The determination to generate turmoil in Syria conveys a blunt foreign will to deplete this country which enjoys a key and decisive position in the conflict over the future of the region.
This photograph was used by the mainstream media to describe the protest movement in Syria. The event in fact is a movement of support for President Al Assad. See his photograph.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Media disinformation and the Syrian protest movement
by Voltaire Network, Global Research, April 27, 2011
Global Research Editor's Note
Selected excerpts from a Voltaire Network editorial
http://www.voltairenet.org/article169565.html
The Syrian people are living in a state of turmoil due to the consecutive events, the concerns over which have been enhanced by the security situation that was shaken following a stage of stability which lasted throughout the past thirty years. In the meantime, threats of sectarian violence are lurking, and are being generated by the rhetoric of strife in a country characterized by a various religious and ethnic fabric and was considered - until yesterday - as being the only space in which the religious minorities could feel safe in the East, thanks to the secular and nationalistic political regime in place.
The determination to generate turmoil in Syria conveys a blunt foreign will to deplete this country which enjoys a key and decisive position in the conflict over the future of the region. This is pointed to by a series of signs witnessed at the level of the Syrian events:
- The nature of the political forces that are activating the protests, as well as their foreign ties. Indeed, there are three parties involved and they are: Abdul Halim Khaddam and his group, Ribal al-Assad, and the Muslim Brotherhood organization, its branches and allies such as the Tahrir Party that is operating from Lebanon. In the meantime, the events are revealing the strength enjoyed on the field by networks and groups evolving under the umbrella of the Muslim Brotherhood organization, its branches and alliances. And thanks to the American adoption of these forces and the support offered to them by Bandar Bin Sultan and Saad al-Hariri, it would be natural to place the action inside Syria in the context of the American-Israeli project to reshape the region and dismantle the resistance system.
- The introduction of weapons from Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq and the use of these weapons to clash with the security forces, lead to bloodshed and carry out ambushes and crimes targeting army officers and elements, as well as security forces. This situation points to the presence of terrorist groups that are exploiting the demonstrations and the popular gatherings, but also to the existence of a political plan aiming at creating a gap of blood and thick psychological barriers between the Syrian authorities and the people.
- The budgets ratified by Congress to fund television channels broadcasting from abroad, social networking websites and groups that were trained to use modern communication means, satellite channels, radio stations and Arab newspapers in the Gulf and Lebanon, as well as operations rooms scattered in European and Arab capitals. This reveals orders that were issued from Washington to exploit the suitable internal climate in order to turn the Syrian street against the regime, but also to exploit the Arab developments to transfer the infection on the eve of the set date for the beginning of the pullout from Iraq.
It is a new decisive battle over the future of the region. If President Bashar al-Assad wins through the comprehensive renewal of the institutions and the revival of the political and unionist frameworks in the country – while relying on free popular choice - this will enhance and the deepen the roots of the resistance and independence options consecrated by Assad, and based on which he earned the support of the Syrian people during his resistance against the global war launched on the country following the occupation of Iraq.
The Role of Al-Jazeera
Al-Jazeera’s handling of the Syrian situation constituted a scandal and a final relinquishing of the minimum level of professionalism, as objective reports were replaced with direct political instigation against the Syrian command, and an intentional exaggeration of the events in accordance with the timing of the actions of organized groups involved in a plan to generate political and security turmoil inside of Syria.
Last Friday, and since the early hours of the morning, Al-Jazeera started to intensively and repeatedly broadcast - round the clock - a fabricated tape featuring old popular gatherings and demonstrations that were downloaded on some electronic websites weeks ago, while the broadcaster reiterated an instigative rhetoric calling for demonstrations, targeting the political régime of President Al-Assad and downplaying the importance of the decrees to end the state of emergency and organize the right to protest through the repetition of the expression: “This is not enough.” And when the protests and gatherings witnessed in the Syrian cities following the Friday prayers started, the channel began exaggerating its estimation of the size of the protests and the number of dead and wounded whom Al-Jazeera said were targeted by the security forces while completely disregarding the presence of victims in the ranks of the latter forces.
The mission of the satellite channel is definitely defined by its owner, i.e. the Prince of Qatar who is clearly involved in a plan to sabotage Syria based on an American assignment. However, what concerns us is the preservation of the minimum level of professionalism which requires separation between the facts which the channel is supposed to convey, and the political positions of its owner that should be conveyed as a public political opinion, far away from the game of exposed political instigation and the promotion of lies. Unfortunately, the channel’s administration, planners and “intellectuals” did not take into account what the following day might reveal, if the situation is exposed and if the outcome turns out to be different from the wishes of the American-Israeli planning rooms.
Syria
• The Syrian authorities announced they confiscated a large amount of weapons as they were being smuggled from Iraq on a truck driven by an Iraqi across Al-Tanf border crossing.
• The general director of customs, Mustafa al-Bekaei, was quoted as saying: “The confiscated weapons include all sorts of sophisticated machine guns, automatic rifles, sniper rifles, revolvers, grenade launchers and a massive quantity of ammunition.” He indicated: “Lately, other quantities of weapons were caught as they were being smuggled through Bab al-Hawwa and Al-Salama customs (the Turkish border) and Jdeidat Yabouss (the Lebanese border).”
• The Washington Post said in a report that the American Department of State secretly funded the Syrian opposition, as it was revealed by diplomatic cables leaked by the Wikileaks website.
• The Syrian Interior Ministry called on the citizens to abstain from carrying out any marches, sit-ins or protests “under whichever headline,” assuring it will implement the laws in place to ensure the country’s stability. It explained: “The laws in Syria will be implemented to serve the security of the citizens and the country’s stability,” adding that what Syria was witnessing was “an armed rebellion staged by armed groups affiliated with Salafi organizations, especially in the cities of Homs and Baniyas.”
• Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem announced that what was happening in some Syrian cities required consideration, especially following the speech of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to the new government and what it included, in terms of the lifting of the state of emergency and the partisan plurality law among other points.
He said: “We believe that whoever wants reform must express his opinion peacefully, considering that this reform is a national necessity and whoever wants it cannot use weapons and violence, resort to sabotage, burn down the state institutions or block the roads. Reform is a national necessity but it is also an ongoing process that requires security and stability.”
• The Syrian government ratified legislative draft decrees to annul the state of emergency and the state security court and organize the right to stage peaceful demonstrations.
• On Saturday, former Lebanese Minister Wi’am Wahhab revealed —during a televised interview— checks signs by Saudi Prince Turki Bin Abdul-Aziz to Lebanese Deputy Jamal al-Jarrah and Okab Sakr, as well as to the son of Abdul Halim Khaddam. This constituted additional proof for what the Syrian authorities had been repeating for a while now, regarding the involvement of regional sides and the Future Movement in the ongoing events in Syria.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Media disinformation and the Syrian protest movement
by Voltaire Network, Global Research, April 27, 2011
Global Research Editor's Note
Selected excerpts from a Voltaire Network editorial
http://www.voltairenet.org/article169565.html The Syrian people are living in a state of turmoil due to the consecutive events, the concerns over which have been enhanced by the security situation that was shaken following a stage of stability which lasted throughout the past thirty years. In the meantime, threats of sectarian violence are lurking, and are being generated by the rhetoric of strife in a country characterized by a various religious and ethnic fabric and was considered - until yesterday - as being the only space in which the religious minorities could feel safe in the East, thanks to the secular and nationalistic political regime in place.
The determination to generate turmoil in Syria conveys a blunt foreign will to deplete this country which enjoys a key and decisive position in the conflict over the future of the region. This is pointed to by a series of signs witnessed at the level of the Syrian events:
- The nature of the political forces that are activating the protests, as well as their foreign ties. Indeed, there are three parties involved and they are: Abdul Halim Khaddam and his group, Ribal al-Assad, and the Muslim Brotherhood organization, its branches and allies such as the Tahrir Party that is operating from Lebanon. In the meantime, the events are revealing the strength enjoyed on the field by networks and groups evolving under the umbrella of the Muslim Brotherhood organization, its branches and alliances. And thanks to the American adoption of these forces and the support offered to them by Bandar Bin Sultan and Saad al-Hariri, it would be natural to place the action inside Syria in the context of the American-Israeli project to reshape the region and dismantle the resistance system.
- The introduction of weapons from Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq and the use of these weapons to clash with the security forces, lead to bloodshed and carry out ambushes and crimes targeting army officers and elements, as well as security forces. This situation points to the presence of terrorist groups that are exploiting the demonstrations and the popular gatherings, but also to the existence of a political plan aiming at creating a gap of blood and thick psychological barriers between the Syrian authorities and the people.
- The budgets ratified by Congress to fund television channels broadcasting from abroad, social networking websites and groups that were trained to use modern communication means, satellite channels, radio stations and Arab newspapers in the Gulf and Lebanon, as well as operations rooms scattered in European and Arab capitals. This reveals orders that were issued from Washington to exploit the suitable internal climate in order to turn the Syrian street against the regime, but also to exploit the Arab developments to transfer the infection on the eve of the set date for the beginning of the pullout from Iraq.
It is a new decisive battle over the future of the region. If President Bashar al-Assad wins through the comprehensive renewal of the institutions and the revival of the political and unionist frameworks in the country – while relying on free popular choice - this will enhance and the deepen the roots of the resistance and independence options consecrated by Assad, and based on which he earned the support of the Syrian people during his resistance against the global war launched on the country following the occupation of Iraq.
The Role of Al-Jazeera
Al-Jazeera’s handling of the Syrian situation constituted a scandal and a final relinquishing of the minimum level of professionalism, as objective reports were replaced with direct political instigation against the Syrian command, and an intentional exaggeration of the events in accordance with the timing of the actions of organized groups involved in a plan to generate political and security turmoil inside of Syria.
Last Friday, and since the early hours of the morning, Al-Jazeera started to intensively and repeatedly broadcast - round the clock - a fabricated tape featuring old popular gatherings and demonstrations that were downloaded on some electronic websites weeks ago, while the broadcaster reiterated an instigative rhetoric calling for demonstrations, targeting the political régime of President Al-Assad and downplaying the importance of the decrees to end the state of emergency and organize the right to protest through the repetition of the expression: “This is not enough.” And when the protests and gatherings witnessed in the Syrian cities following the Friday prayers started, the channel began exaggerating its estimation of the size of the protests and the number of dead and wounded whom Al-Jazeera said were targeted by the security forces while completely disregarding the presence of victims in the ranks of the latter forces.
The mission of the satellite channel is definitely defined by its owner, i.e. the Prince of Qatar who is clearly involved in a plan to sabotage Syria based on an American assignment. However, what concerns us is the preservation of the minimum level of professionalism which requires separation between the facts which the channel is supposed to convey, and the political positions of its owner that should be conveyed as a public political opinion, far away from the game of exposed political instigation and the promotion of lies. Unfortunately, the channel’s administration, planners and “intellectuals” did not take into account what the following day might reveal, if the situation is exposed and if the outcome turns out to be different from the wishes of the American-Israeli planning rooms.
Syria
• The Syrian authorities announced they confiscated a large amount of weapons as they were being smuggled from Iraq on a truck driven by an Iraqi across Al-Tanf border crossing.
• The general director of customs, Mustafa al-Bekaei, was quoted as saying: “The confiscated weapons include all sorts of sophisticated machine guns, automatic rifles, sniper rifles, revolvers, grenade launchers and a massive quantity of ammunition.” He indicated: “Lately, other quantities of weapons were caught as they were being smuggled through Bab al-Hawwa and Al-Salama customs (the Turkish border) and Jdeidat Yabouss (the Lebanese border).”
• The Washington Post said in a report that the American Department of State secretly funded the Syrian opposition, as it was revealed by diplomatic cables leaked by the Wikileaks website.
• The Syrian Interior Ministry called on the citizens to abstain from carrying out any marches, sit-ins or protests “under whichever headline,” assuring it will implement the laws in place to ensure the country’s stability. It explained: “The laws in Syria will be implemented to serve the security of the citizens and the country’s stability,” adding that what Syria was witnessing was “an armed rebellion staged by armed groups affiliated with Salafi organizations, especially in the cities of Homs and Baniyas.”
• Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem announced that what was happening in some Syrian cities required consideration, especially following the speech of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to the new government and what it included, in terms of the lifting of the state of emergency and the partisan plurality law among other points.
He said: “We believe that whoever wants reform must express his opinion peacefully, considering that this reform is a national necessity and whoever wants it cannot use weapons and violence, resort to sabotage, burn down the state institutions or block the roads. Reform is a national necessity but it is also an ongoing process that requires security and stability.”
• The Syrian government ratified legislative draft decrees to annul the state of emergency and the state security court and organize the right to stage peaceful demonstrations.
• On Saturday, former Lebanese Minister Wi’am Wahhab revealed —during a televised interview— checks signs by Saudi Prince Turki Bin Abdul-Aziz to Lebanese Deputy Jamal al-Jarrah and Okab Sakr, as well as to the son of Abdul Halim Khaddam. This constituted additional proof for what the Syrian authorities had been repeating for a while now, regarding the involvement of regional sides and the Future Movement in the ongoing events in Syria.
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Media disinformation: The protest movement in Syria
27.04.2011 19:07
Media disinformation: The protest movement in Syria
Western media coverage of the events in Daraa
by Michel Chossudovsky, Global Research, 28 March 2011
Presented below are four reports of the same protest movement in the Southern Syrian city of Daraa, Associated Press, The Guardian, Israeli National News, Ya Libnan (Lebanese News).
Spot the difference.
What the AP and Guardian Reports fail to mention.
1. Seven policemen were killed according to the Lebanese and Israeli reports, which suggests that several of the demonstrators were not demonstrators but armed gunmen who were shooting at the police.
2. The AP and Guardian reports do not mention the terrorist acts committed by several demonstrators including the torching of the courthouse and the Baath party headquarters as well as the attacks on the communications headquarters and the hospital. These occurrences are acknowledged by both the Israeli and Lebanese reports.
The two Western reports convey the impression that the demonstrators in Daraa were peaceful and non-violent as in Egypt. The fact that there were demonstrators with firearms involved in an armed attack on government buildings including acts of arson is not mentioned.
The protests took place in a small town of 75,500 inhabitants within 10 km of the Jordanian border [the AP report states that Daraa has 300,000, that is the population of the province not the city]. The press reports do not address the important question. Who was behind the acts of violence in Daraa?
Associated Press report, March 22, 2011
15 dead in new clashes in southern Syria city Syrian police launched a relentless assault Wednesday on a neighborhood sheltering anti-government protesters, fatally shooting at least 15 in an operation that began before dawn, witnesses said.
By BASSEM MROUE; Associated Press Published: 03/22/1111:47 pm | Updated: 03/23/11 1:08 pm
The violence in Daraa, a city of about 300,000 near the border with Jordan, was fast becoming a major challenge for President Bashar Assad, who tried to contain the situation by freeing detainees and promising to fire officials responsible for the violence.
The Syrian government said Thursday that it would consider sweeping reforms in a gambit to appease protesters, who gathered by the thousands after security forces in one southern town killed at least 15 people in a week of demonstrations.
DARAA, Syria — Syrian police launched a relentless assault Wednesday on a neighborhood sheltering anti-government protesters, fatally shooting at least 15 in an operation that began before dawn, witnesses said.
At least six were killed in the early morning attack on the al-Omari mosque in the southern agricultural city of Daraa, where protesters have taken to the streets in calls for reforms and political freedoms, witnesses said. An activist in contact with people in Daraa said police shot another three people protesting in its Roman-era city center after dusk. Six more bodies were found later in the day, the activist said.
Inspired by the wave of pro-democracy protests around the region, the uprising in Daraa and at least four nearby villages has become the biggest domestic challenge since the 1970s to the Syrian government, one of the most repressive in the Middle East. Security forces have responded with water cannon, tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition. The total death toll now stands at 22.
As the casualties mounted, people from the nearby villages of Inkhil, Jasim, Khirbet Ghazaleh and al-Harrah tried to march on Daraa Wednesday night but security forces opened fire as they approached, the activist said. It was not immediately clear if there were more deaths or injuries.
Democracy activists used social-networking sites to call for massive demonstrations across the country on Friday, a day they dubbed "Dignity Friday."
U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Washington was alarmed by the violence and "deeply concerned by the Syrian government's use of violence, intimidation and arbitrary arrests to hinder the ability of its people to freely exercise their universal rights."
Heavy shooting rattled Daraa throughout the day, and an Associated Press reporter in the city heard bursts of semi-automatic gunfire echoing in its old center in the early afternoon.
The London-based Syrian Human Rights Committee reported on its website, quoting sources in Daraa, that Syrian authorities shot and killed soldier Khaled al-Masri for refusing orders to take part in storming al-Omari mosque. The report could not be independently confirmed.
State TV said that an "armed gang" had attacked an ambulance in the city and security forces killed four attackers and wounded others and was chasing others who fled. It denied that security forces had stormed the mosque, but also showed footage of guns, AK-47s, hand grenades, ammunition and money that it claimed had been seized from inside.
A video posted on Facebook by activists showed what it said was an empty street near al-Omari Mosque, with the rattle of shooting in the background as a voice shouts: "My brother, does anyone kill his people? You are our brothers." The authenticity of the footage could not be independently verified.
Mobile phone connections to Daraa were cut and checkpoints throughout the city were manned by soldiers in camouflage uniforms and plainclothes security agents with rifles. Anti-terrorism police wearing dark blue uniforms were also out on the streets.
An ambulance was parked on the side of a road leading to the old city, its windshield smashed.
The witness said hundreds of anti-terrorism police had surrounded al-Omari mosque.
The activist in Damascus said six had been killed in the raid on the mosque, which began after midnight and lasted for about three hours. A witness in Daraa told the AP that five people had been slain, including a woman who looked out her window to see what was happening during the operation.
The activist said witnesses saw the body of a 12-year-old girl near the mosque late Wednesday afternoon. Another man was fatally shot by police after a funeral for one of the slain, the activist said.
And four more bodies were seen laying near the offices of a security agency but no one dared to come and pick them up, the activist said.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the violence against peaceful demonstrators in Deraa and called for "a transparent investigation into the killings" and for those responsible to be held accountable, U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said.
"He reminds the Syrian government of its obligation to protect civilians, and of its responsibility to address the legitimate aspirations of its people through a purposeful dialogue and reforms," Nesirky said.
Daraa is a province of some 300,000 people near the Jordanian border that has suffered greatly from years of drought. It has been generally supportive of President Bashar Assad's Baath party, said Murhaf Jouejati, a Syria expert at George Washington University.
He said Daraa had a "conservative, devoutly Muslim" population that has traditionally been a main pillar of support for the ruling party. The fact that they have been protesting in the streets "means that the Baath party is in trouble."
The grip of Syria's security forces is weaker on the border away from the capital, Damascus, and Daraa hasn't benefited from the country's recent years of economic growth. Meanwhile, its main city has absorbed many Syrians from nearby areas who can no longer farm their lands because of increasing desertification.
"You have a combination of feelings of being excluded and neglected, and growing internal tensions from environmental refugees," said Steven Heydemann, a Middle East expert at the United States Institute for Peace.
The unrest in Daraa started with the arrest last week of a group of students who sprayed anti-government graffiti on walls in Daraa, some 80 miles (130 kilometers) south of Damascus.
Demonstrations calling for the students' release swelled into calls for political freedoms and security forces killed at least seven people in attempts to quash them, according to witnesses and activists.
The Syrian government fired the governor of Daraa province but failed to quell popular anger and on Tuesday the protests reached the village of Nawa, where hundreds of people marched demanding reforms, activist said.
So far, none of the slogans used by protesters have called for the ouster of Assad, who became the head of Syria's minority Alawite ruling elite in 2000 after the death of his father and predecessor, Hafez.
Daraa, like most of Syria, is predominantly Sunni Muslim.
On Wednesday, Abdul-Karim al-Rihawi, head of the Arab League for Human Rights, said several prominent activists have been arrested in the past two days, including well known writer Loay Hussein. Hussein had issued a statement calling for freedom of peaceful protests and expressed solidarity with the Daraa protesters. 15 dead in new clashes in southern Syria city | AP Latest Headlines - The News Tribune, March 22, 2011)
The Report in The Guardian [in full]
Syrian police seal off city of Daraa after security forces kill five protesters
Cordon aimed at suppressing spread of conflict following demonstrations and funeral processions
Syrian police have sealed off a southern city after security forces killed at least five protesters.
Residents of Daraa were being allowed to leave but not enter the city, said prominent Syrian rights activist Mazen Darwish.
The cordon seemed aimed at choking off any spread of unrest after earlier clashes and emotional funeral processions for the dead.
President Bashar Al-Assad, who has boasted that his country is immune to the demands for change that have already toppled leaders in Egypt and Tunisia, sent a delegation to the southern city to offer his condolences to families of the victims, according to a Syrian official.
Serious disturbances in Syria would be a major expansion of the region's unrest. Syria, a predominantly Sunni country ruled by minority Alawites, has a history of brutally crushing dissent.
Security forces launched a harsh crackdown on Friday's demonstrations calling for political freedoms. Protests took place in at least five cities, including the capital, Damascus. But only in Daraa did they turn deadly.
Accounts from activists and social media say at least five people died in the gravest unrest in years in Syria.
A Syrian official acknowledged only two deaths and said authorities would bring those responsible to trial. The official said that even if an investigation shows security officers were guilty, they will be put on trial "no matter how high their rank is". He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations that bar him from being identified by name.
Another government official said Syrian leaders held a meeting in which they decided to form a committee to investigate the circumstances and punish those responsible for the deaths in Daraa.
"The Syrian president categorically rejects the shedding of any Syrian blood," the official said, also on condition of anonymity.
A Syrian lawmaker from Daraa, Khaled Abboud, blamed Islamic extremists for the violence.
"There is a group of Islamic extremists, they have a private or foreign agenda," he said. He did not elaborate.
Darwish, who said he was in contact with residents of Daraa, said four of the dead were buried in the city . Thousands of people took part in the funeral under the watch of large numbers of security agents but there was no violence, he said.
An activist in Damascus also in contact with Daraa residents said security forces fired tear gas at mourners chanting: "God, Syria and freedom only." He said several people were detained and others suffered from tear gas inhalation. He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
The London-based Syrian Human Rights Committee said that during the funerals security forces raided some homes and detained people. Citing residents in the city, it added that troops were in full control of the streets.
Syria places tight restrictions on the movements of journalists in the country when it comes to security issues and state-run media, and officials rarely comment on such sensitive matters.
A video of the clashes posted on YouTube showed a bloodied young man, who appeared to be dead, being carried by several people. Shortly afterward, shooting is heard and crowds scatter. The authenticity of the footage could not be confirmed.
In Washington, a National Security Council spokesman, Tommy Vietor, said: "The United States strongly condemns the violence that has taken place in Syria." He added that the US calls on the Syrian government to allow demonstrations to take place peacefully and for those responsible for violence to "be held accountable".
The violence was the worst since 2004 when clashes that began in the north-eastern city of Qamishli between Syrian Kurds and security forces left at least 25 people dead and some 100 injured.
Although Assad keeps a tight lid on any form of political dissent, he also has considerable popularity for being seen as one of the few Arab leaders willing to stand up to Israel.
Assad told the Wall Street Journal in February that Syria is insulated from the upheaval in the Arab world because he understands his people's needs and has united them in common cause against Israel.
Abdul-Karim al-Rihawi, head of the Arab League for Human Rights, said 10 women who were detained on Wednesday after protesting in front of the Syrian Interior Ministry in central Damascus have begun a hunger strike.
Citing relatives, al-Rihawi said the women were being held in Douma prison on the outskirts of Damascus, adding that one of them is suffering from a "serious condition".
The women were among 33 people, most of them relatives of political detainees in Syria, detained on Wednesday. They were charged by a prosecutor on Thursday with damaging the state's image.
Separately, Syria said it was reducing compulsory military service by three months, making it 15 months for educated males and 18 months for those who have not completed primary education. The state-run news agency said the new legislation will go into effect by June.
Accounts from activists and social media say at least five people died in the gravest unrest in years in Syria.
A Syrian official acknowledged only two deaths and said authorities would bring those responsible to trial. The official said that even if an investigation shows security officers were guilty, they will be put on trial "no matter how high their rank is". He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations that bar him from being identified by name.
Another government official said Syrian leaders held a meeting in which they decided to form a committee to investigate the circumstances and punish those responsible for the deaths in Daraa.
"The Syrian president categorically rejects the shedding of any Syrian blood," the official said, also on condition of anonymity.
A Syrian lawmaker from Daraa, Khaled Abboud, blamed Islamic extremists for the violence.
"There is a group of Islamic extremists, they have a private or foreign agenda," he said. He did not elaborate.
Darwish, who said he was in contact with residents of Daraa, said four of the dead were buried in the city . Thousands of people took part in the funeral under the watch of large numbers of security agents but there was no violence, he said. Syrian police seal off city of Daraa after security forces kill five protesters | World news | guardian.co.uk, March 21, 2011)
The Israel National News Report on the same event
(Israel National News, Arutz Sheva, not particularly pro-Syria)
Syria: Seven Police Killed, Buildings Torched in Protests
by Gavriel Queenann
Seven police officers and at least four demonstrators in Syria have been killed in continuing violent clashes that erupted in the southern town of Daraa last Thursday.
The clashes came amidst growing political tension in the Muslim nation, whose Presidents and many senior officials have always come from Syria's influential Shia Alawite minority, when twenty students were arrested for spray-painting anti-government graffiti on a wall.
On Friday police opened fire on armed protesters killing four and injuring as many as 100 others. According to one witness, who spoke to the press on condition of anonymity, "They used live ammunition immediately -- no tear gas or anything else."
At the funerals of two of those killed opposition leaders handed authorities a list of demands, which included the release of political prisoners. In an uncharacteristic gesture intended to ease tensions the government offered to release the detained students, but seven police officers were killed, and the Baath Party Headquarters and courthouse were torched, in renewed violence on Sunday.
The latest clashes occurred after unconfirmed reports that two more protesters had been killed began to circulate. According to witnesses, Syrian security forces have encircled Daraa to impede more protesters from reaching the city. Anti-government protests are rare in Syria and have traditionally been brutally put down, but Daraa is not the only town where protests have occurred. Syria: Seven Police Killed, Buildings Torched in Protests - Defense/Middle East - Israel News - Israel National News, March21, 2011)
The Lebanese report on the same event
Seven policemen were killed during clashes between the security forces and protesters in Syria, Xinhua reported. They got killed trying to drive away protesters during demonstration in Dara’a town in which people demanded for reforms in Syria, Damascus Press news website reported.
The clashes erupted Sunday between the Syrian police and protesters after two young men reportedly killed by the security forces in the town. An eyewitness told Xinhua that the Syrian police had surrounded the town, to prevent people from entering it.
Dozens of protesters attacked the communication centre and the national hospital.
Al-Jazeera TV reported Sunday that the protesters also burned the headquarters of the Baath Party and the court house in Dara’a. Ya Libnan » 7 Syrian policemen killed in Sunday clashes, report, March 21 (Lebanese Press)
Michel Chossudovsky
Homepage:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=24016
Al Jazeera's war on Gaddafi
27.04.2011 19:12
Al Jazeera's war on Gaddafi
by Stephen Lendman, 23 April 2011
Based on its recent Libyan and Gulf states reporting (or lack thereof), Qatar-based Al Jazeera's credibility appears extremely compromised.
A previous article said the following:
Overall, its Libya misreporting has been deceitful, functioning more as a propaganda arm for Washington, NATO and insurgents, indistinguishable from US and other western media, representing imperial conquest, colonization, and pillaging of another non-belligerent country.
In late March, moreover, Front Page writer Mohammed al-Kibsi accused Al Jazeera of airing old Iraqi prisoner abuse video, broadcast by Al-Arabiya in 2007, in fabricating news about Yemen.
Yet it was aired repeatedly, claiming it showed Yemeni Central Security forces torturing protesters. Later admitting its mistake, Al Jazeera blamed a technical error and apologized, too late to undue the damage to those blamed and its own reputation, badly tarnished by frequent misreporting on the region, despite earlier worthy efforts that built its standing as a reliable broadcaster. That now is very much in question.
California State University Professor As'ad AbuKhalil runs the Angry Arab News Service, accessed through the following link:
His recent comments on Al Jazeera's Libya coverage include:
April 20: "According to Al Jazeera's legal opinion," UN Resolution 1973 permits use of nuclear weapons.
America, in fact, has an arsenal of so-called deep-penetrating mini-nuke buster busters, able to destroy underground targets with varying yields from one to 1,000 kilotons. Hiroshima's bomb was about 15 KT, Nagasaki's about 21 KT.
Since the Bush administration's 2001 Nuclear Policy Review, Washington claimed a unilateral right to use first-strike nuclear weapons preemptively, including against non-nuclear states under three conditions:
-- against targets able to withstand non-nuclear weapons;
-- in retaliation against nuclear, biological or chemical WMDs; or
-- against any perceived real or contrived national security threat.
April 20: "Al Jazeera now wants a ground invasion," citing Misurata residents and UAE officials also wanting intensified bombing.
April 17: "Al Jazeera and the Qarari-Saudi conflict" benefitted the broadcaster early on, then compromised its credibility after rapprochement between their royals. "That severely narrowed the limitations of speech. I have heard many complaints from (Al Jazeera) hosts about the terrible impact of the....reconciliation on their coverage and programming."
"Now what happened recently was worse:" establishing a solid alliance compromising it more. As a result, "only criticisms of countries that are not on good terms with Saudi royals (are) allowed."
April 15: AbuKhalil "was thinking yesterday while doing (his) laps: (He) may have appeared for the last time ever on Al Jazeera but (he's) glad that (his) last words were about Bahrain. The Saudi-Qarati-financed Arab media want us to forget about Bahrain, but we won't."
April 14: "Bahrain - Al Jazeera's scant reports are hilarious. They are one sentence or two. They read - as they are - like Bahraini propaganda press releases. Today, the network had a line or two about (its) government planning to prosecute opposition groups," with no comments from them aired.
April 14: "Al Jazeera and Syria." Despite good Qatari - Syrian relations, Al Jazeera's coverage has been "negative, and government propagandists are visibly mocked and ridiculed. And lately the channel relies on sensational Saudi propaganda sheets for coverage."
April 14: "Al Jazeera: the new Qatari foreign policy. Bahrain does not exist as far as Al Jazeera is concerned, and they have avoided inviting" on air Bahraini, Omani and Saudi critics. "Most glaringly, Al Jazeera" suppresses criticisms of Bahraini repression. As a result, GCC countries have "closed ranks and Qatar may be rewarded with the coveted post of" Arab League secretary-general.
April 11: "Al Jazeera's coverage of Libya is not only politically bad and professionally over the top, but it is also worse than all that - it is boring."
March 23: "Shame on Al Jazeera. (Its) sinister role (has) gotten worse, much worse" with its "obsessive non-stop (Libyan) coverage" at the expense of important omitted news. "It seems that Al Jazeera now operates according to the Western standards," providing one-sided propaganda, not unbiased reporting.
February 17: Bahrainis "are on there own now. There is no Al Jazeera to support their cause and expose the regime, and the US and EU will do their best to rationalize and support government repression. Shame on Al Jazeera Arabic for abandoning the people of Bahrain, and for invoking a sectarian element in their coverage, implying that only Shi'ites are protesting."
On February 25, Monthly Review contributor Yoshie Furuhashi headlined, "Al Jazeera Promotes Libya's 'Crown Prince' Who Calls for Military Intervention in Libya," saying:
Covering regional uprisings, Al Jazeera's reporting "began to deteriorate....when revolutionary sparks" ignited in GCC states, including Bahrain. About the same time, Libya was affected, another oil-producing country. Henceforth, Bahain was forgotten to focus on Gaddafi.
"Now there's nothing wrong with (doing it) if the purpose is to convey accurate information. (But there's) everything wrong with" propagandizing at the expense of truth. "And I'm afraid that's exactly what Al Jazeera" did, supporting imperial intervention.
"In both Arabic and English," it features "members of the National Front for the Salvation of Libya," the main CIA/Saudi/French intelligence funded opposition group, then combined with others to form the National Conference for the Libyan Opposition umbrella organization.
On February 24, Al Jazeera "hit a new low, (giving) the self-styled 'Crown Prince' of Libya - Muhammad as-Senussi," its so-called heir to the Senussi Crown, a platform to urge "the international community to help remove Gaddafi from power and stop the (claimed) massacre." In fact, most casualties and destruction were caused by daily Western bombing and support for extremist rebels - a combination of untrained civilians, former soldiers, and CIA-backed paramilitary Libya Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) insurgents, cutthroat killers acting as a proxy NATO force.
Al Jazeera's Fall from Grace
Launched in November 1996, the satellite channel once aired "dissenting views, for example on call-in shows," according to Wikipedia, adding that it "created controversies" among GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries, including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, UAE, Oman, and its home base, Qatar.
Its chairman, Sheikh Hamad bin Thamer Al Thani, is a distant cousin of Qatar's Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani. Wadah Khanfar is director general and managing director of the Arabic channel. Ahmed Sheikh is its editor-in-chief, Mohamed Nanabhay holding the same English channel position.
Its Arabic channel reaches 50 million or more global viewers, its English one up to twice as many, a remarkable achievement in less than 15 years with little US penetration where most viewers must do it online. Elsewhere it's available by satellite or cable.
Reportedly, Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi hosts its most popular program, ash-Shariah wal-Hayat (Shariah and Life) and has significant overall editorial influence. He's written over 80 books, serves as chief religious scholar for IslamOnline, received eight international prizes for Islamic scholarship, and in 2004 was an Oxford University Center for Islamic Studies trustee. In 2008, Foreign Policy magazine ranked him third among public intellectuals worldwide, despite his controversial views.
Since 1999, however, he's prohibited from entering America, and in 2008, Britain refused him a visa. On February 16, Der Spiegel contributor Alexander Smoltczyk headlined, "Islam's Spiritual 'Dear Abby:' Yusuf Qaradawi, The Voice of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood," saying:
"(F)ew (others) have as much influence on Sunni Muslims....(He's) a word machine, a one-man talk show that leaves no subject unexamined....He's a driven man. (There's) only one Islamic scholar like (him), who (memorized) the Koran (at age 10)....the only man who can help the faithful understand the world." For the past 15 years, Al Jazeera's broadcast his "Shariah and Life" program Sundays, viewed by up to 60 million Muslims.
Now aged 84, he's "a blend of pope and service hotline, a spiritual 'Dear Abby' for all (aspects of) Muslim life," claiming moderate credentials about which some disagree, among other reasons for issuing a pro-Western fatwa against Gaddafi.
However, on February 2, 2009, the extremist pro-Israeli Anti-Defamation League denounced him for "support(ing) terrorist groups that seek to undermine a peaceful resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict," and for "inciting violence against Jews and Israel."
On February 22, the Los Angeles Times headlined, "Libya: Popular TV cleric issues fatwa against Kadafi,"
live on Al Jazeera, saying:
"It is not heroism to fight your people and to hit them with missiles....I say to my brothers and sons who are soldiers and officers of the Libyan Army to disobey when (the government) gives orders to kill the people using warplanes....I now issue a fatwa urging officers and soldiers who can to kill" him....This man wants to annihilate the people."
Qaradawi, in fact, chose sides, using Al Jazeera's platform to display a remarkable one-sidedness and lack of scholarship for a man of his credentials, ignoring facts to support Western imperial war, conquest, colonization, and exploitation of another Muslim country. As a result, he's Al Jazeera's leading hawk against Libyans and others across the region suffering repressively under despotic regimes, including GCC ones Al Jazeera supports.
A Final Comment
Al Jazeera feature stories since April 15, include:
April 15: "Western leaders insist 'Gaddafi must,' go," vowing to keep fighting until he's gone, quoting Obama, Sarkozy, and Cameron's day before propaganda, saying:
"It is unthinkable that someone who has tried to massacre his own people can play a part in their future government."
April 15: "Gaddafi forces 'cluster bombing Misurata,' " based solely on what insurgent leaders as well as Western officials and media claim with no verifiable proof, categorically denied by Libya's military saying they have none.
April 19: "Libya death toll 'reaches 10,000,' " again based solely on what insurgents claim, ignoring the toll from heavy NATO bombing, using depleted uranium and other terror weapons.
April 22: "(Senator) McCain urges recognition of Libyan 'heros,' " - imperial proxy killers, in fact, Al Jazeera disgracefully supports, propagandizing like their Western media counterparts, allied in the same dirty war on truth.
* Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at
_________________________________
Director of Al Jazeera TV in Beirut Ghassan Bin Jeddo confirms resignation to Al Manar website
Al Manar, 23 April 2011
Head of Al Jazeera TV Station Office in Beirut Ghassan Bin Jeddo resigned from his post a few days ago, as “Al Jazeera has abandoned professionalism and objectivity, turning from a media source into an operation room that incites and mobilizes,” Lebanese As-Safir newspaper reported on Saturday.
Bin Jeddo confirmed this step in an interview with Al Manar website. He pointed out that “the reasons published in As-Safir behind the resignation are true, however they are not the full reasons”, adding that various other issues urged him to take this step that he will talk about its details later.
The Lebanese daily has quoted reliable sources saying that the unprofessional inciting attitude that Al jazeera is adopting at this historic phase in the region is unacceptable.
The sources indicated to As-Safir the ethical base of Bin Jeddo’s resignation, as he cannot accept the station’s full coverage to the situation in Libya, Yemen, and Syria, while completely blacking out the crisis in Bahrain.
As for the policy Al jazeera is following on the Syrian situation, the sources clarified that this case is a matter of morals and principles for Bin Jeddo.
As-Safir pointed out that former Al Jazeera journalist supports the Syrian people’s demands; however, he recognizes the important national role that Syria plays in the region.
Stephen Lendman
Homepage:
http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2011/04/al-jazeeras-war-on-gaddafi.html
globalresearch = govt bumlickers
27.04.2011 23:28
anon