Christmas in Aleppo

The situation in Syria’s Aleppo dominated media news reports for several month and people may wonder why Aleppo suddenly dropped from the news roster. Shouldn’t there, as Assad’s thugs unfortunately have crushed the heroically resisting defenders of Aleppo, not enough stories emerge about terror, bloodlust, and monstrous crimes? Wouldn’t it be the duty of news media to expose the savagery and pure evil of the Assad regime, as Assad’s thugs have free hand to rape, torture, and slaughter the now unprotected women, children, and elderly, left behind in the ruins of Aleppo?

Not only do mass media outlets fail to feed the horror of an Assad-controlled Aleppo to their audiences, Christian (!!!) news agencies publish despicable articles who try to whitewash the Assad regime and who are suggesting, that food, shelter, medical car is provided, public services are restored, and people are not fleeing, but even returning and celebrating the victory of Assad’s butchers.

A few examples:

The Christian publication Herald Malaysia writes:

These extremist groups who have tried to drag the people into obscurantism, attempted to target the celebrating crowds with a terrorist attack which was foiled by the police. A bomb ready to explode was placed on Aziziya square, to sow fear and uncertainty but also to curb the massive return of all internally displaced persons, who had left the city soon after the rise of the rebels and jihadists.

About one million people originally from Aleppo returned to the city after the liberation by the government forces, all ready to pick up their lives from where they were suddenly interrupted by jihadist groups. They want to rebuild, re-open businesses and factories, return the equipment stolen by militias and smuggled into Turkey. In the area there is an atmosphere of enthusiasm and dynamism, elements that have always characterized the people of Aleppo.

The news of the bomb and the explosion failed to shake the people, now immune to the “tricks” of the fighters “for freedom” and supporters of a “caliphate wanted by foreign forces”. Citizens ironically see what is happening in the exact opposite of what had happened earlier. Everything began with bombs and terrorists attacks, followed by the occupation of the districts east of Aleppo and the arrival of the jihadists. Now what happens is exactly the reverse: the jihadists are fleeing, preceded by the liberation of the neighborhoods in the east and they return to basics with the bombs and terrorist attacks. Although it may seem paradoxical, the population considers the attempted attack a good sign; it is a sign of the utter despair and bewilderment of jihadist groups, now powerless and forced to cowardly and unpredictable attacks.

The Catholic communication agency DICI writes:

Emile Katti, surgeon and director of al-Raja hospital in Aleppo, told Vatican news agency Fides that the sister of one of the hospital’s employees, together with her whole family, was killed by hidden gunmen as they tried to leave eastern Aleppo through the humanitarian corridor. Sharing his own experience, he added, “The sick and wounded coming from these parts of the city speak of hunger and of having to eat grass, the food, of which there was enough, was only for the militia and their supporters.” The tales of persons coming from zones controlled by jihadi militias bring details often not known by the media… In the liberated zones, the houses of worship have been found profaned and graves destroyed and vandalized, according to Catholic press agency Asianews, in Rome.

Fr. Ziad Hilal, a Jesuit, has been working since September in Aleppo for the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) and for Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), after six years in the city of Homs, Syria. On December 14, for the first time in five years, he was able to travel to zones of eastern Aleppo liberated from rebel control by government forces. On his return, he was questioned by Andrea Krogmann, and replied, “I have been able to take a look at the situation, especially in the Christian zone of Al-Midan. The sight before you is one of total destruction. Our center, Saint Vartan, is also very damaged.” As for the so-called massacres of civilians by the Syrian army and its allies in the course of the liberation of eastern Aleppo, as described by international media, he said he is “doubtful about these stories.” “There are perhaps isolated cases, but we have not heard of them here,” explained Fr. Ziad. “You must know that nowadays there is much false information circulating and also false photos. The organizations on the ground such as the Red Cross have not spread this kind of news up to now.” He added, “It must be said that the media have played a deplorable role in this war.”

Thanks to humanitarian corridors, “many persons have left the eastern part of the city to come to the west. Numerous organizations are there to help them. It was very cold today [December 14].” The Jesuit added that if “the battle of Aleppo was fierce,” and a large part of the city totally destroyed, “we must maintain hope, or else why are we still here?” He concluded, “Aleppo has had many conquerors in the course of its history. Thousands of persons have died here and it was destroyed several times. And yet it has always risen again. Let us therefore be hopeful!”

“Christmas lights have returned to western Aleppo for the first time,” Bishop Antoine Audo SJ, Chaldean bishop of Aleppo, to the Roman telejournal of Catholic station TV2000 on December 19. “It has been six years since in the Christian quarters of western Aleppo, Christmas was celebrated with decorations and lights.” “Today,” Bishop Audo said, “you cannot hear any shots; there is a total change. People are happy. I saw — for the first time in a long time — Christmas trees on balconies. On the square of the Christian quarter, a Christmas tree has been set up as well and decorated.”

AsiaNews.it writes:

According to well-informed sources contacted by AsiaNews, the people of Aleppo have celebrated with singing and dancing on the rubble strewn streets; in general there is an atmosphere of widespread joy, in spite of the ravages of war and the conflict signs that are visible everywhere.

However, the biggest victory for Aleppo is not the liberation of the city from jihadists and insurgents, which in four years failed to foster the support of the population, rather the total failure of their attempt to kill the spirit of tolerance and coexistence between religions and ethnicities. This is peculiar to Syria and especially its northern metropolis, and Jihadist extremism could not erase it.

In fact, in a sign of triumph Aziziya – the Armenian Christian Quarter of Aleppo — erected a giant Christmas tree, festively illuminating the streets. Moreover, yesterday evening a band, composed of Armenian youth dressed as Santa Claus, performed in the square to the delight of the entire population of the area.

The lighting of the tree was witnessed by Muslims and Christians alike, all united in joy and celebrating the holiday season in a typical climate, that has nothing to do with the Islamic holidays.

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The irony is hopefully not lost on the readers of this blog post, and there is nothing more to do than to round up the text by some background facts about Christianity in Syria:

Syria’s Christian community, existing for two millennia, was 2.2 million strong before the war and has dwindled in only six years to about 600,000. This is ethnic cleansing, in some instances even genocide, though no one in the West will ever address this issue.

Christians always played an important role in Syria’s history. Michel Aflaq, co-founder of the Baath Party, which has ruled Syria since 1963, was a Christian, and Christians rose to senior positions in the party, government and security forces. Dawoud Rajiha, Syria’s Defense Minister who was assassinated by Islamists in 2012, was a Christian.

In January 1973, Hafez al-Assad, Bashar’s father, implemented a new constitution which led to a national crisis. Unlike previous constitutions, this one did not require that the president of Syria must be a Muslim, leading to fierce demonstrations in Hama, Homs and Aleppo organized by the Muslim Brotherhood and the ulama. They labeled Assad as the “enemy of Allah” and called for a jihad against his rule. Assad’s coming to power was an unprecedented development and shocking to the Sunni religious elite which had monopolized power for many centuries.”

As Hafez al-Assad had to appease the Muslim fanatics, the Constitution of Syria now states that the President has to be a Muslim. However, Syria does not profess a state religion, and Muslim leaders frequently criticized this and called for change.

The largest Christian denominations in Syria are the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch, the Melkite Catholic Church, the Syriac Orthodox Church, and the Armenian Apostolic Church. There is also the Assyrian Church of the East and the Chaldean Catholic Church. All denominations have accepted Russia’s position, originally dating from the 19th century, as a protector of Christianity in the region. “Russia has given hope to the people of Syria,” according to Patriarch Ignatios Ephrem II, leader of the Syrian Orthodox church.

This is surely an additional strong motive for Russia’s involvement in Syria.

Aleppo, before the war with 200,000 members the largest Christian community, now houses only 30,000. The city was also the location of historical important Christian churches, going back to the faith’s earliest years. Today any still-functioning Christian churches in the city are only in the western, government-controlled districts, Churches in the eastern districts are vandalized, destroyed, and mostly damaged beyond repair.

Christians in the eastern districts have left long time ago. The fear for their lives and the lives of their children forced families to take the tough decision to flee to Lebanon or beyond. The few who didn’t leave were killed, and this happened not only in Aleppo but in the whole of Syria.

A few examples:

In April 2013, Bishop Boulos Yazigi and archbishop Yohanna Ibrahim were abducted by gunmen north of Aleppo. Nothing has been heard about them since and it is assumed, that they have been murdered. Two other priests, Michael Kayyal and Maher Mahfouz, kidnapped in February 2013, are known to have been executed. In June 2013, 49-year-old Fr François Murad was killed by a gunshot inside his church in the Christian village of al-Ghassanieh. In October 2012, Fr Fadi Haddad, a Greek Orthodox parish priest in Qatana, south-west of Damascus, was kidnapped. His badly disfigured body was discovered later on the roadside. Fr Frans van der Lugt, a Dutch Jesuit who lived in Syria for 40 years, was shot dead in Homs on April 7, 2014. Fr Paolo Dall’Oglio, a charismatic Italian Jesuit, was kidnapped in July 2013 by IS and most likely killed. Fr Jacques Mourad was kidnapped in May 2015, nothing has been heard of him since.

13 nuns, kidnapped by jihadists in Maalula, were luckier and freed after Qatar paid 16 million US$ ransom.

In areas seized by IS (Islamic State), Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, and other Islamic groups, Christians have been ordered to convert to Islam, pay jizya (a religious tax), or face death. In the Syrian province of Hassakeh in February 2015, hundreds of Christians have been kidnapped by Islamists who demanded exorbitant high sums of ransom.

Christians in Syria are persecuted and killed by Islamic militants, including the Western sponsored “moderate rebels.” There is no way to deny this and one has to ask, why Western powers support this war against Syrian Christianity?

One cannot blame people if they start believing in conspiracy theories about Barack Hussein Obama’s faith, John Brennan’s Muslim conversion, Clinton aid Huma Abedin’s Muslim Brotherhood links, and Saudi influence in general.

But, conspiracy theories aside, there is one simple explanation for the neglect of the Christian persecution by Western powers: Christians are simply in the way of a Pax Americana in the Middle East, which can only be achieved with the collusion of Israel, Saudi Arabia plus the other Gulf monarchies, and Turkey.

If there would be an oil-rich Christian nation in the Middle East, things would look different.

Related posts:

Christians in Syria fight for survival
Defending the Saidnaya monastery
Save the Christians
The nearly forgotten war in Syria
Insights about Syrian militias

Aleppo is done, and yet…

The battle against Islamists in eastern Aleppo is nearly over, as another 2,000 jihadists have boarded 60 government buses and are on the way to Idlib under the supervision of Red Crescent and UN. According to Red Crescent officials 34,000 people have been evacuated.

The evacuations — which included the evacuation of civilians besieged for 20 months in the Idlib Shia enclave of Faoua and Kafraya in exchange for the remaining Aleppo Islamists — were organized between Russia and Turkey. There was serious sabotage of this agreement by Islamist gangs, who burned evacuation buses and killed at least one driver, it is a miracle that the evacuation nevertheless can be conducted in an orderly way. Temperatures around freezing with sleet and snow surely helps focusing the parties on completing the process.

Before leaving for good, the remaining militants in the al-Mashhad and al-Sukkari district lit up two weapons and ammunition depots, resulting in powerful explosions which were heard in the whole city. Rebel sources still claim that some jihadists have not left but choose fighting to the death. It will come out in the next few hours if this is true.

In western Aleppo there is elation and dancing in the streets, shown widely on social media, while Western news organizations solemnly reported about “the fall of Aleppo”. In contrast, the nearly simultaneous capture of Syria’s ancient city of Palmyra by IS (Islamic State) was reported with barely concealed delight and schadenfreude.

Russian sappers are already working in eastern Aleppo to defuse thousands of IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and mines laid by the jihadists, while electricity and water supplies have been resumed in several districts. A total of 3,406 militants surrendered during the government offensive, and over 3,000 of them were pardoned.

Western nations have pledged to send desperately needed humanitarian aid, but it will only go to Islamist territory. Aleppo will see nothing of this. Help for the needy Aleppans is now considered the sole responsibility of Russia and allies (China, Balarus, Armenia, Cuba, Algeria, and others).

The jihadists will do everything to prevent humanitarian relief, they already shelled a Russian field hospital, killing two paramedics.

Mass media madness

Western newscasters and commentators are out of their minds, deeply disturbed and embarrassed by the defeat of their jihadi heroes. The steady stream of reports about alleged atrocities has become a deluge and the used language can only be described as “hate speech”.

A few New York Times headlines:

Amid Rain of Shells, Aleppo’s Civilians Offer ‘Final Scream’
Assad’s Lesson From Aleppo: Force Works, With Few Consequences
How the World Closed Its Eyes to Syria’s Horror

Following the last headline is this text: The faces of the besieged stare into the camera, at us and at death, pleading for help, describing the atrocities outside their bedrooms or just on the other side of the door. They are baffled by our indifference to the slaughter.

This is nearly poetic, this is a good start for a horror tale. This is fiction, not journalism (it has to be fiction because there was no Western camera team in eastern Aleppo, as news people feared to get kidnapped by the Islamists).

The narrative is the same each time: That an all-out genocide is taking place; that Assad forces are going from city to city killing civilians and taking no prisoners; that Aleppo’s rebels valiantly look death in the face as they endure alleged Russian bombardment.

Western journalists have no mercy and no pity.

After the murder of Russian Ambassador Andrei Karlov in Ankara, a New York Daily News article with the headline “Assassination of Russian Ambassador Andrei Karlov was not terrorism, but retribution for Vladimir Putin’s war crimes,” showed Western journalism at its finest. An excerpt: Andrei Karlov is the human embodiment of policies that deployed bunker busters to kill babies, sent fighter planes on scorched earth bombing runs that destroyed a whole city, aided Syrian madman Bashar al-Assad in his campaign that has killed hundreds of thousands, and even ordered attacks on UN aid workers.

What is the purpose of this hate campaign? Is it only to justify the transfer of more and more weapons to the Islamists or is it a preparation for starting war against Russia and Iran?

Independent reporters (Lizzie Phelan, Vanessa Beeley, Eva Bartlett, Rania Khaled, Sharmine Narwani) and a few dissident journalists (Robert Fisk, Patrick Cockburn) tell a different story than mainstream media workers.

And this different story is, that civilians were prohibited from leaving the eastern Aleppo enclave and many were shot dead when they tried to do so. The armed jihadist gangs had hoarded food reserves but kept it for their fighters. When Syrian troops conquered the warehouses they opened them and distributed the food to locals.

As Syrian forces smashed the jihadist lines, the trapped civilians streamed out towards government territory. There are many video reports about long lines of people leaving the eastern neighborhoods and finding food and shelter with the government. Tired and relieved, they told their stories to anyone who cared to listen. Russia and Iran sent tons of food, clothing, blankets, and other necessities, Western countries contributed nothing.

Western countries contributed nothing except hate propaganda.

If Western media workers (the term journalist is inappropriate in this case) would have just a tiny little bit of integrity and honesty, they would refuse to join the choir of smear and slander. They would also understand that their reputation is at stake, as more and more people become skeptical and look behind the curtain.

Just by applying common sense, one can easily find out what is really going on:

Western powers raised hell on Syria, tried to destroy its economy with sanctions, fought its currency, payed billions for weapons and general supplies to extremists from over 100 countries descending on Syria, launched an unprecedented media propaganda war, organized false flag chemical gas attacks, tried everything and anything and still could not get a significant amount of Syrians to support the “revolution”.

While thousands demonstrate for the government and volunteer in civil defense organizations  we are still told that Dr. Bashar al-Assad is despised and has no support among Syrians.

If a significant amount of the population would support the Islamists, and it would not even have to be the majority, the political system and all state institutions would collapse within weeks. Assad is not a superman with super human abilities to resist the world outside and a solid opposition inside, no, he is kept in power by the support of the majority of Syrians, who view him as guarantor of the secular state, religious freedom, and social responsibility.

This is also not a sectarian conflict, as Western pundits want the public to believe, and it is not only Christians, Shia, and Alawits, who support the Syrian government.

Syrian Sunnis would never support a regime that is suppressing and persecuting them. A religious war is only waged by the Sunni Islamists, many of them foreigners, while Syria’s Sunnis are the backbone of all state institutions as well as the army.

Related news

Russia is engaged with Turkey and Iran in three way talks while the USA plus allies from NATO and the Gulf are sidelined at the moment and not anymore in control of the developments. It has yet to be seen which measures the West will take to regain the initiative.

There are no recorded ATGM (anti-tank-guided-missile) launches since December 9 and TOW supplies of the Islamists are reportedly running low, which could be either caused by US prohibitions in an effort to weaken Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (al-Qaeda) or by a Russian — Turkish agreement.

After Turkish led Islamist groups (Levant Front, Hamza Division, Fastaqim Union, Free Idlib Army, Ahrar al-Sham, Sultan Murad Brigade, and others) proved to be utterly incompetent, more Turkish troops have invaded Syria, increasing the continent to between 600 and 1,000 soldiers.

There is heavy fighting between Turkish units and IS (Islamic State) in al-Bab. Turkey until now lost more than 30 soldiers and at least 12 armored vehicles (tanks, bulldozers, BMPs) in the Euphrates Shield offensive. Two captured Turkish soldiers have been burned alive by IS.

All this indicates that Erdogan’s love affair with IS and the phase of amicable IS retreats (Jarabulus, Dabiq) is over, yet, only a wave of IS terror bombings all over Turkey would be definite proof of such a development.

Turkish troops had entered al-Bab and were advancing to the city center, but a counter offensive by IS, spearheaded by two SVBIEDs (suicide-vehicle-born-improvised-explosive-devices), has beaten them back to the outskirts of the town.

IS is still a force to be reckoned with, while the FSA (Free Syrian Army) has definitely seized to exist. The NSA (New Syrian Army), funded, equipped, and trained by the USA, Britain, and Jordan with high hopes to take control of the border area between Syria and Iraq, drive IS out from al-Bukamal, and become a shining example of the mythical “moderate rebels,” has been dissolved.

Aleppo is not the end of the war

Long truck convoys of the IHH (Humanitarian Relief Foundation) are waiting in Turkey to cross into Syria and it is rumored that they are not only transporting humanitarian aid but also tons of weapons to resupply the jihadists. There are also rumors of a new multiple fronts offensive with which the Islamists hope to reverse the Syrian army’s gains.

They probably will attack Khanaser, because its one of the few truly precarious but also strategically vital points in all of Syria. It is the perfect place to launch a real or diversionary attack to tie up army resources or even conquer new territory by surprising unexperienced NDF (National Defense Forces) units.

Northern Hama is another vulnerable front. The army still has not regained all territory which Islamists took earlier in the year, so the fighters on that front are likely better motivated than those still reeling from the defeat in Aleppo.

A multiple pronged attack concentrated around Hama and Homs with a small force attacking the strategic supply line of Khanasir to slow down reinforcements from Aleppo could mean trouble. If Islamists take Hama city, the government would be in a dire situation, because it would cut off the whole Aleppo province and relief the Rastan pocket.

There may be big plans, but the rivalries and resulting infighting between the various Islamist groups will impede any concerted offensive. The Ahrar Al-Sham Shura council in Idlib just voted against a merger with Jabhat Fateh al-Sham. There are hundreds of local militias who nominally belong to one of the bigger groups but act independently and pursue their own agenda. An agenda which consists primarily of making money by extortion, looting, smuggling, and kidnapping for ransom.

Concluding random reflections

Aleppo is done, but my initial relief and gratification has been replaced by a profound sadness. This is a terrible tragedy, this is suffering on an unimaginable scale. Aleppo was a world heritage site, a cultural jewel of the Middle East, a document of tolerance as Muslims and Christians lived peacefully side by side.

All this is destroyed now and Aleppo is in ruins, while the Western propaganda machine still tries to make hay out of the suffering, pushing for more war.

I could rebut, dismiss, prove wrong the mass media narrative with detailed arguments and explanations and maybe I will do it one day in a separate blog post if I have enough time. But it will not be authoritative and not definitive. I never visited Syria, in al likelihood most of the blog readers never went to Syria, most of the newscasters, analysts, Middle Eastern experts are not based in Syria and if they are, chances are slim that they will be right at the scene of atrocities and other momentous events to give first hand testimony and make indisputable judgements.

We all depend on hearsay, on the testimony of people who most times are not neutral, who have a bias, who want to convince us to support their cause. From the Houla massacre to the Eastern Ghouta gas attack to suicide terror bombings, beheadings, summarily executions, bombing of hospitals and burning of trucks and buses, there are claims and counter claims in every case.

Some of the evidence is clearly fabricated and manipulated, often in an amateurish way (like the Caesar photos), some is ludicrous, even comical (White Helmets mannequin contest). Twitter girl Bana Alabed is impressive, touching, but Bana’s father Ghassan is one of the militant Islamists (beside working in the local council), there are several pictures of him posing with an AK47. What else would one expect from the tweets of his wife and his daughter than a damning condemnation of the Syrian government?

The Alabed family tweets about hardship, death, and destruction are real, though. The fighting is real, as real as Mexico’s and the Philippines’ war against drug cartels, Britain’s war against the IRA, Russia’s war against Chechen separatists, Sri Lanka’s war against the Tamil Tigers, Turkeys war against the Kurds, Iraq’s Mosul offensive.

Aleppo is about establishing state authority over a part of territory which was captured by unlawful armed groups. As the groups were heavily armed and massively supported by other states, the fighting was severe and bloody. If the Black Panthers would have been as well armed as the Syrian jihadis, Oakland would have looked like Aleppo.

I could rebut, dismiss, prove wrong all mass media allegations in lengthy elaborations. There are enough contradictions, aberrations, paradoxes in the media claims to atomize the Western narrative.

But I cannot rule out that atrocities are committed by both sides. I cannot rule out that the Syrian Mukhabarat tortures people, as I cannot rule out that the CIA still tortures captives in Guantanamo, Bagram airbase, or at various “black sites.”

I cannot rule out that inmates die in Syrian prisons from neglect or mistreatment and that civilians are arbitrarily killed by security forces. Inmates die in US prisons all the time and some 1,400 people (mostly black) are killed by US police every year, so why should the Syrian authorities be any better, especially after six years of a merciless war?

There are clearly dangerous psychopaths among all parties and many of them cannot even be blamed because the horrors of war can break even the most noble and ethical person and turn him (or her, though this is less likely) into a monstrous mass murderer.

Yet, after following the developments in Syria now for six years, I’m confident to say, that the most reasonable and humane actor in this tragedy is Dr. Bashar al-Assad and his inner circle. The countless amnesties, reconciliation efforts, ceasefires, evacuation deals, the efforts to keep up basic public services even in Islamist controlled territory, all this is proof of the tireless efforts to aleviate human suffering and avoid bloodshed.

Judging by the televised interviews one has to admit, that Dr. Assad’s personality has hardened over time, the strain and burden caused by this cruel war has taken its toll. One would hope that he is more open to Kurdish aspirations of regional autonomy and a federal system. Russia supports such a solution but Dr. Assad is not yet ready for this idea. That the government orders YPG forces to leave Aleppo city is a bad move. Why can’t the YPG be integrated in the defense of Aleppo?

The question, why humans wage war, betray, enslave, persecute, fight and kill their fellow humans, has to be left open and discussed another day. This world never was a nice place and as I wrote before, the Garden of Eden is a religious myth and probably never existed at anytime anywhere, except maybe on some remote Polynesian islands.

To talk it out and compromise, to stop producing weapons and sending weapons into war zones, to isolate and quarantine the unredeemable criminals and religious fanatics, to build a just, equitable, harmonious society based on tolerance, cooperation, sharing, empathy should be the order of the day.

But who am I to propose this?

And the brightest minds on this planet are too busy with developing more and more deadly weapons to even think about ways to achieve peace and social justice.