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.

Syria: a day of escalation

Phew, it's been a full day...
Last night, the UNSC authorised a No Fly Zone and additional measures against Col Gaddafi.

Meanwhile, the crackdown continues in Bahrain, where the government has demolished Pearl roundabout, the symbolic landmark which demonstrators calling for reforms had adopted as their gathering place. Ironically, the statue was intended to symbolise the unity of the GCC (Gulf Co-operation Council), the regional organisaion (which includes Saudi Arabia) that King al-Khalifa has now called upon to help him quell the opposition movement.

In San'a, the capital of Yemen, security forces massacred those protesting against the government. More than 30 have been reported killed and hundreds injured. This is totally despicable behaviour by President Ali Abdallah Saleh, our ally in the 'War on Terror', and indicative of a situation which seems to be rapidly deteriorating.

However, for me today was dominated by events in Syria where, for the fourth consecutive day, demonstrations were held in various towns and cities across the country. There seems to have been a dangerously rapid escalation. On 15th and 16th March scattered groups of protesters assembled to demand the end of emergency laws, the release of political prisoners, and to make a general call for freedom in Syria. However, these disparate calls have been met by steadilly mounting state brutality.

By 17th March al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper was reporting the use of live ammunition by police in the Midan and Muhajireen districts of Damascus, and the deployment of Republican Guards tanks on the outskirts of the city.

This didn't stop a group from gathering in the Umayyid mosque in the Old City of Damascus after Friday prayers who began to chant "la ilaha il-Allah" (No god but God) and then "Freedom!". One man held a sign with both the Cross and the Crescent. Incidentally, this mosque is of great significance to both Sunni and Shi'a and, because it is one of the places which claim to contain John the Baptist's head, it is also a sacred place for Christians too.



Then, in this video, we can see fighting and skuffles as security forces invade the prayer hall. Apparently 200 security personnel were involved and up to 30 people, including some under-18s, were arrested.



Here, a man is being beaten in the courtyard of the mosque:



However, during the last few days the largest protests seem to have taken place in provincial Syria.

For example, on Friday thousands protested in Der'a in Hauran (southern Syria). In this video they can be heard shouting "Freedom"



Fire engines were deployed as water cannon in an effort to disperse the crowd.



Between 3 and 6 protesters are reported to have been killed and dozens injured in Der'a today as live ammunition was used against them. Here is video of the crowd carrying a dead protester. You can clearly hear shooting in the background. (Warning: graphic)



There were reports that the army, including helicopters, have been deployed inside the city.


Large crowds also gathered in Homs, the third largest city in Syria.



Another large crowd gathered in Baniyas on the Med Coast (between Lattakia and Tartous) and chanted "God, Syria, Freedom!"



Protests have also been reported in Deir Az-Zur, Hasseke, Qamishli and Raqqa.

Witnesses in Aleppo described Syria's second city as 'quiet' today, in the midst of a heavy security presence in the centre of the city.
Demonstrations had been reported there on Tuesday. There had also been some reports of gunfire on the night of 15th March.


Personally, I'm very worried about the situation in Syria. The Syrian government has shown that it is not interested in engaging in any kind of dialogue with those who are seeking reform. Instead, it has immediately resorted to it's virtual monopoly on violence, including the use of live ammunition and the deployment of military units against civilians. Old habits die hard.

The Syrian authorities are hoping that this brutal crackdown will quickly stamp out dissent. However, it also risks strengthening opposition and exacerbating the divisions in Syrian society.

Allah m3kum.
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Update 19/3: Late arriving video of Friday's protests in Deir Az-Zur in the east of Syria.

Quality writing on Middle East

I've been super impressed with a number of recent articles published by Jadiliyya.
Of particular note:

Maya Mikdasi writes how the latest Wikileaks release implicates the Lebanese govt under Sinioura in the Israeli attacks of 2006.

Sherene Seikaly and Pascale Ghazaleh look at the issue of paternalism/infantilism in Middle Eastern political culture.

Last, but certainly not least, Hannes Baumann explores the Seif al-Islam and LSE connection, and thinks about the wider implications (the interconnectivity of education-politics-power and the issue of higher education funding in the UK).


And here's an account of how Gaddafi was able to buy his way in from the cold. Yes, oil and greed did play a part...