RSS Feed
February 18th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda
Running down alleyways, the echo caused by the tall city apartment blocks
around made it impossible to identify the direction of the gunfire. Syrian
security forces and “Shabiha”, much-feared regime paramilitaries,
blocked the exits of the streets. Snipers fired from roof tops all across
the central Damascus neighbourhood of Mezze.
Raja, 23, a university student, dived into the open doorway of a nearby four
floor apartment block. Her lungs burning, looking wildly up the street, she
screamed for her 17-year-old sister Noor. Grabbing Noor’s hand, they ran up
the stairs, and found the open front door of an apartment whose elderly
woman owner was sheltering the fleeing protesters.
A crush of men filled the hallway to protect the entrance, while a dozen women
sheltered inside. In the kitchen a young girl nursed the bleeding graze on
her cheek, caused by a fall on to concrete in the escape, and mothers
cradled crying toddlers.
Two teenage girls hugged each other tightly, sobbing uncontrollably. A skinny
girl with wide eyes sat on a chair in the corner, trying to drink from a
glass but spilling it everywhere as her hands shook violently from shock and
fear.
They had not expected this funeral march to become violent. “We had an
agreement with the security forces that we would not say anything against
President Bashar al Assad, and that they would not shoot,” said Raja.
The funeral had been for three men, shot dead by security forces at an
anti-government protest the day before. It was the first time that security
forces have opened fire on crowds in this central and upmarket, district of
Damascus – another ugly milestone in the authorities’ repression of the
11-month long protest against the Assad regime. Dozens were wounded and at
least one man killed.
Four others were reported to have been killed across Syria on Saturday in what
was, by recent standards, a relatively quiet day of protest and repression.
But the scale of the events in Damascus, just a few miles from where Mr
Assad was at that moment telling a Chinese diplomatic envoy of a conspiracy
to split the country, caught everyone by surprise.
Saturday’s procession had rapidly swollen to become one of the largest
anti-government protests to take place in the capital city so far, and for
more than an hour it had remained peaceful.
Outside the mosque, thousands had maintained a reverent silence as an imam
blessed the bodies in the open-topped wooden box coffins. Then, waving olive
branches and singing under as snow fell thickly in the cold February air,
the crowds that had come from restive districts across Damascus surged
forward with enormous energy.
As if in a carnival, men had danced among the protesters. “Mezze, Mezze,
come and join us!” they shouted to the families, watching from
balconies of tall buildings around. “There is no need for fear, we will
be a million martyrs in the heavens” they had cried.
But the theatrical production of the Syrian revolutionary flag had triggered
the security forces’ crackdown, and from that moment all those present would
be pursued relentlessly.
As news of the violence was broadcast on Al Jazeera, mobile telephone signals
were blocked by the thousands of people calling, desperate for news that
family and friends were safe.
On the street outside the apartment block, the gunfire had become more
methodical: short bursts that sounded as if they were targeted, aimed at
smaller groups of men still trying to escape.
“They have killed someone, a young man from Mezze,” said Raja, whose
friend had just seen the man hit from the window of a nearby apartment. “They
have arrested hundreds of people. They have blocked the roads. Any man they
find is being taken away.”
Suddenly the apartment was plunged into darkness as the city’s power cut out.
Moments later, hearing footsteps on the stairwell, the women fell into
terrified silence.
“The Shabiha are in the building,” whispered Noor. Housing a foreign
journalist is a major crime in Syria. Quickly, they found me a place to
hide; covered in children’s cuddy toys in a spot behind a baby’s cot. “Stay
there, don’t say a word,” said Noor.
Clutching AK 47’s, men in khaki military uniform and heavy leather boots
patrolled the stairwell in search of protesters. As the footsteps faded
away, Raja’s friend called to warn that the security forces had begun
raiding houses in the neighbouring street.
It was time to leave. A family member drove his car through the narrow street
to the doorway, letting the girls jump in before quickly driving through a
maze of back roads to avoid the checkpoints.
Not far away, his discussions with Mr Assad complete, China’s vice foreign
minister Zhai Jun issued a statement urging all parties to stop the violence
that has killed more than 5,400 people since March last year.
He was sent from Beijing after widespread anger that China joined Russia in
vetoing a UN Security Council resolution criticising the Assad regime.
He backed a regime plan for a nationwide referendum on a new constitution next
weekend, supposed to introduce democracy to a country that has been ruled by
the same family for 40 years, and said he was hopeful that Syrian
authorities would restore stability to the country soon.
On the main road that runs through Mezze, armed soldiers filled five parked
coaches. Watching and waiting, should there be any further unrest.
Related posts:
Views: 0
Posted in 
Tags: 
