Category: Facebook & Twitter

Selections of Status Updates, Notes, Comments and Tweets made since 2009, a year which coincided with the gradual discovery by Arab and Middle Eastern activists of the potential of Facebook and Twitter as tools for social and political activism.

War and peace in Syria: Where are the good guys?

War and peace in Syria: Where are the good guys? | The Economist.

The Economist Asks: “WHAT to do when the party you have been backing loses sway?” But that’s not the right question. The right question is: WHAT to do when the party you have promised to back but eventually didn’t, at least not in any meaningful way, loses sway? In other words, what to do when you have fucked up big time? The good news: the good guys are still there, but, as has always been the case, they need support. You can’t turn your back on them, then, wonder where they are?

The New Power On The Ground In Syria

The New Power On The Ground In Syria.

There is no denying at this stage that Zahran Alloush, his Jaish Al-Islam and his Islamic Front, are among the main power brokers on the ground at this stage. Working in tandem with Jabhat Al-Nusra and Ahrar Al-Sham, they have managed to isolate ISIS, but ISIS, in a sense, always wanted to be isolated. Their uncompromising stands make them impossible to work with on a consistent basis. Every now and then, the two camps will cooperate, but most of the time they will compete. Groups like the Syrian Martyrs Brigades and Al-Farouq are not taking direct part in this development, but their fight will be more to protect the niches they have already caved out for themselves in the central parts of the country, than, to posit any direct challenge to either IF, Al-Nusra or ISIS. The turfing of the “liberated” areas is almost complete now. All that is left to do is kick pro-Assad militias out, before pushing further into regime-held territories. Regime advances have been halted and reversed, but so long as the regime maintains loyalist militias in opposition territories, and so long as it continues to control parts of Aleppo and Damascus, this war will continue. It’s about carving out territories now, and the regime will not be allowed to maintain the huge chunk of territory currently under its control.

British surgeon ‘murdered by Syrian regime’

British surgeon ‘murdered by Syrian regime’ | World news | theguardian.com.

Bear in mind when reading this sad report that Dr. Khan was a British citizen and that his detention was well-publicized. Everything about Assad’s war crimes has been well-publicized, and still, the world continues to dither as what to do. And there are those who still wonder why Syrians took up arms, and they blame them for it. Impunity by Assad and his international supporters, coupled with moral cowardice on part of world leaders, especially in the West, have paved the way to desperate actions and nihilistic responses. I will not blame the victim, no matter how despondent I happen to be with the tragic developments currently taking place throughout the country.