The Syrian government has intensified its crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations. Today, witnesses in the city of Dara'a say they’ve heard gunfire. Human rights activists estimate that up to 25 people were killed in Dara’a on Monday after a military attack on protesters.
Yaser Tabbara is a Chicago lawyer who writes the blog Damascene Thoughts. He joins us to discuss the escalating violence in Syria.
Anti-government protesters continue to demonstrate across Syria today. So far at least 61 people have been killed. Yaser Tabbara, a Syrian-American lawyer and activist joins us to discuss the ongoing violence there. Also, we'll spend the week taking a look at how the Japanese nuclear crisis may or may not affect the nuclear energy industry in both developed and developing countries. We kick off the series with a look at global trends. Allison Macfarlane, chair of the Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, tells us which countries are busy building new nuclear power plants and which ones are moving to shut them down.
March 25th will be a date to remember in the history of Syria. Tomorrow morning Syrians will wake up knowing that they have yet taken another step towards the impossible.
Thousands in Marjeh, Downtown Damascus:
Sit-in at Douma - Damascus:
Daraa: Statue of Hafiz Al-Assad Destroyed
Bashar’s Poster in Daraa gets torn as protesters shout Freedom Freedom
Hafiz Al-Assad’s Poster in Homs gets torn
Douma – Damascus:
Deir Ezzor: small protest in support of Daraa. “No more Fear”
Dariyyah: protest in support of Daraa. “Syrian People Will Not Be Humiliated.”
Idlib: Small but vociferous and straightforward. “Arabs and Kurds United Against The President Of The Country.”
Mazzeh – Damascus: “They Took Everything And Left Us Nothing.”
Mouaddamiyyah – Damascus: “Where Are You Syrians,” “We Sacrifice Our Soul and Blood For You, Daraa” and “Silmiyyeh, Silmiyyeh, Peacefully, Peacefully, We Want Freedom.” One protester explains to crowd: “this means we don’t have weapons.” Three were shot dead later by security.
The following videos were taken earlier today. They expose the massacre of defenseless civilians in the city of Daraa, Syria, by the security forces (Warning, very graphic). The footage is of helpless men trying to dodge bullets while attempting to attend to the scattered bodies of their brethren who have been just shot and are still bleeding. Thus far, the estimates are 60-150 civilians killed in the city over the past 48 hours.
This video is of plain-clothed security elements apprehending people randomly off the street. These images are the manifest terror that Syrians have been subjected to for decades.
Personal Reflections:
These images are shockingly unfamiliar to my generation of Syrians, as we were too young to remember the Hama massacre. Yet, these images hit home in ways that moved me to the core. This real footage of a war-like situation that was soundtrack-ed by Syrian accented cries of fear and helplessness invoked a terrifying familiarity. I could not help but imagine my family and those that I grew up with being subjected to such horror.
This cannot stand.
This will not stand.
Silent Syrians, what will it take to move you to speak up?
When small protests began in Damascus, Syria in February, many observers believed Syria was unlikely to see the kind of revolutions that Egypt or Tunisia experienced. But now the movement appears to have picked up steam. Demonstrators demand greater freedom, an end to corruption, free elections and the repeal of emergency law, in place since 1963. Last week, security forces opened fire on a peaceful rally in the city of Deraa. At least five were killed. That spurred further protests in the region. We’ll get an update from Yaser Tabarra, a Syrian American lawyer and activist. Yaser had a recent opinion piece published on the Al Jazeera English website
The Syrian government has intensified its crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations. Today, witnesses in the city of Dara'a say they’ve heard gunfire. Human rights activists estimate that up to 25 people were killed in Dara’a on Monday after a military attack on protesters.
