering them amnesty

See leaflet: http://twitter.com/THE_47th/status/270927467055808512/photo/1

Malaysia deports Saudi journalist accused of insulting prophet

Hamza Kashgari fled to Malaysia after calls for death penalty in response to Twitter comment about Muhammad

Malaysia has deported a Saudi journalist accused of insulting the prophet Muhammad on Twitter, despite claims by rights groups that he could face the death penalty in Saudi Arabia.

Hamza Kashgari, 23, a newspaper columnist, tweeted doubts about Muhammad on the prophet’s birthday last weekend. After death threats, he fled to Malaysia on Tuesday and was detained at Kuala Lumpur airport while trying to leave on Thursday. Malaysian police said Kashgari was handed over to Saudi officials and flown back on Sunday morning, with flight arrangements handled by the Saudi authorities.

Malaysia and Saudi Arabia do not share a formal extradition treaty, but do have close ties as fellow Muslim countries. The Malaysian interior minister, Hishammuddin Hussein, said in a statement that Kashgari’s deportation was due to a common agreement.

“Malaysia had a long-standing arrangement by which individuals wanted by one country are extradited when detained by the other, and [Kashgari] will be repatriated under this agreement,” the statement read. “The nature of the charges against the individual in this case are a matter for the Saudi Arabian authorities.”

Kashgari had tweeted about Muhammad last week: “I have loved things about you and I have hated things about you, and there is a lot I don’t understand about you. I will not pray for you.” He deleted the tweet and apologised, but it attracted more than 30,000 responses, including death threats that spread from Twitter to YouTube and Facebook. Saudi clerics called him an apostate, and a Facebook page demanded his execution. Apostasy, abandonment or renunciation of faith, is a crime punishable by death in Saudi Arabia.

“Saudi clerics have already made up their mind that Kashgari is an apostate who must face punishment,” said Christoph Wilcke, senior Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The Malaysian government should not be complicit in sealing Kashgari’s fate by sending him back.”

A lawyer for Kashgari called the deportation unlawful and said his counsel had not been informed that he was to be sent back to Saudi Arabia.

Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch said Malaysia’s actions set an all new low. “If Kashgari faces execution back in Saudi Arabia, the Malaysian government will have blood on its hands. The Malaysian government engaged in the most crass form of bait and switch, secretly sending Kashgari back, claiming the return is based on a long-standing understanding between Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, despite the fact that there is no bilateral extradition treaty between the two. When seeking a seat on the UN human rights council, the Malaysian government pledged it would abide by international human rights treaties, but from the day they took their seat they have walked away from that pledge.”

A lawyer for Kashgari said that he had obtained a court order preventing his client’s deportation but had been stopped by authorities from serving it.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/12/malaysia-deports-saudi-journalist-prophet

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More sharia enlightenment from wahhabistan!

Saudi says no music lessons at schools

Saudi Arabia denied local press reports that it is planning to introduce music lessons to its schools, saying the government has no intention to take such a step.

The Ministry of Education said it had not considered any plans to include music in the curricula at all class levels in the Gulf Kingdom public and private schools.

“The reports in some local newspapers and websites that the government is planning to introduce music lessons to schools are baseless and incorrect,” the Ministry’s spokesman Mohammed Al Dakheeni said, quoted by Aleqtisadia newspaper.

He said Saudi Arabia, one of the most conservative Moslem nations, intends to expand summer activities for students, including more folklore and stage functions, but has no plans to include music and songs in its school syllabuses.

http://www.emirates247.com/news/region/saudi-says-no-music-lessons-at-schools-2012-11-20-1.483906

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Wahhabi sharia fiends consider music and song to be haram, what does it portends for Syria if wahhabistan’s minions seize power?

Another lying Israeli mantra contradicted. Israel, a place of freedoms, democracy, free speech blah blah, treats a young Jewish American man brutally after he leads a peaceful protest there:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QiV9xn0RbI&feature=youtube_gdata_player

(Also read the full description of what happened under the video).

What a wonderful human being.

Saudi Sheik’s Obsession with Sex Fatwas

Women Saudi bloggers reflect the frustration of battling against an extremist male ideology that oppresses women by manipulating and twisting religious rhetoric to facilitate them in every possible way to serve men’s’ pleasures.

They deplore men’s obsession with polygamy and other sex-focussed debates (Mahmood’s Den, 2010). On December 11, 2009, Saudi journalist Nadine Al-Budair, a presenter on the Arabic-language American TV channel Al-Hurra, published a satirical article titled “Me and My Four Husbands” in the independent Egyptian daily Al-Masri Al-Yawm, where she wondered why a Muslim man can marry up to four wives, while a Muslim woman could not do the same. Al-Budair made her point in similar statements during an interview with the Saudi owned liberal website Elaph based in London a year earlier, in which she argued a woman needs four husbands more than a man needs four wives (Free Muslims, 2010) creating an uproar on the cybersphere, where she was condemned by both genders and especially by members of the religious establishment.

Sheik ‘Abdallah Al-Muni’, a member of the Saudi Senior Clerics Council, called to put her on trial ‘for making statements in contradiction to the Quran and the Sunna. In an interview with the Saudi daily ‘Sabq’, Al-Muni’ stated that Al-Budair was “a sinner who diverted [others] from the straight path,” and that the Muslim nation completely opposed her views. This was the only time a Saudi woman had to resort to this kind of media provocation to attract attention to the misery of many Saudi women suffering the consequences of polygamy, but there are hundreds of articles by Saudi men and fatwas by Saudi Sheiks that cater for men’s’ pleasures that have not meet such a strong backlash.

Saudi Sheiks produced a number of fatwas allowing men to enjoy different types of sexual relationships ‘marriages’ seen by the majority of women as allowing men to take advantage of women by denying them the rights of married women according to Islamic Sharea’h.

Some of the fatwas condemned seem more kin to a form of legal prostitution, but what is highly alarming is the fact that when some ‘religious’ forums discuss such fatwas to inform people of how wrong they are, they leave a big warnings in bold red font stating that women should not access the forum for the educational content is obscene. However, they do not add a similar warning for children, thus treating children with more respect than adult women (sunniforum, 2010) which reflects a mentality of retarded guardianship that does not consider women as equals even in their right of knowledge.

Different kinds of ‘marriages’ are discussed and promoted on Saudi cyber sphere, such as ‘Mut’a’ marriage which translates “pleasure”, permitted by Shi’ites which is a contract between a man and a woman for a limited period of time, and divorce is not needed to end it (Al Sajed, 2003). The second kind ‘Urfa marriage translates as “custom marriage”, is an arrangement that does not require an official contract and grants women no rights (Ayman, 2010).

The third is ‘Misyaf’ or tourism marriage practiced among rich Saudi men who go on summer vacation to other countries, especially to Yemen where they take advantage of poor families by marrying local young girls for a short period of time – a fortnight to two months – without the brides being aware of the time limitation arrangements (Yamani, 2008) after the holiday is over, the groom disappears in thin air leaving behind a broken hearted young girl who does not know what has happened. The fourth kind is ‘Misyar’ marriage in which the woman relinquishes some of the rights that Islam grants her, such as the right to a home and to financial support from her husband, and, if the man has other wives, the woman loses her right to an equal share of his time and attention (Jabarti, 2005).

The fifth kind of marriage is the ‘Friend’ marriage, where the girl remains at her family’s home, and she and the man do not maintain a shared household but meet whenever and wherever he wants. The sixth type of marriage is a marriage described as ‘aimed primarily at meeting the needs of young Muslims in the West’, where men wish to have a girlfriend-boyfriend relationship as is customary in Western society, but with alleged religious legitimacy (MEMRI, 2006). Usually those men never tell their wives that they plan to leave them as soon as they finish their education or business trip, when in fact they are using them physically, emotionally and sometimes financially since they save them the trouble of finding accommodation or facing the financial burdens on their own. This fatwa has been approved by Saudi Sheiks and available online by religious figures’ websites like Bin Baz (binbaz, 41/5).

These trends of ‘marriages’ are an unethical escape by men from their duties towards women, and since such relationships are not welcomed by Muslims at large, this meant that all the arrangements are made discretely where women will have no evidence to pursue men legally (al-Haidari, 2010). This reality of men’s ventures after pleasure led to creating hundreds of dating websites that came with revolutionary ways of interaction between total strangers in a totally segregated society where women have little experience and can be easily tricked, leading to hundreds of articles by individuals who experienced problems as a result of trusting strangers online including scammers (stop scammers.com). Sex related discussions in Saudi Arabia on the Internet is an obsession, which meant more filtering of websites and more finding ways of coding to interact with each others, and more blackmail incidents since a simple innocent passport photo can become an issue of honour.

While Saudi male sphere is preoccupied by fatwas that give them more access to sex and facilitate temporary relationship under the banner of Islam, women’s online sphere is preoccupied with discussions about finding solutions for unfair relationships that abuse women’s rights, and discussions about finding ways to be able to file complaints without having to be accompanied by the guardians which is considered a law requirement in Saudi Arabia. In many incidents the abusers of women’ rights happen to be their own guardians. Women are demanding independent legal standing so that they can access the judicial system on their own to fight for their civil rights and to stop the cycle of exploitation, some women did not mind taking the law into their own hands (Doctorow, 2010).

But most alarming of all is the latest fatwa published on July 16, 2010 on the Saudi owned Al-Arabiya.net website by Sheik Adil Al-Kalbani, the Imam of Haram Al-Sharif, where he proclaims a brand new fatwa after receiving an email from an overseas Saudi male student studying in the ‘West’ (Al-Arabiya Net, 2010). The Saudi student, who is married and living with his wife, claims that he is worried about controlling his desires when he sees ‘Western’ female women wearing seductive semi-naked clothes that arouse him.

He goes on to ask the Sheik if it is OK to marry one of those women in a ‘Misfar’ marriage, which means marriage based on travel, because he claims that he can’t fight temptations and also accuses his wife of being frigid. The good old Sheik Al-Kalbani posted on his own website the answer. His answer is a fatwa that permits marrying Western women with the intention of divorcing them when the Saudi students are finished with them and without the pre-knowledge of the ‘Western’ women of such plan.

This pathetic kind of fatwa is most degrading and most dishonest and unfair way to treat women and most certainly contradicts Islamic teachings that are based on honesty and justice by giving Saudi overseas students and travelling business men the green light to use women as a disposable container for their desires. The good old Sheik says nothing about the rights of neither the betrayed temporarily married wife nor her children if she happens to become pregnant.

These fatwas are tailored to relieve men from feeling sexually stressed whenever they have an urge but says nothing about women’s’ rights. As expected such fatwas are exclusive to men, no fatwas have been issued to relieve Saudi or Muslim female students studying in the ‘West’ from their sexual stress. It seems that Sheiks assume that women have no natural physical desires.

The same Saudi blogosphere that is swarming with insults to foreign Asian workers, including Muslim ones who happen to come to Saudi Arabia for work, and with tons of warnings that they might have a glimpse of a Saudi woman, is outraged by the mere idea that any foreigner dares to ask for the hand in marriage of a Saudi woman, not even with the good intention of marrying her for ever and not doing what the Sheiks are advising Saudi overseas students to do to women from other nationalities.

This attitude of looking down on women from other countries or faiths is unacceptable in Islam and most dishonest and most damaging for the trust between men and women who are really planning to have long lasting stable marriages. Every Western woman now will start to doubt the intentions of any Muslim man who asks for her hand in marriage because she might think it is a temporary arrangement where the man can use her and as soon as he is finished his holy mission he pulls up his pants and go back to his country leaving her behind with pain, regret and maybe a child to raise on her own. Such issues have to be highlighted by the media to inform women who might be delusional about love and long lasting relationships, so that they can make the decision with full knowledge of the possibilities lurking ahead of them.

Sheik Al-Kalbany’s fatwa tells us a great deal, such as women’s rights are no more an internal or national concern, and it is no more a case of abusing the rights of Saudi women only, such fatwas are extending their damages overseas and about to create a chaos in other societal systems. It’s about time that human rights campaigns demand of the Saudi state to regulate such ‘buy one get one free’ fatwas because the damage can’t be afforded should the last fatwa became practicable by overseas Saudi students. In November 2007 a group representing 42 UK universities visited Saudi Arabia to promote UK higher education. This kind of activity happens every year.

They should make clear to all the students who are dreaming of the freedoms of the west that ‘Western’ women have rights and dignity and they better shed the mentalities of the take-away fatwas before they stamp their passports, and keep their pants zipped until they return home and marry the way that pleases their societies.

http://londonprogressivejournal.com/article/view/735

Warren’s disgusting “taqiyya” accusations find their origin in the Nazi propaganda film “Der Ewige Jude”.

Liwa al-Tawhid sets the record straight in support of the National Coalition
http://freehalab.wordpress.com/2012/11/20/liwa-al-tawhid-sets-the-record-straight-in-support-of-the-national-coalition/

“America doesn’t need you raghead wahhabi parasites” – WARREN

A hiss of bitternes, failure, inadequacy, resentment and anger at life.

A sad giveaway that society around him out there has shown it doesn’t need WARREN.

368. ZOO said:

“Is Israel really accepting Hamas conditions? This would be a great victory for Hamas. That will surely embold the Palestinians in for further concessions from Israel.”

The IDF have resumed heavy bombardments as we speak.
I believe a truce is possible, but Israel’s bargaining position remains stronger and they will make sure that this is well understood. Furthermore, they know that large stockpiles of rockets are still hidden and intact, and they will want to have them destroyed one day or another.

Meshaal must be nervous because he knows that if he starts to sound moderate, more radical groups will start to gain audiences. We saw the same phenomenon in Egypt between the Muslim Brotherhood and the Al-Nour party.

Understanding Taqiyya ― Islamic Principle of Lying for the Sake of Allah

Lying and cheating in the Arab world is not really a moral matter but a method of safeguarding honor and status, avoiding shame, and at all times exploiting possibilities, for those with the wits for it, deftly and expeditiously to convert shame into honor on their own account and vice versa for their opponents. If honor so demands, lies and cheating may become absolute imperatives.” [David Pryce-Jones, “The Closed Circle” An interpretation of the Arabs, p4]

“No dishonor attaches to such primary transactions as selling short weight, deceiving anyone about quality, quantity or kind of goods, cheating at gambling, and bearing false witness. The doer of these things is merely quicker off the mark than the next fellow; owing him nothing, he is not to be blamed for taking what he can.” [David Pryce-Jones, “The Closed Circle”, p38]

The word “Taqiyya” literally means: “Concealing, precaution, guarding.” It is employed in disguising one’s beliefs, intentions, convictions, ideas, feelings, opinions or strategies. In practical terms it is manifested as dissimulation, lying, deceiving, vexing and confounding with the intention of deflecting attention, foiling or pre-emptive blocking. It is currently employed in fending off and neutralising any criticism of Islam or Muslims.

Falsehoods told to prevent the denigration of Islam, to protect oneself, or to promote the cause of Islam are sanctioned in the Qur’an and Sunna, including lying under oath in testimony before a court, deceiving by making distorted statements to the media such as the claim that Islam is a “religion of peace”. A Muslim is even permitted to deny or denounce his faith if, in so doing, he protects or furthers the interests of Islam, so long as he remains faithful to Islam in his heart. (See endnotes)

Like many Islamic practices, taqiyya was formed within the context of the culture of Arab tribalism, expansionary warfare, Bedouin raiding and inter-tribal conflict. Taqiyya has been used by Muslims since the 7th century to confuse, confound and divide ‘the enemy’.

http://www.islam-watch.org/Warner/Taqiyya-Islamic-Principle-Lying-for-Allah.htm

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Lying is an integral part of Islam and raghead culture of arabia, lying to kaffirs is condoned and encouraged in the Koran/Sunnah.

LOL! “Christian Warren” gets worked up over insults to his Persian Ayatollahs. See how always on the mark I am about someone’s true persona. Hey Warren, I had chicken for dinner. Tasty, juicy chicken. Too bad in Iran chicken is in such short supply the Ayatollahs have banned it from even being shown on TV LOL!

Iran women university ban.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/9487761/Anger-as-Iran-bans-women-from-universities.html

Shameful, disgraceful. Shocking! How so very unsecular and backwards and primitive. I am appalled at this terrible injustice to the human rights of Iranian hos (LOL!)

And thank you for post # 385, proving once and for all that the massacre carried out in Daraya could not possibly have been by the FSA, but was by the murdering Alawite shabihas. The Alawite regime has not treated the survivors of Daraya as victims of an atrocity, but as opponents in a sectarian and racial war. I am going to be quoting that news article everytime a menhebakji fool keeps insisting that the Daraya massacre couldn’t have been carried out by the Alawite gangs. Oh Robert Fisk, where art thou now.

Way to shoot yourself in the foot Qurdahan Persian “Warren” 🙂 I’m glad to see that insults to your beloved Ayatollahs just pushes that glorious pillar in your rectum a few inches deeper. Allah Akbar, bitch.

#382

A ghost?

Hey Qurdahan Persian “Warren”, let me tell you what taqiyya is. It’s when I tell your crack-head sister that I’ll marry her, but then use her sexually and then dump her on the side of a road somewhere, forever destined to pleasure highway truckers for some crack money 🙂

“Wahhabi sharia fiends consider music and song to be haram”

Actually Qurdahan Persian “Warren”, Rotana is the biggest music brand in the Arab world, and it’s owned by a Saudi prince. It has branded music stores, satellite channels, and rights to sell Western music in the Gulf, and owns the contracts to some of the most popular Egyptian and Lebanese singers. Ohhhhhh, buuuuuuuuuuuuuurn 🙂

Update! Update!

France has now found a way to kick out former Syrian ambassador Lamia Shakkour (who managed to hang around in Paris after being asked to leave 6 months ago with the excuse she was a representative to UNESCO).

Here she is giving the finger to a crowd at the airport cheering her departure.

http://twitter.com/Aljukh/status/269998002578534400/photo/1

What a crude, ugly woman. A typical representative of the Assad regime.

(Remember she became Syrian ambassador to France because her Christian Assadist father had held that job).

Stupid Warren, do you even read the articles you post?

From #393

“Different kinds of ‘marriages’ are discussed and promoted on Saudi cyber sphere, such as ‘Mut’a’ marriage which translates “pleasure”, permitted by Shi’ites which is a contract between a man and a woman for a limited period of time, and divorce is not needed to end it (Al Sajed, 2003).”

LOL! You can’t even walk anymore after shooting yourself in the foot so many times. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out Warren was the result of a Mut’a marriage between a Qurdahan peasant girl and a rich elderly Saudi. Warren takes “hate my daddy and blame him for everything” to new heights 🙂

“Here she is giving the finger to a crowd at the airport cheering her departure.

http://twitter.com/Aljukh/status/269998002578534400/photo/1”

AAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAH!! AAHAHAHAHAHAAHH!!! Khazoooooooooooooq! Hahahaha, she looks soooo angry too. Stew in your own filth, bitch.

A list of some of the war booties according to the FSA after the complete liberation of Special Forces Regiment 46:

13 tanks with all of their “accessories”
10 artillery units (130 mm) with a range of up to 27 km
40 mortars (80 to 120 mm)
12 anti-aircraft guns (23 mm)
5,000 tons of ammo
Many personal weapons

All of that and more from one site and for FREE.

With a range of up to 27 km, I am wondering what targets will be hit by the 130mm towed field guns? Will the shabiha on this board provide some suggestions?

Majedkhaldoun

Welcome back.

Syrialover

What an expressive picture of what class this peasant regime represents. And she is supposed to have been an Ambassador? This picture must be on display in the museum that is going to be built in Qurdaha instead of Na’isa mosque and the tomb of papa Hafiz.

Amajad the salafi catamite – #403

Read the entire article you lazy retard!

Nikah Al-Mutah is a type of marriage Saudis themselves practice, especially on wretched sunni syrian refugees girls!

Syrian Refugee Girls Forced into ‘Pleasure Marriages’

Muslim men from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries have in the past few weeks asked their embassies in Amman and Baghdad to help them find Syrian girls living in makeshift refugee camps in Jordan and Iraq.

This is happening at a time when the oil-rich Arab countries are doing almost nothing to help the tens of thousands of Syrian refugees who are living in extremely difficult conditions.
Some Arab human rights activists have condemned the phenomenon, but their voice has thus far fallen on deaf ears.

http://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/opinions/syrian-refugee-girls-forced-into-pleasure-marriages/2012/09/12/

Amajad, you are such a retarded salafi rape victim! lol

Amajad the salafi catamite

Desperate Syrian Refugees Selling Off Daughters To Wealthy Libyan Men

Some Syrian refugees, fleeing the devastation in their home country after more than 18 months of a brutal government crackdown against rebels, are being forced to sell off their daughters, especially to wealthy Libyans, for much-needed cash.

According to a report from BBC, some Libyans have even asked Syrian refugees in the country for underage girls as potential brides.

Hundreds of Syrians have fled to the Libyan city of Benghazi, almost 1,000 miles from Damascus, and many are desperate to raise money to survive. Their Syrian daughters — renowned for their beauty — have become a valuable asset.

http://www.ibtimes.com/desperate-syrian-refugees-selling-daughters-wealthy-libyan-men-794156

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You pathetic sunni beggars are selling your daughters to other sunnis as if they were a commodity! You sunnis are shameless, allah hu akbar screaming idiots!

TARA #406.

Great suggestion.

Syrians have been humiliated and disgraced abroad by such people for decades – and a lot of scarce state funds have been wasted supporting their luxurious lifestyle.

As I said before, imagine the relief and pleasure French foreign office officals will feel dealing with the civilized Dr Mounzir Makhous of the Syrian Coalition.

Amajad the salafi catamite #401

“Actually Qurdahan Persian “Warren”, Rotana is the biggest music brand in the Arab world, and it’s owned by a Saudi prince. It has branded music stores, satellite channels, and rights to sell Western music in the Gulf, and owns the contracts to some of the most popular Egyptian and Lebanese singers. Ohhhhhh, buuuuuuuuuuuuuurn ”

How does that disprove or refute the article I posted earlier? You really do have comprehension problems.

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Saudi says no music lessons at schools

Saudi Arabia denied local press reports that it is planning to introduce music lessons to its schools, saying the government has no intention to take such a step.

The Ministry of Education said it had not considered any plans to include music in the curricula at all class levels in the Gulf Kingdom public and private schools.

“The reports in some local newspapers and websites that the government is planning to introduce music lessons to schools are baseless and incorrect,” the Ministry’s spokesman Mohammed Al Dakheeni said, quoted by Aleqtisadia newspaper.

He said Saudi Arabia, one of the most conservative Moslem nations, intends to expand summer activities for students, including more folklore and stage functions, but has no plans to include music and songs in its school syllabuses.

http://www.emirates247.com/news/region/saudi-says-no-music-lessons-at-schools-2012-11-20-1.483906

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Read the article you fucking idiot, have the sharia fiends of
wahhabistan prohibited music and songs in its schools? Yes or No?

‘End of virginity’ if women drive, Saudi cleric warns

A report in Saudi Arabia has warned that if Saudi women were given the right to drive, it would spell the end of virginity in the country.

The report was prepared for Saudi Arabia’s legislative assembly, the Shura Council, by a well-known conservative academic.

Though there is no formal ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia, if they get behind the wheel, they can be arrested.

Saudi women have mounted several campaigns to try to overturn the ban.

Aside from the practical difficulties it creates, they say it is also illogical as in trying to keep them under family control and away from men, it actually puts them in daily contact with a male driver.

The issue has received huge international attention.

Some Saudi women feel it has attracted too much interest, obscuring other equally important issues.

As part of his careful reform process, King Abdullah has allowed suggestions to surface that the ban might be reviewed.

This has angered the conservative religious elite – a key power base for any Saudi ruler.

Now, one of their number – well-known academic Kamal Subhi – has presented a new report to the country’s legislative assembly, the Shura.

The aim was to get it to drop plans to reconsider the ban.

The report contains graphic warnings that letting women drive would increase prostitution, pornography, homosexuality and divorce.

A Saudi woman who has campaigned for women drivers told the BBC that the report was completely mad.

She said the head of the Shura had assured women campaigners that he was still open to hearing the case for lifting the ban.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16011926

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This is the regime and theology the salafi catamite praises.

This is the regime and theology the salafi catamite believes Syria should emulate!

UZAIR8,

I read your post (#372) and couldn’t believe it – aggressive pro-regime tweeter Syrian Commando selling out. Was his twitter account being hacked, has he had a lobotomy? Wow.

I went and looked for myself. Sure enough, he’s pretty well stopped tweeting on Syria and is distracting himself with Gaza.

Syrian Commando is now not even making weak barks at the Syrian opposition.

I scrolled down and found a few more sour, disillusioned tweets about Assad:

– When Turkey gets Patriots, it’s game over, Assad has no guts so he won’t do anything

– I pretty much filter away all statements from military sources about advancement — I know a few days later they will be reversed

– Anyone who thinks Assad will order any kind of retaliation for any aggression [by Israel] has not been paying attention. He only makes one move: bluff.

– Assad has not kept his word on any implicit consequences for our enemy’s actions. In the end he is the decision maker. No decisions made.

Comment: I wonder what finally triggered Syrian Commando’s sharp collapse in faith and respect for Bashar Assad. The same reality must have hit other supporters as well.

https://twitter.com/syriancommando

Jordan, Egypt: Revolution, part II ?
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/58639/Egypt/Politics-/Tahrir-entrance-blocked-as-Mohamed-Mahmoud-clashes.aspx

Ajrab of Arabia:

Lak million tooooooz feek wa fi your jihadists, lak init qerd wo 7eewan before you be rude to others be respectful to your mother and sister.

lak tfooooo 3ala heek nas jerbaneh yel3en ribken sho wlad shware3, qal bedken revolution walallahi bedken ta3leq bi elmarjeh.

Kurdish fighters have given a fitting rebuff to the terrorists of the “Free Syrian Army
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/20/world/europe/turkey-syria-violence/index.html
Istanbul (CNN) — A flashpoint Syrian border town recently captured by rebels was reeling Tuesday after deadly clashes erupted between Syrian rebels and a Kurdish militia.
The battle left dozens of fighters from both sides dead, including one prominent ethnic Kurdish leader.

David Lesch, UK academic who is a former close associate and approver of Bashar Assad (and who is now looking an idiot by his own admission), has been offering some more insights at a talk in London

He says Bashar lives in an alternative reality, a bubble: “In his mind’s eye, Bashar has not fallen at all. He is protecting the country, said Mr. Lesch.

“[after his father died] Bashar al-Assad was surrounded by sycophants–cabinet and Ba’ath party leaders who worshiped him as a prophet and savior of the country. They created an alternative reality and orchestrated this alternate reality, explained Mr. Lesch.”

After the fake referendum of 2007 Lesch says Bashar “had drunk the ‘Kool-Aid’ of power, and he was going to be president for life”.

The Asadist system is not geared to respond to people’s demands, it is geared to control people and shape their demands. “It is geared to maintain the status quo and survive,” he said.

Leach believes that Russia is now powerless over Assad. Iranians are the only ones that are capable of convincing Bashar al-Assad to step down, and Iran would only consider doing so if their own interests are secure in Syria after its fall.

He said dictators and tyrants like Bashar Assad perceive a different world than the rest of us.

“They don’t see the house coming down. They believe in their destiny and righteousness… They may never see it until the bullet goes into their head.”

http://www.ipinst.org/events/speakers/details/408-david-lesch-future-bleak-in-syria.html

Syria Kurdish leader rejects new opposition coalition
(Reuters) – A party that controls much of Syria’s Kurdish region on Tuesday rejected the new opposition coalition, highlighting the deep divisions still remaining between the many Syrian armed groups 20 months into the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/20/us-syria-kurds-opposition-idUSBRE8AJ1FV20121120

New post by Joshua and thread started.