Der'a under siege

Today the focus of the protests in Syria has been Der'a. Der'a is a small city in southern Syria, just a few miles from the Jordanian border. Aside from its status as capital of the eponymous province in which it's located, it's a fairly nondescript Syrian town. Nevertheless, over the last few days it has been the scene of large and angry demonstrations against the Syrian government. This has resulted in clashes with Syrian security forces who have employed water cannon, tear gas and even live ammunition. Yesterday, 4 men from the town were killed during these clashes.

Here is a video taken during the funeral of Mahmoud al-Jawabra and Wissam Ayyash which was held today (19th March) during which the crowd chanted "No god but God, martyrs are loved by God", as a mark of respect for the dead.


Despite a heavy security presence, thousands of men then took to the streets (the town has a population of about 75,000) accusing the killers of being "traitors" and calling for revolution.



In this video groups of young men confront security forces who start to shoot at them.



Der'a is now in a state of siege. It has been surrounded by security forces, with no one allowed to enter the city. The internet, landlines and mobile phone network have reportedly all been cut.

There have been demonstrations in most of the main cities in Syria during the last few days but they have remained relatively small. Clearly the majority of Syrians have been sitting on the fence. There may be a degree of sympathy towards the need for reform and increased freedom but so far most people have remained unconvinced by the calls for them to take to the streets. It has therefore been a little puzzling to see such an intense confrontation in Der'a. What has singled Der'a out?

There have been rumours circulating for a number of days about children being arrested for writing anti-regime graffiti, but today a story emerged which would seem to clearly explain why Der'a has been the scene of such anger towards the Syrian government.

According to this report (in Arabic), people in Der'a have been incensed by the arrest and interrogation of an entire class of ten-year olds who had been chanting "the people want to overthrow the system" in school. This is the chant that we first heard in Tunisia and which has been repeated in protests across the Arab world. 15 children were arrested during night-time raids on 9th March, and all of them remain in secret police custody more than ten days later. You can read an English translation here. [Update: It would seem as if the true number of arrested children is 15 rather than 25 as reported by Syrianet. Text amended]

Many Syrians were already gravely concerned at the killing of 4 or more young men and the deployment of military units to Der'a. As this story has broken, they now seem to have become particularly disturbed at the secret police's treatment of ten-year old children.

The Syrian government would also seem to be nervous about the impact that these reports might have on public opinion. They have promised to investigate what has happened in Der'a and to punish those responsible. Rumours even began to circulate that a deal had been done between the Syrian authorities and the people in Der'a.

Nevertheless, despite these reports of conciliatory gestures, at the time of writing there has still been no confirmation of an end to the siege, nor the release of the child-prisoners. To the contrary, this evening it was being reported that the local governor had fled, his home having been set ablaze by protesters, and that a battalion of tanks was being deployed to the city.

The comparisons to Hama in 1982 have started.
We are nervously watching...
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This post is dedicated to the martyrs of Der'a and also to Mohammed Nabbous, a Libyan hero, who was shot dead today in Benghazi. R.I.P.