View this before it disappears. Simply amazing.
http://mod.gov.sy/
-----------------------------------------
[You can follow me on Twitter @David_EHG]
Here is the text that appears, for those who cannot see:
To the Syrian people: The world stands with you against the brutal regime of Bashar Al-Assad. Know that time and history are on your side - tyrants use violence because they have nothing else, and the more violent they are, the more fragile they become. We salute your determination to be non-violent in the face of the regime's brutality, and admire your willingness to pursue justice, not mere revenge. All tyrants will fall, and thanks to your bravery Bashar Al-Assad is next.
To the Syrian military: You are responsible for protecting the Syrian people, and anyone who orders you to kill women, children, and the elderly deserves to be tried for treason. No outside enemy could do as much damage to Syria as Bashar Al-Assad has done. Defend your country - rise up against the regime! - Anonymous
إلى الشعب السوري : إن العالم يقف معكم ضد النظام الوحشي لبشار الاسد. أعرفو أن الوقت والتاريخ ، إلى جانبكم -- الطغاة يستخدمون العنف لأن ليس لديهم أي شيء آخر ، و كلما زاد عنفهم، كلما أكثر هشاشة اصبحو. نحيي تصميمكم على أن تكملوا سلمياً في مواجهة وحشية النظام ، ونعجب استعدادكم لتحقيق العدالة و ليس الانتقام. سوف يسقط جميع الطغاة ، وبفضل شجاعتكم... بشار الأسد هو التالي.
الى الجيش السوري : أنت مسؤول عن حماية الشعب السوري، وكل من يأمرك بقتل النساء والأطفال والمسنين يستحق أن يحاكم بتهمة الخيانة. لا يمكن لأي عدو خارجي أن يلحق الضرر بسوريا بقدر ما قام به بشار الاسد. دافعوا عن بلدكم - انتفضوا ضد النظام - مجهول
And here is a screenshot:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Below is a diary I posted a few days ago. The massacre in Hama is still going on...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As Assad's military surrounds the town of Hama with tanks and cuts phone and electricity to its reeling population, I am stunned that we are not amplifying what's occurring now, we have never done so as a community in the five months Syria's population has bravely risen up against their brutal regime.
This from the AP:
Tanks took over a main square in the besieged Syrian city of Hama and electricity and telephone phone lines were cut off Wednesday as President Bashar Assad's regime showed no signs of halting the intense military assault against an uprising now in its fifth month, activists said.
At least three tanks took up position in Hama's central Assi square, which had been thronged by hundreds of thousands of anti-regime protesters in the weeks before the latest crackdown in some the largest demonstrations against Assad's rule.
For the past four days, Syrian troops have tightened their siege on Hama, sending residents fleeing for their lives. The death toll since Sunday has reached around 100 people, but the exact figure is difficult to verify, according to activists.
Twitter has been afire with people desperately trying to let the world know what is happening there right now. Here is Dima Khatib, a bureau chief for Al Jazeera, tweeting about the massacres on July 31 that have continued:
And here is video just posted by Al Jazeera English:
According to Al Jazeera English's live blog on Syria:
Syrian tanks occupied the main in central Hama after heavy shelling of the city, residents said.
"All communications have been cut off. The regime is using the media focus on the Hosni Mubarak trial to finish off Hama," one of the residents told Reuters by satellite phone from the city, adding that shelling concentrated on al-Hader district, large parts of which were was razed during a 1982 military assault on Hama that killed thousands.
Notice the photo is from Ankara. Journalists have been expelled from Syria, which leaves dissemination of this information largely up to us.
As the intense repression and violence continued in Hama today, residents in Jableh – a town shuttered due to general strikes against Assad's government – buried a local citizen killed by the military:
Video posted by Al Jazeera.
As Syria continued to try and create a media blackout of what is occurring, it is incumbent upon us, as a community, to amplify what is happening as a way not only of getting the truth out, but to help the people in Syria by expanding as far as possible the numbers in our body politic who understand what is happening.
Author's Note 1: I just want to acknowledge that, in the time Assad's regime has engaged in brutal violence and massacres in order to put down the popular protests going on in Syria, I have been just as much to blame for the communal silence as anyone.