One Syrian fiction writer describes how the revolution has changed her.

[pampango]

The writer Samar Yazbek has made the uneasy discovery that the lives of people
on the ground have become more important to her than fictional characters.

As a writer it has not been easy to discover that the lives of those on the ground have become more important to me than fictional characters. For a long time my relationship with others was more observational than interactive. Now, the relationship between my life and writing is formed by the revolution. I was with the revolution from the beginning, and I will stand by it until the end. I will expose its errors but I will not abandon it. For me, it is a testimony to the triumph of justice over oppression, the real-life expression of my own understanding of the concepts of ugliness and beauty.

On 3 March 2011, I was in Syria: I witnessed peaceful protesters being killed as they offered an olive branch to the regime, who responded with murder, bombings, torture and mutilation. I saw people protesting for justice, freedom, democracy, and the Shabiha militia, security forces and army responding by killing protesters, disfiguring their corpses, laying siege to whole towns. They made threats against the families of activists; they arrested doctors seen helping the wounded; they worked to sow enmity between people. They wanted to create their own anarchy. If soldiers refused to kill the protesters the security forces would get rid of them once and for all. They had no choice but to desert. I was witness to the fact that the revolution did not take up arms voluntarily.

I left Syria in mid-June 2011, having been discredited, persecuted, threatened and arrested. A year would pass before my return. I traveled between various towns and cities, speaking about the revolution, conscious of the regime's prowess in manipulating the media, and its success in duping the world into believing that this was a war brought about by Sunni Islamists. I met with intellectuals, politicians and diplomats. They had little idea of what was going on. Most wanted to believe the story that it was a Salafist revolt. Their response was always that the minority groups in Syria were under threat – that the Christians and the Alawites would be in danger from the Sunni jihadis. This was not true; it was a monster they had created to scare themselves. What I saw on the ground told a very different story.

***snip***

Two years after the revolution began I am touring the alleyways of Saraqeb with a group of young men counting their dead. MIG helicopters bombarded the town for two days straight. Yet, despite all of the pain and suffering, I say the same now as before: my heart is broken and I'll never be at peace again, but I will not stop fighting Assad's regime, no matter what the post-Assad future holds. Assad is a tyrant, a murderer and a sadist. Whatever is to come, it cannot be worse.

• Translated by Emily Danby. Samar Yazbek is a Syrian author and winner of the 2012 International PEN Pinter writer of courage award.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/may/03/samar-yazbek-syrian-revolution-writing

I know nothing about the author. The essay is merely her opinion and a telling of what she has seen. Perhaps it is all made up and simply propaganda for the anti-Assad side. Perhaps she only understands what Assad has done and does not really comprehend what is in store if he is replaced. She won an award for her work in 2012, but perhaps it was bestowed on her by a tainted organization.

Some will say it is all a lie. Some will avoid it our of discomfort. "Nothing can or should be done about this, so this type of essay does no one any good.

All those things are possibilities. It is a wonderful essay.

[leveymg]

1. Fiction writer, indeed. On March 3, 2011 nobody was reported killed by the regime.

Last edited Fri May 3, 2013, 01:55 PM - Edit history (2)

No significant events listed in the Syria Timeline between Feb. 27 and March 6, 2011: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_Syrian_civil_war_%28January%E2%80%93April_2011%29

First opposition mass protests weren't even until March 15. There was one reported fatal shooting on March 20 in Daraa when protestors set fire to buildings housing the ruling Ba'ath Party. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/21/world/middleeast/21syria.html Opposition fatalities again occurred in Daraa on April 8, amidst shooting between snipers and police.

Here's the Chrononology:

First Syrian mass protests March 15, 2011

15 March – "Day of Rage"

External videos
First explicit demonstration against the Syrian regime Damascus, Syria, 15 March 2011 on YouTube

Simultaneous demonstrations took place in major cities across Syria. Thousands of protesters gathered in al-Hasakah, Daraa, Deir ez-Zor, and Hama. There were some clashes with security, according to reports from dissident groups. In Damascus, a smaller group of 200 men grew spontaneously to about 1,500 men. Damascus has not seen such uprising since the 1980s. The official Facebook page called "Syrian Revolution 2011" showed pictures of supportive demonstrations in Cairo, Nicosia, Helsinki, Istanbul and Berlin. There were also unconfirmed news that Syrian revolution supporters of Libyan descent, stormed into the Syrian Embassy in Paris.[49][50][51][52][53]

Another recently released political figure, Suhair Atassi, became an unofficial spokesperson for the "Syrian revolution", when she was interviewed by dozens of Arab and international media channels regarding the uprising. There were reports of 6 arrested in Damascus.[54][55][56][57] Atassi paid tribute to "the Syrian people who took the initiative ahead of the opposition," recalling the popular uprisings that shook Tunisia and Egypt[48] After the first day of the uprising there were reports about approximately 3000 arrests and a few "martyrs", but there are no official figures on the number of deaths.[58]

Armed resistance started on April 8, 2011. There were no significant demonstrations in Syria until a protest in Damascus involving a couple hundred people on February 5 following the first protest that followed the internet Call for Days of Rage a few days earlier.

Daraa, a city near the Jordanian border in Southern Syria, was the site of the first armed clashes and massacres in early April.

The fighting with military defectors was a battle that developed within the context of armed uprising in Daraa. The events of April 8 that led to the arrival two weeks later of large number of government troops are key to understanding how the violence was sparked and why the use of force by the regime escalated. There were three key actions that sparked the crackdown: snipers, the burning of the Ba'ath Party Headquarters by a large, armed mob, and the killing of 19 policemen and security personnel. http://en.wikipedia.org/...

8 April – "Friday of Resistance"
External videos
Unknown Gunmen Filmed at Syria Demo
(YouTube: Associated Press.)
8 April 2011. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
Protests in Duma near Damascus

On the third Friday called "Friday of Resistance", thousands of protesters took to streets in Daraa, Latakia, Tartus, Edlib, Baniyas, Qamishli, Homs and the Damascus suburb of Harasta, in the largest protest yet.

27 anti-government protesters were killed in Daraa and many other were wounded when security forces opened fire with rubber bullets and live rounds to disperse stone-throwing protesters. The clashes started when thousands of prayers staged rallies following the Friday prayers. In a telephone call one of the activists told the news agencies that demonstrators, starting from three mosques, have marched to the city's main court where they were confronted by security forces dressed in civilian clothing. A witness told Reuters he saw "snipers on roofs." It was also reported that another resident has seen "pools of blood and three bodies" in the Mahatta area of Daraa. The protesters have also smashed a stone statue of Basil al-Assad, the brother of the current President of the country, and set fire to a Ba'ath Party outpost. The state-run Syrian Television reported that 19 police officers and members of the security forces have been killed in Daraa.

You may view the original AP Raw Feed from Daraa on April 8 which shows the mob and the snipers, here:

http://www.youtube.com/... - (URL for:

Raw Video: Deadly Day of Protests in Syria - YouTube
► 1:13► 1:13

www.youtube.com Apr 8, 2011 - 1 min - Uploaded by AssociatedPress
State-run Syrian TV says 19 police officers and security forces have been killed in southern city of Daraa. (April 8)


P.S. - There are no "MIG helicopters."

[David__77]

2. This is a Pol Pot-style revolution, and always was.

It's al Qaeda or Assad, sadly. Some people prefer al Qaeda to Assad, for sure.

[leveymg]

3. But, this "revolution" will be televised.

Last edited Fri May 3, 2013, 05:02 PM - Edit history (2)

Between the funding and training provided by the Saudis, the State Department, MI-6, and the DGSE, this has to have been the best organized "rebel" media offensives I've ever seen.



But, the current crop of propagandists seem rather half-hearted compared to those who were around a year or so ago. For instance, whatever happened to Tabatha?

?w=300

[David__77]

4. I object to calling out a particular poster.

However, I will agree with the general statement that those who I would SUSPECT would support US military intervention have seemed to become less visible. Many people seemed to think that "helping" Libyan people meant bombing the hell out of the military and institutions of the pre-existing state, and the logic seemed at first to carry over to Syria, for some. However, as the situation has unfolded, it has been abundantly clear that Libya and Syria are very different cases.

[HiPointDem]

5. they're both cases where the us has provided support of various kinds to the 'rebels'.

[leveymg]

8. She hasn't posted since July 3, 2012. Around the time it became clear the Obama Admin. wasn't going

to militarily intervene and that the U.S. and NATO policy of covert regime change in Syria had turned into a bloody quagmire. Within a few months the split within the Administration would become visible, and Petraeus and Clinton would be shown the door.

Tabatha left us after she felt her last post was misconstrued. She posted that it was a good thing that Syria was about to be carved up along religious lines, like Iraq was, a notion which many of DU members took exception to. See what seems to be her last post in defense of ethnic cleansing: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002897399

Too bad. She's so much more able than those who have tried to replace her. At least she was able to defend her positions to their logical conclusions.

[kelliekat44]

6. There very one "curve ball." nt

[riderinthestorm]

7. Ugh. A classic example of "don't believe everything you read" when it comes to Syria....

Thanks for posting. Its a MOST instructive lesson on how the anti-Assad forces are mastering the "art" of propaganda...