“Women: The Forgotten Victims” by Aida Dalati

Women, the forgotten victims
By Aida Dalati –
December 28, 2012

Why haven’t you addressed the lack of Syrian women representatives in the future new Syria coalition ( not from the cliché Islamic point of view just intellectual because we women want to go forward after all we are full participants in this revolution) and why are the big issues like rape and the taking of women as hostages to fish out the freedom fighters not been talked about either in the media.

There is an ugly dirty war against women being perfected by the regime and I think this is a subject (as in Bosnia) that will haunt the world and specifically President Obama’s legacy because the Americans in Washington misunderstandings of today’s Syria is a gigantic foreign policy failure….

My personal story in short

I ended up in Damascus for a year in 2011 as my father died and I was left to deal with probate and burial. [Here is] a glimpse of what a person like myself who is not in bed with the regime is going through. Land and homes [around Damascus] started getting confiscated and rewarded to Shabeeha thugs as early as May 2011,…
A hot shot with the help of my father’s foremen in the Ghouta decided to grab our land just like Assad’s father grabbed my grandfather’s land (40% of it) and I fought back which got me and my brother arrested but not convicted three times. Our properties are in the eastern Ghouta. My brother has established a prosthetic clinic there but with all the trouble we eventually left when the armed Shabeeha began touring the streets of Malki sporting machine guns. My brother ended up going to Idlib by way of Turkey to fit victims of the thousands landmines and the locally made TNT barrel-like  bombs. He returned to the US last week.
Syrian women live in miserable conditions and on top of it all they are without prenatal care and are either victims of rape which is not talked about or worse kidnapped and then tortured and some are hung from a rope to make the freedom fighters talk. If they survive all of this then they may well lose a limb. My brother has seen many amputated incorrectly. The systematic bombing by the regime has done untold harm.
The most destructive weapon is starvation. It is the latest method…. to starve the women and children then leave them out in the cold to freeze to death… This is how the regime hopes to control us.
So many still births from the trauma, so many dead infants because the regime has shut off the electricity from incubators in what is left of our still standing hospitals….
I strongly feel that honest clean aid with accountability under an American/Free Syria umbrella is where President Obama can do good for all mankind. This revolution must not get stolen from the original clean hearted reformist Syrians who started it all. Why is America’s policy always late? Of course this makes it so expensive to mop up especially now that Washington has decided to engage at the tail of the revolution.
Social services for the women and children are issues every red blooded American woman and man will support…congress needs to draft a comprehensive plan to address the silent 50% women of the revolution who are either working in the underground or are direct victims.

Aida Dalati in Beit al-Kamar, the house she restored in Old Damascus.
See her blog

An Alawite woman speaks out against the current situation in Syria. Comparing Assad to Hitler and criticizing his stance as destructive to the Alawite sect. She recounts the brutal mistreatment of 4 girls taken from Homs.

Alawites in the Syrian Revolution  – This Facebook page provides bios of numerous Alawites who have defected or joined the Revolution – علويون في الثورة السورية

Comments (50)


majedkhaldoun said:

Women suffer a lot during revolution,and in Syria they have been a victim of Assad,victim of arrest and Torture,and killed,they are used to get their fathers and brother, The hosni girl who was cut to pieces and a girl who was raped and had a child in prison to force her father to surrender,her son did not know what a bird is he grew up in jail,a story was told by Micheal Kilo, a woman I saw had given birth to an infant,,under a tree, soon she get up wraped her baby and kept on walking to the refugee camp in turkey, a woman start beging on the street in Aleppo her husband was killed and her children around her while she was forced to become a beggar,many women were arrested and tortured raped and let live in dirty filthy place at Rami Makhloof farm,as the story was told by an Alawi girl.
All because of Assad wants to cling to his chair.

Iraq is rising against Maliki,Qatar and KSA must help the Iraqee revolution, against Maliki who is behaving as a tyrant under the protection of USA,Iraq revolution will help Syrian revolution and Syrian revolution will help the Iraqi one, and soon such revolution will spread to Jordan, Obama policy in not finishing Assad sooner will backfire as the Sunni spring will spread causing more trouble to Obama. and Iran will feel the revolution close to its doors,and the cost of fighting Sunni by the murderous regime in Persia will be so high, Safawi regime in Tehran will not be able to afford.

December 28th, 2012, 10:46 am

 

ann said:

Islam: how to Beat Your Wife

December 28th, 2012, 10:47 am

 

ann said:

Pedophilia is OK in Islam

December 28th, 2012, 10:49 am

 

ann said:

Two Child Brides Interviewed Who Are Seeking Divorce

December 28th, 2012, 10:52 am

 

Citizen said:

SYRIAN diary. Film Anastasia Popova.
This 40-minute documentary film I would call “liberal book of horror.” It’s about what kind of “freedom” and what “democracy” by force imposed on the Syrians. Watch it!

December 28th, 2012, 11:30 am

 

KhanKan said:

Anne are you an evangelical christian? If so why on earth are you spamming a respectable middle east analysis website with you ‘Islam from devil/praise bejezus’ proselyisation? And if not how on earth do you statements contribute to understanding of the situation amongst regular posters? Many of whom btw are graduates/post-graduates with an interest in the middle east and not the illiterates who attend bible classes that you seem to attend. I know I sound harsh dear but can you lay-off polluting this blog with your verbal vomit please as its obscuring the worthwhile contributions of other posters.

December 28th, 2012, 11:37 am

 

zoo said:

Strange article…

Mrs Dalati first blame the opposition to exclude women, then she accuses the ‘regime’ of ‘rape’
She is right in the first part. Where are the women in the ‘recognized’ coalition seemingly representing only the male Syrians?
For 40 years, with the secular Baath party in power, Syrian women got used to have a political and social role. The “regime” gave them an active participation and a freedom far superior to any Arab country, a role they will never have anymore, should the rebels win that dirty ‘revolution’. Like most Syrian women, Mrs Dalati would probably not get much chances to participate.
In this revolution, there are no women that stand for the rights. Even Mrs Attasi, in Paris, is silent about that issue. It is clear that as this ‘revolution’ is turning to be a Islamist one, a male only responsibility, in case it succeeds, women will only get the role that Islam interpreted by A’rour and others islamists will grant them. Syrian women will get the same fate as the Libyan, Tunisian and Egyptian women.

As for the suffering of the women during this so-called revolution, Mrs Dalati has yet to prove that the exactions on women are only the doings of the ‘regime’.
When children are enrolled and taught by the rebels how to kill and decapitate “the enemy of the regime” and filmed on video, when kidnapping, ransoming and looting are the ways the rebels make their ‘revolution’, one can only imagine how they treat their own women and worse, how they treat the ‘enemy’ women.

Mrs Dalati should try to get ’embedded’ with the rebels to give an account that it based on facts, not on propaganda coming from London.

December 28th, 2012, 11:42 am

 

zoo said:

Ann @3

According to that cleric:
” A girl can be contractually married when she is one year old”

As a model, the Prophet married Aicha when she was 6 and consumed sexually the marriage when she was 9.

That’s a good practice most Moslem mothers and fathers may consider after the “abhored” secular regime falls and a “healthy” Islamic regime takes over.

December 28th, 2012, 11:53 am

 

Hanzala said:

you cannot even compare animals to these people, they are far less than that, maybe devils
*graphic

December 28th, 2012, 11:59 am

 

zoo said:

1. majedkhaldoun

Maybe the FSA should move to Iraq to advise their Sunni counterpart on how to succeed a revolution…

I think the Sunnis Iraqis are not that stupid. They’ve seen the devastation a war brought on the country. They won’t resort to generalized violence.
They will end up by negotiating a deal, while the FSA will be claiming more useless bloody ‘military victories’

December 28th, 2012, 12:03 pm

 

Syrian said:

ZOO and ANN According to your books your lord was born when Mary was 12 yrs old , so your father must have knocked her up when she 11….TSK TSK

“And when she was twelve years old there was held a council of priests, saying, … the perpetual virginity of Mary and affirm that after Christ was born she was …www.catholic.com/library/Mary_Ever_Vi… – 40k – Cached – More from this site – “

December 28th, 2012, 12:08 pm

 

Tara said:

Syrian

I do not blame you for such a response.

I am becoming disillusioned …

December 28th, 2012, 12:22 pm

 

majedkhaldoun said:

Sectarian Vampire Zoo
If you imply the Iraqi Sunni are smart , I agree with you, Maliki have no missles or strong airforce to fight ,and he will not be able to use artillary , it is easier for Sunni to counter Maliki since the constitution permit them to seperate.
Muqtada Sadr is against Maliki.

BTW you need to apply to get Jihad Makdissi job, he quit saying he can not lie anymore.

December 28th, 2012, 12:30 pm

 

syrian said:

Tara.
you tried,you went to the Divel’s den and stared him in the eye,
engaging them dose rubb a little on one’s soul and heart, you came out disillusioned and tired and thier hate started to affect a you little because of that
Tara,we dont hate them, we petty them for they don’t know

December 28th, 2012, 12:39 pm

 

SYRIAN HAMSTER said:

No TARA and SYRIAN
Just because the snakes and scorpions show their fangs and claws doesn’t mean that one has to sink to the level of ANN or ZOO or for that matter any of the other sectarian hatemongers who tirelessly try to make this site a cesspool to suite their living standards.

December 28th, 2012, 12:49 pm

 

Tara said:

Syrian Hamster,

This is not sinking to the level. Our “kind” hold Mary to utmost respect. It is a desperate and sad attempt to inducing electrical shock…

It does not pain me coming from Ann, though. I always thought of her as the female-shaped devil in “Passion of the Christ”. Every time she came up, I could not bear the mere image..

December 28th, 2012, 12:59 pm

 

SYRIAN HAMSTER said:

TARA
Thank you for the clarification, and for the very appropriate analogy.

December 28th, 2012, 1:02 pm

 

syrian said:

I’m soryy if I offeneded the ture Christains, you all know that Muslims have the highest regards for The Vergin Mary and her son.
Syrian Hamster is right , I should not have gone down to thier level where I becames as dirty as they are

December 28th, 2012, 1:03 pm

 

Citizen said:

http://youtu.be/FpmL3AO_gMg?t=2m22s
Results of the year: The conflict in Syria

December 28th, 2012, 1:12 pm

 

revenire said:

I am certain there will be another 400 comments of rebel victories and Assad atrocities.

The SAA is mowing down the rats in the hills of Iblib right now. Hundreds are of Salafist apes have been eliminated. The FSA is running as fast as they can (it’s hard to run from attack helicopters). We say “to Hell” to them and send them to meet their virgins. We know the SAA offensive against Idlib is being readied. Aleppo is 70-80% under government control (in the other contested areas the FSA fight among themselves over stolen loot). The people there hate the FSA. Damascus will never fall. It is ridiculous to entertain such delusions and the people who do so must be under the influence of narcotics.

Makdissi didn’t issue any statement at all. I’ve read 1.) CIA has him 2.) Hezbollah captured him 3.) He’s in the USA 4.) He’s in Lebanon 5.) He’s in London. It doesn’t matter except to those who want to parade him around for their pet cause. I doubt wherever Jihad is he supports Syria becoming an al-Nusra Front terrorist base financed by Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the Muslim Brotherhood. That we know for certain (unless someone gave Makdissi a very fat Qatari/Saudi check to cash).

I support Assad 100%.

December 28th, 2012, 1:13 pm

 

Citizen said:

http://youtu.be/tKThkK9g4-E?t=4s

Syria Just a Part of the West’s Battle – Homs Professor
The West Is Creating And Supporting Extremism
The West needs an enemy so it can enslave its own people

December 28th, 2012, 1:17 pm

 

zoo said:

Syrian

Besides your vulgarity in dealing with the Virgin Mary who is addressed, respected and praised in a complete sourate of the Holy Koran, please note that no democratic countries, either Christian, Hindus, Boudhist or Moslem is ruled by religious edicts and they no longer receive advices from clerics in women’s rights and marriage’s age and others.

Only the Sharia-based countries feel the right to follow and impose such these traditions based on their model.
I guess you, like the Islamist twins and others, are longing for Syria, like Egypt to become one of them.

December 28th, 2012, 1:24 pm

 

zoo said:

Syrian

Your apologies are hot wind. Despite the panic rescue you got from your friends, it is obvious you said exactly what your heart dictates you.

There is a saying in french: “Push back your innate feelings, they come back running.
Even though we always knew what your innate hateful and vulgar feelings were, now we got a clear and written confirmation.

December 28th, 2012, 1:34 pm

 

Female Jihadists said:

Question,

does the female Jihadists also meet 70 virgin men when they go to heaven

December 28th, 2012, 1:36 pm

 

Syrian said:

Well , I guess my apologies to the true christIans did not apply to you
At any case your insenutions about the prophet and his wife was lower than my responce to you, because you started it and has no place in that comment of yours other than to start a fight
Bringing examples from tribals Yamen or Pakistan and applying it to Syria is the highest of deception.Syrian women are one of the strongest minded women in the Middle East if not the world,you and I know that no matter who comes to power no one can forces them to do anything they don’t wan’t assuming that edict is even written into law

December 28th, 2012, 1:45 pm

 

zoo said:

Syrian

“your insenutions about the prophet and his wife was lower than my responce to you”

I made no insinuations what so ever. It is historical and confirmed by all Islam clerics, just like this one.
Obviously you don’t know much about your own religion.

December 28th, 2012, 1:48 pm

 

MarigoldRan said:

Zoo is a good example of why “forced secularism” will not work in the Middle East. He is no different from the religious extremists in his devout espousal of his beliefs. Like the religious extremists that want to force Islam on everyone, he is an arrogant atheist who wants to force atheism on the devout.

Every time I read Zoo’s comments, I think Syria will be better off with a more religious government, if only to exclude people like him from power.

Secularism is no better than religious extremism, when it is forced on people.

December 28th, 2012, 2:03 pm

 

zoo said:

23. Syrian

I don’t see many “strong’ Syrian women presence in the coalition ‘representing ALL syrians’
Maybe they will pop up later?

December 28th, 2012, 2:05 pm

 

MarigoldRan said:

Zoo is the type of person that goes on a forum on Syria and talks smack about Islam.

Just think about how RUDE that is.

December 28th, 2012, 2:09 pm

 

zoo said:

@25 Marigold hotel

“I think Syria will be better off with a more religious government”

We got that message from you a very long time ago.
No need to accuse me of triggering you to make that ‘announcement’

I guess you models will always be KSA and Pakistan, two real models in human rights.

December 28th, 2012, 2:10 pm

 

MarigoldRan said:

Say what you want, but even Pakistan is a better country than Syria right now.

This is NOT meant as a compliment of the Pakistani government.

December 28th, 2012, 2:12 pm

 

Syrian said:

ZOO
Now you got into my heart and figured how I feel!?,you notice I said “according to your books”witch mean I don’t believe it,
About the age if you want to go into a historical debate. She was older than that,and that was the age women get married 1400 yrs. ago( hence my comment about the age of the lady Mary at 12)
Knocked up is a common word in the english language, for a pregnant woman without a husband, so don’t go French on me and act Mr. Civilized
About the help of my friends, I don’t see what the big deal, I’m a man enough to admit I made a mistake and happy enough to have friends (unlike you) to correct my mistake

December 28th, 2012, 2:14 pm

 

zoo said:

#25 Marigold

Ah, so the countries in the world follow either an atheist “secularism” or a religion-based regime?

Brilliant… How you ever heard of separation of Religion from Governement? Try Wikipedia.

December 28th, 2012, 2:17 pm

 

zoo said:

Syrian

“She was older than that”
If you know better, please confirm that the cleric on the video was lying when he was saying that that 1400 years old model is still valid in Islam today..

“Aisha bint Abu Bakr (612 – 678) (Arabic: عائشة‎ transliteration: ʿāʾisha, .. was one of Muhammad’s wives.[1] In Islamic writings, her name is thus often prefixed by the title “Mother of the Believers” (Arabic: أمّ المؤمنين umm-al-mu’minīn), per the description of Muhammad’s wives in the Qur’an.[2][3][4] Aisha was betrothed to Muhammad at the age of six and the marriage was consummated when she was nine years old. ”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aisha

December 28th, 2012, 2:21 pm

 

MarigoldRan said:

@Zoo

Yes, Zoo. But what YOU are proposing here is NOT separation of religion and government. What you’re proposing here is FORCING Muslims to be secular, whether they want to or not.

This makes you no better than the religious extremists that FORCE others to convert to Islam.

Your virulent stance against Islam on a forum on Syria shows that you have no common sense or decency when it comes to religion. You have no right to talk about separation of religion and government, because obviously you cannot separate the issue of religion from your own life.

Instead you are just another one of those mindless, arrogant, extremist atheists who denounce religion and piss everyone off, even potentially secular people, who otherwise might be sympathetic to some of your less abhorrent views.

December 28th, 2012, 2:21 pm

 

zoo said:

Marigold

Ask any Syrian ( refugees or others) if they prefer to live in today’s Syria or Pakistan..

You’ll be surprised.

December 28th, 2012, 2:25 pm

 

Citizen said:

فايننشال تايمز: آثار سوريا تهرب عبر تركيا ولبنان وتباع لزبائن في مختلف أنحاء العالم
http://3agelnetwork.com/ar/article/10002.html?m=0

December 28th, 2012, 2:26 pm

 

zoo said:

Marigold

“What you’re proposing here is FORCING Muslims to be secular, whether they want to or not.”

Am I? I never force anybody to renounce to his religion, but religion should remain a private matter and not interfere in governing.
In any case if people choose to be Boudhist, or Bahai, or atheist, it is none of the business of a democratic government.

Thanks and good bye

December 28th, 2012, 2:29 pm

 

MarigoldRan said:

If a person is a refugee, they’re probably not living in Syria right now, are they?

They can say what they want, but the fact that millions of Syrians are NOT living in Syria should tell you something. Or perhaps it doesn’t, because you, like most regime supporters, have no common sense or decency.

Good bye and good riddance.

December 28th, 2012, 2:29 pm

 

Syrian said:

ZOO
Wikipedia?! Really
Any way this is going nowhere fast and I’m a busy man,
The thing of it is with you, is no matter who comes to power, other than Assad in your eyes they are all “Islamist thugs” as Guffran would call them,
So they are coming no matter what you wish for,or how much you argue.
I advice you to stock up on Ulcer medicine

December 28th, 2012, 2:56 pm

 

revenire said:

Marigoldran in the New Syria Bashar is building there will be no room for hatred directed at the Virgin Mary.

Has Assad been overthrown yet? Has Damascus fallen to the rats?

Pray for Syria. She is under attack by a foreign conspiracy.

December 28th, 2012, 3:01 pm

 

majedkhaldoun said:

Russia asked SC to have dialogue, previously SNC talked twice to the Russian,with no results, Moaz rejected Russian invitation,.Ibrahimi plan failed, since it has no power and no guarantees.and assad is not willing to leave.
Next month Assad will find himself in worse situation, Ibrahimi will resign, FSA will control Aleppo and Idlib provinces, in february the weather in Damascus will get better,No one knows what hope Assad has,

December 28th, 2012, 4:14 pm

 

MarigoldRan said:

Of course, Revenire. I pray that the regime will fall, and that Bashar Assad will face justice for his crimes.

In the meantime, more defections. The majority of the defectors were Sunni. Assad hoped winter and the destruction of bakeries would force the FSA to negotiations. No such luck. The opposition turned down Moscow’s offer, cold:

It is winter, and in many places there are no bread, but “We will not negotiate with Assad or his regime,” says the National Council because the regime is even worse than starvation and possible death. Etc. etc.

Bravo.

December 28th, 2012, 4:39 pm

 

SYRIAN HAMSTER said:

MARIGOLDRAN @ 25
ZOO is not secular, but rather a hateful sectarian hiding behind the false secularism of the pathetic fool of Damascus Mafia.

Non of the regime supporters here are secular, all are moved by pure sectarian hate/fear/ and other lower instinctive primitive emotions, never-mind what sect they belong to.

Real Secularism was natural to Syrians in the 50’s, it was picking up pace in a rather accelerated manner until totalitarian sectarians found in it a nice cover for their sectarianism and misery was conceived then.

This revolution exposed many, it was a blessing to find out the true junk some of the old farts people thought of as “Secular” on this blog as they exposed themselves as mere sectarian users and abusers of the confidence of others. That is called con-artists. Others of course shined like the true secular, humanist, rational, thinkers. Too bad we don’t see their writings here or elsewhere as snakes and scorpions took over this once good place.

One thing I agree with both MJABALI and OBSERVER on, and that is secularism is the only way out, I would carry that further to say that this applies even to countries that are 100% one sect-one race, which I hope Syria or any place in it will never become.

December 28th, 2012, 7:16 pm

 

zoo said:

U.S. officials: Syria using more accurate, Iranian-made missiles
By Barbara Starr, CNN Pentagon Correspondent
updated 8:15 AM EST, Fri December 28, 2012

-Two U.S. military officials say the Syrian regime fired at least two Fateh A-110 missiles
-The move is an apparent attempt to more precisely target rebel forces, the officials say
-They decline to be identified because of the sensitive nature of the information
-The missiles are more accurate than older Scuds, which have a longer range

December 28th, 2012, 7:22 pm

 

zoo said:

#42 Hamster

More, pleaase.

December 28th, 2012, 7:22 pm

 

zoo said:

The new kind of visitors to Syria

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/28/world/middleeast/battle-for-aleppo-shows-weaknesses-of-both-sides.html?_r=0

Speaking in French-accented English, he said he was not Syrian, but a roaming jihadist who had journeyed here to help the Sunni uprising against President Bashar al-Assad’s secular, Alawite rule.

“I am a Muslim,” he said. “When you see on TV many of your brothers and sisters being killed you have to go help them. This is an obligation in Islam.”

The presence of this foreign antigovernment fighter, who claimed to be from Paris and gave his name as Abu Abdullah, pointed to recurring questions of the battle for Syria’s largest city: How much longer will the fighting last, and what will its effects be?

The presence of foreign fighters like Abu Abdullah, and the calls for religious law that have been heard in many places across rebel-held territory, have left many to say that the fall of Mr. Assad, even if the day came soon, would signal the end of one phase of the war, and perhaps the start of another. In this way, Aleppo offered a glimpse.

Abu Abdullah, for his part, wandered the front with unmistakable approval of the Syrian fighters around him. With dreadlocks protruding beneath his black watch cap, he slung his Dragunov-style rifle and surveyed the broken buildings, looking for an elevated spot from which to watch the army positions near Hanano, waiting for a soldier to become a target.

He said that he had fought in Pakistan and Afghanistan and suggested that he had been a sniper in Iraq. Now, he said, it was Syria’s turn at war, which mixes an uprising against a repressive government with the older, uglier contest between Sunnis and Shiites. His mission suggested he saw no quick end to the violence. “I am here,” he said, “to teach the Syrians to snipe.”

December 28th, 2012, 7:27 pm

 

zoo said:

“Syria’s opposition leader has rejected an invitation from Russia for peace talks”

Boosted by the illusions of military victory and the furor of Qatar seeing its expensive plan collapsing, the opposition is officially rejecting the UN plan calling for peace, thus taking the responsibility of the violence that will come next.

As mentioned above by JL, soon the ‘liberated’ North will start to starve and the civilians will join the hundred of thousands of refugees who has lost trust in the ‘protection’ that the FSA promised them. To try to prevent a human disaster and to stop the ever flowing number of refugees, Turkey is promising electricity and Kuwait organizing a donor conference in 3 weeks.
In my view, it is a drop of water in the sea.

Without a no-fly zone, the civilians in the North who are ‘protecting’ the FSA by acting as unwilling human shields, will leave to safer places. Once gone the rebels will be easy targets to the new missiles and other military means that the Syrian army will use, since Mr Al Khatib gave them now the green light.

With this refusal, the war is entering in a more ferocious stage and Turkey is getting ready to get a lot more refugees from the “liberated” but “unlivable” north area.

December 28th, 2012, 7:45 pm

 

revenire said:

MARIGOLDRAN I don’t believe your stories of defections at all. I know many soldiers in the SAA and you’re wrong. You buy into the propaganda fed to you. If you have some concrete facts I’d love to see them. I don’t believe you will be able to be provide them.

Surprise me.

December 28th, 2012, 8:05 pm

 

Lisa said:

I am shocked reading all the comments on this site. It was set up to highlight hideous war crimes being committed against Syrian women; it is not a forum for people to attack each other’s faiths.

There are good and bad people in every culture and religion- you can never judge a person purely because of their faith, it is called racism and we will never achieve true peace or harmony while it exists.

So as a mark of respect to all the beautiful Syrian women, men and children who are suffering on a level most of us could not comprehend can we all just stop for a moment and think of them, not our OWN damn arguments…this site does NOT exist for YOU.

April 28th, 2013, 5:06 pm

 

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