Social Media Monitor 18-09-2012
Kafr Owaid and the massacre curse
The video contains scenes of dead bodies of civilians after the bombing of the village of Kafr Owaid (YouTube). Warning: the video contains scenes of strong violence.
Kafr Owaid is a village in the province of Idlib in Syria, located about 20 km to the west of the city of Ma’arat Al-Nu’man. The village witnessed the worst massacres since the beginning of the Syrian revolution; the most recent attack was undertaken by the regime forces on Sunday, September 16.
The activists have posted many images on social networking websites, showing the effects of destruction and murder resulting from the bombings. The most emotionally touching photo was that of a young girl called Fatima wearing a blue dress. In the photo you can only see her body in the photo as the attack decapitated her.
Journalist Zeina Erhim, who is from Idlib and a resident in Britain, described Fatima on Facebook: “Her name is Fatima Ahmed Al-Maghlaj, she was two years old, and her beautiful eyes were the color of the sky that was looking down at her before the plane dropped the deadly bombs on her and four other children. Fatima is going to heaven to be next to Hamza, Hajar, Leen, Tamer and the rest of the 2500 angels [children killed since the start if the uprising in Syria].”
Wafaa Zaid, International Relations student and resident in Islamabad, tweeted the following: “I will tell my little child how brutal the childhood in #Syria became. I will tell him how children had to pay the price for freedom. We will never forget them even if we do not know these children’s names.”
Syrian writer Khawla Donia describes how death has become very normal after the horrific scenes that we see every day.
“We all lost our heads when we lost our minds; this is when we see death that we cannot change anything about,” she wrote on Facebook.
Finally, as an expression of outrage on this topic, Syrian writer Fadi Azzam, a resident in Dubai, demanded that the slaughtered head of Fatima be sent to Asmaa Al-Assad, the wife of the Syrian President. Azzam wrote on his Facebook page: “All I wish for is that DHL delivers the head of this little girl in a blue dress to Asmaa Al-Assad.”
The New academic year is wreathed with repression
The Syrian Ministry of Higher Education initiated the new academic year with a decision the activists described as degrading for students. The law newly introduced by the Syrian government allows the suspension of students from Syrian universities because of their political stances.
The Free Student Union in Damascus University announced on Facebook that they support the suspended students, urging the opposition parties to follow up on their case. “It is unfortunate that these students do not receive any support at all. We call on everyone in the opposition to follow up on this issue,” the statement read.
Tala Mezher, a student in the School of Architecture at the University of Damascus, clarifies what the students in the Syrian universities go through because of their opinions and the political stances they take.
“In my old university, Lama Al- Isamy was suspended for good, Ahmed Kareem got arrested four times, Taher Al- Sebaai died while on his way back to Homs, while Mansour Al-Ashqar is still free assaulting other colleagues,” he wrote on Facebook.
Syrian writer Mustafa Alloush, a graduate of the University of Damascus, announces his solidarity with the suspended students and he criticizes the new initiative of destroying the future of the Syrian youth. He posted on his Facebook page: “Hundreds of Syrian students are being suspended from their universities only because their voices once called for freedom How can you destroy these young people’s future? It’s a shame! We tell them that we want to build a country for you and us, and they deprive us of a seat in a class.”
Yasser Halabi explains via twitter the amount of damage that the educational sector is undergoing,= criticizing the commencement of the new school year. Halabi posted on his account: “More than 200 schools were destroyed, more than 800 schools are currently inhabited by displaced Syrians, and despite of all that tomorrow is the beginning of the school year in #Syria.”
In response to the film that insulted Prophet Mohammed
Several countries witnessed protests in response to the movie “Innocence of Muslims”, seen as an insult to Prophet Mohammed. The intensity of the protests differed from one country to the other; protests were peaceful in Tunisia, whereas in Benghazi, Libya they resulted in killing the U.S. ambassador and other members of the U.S. diplomatic mission. Some reports suggested that protests in Libya were used as a cover to avenge the killing of Al-Qaeda’s second-in-command Abu Yehya al-Libi.
Syrian journalist Abdul Karim Afnan, a resident in London, denounced the attack on US embassies.
“The Arab obscurantists are attacking U.S. embassies in revenge for refusing their visas, and not because they are being offended by the movie insulting the Prophet,” he commented on Facebook.
Mona Ghareeb replied to that comment, denouncing the silence regarding the massacres that take place in Syria saying:”Today Muslims are upset because of a stupid and insignificant movie whereas we are dying and our houses are being bombed every day. I would like to repeat an old Arabic saying which says: “O nation laughed from its ignorance nations”.”
Guevara Kamal also condemned the way people responded, suggesting more “civilized” alternatives.
“If you want to defend Prophet Mohammed then show the world how he truly is, follow his example and prove to everyone that what is being published in the media is an insult to producers of the movie before it insults us as Muslims,” he wrote on Facebook.”
Finally, Issam Zamel tweeted a report by Al-Arabiya channel explaining that this film is fabricated and its main aim is to offend the Prophet. Zamel asked people to support the actors in this movie in their lawsuit against the director because he allegedly changed the content of their speech using a voice-over without their consent.
