I didn’t turn my back on democracy. You did. You knew what Isis stood for. ibid. Stacey to Isis women
It’s hard to know where the truth lies. ibid.
According to the UN, over 5 million Syrians have been forced to flee their country since the war began in 2011. Divided States I: Europe, caption, History 2019
I left my family home to study at Aleppo university. For Sama, Waad, 2019
We never thought the world would let this happen. ibid.
I keep filming: it gives me a reason to be here. ibid.
I was in the fourth year of my economic degree when the revolution began. ibid.
The dictatorship of the Assad family had ruled Syria since your grandfather was ten. ibid.
The regime denied protests were happening. ibid.
‘Today, Aleppo woke up to a massacre. The initial forensic examination shows clear marks of torture on most of the bodies.’ ibid. doctor
We were shocked at what the regime was willing to do to stay in power. ibid.
Without the regime, we had to do everything for ourselves. ibid.
Hamza and our friends set up a hospital. ibid.
For such a long time we were sure we would win. ibid.
At that time in the evening everything in the city looked beautiful to me. ibid.
My happiness would vanish every time I heard Russian aeroplanes. ibid.
‘The hospital’s been bombed! There’s dead! There’s injured!’ ibid. emergency call
Supplies are running low. There’s no vegetables or fruit … The siege is no place to raise a child. ibid.
You never cry like a normal baby would. That’s what breaks my heart. ibid.
In north-east Syria, an apparent oasis of stability and hope, recovering after eight years of civil war and trauma that have cost thousands of lives. Hevrin was part of a movement to rebuild Syria as a democracy. Aged 34, Hevrin had become the leader of the newly launched Future Syria Party, created to play a key role in spreading democracy, bringing together communities ravaged by terror and war. Our World: Who Betrayed Hevrin Khalaf? BBC 2020
On October 9th the Turkish military started their assault. Civilians fled border towns and the wounded started to fill the hospitals. And it wasn’t just Turkish regular forces. Groups of mostly Jihadi fighters, bitter enemies of the Kurds, and calling themselves the Syrian National Army, were being backed by the Turkish military to do the fighting on the ground. They were advancing deep into northern Syria. ibid.
[Jihadis] shot up their car when they were trying to ‘drive through a road block’ … Hevrin Khalaf’s body metres away … In the [bodycam] video you can make out a woman’s voice. ibid.
Al Nusra is the main Al Qaeda group in Syria: it’s been accused of torture, child abduction and summary execution … a reign of terror for three long years. ibid.
Escalating bombardment has cost countless human lives transforming the streets into battlefields. Moving from place to place is a deadly act. Millions have already fled, desperate to survive. But 400,000 people remain trapped in eastern al-Ghouta. There is no way out. The Cave, captions, National Geographic 2020
‘The idea of moving underground was simple. As simple as the death lurking on the surface. The cause of that death is clear and simple too. As simple as the urge to survive. As a doctor I have witnessed many tragedies. So much suffering. So many lies. It made us search for a way to survive. ibid.
A chance for these prisoners to reach the last bastion of hope: an underground hospital called The Cave. ibid.
‘Let’s keep smiling for the children. That is the least we can do.’ ibid.
Iraqi armed forces backed by US military advisors are currently fighting to recapture Mosul, the largest city held by Isis. This is the story of their rise. Isis: The Rise of Terror, History 2020
They claim to live by the rules of 7th century Muhammad. They built an Islamic state in the heart of the ancient world. Their mission: kill those who don’t believe as they do wherever they may be. But say their war will continue until the end of days. But how did Isis rise and how long will their reign of terror last? ibid.
Khalifah: A terrorist nation that Isis have already built in Iraq and Syria. At least 30,000 foreigners have abandoned their own countries to begin new lives in the Islamic state. ibid.
Wives are a commodity whose rights can ever equal their husband. ibid.
As Iraq descended into chaos, a small-time criminal seized an opportunity to make his dark vision come true. He created an organisation that would become the most feared terror group the world had ever known: Isis. ibid.
And Benhadad the king of Syria gathered all his host together: and there were thirty and two kings with him, and horses, and chariots; and he went up and besieged Samaria, and warred against it. I Kings 20:1
And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the Lord, Because the Syrians have said, The Lord is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the Lord. I Kings 20:28
And when it was told David, he gathered all Israel together, and passed over Jordan, and came to Helam. And the Syrians set themselves in array against David, and fought with him.
And the Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew the men of seven hundred chariots of the Syrians, and forty thousand horsemen, and smote Shobach the captain of their host, who died there. II Samuel 10:17&18
At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath to Syria, and drave the Jews from Elath: and the Syrians came to Elath, and dwelt there unto this day. II Kings 16:6
And when the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadarezer king of Zobah, David slew of the Syrians two and twenty thousand men.
Then David put garrisons in Syria Damascus; and the Syrians became David's servants, and brought gifts. Thus the Lord preserved David whithersoever he went. I Chronicles 18:5&6
So Joab and the people that were with him drew nigh before the Syrians unto the battle; and they fled before him.
And when the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fled, they likewise fled before Abishai his brother, and entered into the city. Then Joab came to Jerusalem. I Chronicles 19:14&15
But the Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew of the Syrians seven thousand men which fought in chariots, and forty thousand footmen, and killed Shophach the captain of the host. I Chronicles 19:18
For the army of the Syrians came with a small company of men, and the Lord delivered a very great host into their hand, because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers. So they executed judgment against Joash.
And it came to pass at the end of the year, that the host of Syria came up against him: and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people, and sent all the spoil of them unto the king of Damascus. II Chronicles 24:23&24
Wherefore the Lord his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria; and they smote him, and carried away a great multitude of them captives, and brought them to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter.
For Pekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah an hundred and twenty thousand in one day, which were all valiant men; because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers. II Chronicles 28:5&6
In the months that followed Russian bombing in Syria increased dramatically … Civilians were also being hit. Putin vs The West II, BBC 2023
The truth about the US presence in Syria has rarely been told. But one can be sure that the US has had no scruples about democracy in Syria or elsewhere in the region, as its warm embrace of Saudi Arabia amply demonstrates. The US decided to promote an insurgency to overthrow Bashar al-Assad in 2011 not because the US and allies like Saudi Arabia longed for Syrian democracy, but because they decided that Assad was a hindrance to US regional interests. Assad’s sins were clear: he allied with Russia, and he received support from Iran. Jeffrey Sachs, ‘Trump’s Syria Withdrawal is a Chance for Peace, 2nd January 2018
‘Oh no, my people love me because I’m leading the resistance front.’ Corridors of Power: Should America Police the World? s1e7: Syria: The Risk of Doing Nothing, Bashar al-Assad
Parents joined religious leaders in a march to demand their children be released. The marchers were peaceful but the forces of the regime opened fire, killing four. ibid.
‘You now had great powers pitted against each other in Syria, and with that the conflict was going to be very difficult to manage.’ ibid. US dude
Multiple reports that Assad was using chemical weapons. ibid.
Every solution you propose or present or pursue almost necessarily creates new problems. So even when you think you’ve done the right thing, you have generated a whole set of additional decisions that themselves put you back in this loop of imperfection. Corridors of Power: Should America Police the World? s1e8: Syria: A Loop of Imperfection, US dude
What does this all end? ibid. Barack
A new force had emerged in Syria: Isis. ibid.
Americans had shown little appetite for sending their war planes to defend Syrians even when thousands were dying from Assad’s chemical weapons. But the televised beheading of an American journalist had raised a sudden appetite for revenge. This stark act of cruelty and injustice on a single young American kneeling in an orange jumpsuit in the desert awakened a bottomless anger. ibid.