Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on the myth of sectarianism in Syria

In his latest interview, with RT’s Murad Gazdiev, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad addressed the question of whether Sunnis are oppressed in Syria, as corporate and Gulf media so often allege. President Assad replied:

“…the first narrative when it started, internationally–mainly in the West of course–and within Syria, in some mainstream media’s in our region and in the West, their plan was to create this rift within the society that will make things easier for them when you have such a civil war, kind of civil war, between sects or ethnicities. And it failed.

 

Now, they keep using the same narrative at least to encourage some fanatics in different places in the world to come and defend their brothers in this area, cause that’s how they imagine that there is conflict between sects. So, because of their narrow-minded way of thinking, maybe or their ignorance, they came here just to support their brothers.

 

Now, if I’m going to tell you this is right or wrong, your audience doesn’t know me, they don’t have any idea maybe about my credibility. I’ll tell you, you know Syria very well, it’s better to go and see the reality on the ground.

 

If there’s such a narrative, let’s say, in reality sects killing another sect, Syria should be divided now according to sectarian line.

 

…Now, in Damascus, in Aleppo, in Homs, in every area under the Syrian government control you will see every spectrum of the Syrian society with no exceptions. This reality will debunk this narrative. I mean yeah how could they live with each other while the government is killing them, according the sectarian basis? It doesn’t work.”

 

 

President Assad’s words prompted me to reflect on the secular Syria I have seen on eight trips to the country, since first visiting in April 2014. Below, I share related articles, posts, photos and short clips, just a glimpse of secular Syria, where faiths are respected and where most Syrians, if asked about their faith, reply “ana Souri”, I am Syrian.

Caught in a lie, US & allies bomb Syria the night before international inspectors arrive

In January 2009, Israel repeatedly fired White Phosphorous on densely-populated areas of Gaza, targeting civilians. This was widely-documented, yet Israel has never been held accountable. America and allies recently bombed Syria on unproven, zero-evidence, allegations that Syria used chemical weapons. https://ingaza.wordpress.com/2009/01/17/white-phosphorous-mutilated-and-murdered-family-members/

Apr 15, 2018, RT.com, (republished on The Ron Paul Institute)

-by Eva Bartlett

The US, Britain and France trampled international law to launch missiles against Syria, claiming to have “evidence” of the government’s use of chemical weapons. That evidence is based on terrorist lies.

 

After a week of outrageous tweets and proclamations by POTUS Trump, which included continued accusations that Syria’s president ordered a chemical weapons attack on civilians in Douma, east of Damascus, with Trump using grotesque and juvenile terminology, such as “animal Assad,” the very evening before chemical weapons inspectors of the OPCW were to visit Douma, America and allies launched illegal bombings against Syria. The illegal bombings included 103 missiles, 71 of which Russia states were intercepted.

 

For the past week, we were told that the US had ‘evidence’ and the UK had ‘evidence’ that Syria had used chemicals. The ‘evidence’ largely relied on video clips and photos shared on social media, provided by the Western-funded White Helmets (that ‘rescuer’ group that somehow only operates in Al-Qaeda and co-terrorist occupied areas and participates in torture and executions), as well as by Yaser al-Doumani, a man whose allegiance to Jaysh al-Islam is clear from his own Facebook posts, for example of former Jaysh al-Islam leader, Zahran Alloush.

This, we were told, was ‘evidence.’ This and the words of the highly partial, USAID-funded, US State Department allied Syrian American Medical Society, which, like Al-Qaeda’s rescuers, only supports doctors in terrorist-occupied areas.

On April 12, even US Secretary of Defense James Mattis told the House Armed Services Committee that the US government does not have any evidence that sarin or chlorine was used, that he was still looking for evidence.

Syria, finding the claims to be lies and the sources tainted, requested that the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) immediately come to Syria to investigate the claims. Accordingly, the OPCW agreed to send a team—the visas for which Syria granted immediately—which arrived in Damascus on April 14.

‘They know that we know they are liars, they keep lying’: West’s war propaganda on Ghouta crescendos

*Still from a video report interviewing civilians who were evacuated from Eastern Ghouta.

21 Mar, 2018, RT.com

-Eva K. Bartlett

 
We are currently witnessing truly remarkable developments in Syria, as the country’s army and allies liberate more districts of Eastern Ghouta. Almost 80,000 people have been evacuated, with more still streaming out.

The late February Syrian-Russian opening of humanitarian corridors out of Eastern Ghouta marked the beginning of the end in the tragedy that is Ghouta’s occupation by terrorists including Jaysh Al-Islam, Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (Al-Qaeda), Ahrar Al-Sham, and Faylaq Al-Rahman.

Syrian and Russian reporters on the ground have recorded countless testimonies of fleeing civilians. One such subtitled video shows women and children speaking of terrorists starving them – depriving them of food, beating and shooting at them, trapping them in cellars, and holding them hostage.

SYRIA, LIES & VIDEOTAPE – EVA BARTLETT – 2018, Frome

 

Frome Stop War, Published on Mar 6, 2018

 

-(LINK TO THE Q&A SESSION)

 

“Internationally acclaimed journalist Eva Bartlett gave a hugely informative presentation for Frome Stop War entitled, ‘Syria, Lies and Videotape’. Syrian from Aleppo, Kevork Almassian was due to join her, was unable to attend but has added his endorsement of the event in a short video at the beginning of the event.

 

Eva has traveled to Syria seven times since the commencement of hostilities there, has fearlessly reported what corporate and establishment media would not, and has given voice to Syrians ignored by them. She’s undertaken interviews with Syrians who’ve told of their experiences. Their testimonies directly conflict with what we’ve been told by our media and politicians and she’s exposed specific instances of manipulations, deceptions and fakery which were contrived to promoted yet another regime change narrative. Her analysis, first hand evidence and testimonies from civilians in Syria is valuable and historic.”

Truth and Lies of the Syrian Conflict: Conversations with Eva Bartlett, Tom Duggan and Patrick Henningsen. Global Research News Hour episode 212

Recently, I spoke with Michael Welch of Global Research News Hour, for his episode, “Truth and Lies of the Syrian Conflict”.

Michael Welch’s introduction includes:

“The Syrian crisis is once again making headlines. In particular, humanitarian agencies like UNICEF, AVAAZ, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International are blaming Syrian and Russian airstrikes for civilian deaths in East Ghoutta while completely ignoring the carnage meted out by rebel factions in the area.

While such respected agencies, as well as supposedly independent media outlets like Democracy Now may fall short of actually endorsing war, the distorted coverage and one-sided humanitarian narratives they relay play into the hands of the military interventionists.

This week’s installment of the Global Research News Hour returns its gaze to Syria and attempts to provide a fuller picture of what’s happening on the ground and why.

First up is Eva Bartlett. She has visited Syria frequently over the last several years, interviewing numerous people in all parts of Syria. She can attest to the important stories that are being deliberately weeded out of the corporate press. In her conversation with the Global Research News Hour (transcribed below) she details missing reporting about terrorist activities in the country. She also corrects the record on the meme of her being on Russia’s payroll, while disclosing areas where the objectivity of UN and other humanitarian agencies are compromised.

UN Feigns Outrage Over Ghouta While Terrorists’ Rockets Rain Down on Damascus

*Syrian civilians put in cages and used as human shields by Jaysh al-Islam, the Saudi-backed group near-daily shelling Damascus’ civilians, the group which the West supports as “moderate opposition”.

Feb 26, 2018, Mint Press News

-Eva Bartlett

On February 20, from Amman, Jordan, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Geert Cappelaere, issued a statement of “outrage” titled: “The war on children in Syria: Reports of mass casualties among children in Eastern Ghouta and Damascus.”

The “statement” — consisting of blank lines with the preface “No words will do justice to the children killed, their mothers, their fathers and their loved ones” — dovetails with corporate media’s increasingly hysterical rhetoric on the Damascus suburb of Ghouta, which has been plagued with chemical weapons attacks for over four years, perpetrated by U.S.-backed proxies allied with the Nusra Front attempting to frame the Syrian government with war crimes.

Tunnel Warfare in Syria

Seeing a SANA news update on the discovery of more terrorist tunnels in Syria reminded me to post my collection of short videos and photos from Madaya and al-Tall from June 2017, seeing tunnels terrorists used to move safely underground.

What corporate media told us about Madaya was that the Syrian government was starving civilians. Little to no mention of Ahrar al-Sham, al-Qaeda in Syria and other terrorist factions hoarding the food that entered via many food aid deliveries. In my article following my June 2017 visit to Madaya and al-Waer, I detailed this, as well as the terrorists’ prisons used to try civilians, seeing one their bomb factories–above which was a storage room with their hoarded aid–and the words of civilians saying that the sole reason they had starved was the terrorists’ presence and stealing of food.

 

MSM and their shills will speak of last doctors, last hospitals, Bana al-Abed (hoax) take 2, and more predictable and transparent war propaganda, but they won’t speak of the actions of their ‘rebels’, which include putting civilians in cages and using as human shields, and incessantly mortaring and shelling Damascus civilian areas, on a near-daily basis, nor of the civilian victims of these attacks, much as the corporate media obfuscated on the ~11,000 civilian victims of such attacks in Aleppo.

But those honestly following Syria know that the liberation of Ghouta will mean a return of peace to its residents and those of areas targeted by terrorists occupying the district.

Related videos on this public post.