Sunday, November 3, 2013

The Horror of the War in Syria to the Civilian Population



 I tried to find links that would show how difficult the war in Syria is to the civilians, and I came up with these.  It may sound like a cliche but civilians are the ones who suffer the brunt of the war -- my heart goes out to them especially the children.

FIRST, THE FILM, Syria: The Horror of Homs, a City of War, won the Emmy last October 2, 2013. This film, done by the French photojournalist Mani, is very touching. I was particularly moved by the people singing the Revolutionary Song, "Get Out, Bashar!" by Ibrahim Qashoush who was reportedly assassinated because of this song.

The journalist, Marie Colvin, who was killed alongside the French photographer, Remi Ochlik, during the siege of Homs, had said, "I think the sickening thing is the complete merciless nature. They're hitting civilian buildings mercilessly and without caring. The scale of it is just shocking.

Syria: The Horror of Homs, a city at war
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyQIv5wyYGE

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And here are some excerpts from news articles. I chose these because they show the suffering of the civilian population in Syria as a result of the War. The Syrian people are literally starving.


A FEW WEEKS AGO, "the last remaining tunnels the rebels were using to bring in supplies were discovered by the army and destroyed. Now, all the people have to eat is what they had in storage", said Abdel Rahman.
Speaking to AFP over the Internet, an activist on the ground said: "The days when we had one meal a day are gone. Now we have barely even that.
"I've heard of individual cases of people eating cat meat out of sheer desperation," said the activist who identified himself as Yazan.
He warned the severe shortages of food including sugar and other sources of energy were causing diseases to spread in the besieged neighbourhoods.
"Most people in the siege are malnourished. You can tell by the way people look and move. More and more people have a low (disease-fighting) white blood cell count and jaundice," said Yazan.
"Common illnesses like the flu spread quickly. People are weak. All we have is bulgur to eat. We're eating one kind of food day in, day out."

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ANALYSTS SUGGEST that regime forces are intensifying efforts "to try and starve out" the rebels from the areas as a result. In the rebel-stronghold Eastern Ghouta area, for example, the regime forces have reportedly increased blockade efforts over a week ago, preventing food and supplies from entering the area.

Ghouta residents worry that the developing conditions will soon be comparable to those in the malnourished suburbs west of the capital, where food deprivation has resulted in several cases of death and illness.

"Last week, the army managed to seal the last smuggling route from Damascus that we used to get food and flour. If we don't find a new opening, we'll be destroyed," said an activist, speaking by Skype.

Recent clashes in the village of Mleiha has closed the only other possible route to obtain food and fuel, according to the activist. Aid works have also struggled to access the areas to provide supplies and medical treatment due to blockades and clashes between regime and rebel forces.

From; Regime Blockades in Damascus intensify, clashes reported in Homs

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AT LEAST THREE of Damascus's suburbs - Yarmouk, Eastern Ghouta and Moadamiya - have been besieged by government forces for several months.
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The situation has become so desperate that earlier this month Muslim clerics issued a religious ruling allowing people to eat cats, dogs and donkeys just to survive.

Those animals are usually considered unfit for human consumption in Islam.

For months, the UN and other aid agencies have been calling for urgent help, fearing the worst for the people of Moadamiya.

"We didn't see a piece of bread for nine months," one woman told the BBC. "We were eating leaves and grass."

From: Starved Syria Civilians Flee Besieged Damascus Suburb
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 Take a look at these links:
How to help Syrian Refugees 
Syria Fires Official who tried to broker peace
Israeli Warplanes strike inside Syria for fifth time this year
No Role for Assad in 'peaceful and democratic Syria'
List of Journalists Killed during the Syrian Civil War
Siege of Homs

Read also my earlier entries about the War in Syria
photos courtesy of The Syrian Revolution 2011
tags: Syria, Syrian, Middle East, Assad, war, conflict, revolution, Aleppo, Homs, Damascus, children, genocide, chemical attack, starvation, civilians

All for now,

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