Sunday, December 11, 2011
KL.FM 96.7 - News - Footage Shows Dramatic Syrian Tank Attack
KL.FM 96.7 - News - Footage Shows Dramatic Syrian Tank Attack
clipped from article:
Dramatic new footage has emerged showing tense fighting between security forces and protesters in the Syrian city of Homs.
Amateur recordings show tanks and other armoured vehicles being flanked by a large number of soldiers.
In the distance, protesters can be seen crouching behind small, crumbling walls. Some of them are attempting to film the events.
The footage comes just two days after Syrian president Bashar al Assad claimed he was not giving orders to attack his own people.
Speaking in the country's capital Damascus, Mr Assad told ABC News' Barbara Walters that he did his "best to protect the people" and that he gave "no command to kill or to be brutal".
Violence in the area was reported to have continued into Friday, with activists saying that 14 people were killed when soldiers opened fire.
Four children were among the dead, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told reporters.
The Syrian government is desperately trying to quell protests which have now lasted over nine months. [ read more at link ]
clipped from article:
Dramatic new footage has emerged showing tense fighting between security forces and protesters in the Syrian city of Homs.
Amateur recordings show tanks and other armoured vehicles being flanked by a large number of soldiers.
In the distance, protesters can be seen crouching behind small, crumbling walls. Some of them are attempting to film the events.
The footage comes just two days after Syrian president Bashar al Assad claimed he was not giving orders to attack his own people.
Speaking in the country's capital Damascus, Mr Assad told ABC News' Barbara Walters that he did his "best to protect the people" and that he gave "no command to kill or to be brutal".
Violence in the area was reported to have continued into Friday, with activists saying that 14 people were killed when soldiers opened fire.
Four children were among the dead, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told reporters.
The Syrian government is desperately trying to quell protests which have now lasted over nine months. [ read more at link ]
Syria's 'revolutionary puppet series' takes swipe at Bashar Assad - latimes.com
Syria's 'revolutionary puppet series' takes swipe at Bashar Assad - latimes.com
the article is clipped here: [please watch the video at link! #Funny]
REPORTING FROM BEIRUT –- At a time when thousands of Syrians are said to be in jail for openly defying President Bashar Assad's regime, a group of actors has produced a surprisingly candid piece of political satire lampooning the country's feared security forces, and even Assad.
They can get away with it because their video project uses hand puppets fashioned to look like anti-government protesters, pro-regime militiaman and the president, referred to by a diminutive, Beeshou.
Called "Top Goon: Diaries of a Little Dictator," the so-called revolutionary puppet series consists of 15 video sketches being posted on YouTube.
"A friend suggested the idea back in May," said the project's director, Jamil, who did not want his full name published for fear of retribution. "We were looking for ways to talk about what is happening in Syria without revealing our identities. It is too dangerous to make theater with real actors ... talking about the revolution in Syria."
In July, Syrian composer Malik Jandali posted pictures on his Facebook page that he said showed his heavily bruised parents after a beating by pro-government militia members. They were attacked in their home, he said, after he performed a composition titled "My Homeland"at a Syrian rally in Washington.
Fadwa Suleiman, an actress from the minority Alawite community, which dominates Assad's regime, is in hiding after she joined the predominantly Sunni Muslim protesters in the central region of Homs and spoke out against the government on pan-Arab satellite television channels.
"The regime is very aggressive now and exercising the most horrific acts of repression," Jamil said. "This is why I don’t want the real names of actors and artists who took part in the theater [project] to be revealed. I'm worried for family members inside the country."
The puppets were fashioned in Syria, but Jamil said he did not deem it safe to film the sketches there. Two other participants had to flee the country after taking part in demonstrations in Syria, so Jamil decided to join them in a neighboring nation.
He smuggled the puppets out in a paper bag after carefully disguising the figure representing the president with a tiny wig of longish brown hair, a large mustache and a cap. Syrian border officials searched every bag he had in the trunk of his car, he said, but did not open the one with the puppets that was with him inside the vehicle.
The worst moment, he said, wasn't at the border, but days earlier when he collected the puppets from their maker in the Syrian capital, Damascus.
"I was walking on the street when I saw four thugs ... running in my direction," he said. "My heart stopped for a moment. I thought, 'How did they find out so quickly about the project?' Luckily, they passed me."
He found out later that activists had spilled red paint in several fountains to protest the bloodshed in Syria.
Jamil said friends donated space for rehearsals and to film the series. Others helped post the videos to YouTube and promote them on social media.
The first episode, posted late last month, is called "Beeshou's Nightmare." It features the Syrian president dressed in pajamas and a night cap, waking up in the middle of the night and crying, "Why don't the Syrian people love me anymore? Why do they want to bring down the regime? I swear to God that I haven't killed as many as my father did!"
The episode also pokes fun at Assad's allies. At one point, a loyalist militiaman sings, "The businessmen of Aleppo will not rise even if the regime falls." Later, he tells the president, "The regime has fallen, this time for real. You have to escape, master."
"I have to call Ahmadinejad and flee to Iran today?" asks Beeshou, a reference to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Opposition parties also get jabs for their repetitive rhetoric. The project's creators insist that they will cast a critical eye on all sides of the Syrian conflict.
The project is a departure for Jamil, who has devoted most of his career to interpreting European classics from previous centuries. But he said Syrians need a little humor to "help ease all the pain."
"Art has a healing power and also a power to deliver the message," he said.
Jamil said he hopes the sketches will help shatter the cult of personality that has been created around Assad and his father. "We see Bashar in the sketches crying like any regular man," he said.
He said he also wanted to show the world another face of Syria, which has come to be defined by an endless stream of videos posted by activists purporting to show tanks firing into neighborhoods, security forces abusing detainees and the victims being bloodied.
"Comedy is a natural response to tragedy," he said. "The Syrian revolution is a revolution of life, not death."
The project's YouTube channel has received more than 40,000 video views, and commenters are praising the production.
"Genius," viewer Wafa Zaidan wrote on the project's Facebook page.
"Creativity in every meaning of the word," viewer Wesam Ahmed wrote.
"We also are getting threats via our Facebook page, but this means that our work is really good because it is upsetting the Syrian Facebook militia," Jamil said. “If art is not courageous enough to express the pulse of the street, then it is not art." [ click on link to watch puppet show! :) ]
the article is clipped here: [please watch the video at link! #Funny]
REPORTING FROM BEIRUT –- At a time when thousands of Syrians are said to be in jail for openly defying President Bashar Assad's regime, a group of actors has produced a surprisingly candid piece of political satire lampooning the country's feared security forces, and even Assad.
They can get away with it because their video project uses hand puppets fashioned to look like anti-government protesters, pro-regime militiaman and the president, referred to by a diminutive, Beeshou.
Called "Top Goon: Diaries of a Little Dictator," the so-called revolutionary puppet series consists of 15 video sketches being posted on YouTube.
"A friend suggested the idea back in May," said the project's director, Jamil, who did not want his full name published for fear of retribution. "We were looking for ways to talk about what is happening in Syria without revealing our identities. It is too dangerous to make theater with real actors ... talking about the revolution in Syria."
In July, Syrian composer Malik Jandali posted pictures on his Facebook page that he said showed his heavily bruised parents after a beating by pro-government militia members. They were attacked in their home, he said, after he performed a composition titled "My Homeland"at a Syrian rally in Washington.
Fadwa Suleiman, an actress from the minority Alawite community, which dominates Assad's regime, is in hiding after she joined the predominantly Sunni Muslim protesters in the central region of Homs and spoke out against the government on pan-Arab satellite television channels.
"The regime is very aggressive now and exercising the most horrific acts of repression," Jamil said. "This is why I don’t want the real names of actors and artists who took part in the theater [project] to be revealed. I'm worried for family members inside the country."
The puppets were fashioned in Syria, but Jamil said he did not deem it safe to film the sketches there. Two other participants had to flee the country after taking part in demonstrations in Syria, so Jamil decided to join them in a neighboring nation.
He smuggled the puppets out in a paper bag after carefully disguising the figure representing the president with a tiny wig of longish brown hair, a large mustache and a cap. Syrian border officials searched every bag he had in the trunk of his car, he said, but did not open the one with the puppets that was with him inside the vehicle.
The worst moment, he said, wasn't at the border, but days earlier when he collected the puppets from their maker in the Syrian capital, Damascus.
"I was walking on the street when I saw four thugs ... running in my direction," he said. "My heart stopped for a moment. I thought, 'How did they find out so quickly about the project?' Luckily, they passed me."
He found out later that activists had spilled red paint in several fountains to protest the bloodshed in Syria.
Jamil said friends donated space for rehearsals and to film the series. Others helped post the videos to YouTube and promote them on social media.
The first episode, posted late last month, is called "Beeshou's Nightmare." It features the Syrian president dressed in pajamas and a night cap, waking up in the middle of the night and crying, "Why don't the Syrian people love me anymore? Why do they want to bring down the regime? I swear to God that I haven't killed as many as my father did!"
The episode also pokes fun at Assad's allies. At one point, a loyalist militiaman sings, "The businessmen of Aleppo will not rise even if the regime falls." Later, he tells the president, "The regime has fallen, this time for real. You have to escape, master."
"I have to call Ahmadinejad and flee to Iran today?" asks Beeshou, a reference to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Opposition parties also get jabs for their repetitive rhetoric. The project's creators insist that they will cast a critical eye on all sides of the Syrian conflict.
The project is a departure for Jamil, who has devoted most of his career to interpreting European classics from previous centuries. But he said Syrians need a little humor to "help ease all the pain."
"Art has a healing power and also a power to deliver the message," he said.
Jamil said he hopes the sketches will help shatter the cult of personality that has been created around Assad and his father. "We see Bashar in the sketches crying like any regular man," he said.
He said he also wanted to show the world another face of Syria, which has come to be defined by an endless stream of videos posted by activists purporting to show tanks firing into neighborhoods, security forces abusing detainees and the victims being bloodied.
"Comedy is a natural response to tragedy," he said. "The Syrian revolution is a revolution of life, not death."
The project's YouTube channel has received more than 40,000 video views, and commenters are praising the production.
"Genius," viewer Wafa Zaidan wrote on the project's Facebook page.
"Creativity in every meaning of the word," viewer Wesam Ahmed wrote.
"We also are getting threats via our Facebook page, but this means that our work is really good because it is upsetting the Syrian Facebook militia," Jamil said. “If art is not courageous enough to express the pulse of the street, then it is not art." [ click on link to watch puppet show! :) ]
SAC Demands Immediate Intervention & Protection for Homs, Syria | InstructaZine
SAC Demands Immediate Intervention & Protection for Homs, Syria | InstructaZine.Com a Living Green How To and Instructional Magazine
article clipped here:
The Syrian American Council (SAC) today called for urgent U.S. and international action to halt the Assad regimes impending assault on Homs, the city largely recognized as the heart of the Syrian revolution.
Activists in Homs report that the regime is preparing for a full-fledged assault on the region in a determined effort to annihilate the revolution in Syria. Yesterday, the Syrian National Council (SNC) issued a statement warning against the regimes plans, affirming that there are evident signs of a security crackdown operation that may reach the level of a total invasion of the city. The SNC describes that thousands of military troops and a large number of military vehicles currently surround Homs and more than 60 checkpoints have been erected inside the city borders around the different neighborhoods.
Read: The Syrian National Council Warns Against the Regimes Plans to Commit a Massacre in Homs
Homs is also on the radar of the U.S. State Department. In todays press briefing, the Departments Spokesperson, Victoria Nuland, expressed concern about what is currently happening in Homs. There are reports today that the government may be preparing a very serious new assault on the city of Homs in a very large-scale way, she said. She affirmed that Bashar al-Assad bears responsibility for the violence taking place, despite his comments to the contrary in his recent interview with ABCs Barbara Walters. Nuland further stated that the U.S. government supports the Arab Leagues efforts to move this process forward, and both are continuing in their consultations with Russia and China to accept a UN Security Council resolution.
Last week, the UN Human Rights Commission released a report detailing the crimes against humanity that are being perpetrated by the Syrian regimes military and security forces. The report describes crimes of murder, torture, rape, forced disappearances and other inhumane acts. The commission further concluded, In the Syrian Arab Republic, the high toll of dead and injured is the result of the excessive use of force by State forces in many regions, and Bashar Assad and the heads of his security apparatus must be referred to the International Criminal Court immediately.
Read: Syrian forces have committed crimes against humanity UN rights panel
In a statement, SAC President Dr. Talal Sunbulli said:
We all know the brutality of which the Assad regime is capable, and it is critical that the international community intervene. We must do all that we can to prevent Homs from becoming another Hama. The U.S. government, the European Union, the Arab League, and the international community as a whole are responsible for what lies ahead for the people of Syria and specifically for the civilians in Homs today. The people of Homs require our protection immediately. It is time for action.
The Syrian American Council (SAC) was founded in 2005 to mobilize Syrian Americans to strengthen civil society in Syria, to promote friendly relations between the Syrian and American peoples, to engage civic and governmental organizations to advance civil liberties, human dignity and democracy in Syria. The organization has represented Syrian Americans to the U.S. State Department, Congress, and in international meetings and councils.
Contact: SAC Chairman Hussam Ayloush, hayloush(at)sacouncil(dot)com, (951) 444-8344; SAC President Dr. Talal Sunbulli, tsunbulli(at)sacouncil(dot)com, (317) 679-6894.
[ read more at link ]
article clipped here:
The Syrian American Council (SAC) today called for urgent U.S. and international action to halt the Assad regimes impending assault on Homs, the city largely recognized as the heart of the Syrian revolution.
Activists in Homs report that the regime is preparing for a full-fledged assault on the region in a determined effort to annihilate the revolution in Syria. Yesterday, the Syrian National Council (SNC) issued a statement warning against the regimes plans, affirming that there are evident signs of a security crackdown operation that may reach the level of a total invasion of the city. The SNC describes that thousands of military troops and a large number of military vehicles currently surround Homs and more than 60 checkpoints have been erected inside the city borders around the different neighborhoods.
Read: The Syrian National Council Warns Against the Regimes Plans to Commit a Massacre in Homs
Homs is also on the radar of the U.S. State Department. In todays press briefing, the Departments Spokesperson, Victoria Nuland, expressed concern about what is currently happening in Homs. There are reports today that the government may be preparing a very serious new assault on the city of Homs in a very large-scale way, she said. She affirmed that Bashar al-Assad bears responsibility for the violence taking place, despite his comments to the contrary in his recent interview with ABCs Barbara Walters. Nuland further stated that the U.S. government supports the Arab Leagues efforts to move this process forward, and both are continuing in their consultations with Russia and China to accept a UN Security Council resolution.
Last week, the UN Human Rights Commission released a report detailing the crimes against humanity that are being perpetrated by the Syrian regimes military and security forces. The report describes crimes of murder, torture, rape, forced disappearances and other inhumane acts. The commission further concluded, In the Syrian Arab Republic, the high toll of dead and injured is the result of the excessive use of force by State forces in many regions, and Bashar Assad and the heads of his security apparatus must be referred to the International Criminal Court immediately.
Read: Syrian forces have committed crimes against humanity UN rights panel
In a statement, SAC President Dr. Talal Sunbulli said:
We all know the brutality of which the Assad regime is capable, and it is critical that the international community intervene. We must do all that we can to prevent Homs from becoming another Hama. The U.S. government, the European Union, the Arab League, and the international community as a whole are responsible for what lies ahead for the people of Syria and specifically for the civilians in Homs today. The people of Homs require our protection immediately. It is time for action.
The Syrian American Council (SAC) was founded in 2005 to mobilize Syrian Americans to strengthen civil society in Syria, to promote friendly relations between the Syrian and American peoples, to engage civic and governmental organizations to advance civil liberties, human dignity and democracy in Syria. The organization has represented Syrian Americans to the U.S. State Department, Congress, and in international meetings and councils.
Contact: SAC Chairman Hussam Ayloush, hayloush(at)sacouncil(dot)com, (951) 444-8344; SAC President Dr. Talal Sunbulli, tsunbulli(at)sacouncil(dot)com, (317) 679-6894.
[ read more at link ]
Syrian defectors regroup in Turkey, plot Assad's end | Reuters
Syrian defectors regroup in Turkey, plot Assad's end | Reuters
clip from article:
Turkey closely monitors Colonel Asaad's movements. He is not allowed to receive visitors without authorisation from the Turkish government. A Reuters crew was warned not to stop its vehicle near to where he was camped.
From outside, the camp, which is surrounded by trenches, fences and Turkish military outposts, offers a more serene atmosphere than violence-plagued Syria.
It lies in a plain that is home to cotton fields and olive groves, flanked by snow-capped mountains. Cows and sheep graze nearby.
No weapons are allowed in the camp. Defectors dress in civilian clothes and live with their families.
"We are taking precautions for Asaad's security," a Turkish diplomatic source said.
"Not even an envelope-opener is allowed in the camp. If anything happens to him we will face accusations that Turkey allowed his assassination. The Syrian intelligence is trying to reach that end."
The rebels say they want to avoid a civil war in Syria, and that their main goal is to disrupt military convoys, attack security police and intelligence complexes involved in the crackdown and to defend civilians from repression.
"There have been a few operations against intelligence service buildings because they are the tools the regime uses to kill civilians. These centres house Shabiha militias (state-backed paramilitaries) but the main focus is to cut supply lines of convoys. We don't fire at tanks that do not open fire on civilians," Kurdi said.
"The regime has tried from the beginning to start a sectarian civil war. But we want to avoid it. We are telling the Alawites to denounce the regime so they don't end up paying the bill."
Kurdi, who lives with his wife and three children, says he stays mostly indoors in Antakya, a frontier city where family and cultural ties with Syria transcend political borders and where Arabic language flows as freely as Turkish on the streets.
Kurdi said he will only return to Syria when Assad is gone. Otherwise, he would be killed.
"We are willing to pay whatever the price to end Assad."
[ read more at link ]
clip from article:
Turkey closely monitors Colonel Asaad's movements. He is not allowed to receive visitors without authorisation from the Turkish government. A Reuters crew was warned not to stop its vehicle near to where he was camped.
From outside, the camp, which is surrounded by trenches, fences and Turkish military outposts, offers a more serene atmosphere than violence-plagued Syria.
It lies in a plain that is home to cotton fields and olive groves, flanked by snow-capped mountains. Cows and sheep graze nearby.
No weapons are allowed in the camp. Defectors dress in civilian clothes and live with their families.
"We are taking precautions for Asaad's security," a Turkish diplomatic source said.
"Not even an envelope-opener is allowed in the camp. If anything happens to him we will face accusations that Turkey allowed his assassination. The Syrian intelligence is trying to reach that end."
The rebels say they want to avoid a civil war in Syria, and that their main goal is to disrupt military convoys, attack security police and intelligence complexes involved in the crackdown and to defend civilians from repression.
"There have been a few operations against intelligence service buildings because they are the tools the regime uses to kill civilians. These centres house Shabiha militias (state-backed paramilitaries) but the main focus is to cut supply lines of convoys. We don't fire at tanks that do not open fire on civilians," Kurdi said.
"The regime has tried from the beginning to start a sectarian civil war. But we want to avoid it. We are telling the Alawites to denounce the regime so they don't end up paying the bill."
Kurdi, who lives with his wife and three children, says he stays mostly indoors in Antakya, a frontier city where family and cultural ties with Syria transcend political borders and where Arabic language flows as freely as Turkish on the streets.
Kurdi said he will only return to Syria when Assad is gone. Otherwise, he would be killed.
"We are willing to pay whatever the price to end Assad."
[ read more at link ]
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