The Story of Ahmad

 

Hoy quiero contar la historia de Ahmad. Ahmad era un bebé de 18 meses. Su familia - madre, padre, dos hermanas y dos hermanos - fue desplazada en numerosas ocasiones hasta que finalmente terminaron en Rafah, el pueblo más al sur de la franja de Gaza.

Con la incursión terrestre y el bombardeo del lugar designado por las autoridades israelíes como "lugar seguro" donde más de 1,5 millón de palelstinos se refugiaron, la familia, al igual que cientos de miles de otros palestinos, se vio obligada a huir de nuevo.

Esta vez terminaron en el lugar designado por las autoridades, la playa de Al Mawasi, pero Al Mawasi también fue bombardeado y murieron Ahmad, su madre y sus dos hermanas. En la explosión Ahmad fue decapitado. Su padre no pudo encontrar la cabeza y se vio forzado a enterrar el cuerpecito sin cabeza y los cadáveres de su esposa y dos hijas en una fosa provisional.

Uno de los niños que sobrevivió, de unos 7 años, decía: "Yo quiero morir para estar con ellos.". El hermano más pequeño, de unos 4 años, repetía: "Echo de menos a mi mamá".

¿Por qué toleramos esto? ¿Por qué permitimos que semejante sufrimiento ocurra y continue? ¿Por qué los gobiernos no sólo lo toleran sino que lo condonan y/o apoyan? ¿Por qué un gobierno tiene carta blanca para cometer actos que si fuesen cometidos por otros estados serían condenados de inmediato?

Y esto es el animal que se autodenomina "inteligente".

Words and Wording

 

As a linguist, I am acutely aware of the importance of words and wording. This aspect has been at the forefront in recent days because politicians are also past masters in the manipulation of words.

 

So far nothing has come of the UN ceasefire resolution for Gaza and, as is to be expected, the onus has been placed squarely on the shoulders of Hamas. However, just how fair is this?

 

Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the main groups combatting Israel’s invasion of Gaza, initially expressed their pleasure at the resolution being passed so overwhelmingly, and later sent their response to their mediators, Qatar and Egypt. To date Israel has not issued any official response, despite the fact that Antony Blinken has been repeating that Israel is “on board”, has “accepted the proposal” and that Benjamin Netanyahu has expressed his support for the deal. No public statement was made by Netanyahu in over a week, however, and, even if it had, an individual opinion is completely irrelevant when any acceptance or rejection must come from the Israeli government as the decision to declare war was taken by the government.

 

Hamas’s response made a number of alterations to the proposed plan. The most important of these are:

·      An immediate and definitive ceasefire

·      Withdrawal of all Israeli troops from the Gaza strip.

 

What is the reasoning behind these requests?

 

By asking for an immediate ceasefire, Hamas is basically proposing to go directly to what would be Phase two of the proposed plan, thus indicating a willingness to put a permanent end to the conflict.

 

There is a good reason for this. The US proposal wants a six week ceasefire, and phase two would only come into effect if accepted by both parties. Basically this is a way of giving Israel what it has said all along that it wanted. From the outset Israel has stated that if a ceasefire were to be put in place to secure the release of Israeli hostages, they would immediately resume the war once the stipulated period was over. By asking for a complete ceasefire Hamas is trying to avoid resumption of conflict.

 

The US proposal stipulates that Israeli forces should withdraw from all “populated” areas. In an interview with Dr Lorenzo Kamel, professor of International History at the University of Turin in Italy, he stated that when a place has been destroyed, which is the case in Gaza where hardly a building has been left standing, those places are no longer classified as populated areas. This means that there is no “populated” place left in Gaza so the Israeli army could remain indefinitely.

 

Antony Blinken’s statements and declarations regarding Israel’s readiness to engage in the plan are by any measure untrue. When finally Benjamin Netanyahu made a ststement on Israel’s stance, he simply reiterated what he has been saying all along, i.e. that it is his intention to continue the war in Gaza until all his war objectives have been realised. Ministers Smotrich and Ben Gvir have said that if a ceasefire deal were accepted, they would withdraw from the government leaving Netanyahu high and dry in a vulnerable position politically. They also said that since the operation to release four hostages was such a ”resounding success”, (four hostages released and 274 Palestinians killed and over 700 injured) there was no need to reach any kind of deal. Immediately after the resolution was passed, the Israeli representative at the UN said that Israel would continue its war regardless. It is also worth pointing out the Ben Gvir, the Minister for National security, is also an illegal settler!

 

So, when Antony Blinken says that some of Hamas’s proposed amendment are “not workable”, what he really means is that they are not acceptable to Israel for the reasons outlined above.

 

Qatar and Egypt have been the mediators with Hamas, and the US has presented itself as the mediator with Israel. However, how can a country be an objective arbiter or mediator when it is itself supporting the party that it represents with arms and financing? These two roles are incompatible, but this reality does explain Blinken’s attitude throughout this affair.

 

So where does this leave the ordinary people of Palestine? As has been the case for the past 75 years, defenceless and dispossessed. Meanwhile, hospitals continue to be bombed. Over 15,000 children have been killed and over 3,500 children have had one or more limbs amputated. Amputations are now being done without anaesthesia as there is none. What trauma must this leave on the psyche of young children? Caesarean sections are also being carried out without anaesthesia with the risks this entails for both mother and child in an environment where there is little to no sanitation.

 

The bottom line is that Israel does not want to end this war. Why not? Because from the outset in the nineteenth century Zionist policy has stated its aim to possess the whole of historical Palestine with no Palestinians or as few as possible. Hence the massacres we have been seeing over the past eight months are simply a step in that direction.

Damascus Reminiscences

 Exploring the qualities of light in watercolour under the inspiration of my great teacher and mentor, Annabel Overbury, the pieces of Damascus glass which I bought years ago at a little glass-blowing factory just outside the Souq Al-Hamidiyya seemed like the ideal props giving the opportunity to try and capture the effects of light and the transparency of the beautiful glass with its rich colours. 

Unfortunately the little factory no longer exists due to the prolonged agonies of Syria's suffering both during and after the invasion. In fact the invasion continue with Turkey occupying great swathes of the north of the country,and the US-supported terrorist groups teerrorising the easgtern region and controlling the oil fields.

My colleague, Pat Swanston, then suggested that we might make a story by including some of landmarks of Damascus. Jebel Qassioun is a  strong presence in the city and the arch of Bab Sharqi is another strong memory for me.

Dimashq - As-Sham

Here is the result. 

Bajo la inspración de mi gran maestra, Annabel Overbury, estábamos explorando las propiedades de la luz en la acuarela. Se  me ocurrió que los objetos de cristal que había comprado hace años en Damascus darían la oportunidad de intentar captar los efectos tanto de la luz como de la transparencia del crital con sus colores tan vivos.

Desafortunadamente la pequeña fábrica de cristal donde compré estas cosas ya no existe debido a las agonías sufridas por Siria tanto durante como después de la invasión. De hecho, la invasión sigue con la ocupación de grandes áreas del norte del país por Turquía y la presencia de los grupos terroristas apoyados por EE.UU. en el este del país dodne se encuentran los pozos petrolíferos.

Luego, mi colega y amiga, Pat Swanston, sugirió que incorporásemos algunos elementos de la ciudad para ubicar los objetos en su lugar de origen. Jebel Qassioun es para mí una presencia ineludible en la ciudad  y el arco de Bab Sharqi es otro recuerdo muy fuerte cuando pienso en Damasco.

Human madness!

This morning we spoke to a friend in Syria.  We had not spoken for quite some time so her news came as a shock.  Somehow you always imagine that the scenes we see on television do not affect people we know.

They owned a small family-run manufacturing business which they ran from the family home.  Some months ago the "rebels" (to call them by a word that can be  written in print) came into the premises and stole a quantity of finished merchandise. Some days later they returned and kidnapped the father.  The family managed to pay the ransom so their father could return home. The very next day these unmentionables came back for a third time, stole all the production, destroyed the machinery and materials and then cut down every single tree on the land.

This is only one story and fortunately nobody in the family was killed.  Other friends have not been so lucky.  One young girl was hit by a mortar as she walked down the road near Bab Sharqi just two days after her marriage.

Is this what the US, aided and abetted by its European lapdogs, want to achieve by supporting Qatar and Saudi Arabia in their particular form of internecine strife? Did I hear someone mention democracy? What democracy do they have in either of these places? But that seems to be fine so long as they fulfil some need of the "powers that be". Apart from the human misery, the environmental damage is incalculable. Shameful.  

Esta mañana hablamos con una amiga en Siria.  Hacía tiempo que no hablábamos así que sus noticias nos dejaron de una pieza. De alguna manera siempre imaginamos que las escenas que se ven en la televisión no afectan a las personas que conocemos.

Eran propietarios de un pequeño negocio familiar donde trabajaban todos. Hace algunos meses los "rebeldes" (para llamarlos de una manera que se pueda imprimir) entraron en la propiedad y robaron gran cantidad de mercancía terminada. Algunos días después regresaron, pero esta  vez secuestraron al padre.  La familia consiguió pagar el rescate para que su padre pudiera regresar a casa, pero al día siguiente volvieron por tercera vez estos dementes, robaron todo, destruyeron la maquinaria y materias primas antes de talar todos los árboles del terreno.

Ésta es sólo una historia y afortunadamente no murió nadie.  Sin embargo, otros amigos no han sido tan afortunados. A una chica joven  le alcanzó un mortero mientras andaba por la calle cerca de Bab Sharqi tan sólo dos días después de su matrimonio.

¿Es esto lo que los EE.UU., apoyados por sus "aliados" europeos quieren conseguir apoyando las luchas entre Qatar y Arabia Saudí? ¿Alguién menciona la palabra "democracia"?  ¿Qué democracia tienen en esos países? No importa.  Parece que todo está bien mientras cumplan una funcion en los designios superiores de los "poderes".

Aparte de la miseria humana, los daños medioambientales son incalculables. ¡Vergonzoso!

Ma'alula before the Terrorist Attacks

Ma'alula Rises from the Ravages of Terrorism

The Reality of Events>>Maaloula rises from the ravages of terrorism Maaloula rises from the ravages of terrorism Apr 18, 2014 Damascus, (SANA) After the dust of battles settled in Maaloula and terrorism was vanquished in the ancient town, the scale of damage wrought by terrorists who overran the city became all too evident. Maaloula, a town near Damascus which is home to ancient monasteries and churches, suffered unspeakable brutality, vandalism and destruction at the hands of terrorists before the Syrian army brought security and stability to the town. Terrorists blew up St. Thecla Convent which brought part of it tumbling down, before moving to vandalize the new church and burn the temple's marble gate decorated with holy icons. Walls had been charred, saints' icons stripped off and the Christ's icons stabbed with knives. An array of several other icons of priceless value were damaged and deformed. Moreover, lootings abounded in the town. Terrorists stole brass pieces, chandeliers, a 3-meter-long bronze statue of Jesus Christ overlaid with gold that Russia gave to the monastery as a gift in 2009, among other things. Another marble statueof Jesus Christ, known as King of the World, was detonated after terrorists rigged its base with explosives. The brass crosses of the monastery were taken off, and so were all the crosses that once stood erect at the top of domes, churches and monasteries in the town. Historic documents dating back to 1, 500 years were incinerated, in an obvious attempt to obliterate the town's landmarks that are steeped in history. Despite the startling scope of vandalism and damage caused to one of the theology studies' rooms, a painting with the words "God is Love" written on it stood hanging on what remained of one of the rooms' door. Residents of Maaloula remain hopeful that the wounds of their town will heal and that it will be resurrected from the ravages of terrorism that has left behind an unheard-of trail of destruction. Head of Maaloula Municipality, Naji Wehbe, said the attempts of terrorists to "kill" Maaloula came as no surprise for, he says, Wahabi terrorists are foes of beauty, history and humankind. M. Ismael

Impositions on Christians by the jihadis in Syria.

The Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham’s dhimmi pact for the Christians of Raqqa province

Posted by Aymenn Al-Tamimi on Wednesday, February 26th, 2014

By Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi
Traditionally, a ‘dhimmi’ in Islam is a Jew or Christian who agrees to live under the authority of an Islamic state, agreeing to pay a ‘jizya’ (poll tax) and enduring a number of discriminatory conditions in return for ‘protection’ from the state. The Qur’anic basis for this arrangement is 9:29. In practice of course, the dhimmi pact, far from being a model of historical multiculturalism and tolerance as hailed by Western Islamic apologists such as Karen Armstrong, is actually equivalent to Mafia racketeering, as failure to pay ‘jizya’, whose financial burdens often proved heavy historically, leads to a loss of ‘protection’ by the state.
For the Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham (ISIS), which has the backing of broad elements of classical Islamic theology in this regard, such a development comes as no surprise, as the group’s predecessors- Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) and al-Qa’ida in Iraq- similarly imposed jizya on Christians both in the Baghdad area (al-Dura neighborhood) and the north of the country. In Syria, the group has already imposed dhimmi terms in practice on Christians in Raqqa province, such as in Tel Abyad, where supposed violation of the dhimmi pact was the pretext for ISIS’ desecration of the Armenian church in the fall of last year.
One should also note that this pact has been imposed by ISIS’ leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and bears his signature as the amir al-mu’mineen (“Commander of the Faithful”- the traditional title of a Caliph, illustrating how ISIS is aiming to build the Caliphate and is projecting its leader as the future Caliph). It would thus indicate that Baghdadi is likely to be in Raqqa province at the moment.
Indeed, such a conclusion on Baghdadi’s location is quite logical, for I would also note how my ISIS contacts within Raqqa province have been referring to Raqqa city in particular as ISIS’ ‘capital’ since ISIS took over the city and most of the rest of the province, with the exception of a Kurdish enclave just west of Tel Abyad and two regime airbases (Brigade 17 and Tabqa military airport). Meanwhile, Liwa Thuwar al-Raqqa, FSA-banner groupings, and some Jabhat al-Nusra continue to wage an underground insurgency with sabotage attacks (which are also happening in other ISIS strongholds such as Manbij in Aleppo province), and an underground regime presence, which has existed since Raqqa province largely fell into rebel hands, is beginning to flaunt its presence in the city of Raqqa, for a Raqqa branch of the National Defence Force (NDF) has recently been proclaimed, giving news of raisings of regime flags and displays of pro-Assad graffiti in Raqqa.

Figure 1: Regime flag recently put up in Raqqa city.
Here is my preliminary translation of the relevant excerpts of the first formal dhimmi pact:
“In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful:
Text of the pact of security the Islamic State has given to the Christians of Raqqa with their embracing the rulings of dhimma.
Fight those who believe not in God, nor the Last Day, nor in what God and His messenger have forbidden, nor adopt the true religion [Islam], [even if they be] from the People of the Book [Jews and Christians], until they pay jizya with the hand, and feel themselves subdued- Qur’an 9:29.
We bear witness that there is no deity but God alone. He has fulfilled his promise. He has given victory to His servant. He has made mighty His soldiers. He has defeated the parties on His own: there is no deity but God whom we worship, having purified religion for Him even if the kuffar hate it.
And we bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and messenger- may God’s peace and blessings be upon him…and we bear witness that Jesus the son of Mary is God’s servant and His messenger…the Almighty has said: ‘Never would the Messiah disdain to be God’s servant, and nor would the Angels who are near, and whosoever disdains to worship Him and is haughty- He will gather them to Himself together’- Qur’an 4:172.
[...]
And for what follows: This is what the servant of God- Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the Commander of the Faithful [NB: this is the title of a Caliph] has given to the Christians concerning the pact of protection. He has given them security for themselves, their wealth, their churches and the rest of their property in the province of Raqqa: their churches should not be attacked, nor should anything be taken [by force] from them, nor from their domain, nor anything from their wealth, and there should be no compulsion against them in religion, and none of them should be harmed.
He has imposed these conditions on them:
1. That they must not build in their town or the periphery a monastery, church or monk’s hermitage, and must not rebuild what has fallen into disrepair.
2. That they must not show the cross or any of their scriptures in any of the roads or markets of the Muslims and they must not use any means to amplify their voices during their calls to prayers or similarly for the rest of their acts of worship.
3. That they must not make Muslims hear recital of their scriptures or the sounds of their bells, even if they strike them within their churches.
4. That they must not engage in any acts of hostility against the Islamic State, like giving housing to spies and those wanted for a reason by the Islamic State, or whosoever’s brigandery is proven from among the Christians or others, they must not aid such persons in concealing or moving them or other such things. If they know of a conspiracy againt the Muslims, they must inform them about it.
5. That they must not engage in any displays of worship outside the churches.
6. That they must not stop any of the Christians from embracing Islam if he so wishes.
7. That they must respect Islam and Muslims, and not disparage their religion in any way.
8. The Christians must embrace payment of the jizya at every mention upon them: its value is 4 dinars of gold…on the Ahl al-Ghina [the wealthy], and half that value on those of middle income, and half that on the poor among them, on condition that they do not conceal anything from us regarding their state of affairs. And they are to make two payments per year.
9. They are not allowed to bear arms.
10. They are not to deal in selling pork and wine with Muslims or in their markets; and they are not to consume these things publicly- that is, in any public places.
11. They should have their own tombs, as is custom.
12. That they must accept the precepts imposed by the Islamic State like modesty of dress, selling, buying and other things.
[...]
So for them is nearness to God and the dhimma of Muhammad, the Prophet and Messenger of God- may God’s peace and blessings be upon him- even as God brings his command: what they have embraced in the conditions outlined in this document.
But if they disagree with anything in this pact, then they have no dhimma, and the Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham will deal with them as it deals with the people of war and stubborn enmity.”
Update: After the implementation of this dhimmi pact in Raqqa province, the practice looks set to spread to Hasakah province (Wilayat al-Baraka in ISIS terminology), where ISIS is the dominant force in rebel-held areas. A Twitter account associated with ISIS news from Hasakah province- @barakah53731284- says “After Raqqa province, Christians from Baraka province offer to pay jizya and the Islamic State postpones their matter until it can be made completely possible with a guarantee of being able to implement the dhimmi pact.”


Update 2: In case ISIS’ ambitions to a global caliphate were still not apparent to anyone, ISIS’ official Twitter account for Raqqa province had this to say on the imposition of the dhimmi pact: “Today in Raqqa and tomorrow in Rome.” Rome is traditionally seen as the Christians’ global capital.

Biased news reporting and propaganda

It is now 3 years since the conflict in Syria began and I am not sick and tired of reading and seeing and hearing the skewed reports of what has been gong on there. Before this conflict broke out the EU and other western governments were saying in Damascus how much progress Bashar Al-Assad was making in modernising certain aspects of Syrian society. At the same time there was a noticeable build-up of so-called "press" and "cultural" people with embassy affiliations, notably to the US embassy.

It is worth remembering here that Syria was the only non-confessional state in the region and that the Sunni majority lived peacefully alongside their Shia, Alawite, Ismaili, Druze and Christian neighbours.

Now the country is torn apart notably by interventions from outside i.e. Saudi Arabia (Al-Qaeda) and Qatar (Moslem brotherhood) who are fighting their own proxy war on Syrian soil. Turkey is also exploiting the situation   to its own ends They have turned the country into a terrorist camp where they are training terrorists with many thousands brought in from outside i.e. Britain, France, Belgium, Scandinavia, Libya, Egypt, Tunisia and anywhere else where there are hotheads ready to plunge themselves and their families into violence and hatred.

The US plays a great role in all this and over the past decade or more they have been recruiting people to further their cause.  The Syrian participants in this conflict are mainly people who have their own agenda and are prepared to take up foreign offers if that will get them where they want to be.

What is abundantly clear to anyone who knows anything about the region is that, despite all its flaws, the current Syrian regime under Bashar Al-Assad , who was after all elected by the people, is the only one that can guarantee the rights of the minorities in the country. What would take its place does not bear thinking about as we can see from the terrorist held areas enforcing Sharia law in the terrorist.

When US representatives e.g. Obama and Kerry make statements about democracy and other professed aims, the very last thing they are taking into account is the welfare and wellbeing of the people of Syria and they should certainly take a look at their own domestic situation before making pronouncements about how others should govern their lives. They might also consider the domestic situation of their allies i.e. Saudia Arabia and Qatar which cannot be regarded as democratic by any stretch of even gthe most overheated imagination. 

The international media are their "Master's Voice" "reporting" on the situation in totally skewed terms and with a complete lack of analysis. I for one am tired of skewed, biased and uninformed (if we are to be generous) reporting or propaganda machines (if we believe that the press is simply another weapon in the war serving the interests of those fanning the flames).

Syria was an increasingly prosperous country before this proxy war began, but the task of rconstruction, when the times comes for it, will be an arduous and expensive one.  Even if we look at this conflict only from the perspective of environmental  destruction it is a totally reprehensible state of affairs.

On the road, Syria

Road to Palmyra















Baghdad Café on road to Palmyra!

Photos Sednaya

Mosaics Shrine Sednaya













Niches in rock below shrine Sednaya

Photos Shahba

Arch Shahba














Official vandals tearing up Roman paving





Roman baths, Shahba

Photos Izra'a

Greek Orthodox Church of St. George, Izra'a















Detail iconostasis, Church of St. George, Izra'a
Abu & Um Yusuf
Robert with Abu & Um Yusuf

Photos Palmyra

Colonnaded axis















Temple of Baal-Shaman















Triumphal Arch, Palmyra




















Tetrapylon, Palmyra