Syrian Security Forces Murder Fifteen Protesters
Fifteen people were killed by Syrian security forces, witnesses said, as a bloody campaign to end political protests continued Wednesday in the southern city of Dara.
The deadliest day in the weeklong unrest began at 2 a.m. when hundreds of government security agents raided the Omari mosque near the center of the Roman-era city, the witnesses said. They said anti-government demonstrators had sought refuge there and that a makeshift clinic was tending to those wounded in previous clashes. Most of those slain were protesters, the witnesses said.
Despite the crackdown, supporters of the protests from the nearby villages of Inkhil, Jasim, Khirbat al Ghazalah and Harrah attempted to join them, but security forces used live ammunition against them.
By nightfall, Dara was sealed by the government forces, with no entry or exit allowed. Funerals for the dead were banned, and cellphone service was cut, according to Ammar Qurabi, chief of the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria. (via LA Times)
The Institute for Middle Eastern Democracy has mentioned Syria's support for Hezbollah before, but the Syrian protesters themselves may not feel the same way:
Thousands marched in the funeral chanting calls for freedom, and – for the first time since protests broke out on Friday – slogans against Iran and Lebanon's armed Shi'ite movement Hezbollah.
Crowds were heard to chant: 'Honourable Syrians don't rely on Iran or Hezbollah.' (via Daily Mail)
Israeli Air Force Responds to Terror Attacks from Gaza
The Israeli airforce today launched strikes against the rocket launchers which have been targeting Israeli civilians. The Jerusalem Post stated:
The IAF bombed terrorists that were attempting to shoot rockets into Israel on Thursday morning.
IDF aircraft struck four targets in the Gaza Strip in the early hours on Thursday, Hamas said, a day after Palestinians fired about a dozen rockets and mortars across the border, striking deep into Israel. There were no reports of injuries in the attacks.
After the Syrian ship 'Victoria' was prevented from delivering Iranian missiles and various other arms to Gaza last week, the IDF spokesperson's office has released a video explaining the capability of the C-704 missile:
Benny Morris on the Libya Strikes
At National Interest, Benny Morris has as an interesting article on reasons for accelerating the Gaddafi's removal in the name of justice:
In 1987, French-backed Chadian forces defeated Gaddafi's troops in a desert battle at Maaten al-Sarra, on the Chad-Libya border, putting an end to Gaddafi's imperial designs to extend Libya's reach into black Africa. Again, terrorism ensued. A team of Libyans planted a bomb on a DC-10 French airliner, belonging to the Union des Transports Aeriens company, flying between N'Djamena, Chad, and Paris. The airliner fell from the sky on 19 September 1989, killing all 171 on board, the passengers including the wife of the French ambassador to Chad.
After a protracted investigation, the French identified the six Libyans involved, who included Gaddafi's brother–in-law and deputy head of Libyan intelligence, Abdullah Senussi. In 1999 the six were tried and convicted in absentia. In 2004, Libya in effect accepted responsibility and began paying out large sums in compensation to the families of Flight UTA 772's victims.
But the United States, France and Britain—Libyan admissions of responsibility, conviction of Libyan agents and payments of compensation notwithstanding— have never forgiven Gaddafi for these outrages, and rightly hold him personally responsible. What we are seeing now, in part at least, is the long-delayed, but sweet, payback. The man, indeed, is a monster.
Louise Bagshawe on BBC BIas
At the Daily Telegraph, Louise Bagshawe has written about her horror at the dehumanisation practised by much of the British media:
![image from i.telegraph.co.uk]( "image from i.telegraph.co.uk")
Who is Tamar Fogel? The chances are that you will have no idea. She is a 12-year-old girl who arrived home late on Friday, March 11, to discover her family had been slaughtered. Her parents had been stabbed to death; the throat of her 11-year-old brother, Yoav, had been slit. Her four-year-old brother, Elad, whose throat had also been cut, was still alive, with a faint pulse, but medics were unable to save him. Tamar's sister, Hadas, three months old, had also been killed. Her head had been sawn off.…
Do you know, I think I would. The BBC has long been accused of anti-Israeli bias. It even commissioned the Balen report into bias in its Middle Eastern coverage, and then went to court to prevent its findings being publicised. As a member of the select committee on culture, media and sport, I was at the confirmation hearing of Lord Patten of Barnes as chairman of the BBC Trust. I asked him about political neutrality. In reply, he said that he would give up his membership of a Palestinian aid organisation. Both I and another member asked about bias against Israel. Lord Patten denied any existed. What would he do if shown an example of it? He would ultimately take it to the BBC Trust, he said.
The day after Lord Patten uttered those words, the Fogel children were butchered to almost complete silence from the BBC.
I have asked the corporation to let me know why, if the story was "prominent on the website", it was not deemed of sufficient merit to broadcast on television, and barely on radio. I have asked them to explain the inaccuracies and omissions in the reporting. And I have asked them what non-Japan, non-Libya stories made it to air, in preference. Twenty-four hours later, I have yet to receive a reply.
Like many of us, I consider the BBC to be a national treasure. I am not a BBC basher; I have never before complained. I do not support nor do I condone the Israeli settlement building. But none of that matters. This is a story about three children and their parents, slain with incredible cruelty, and its effect on the peace process. As a mother, I am shocked at the silence. As a politician, I am dismayed at the apparent bias and indifference. Yes, I will be filing a complaint – about a story I never heard. I hope Daily Telegraph readers will join me.
