Wednesday, June 01, 2011

Syrian Child Torture Ignites Protests


Torture of Boy Reinvigorates Syria's Protest Movement  -Liz Sly    

Hamza Ali al-Khateeb [pictured] was 13 years old. And since a video portraying the torture inflicted upon him was broadcast on al-Jazeera on Friday, he has rapidly emerged as the new symbol of the protest movement in Syria. 

In Hama, thousands swarmed a central square holding pictures of the boy and chanting "Hamza, Hamza." In Aleppo, people climbed onto rooftops Saturday, chanting, "God is great. Hamza, Hamza." In Darayya, a suburb of Damascus, children took to the streets Sunday to denounce his torture.
(Washington Post)
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UPDATE:

Assad Regime Will Eventually Succumb to Syria Protests -Amos Harel

The regime of Syrian leader Bashar Assad will not survive and will eventually collapse under the pressure of demonstrations. This is the assessment of Israel's military establishment - and this view is gaining strength.

A senior security source told Ha'aretz this week that "Assad is becoming weaker. It may take a few months, or a year or more, but the regime will probably fail to recover."

"Assad has lost his legitimacy in the eyes of his people and therefore his fate is sealed. Every week of demonstrations and deaths only makes things more difficult for him....I do not think he has a chance against the opposition."
(Ha'aretz)
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2 comments:

LHwrites said...

This horrible, horrible tragedy will hopefully haunt Assad as his brutal regime crumbles, long after it should have-- when it was his father running the show. It was incredible to read yesterday that Syria's government claims that the boy was not tortured and murdered but actually just died from gunshot wounds!

Bruce said...

I made the mistake of watching the video of his dead body...I had to stop before it was over. Horrible.