Social Media Monitor: A 15-year old executed for blasphemy

Mohammad Qattaa, a 15-year-old who sold coffee on the street in the opposition-controlled Al-Shaar neighbourhood in Aleppo, was asked on Saturday, June 8 if he could give someone coffee on credit. According to reports, he replied, saying: “Even if [the Prophet] Mohammad descended on Earth, I wouldn’t sell on credit.”

Militiamen abducted the young man and brought him back the next day, then shot him in the face and the neck.

Demonstrators gathered in front of Aleppo’s Sharia Council, an Islamic authority that administers security and acts as a court, and demanded that the killers be brought to justice, as shown in this YouTube video.

Opposition supporters, such as Mona Mostafa, who lives in Germany, wondered about the fate of Syria after similar violations by opposition fighters:

"…Did the Syrian revolution start in order to achieve noble goals such as freedom, dignity, justice, democracy, and citizenship, or in order to violate freedom, which is already violated…Where is Syria heading?"
“…Did the Syrian revolution start in order to achieve noble goals such as freedom, dignity, justice, democracy, and citizenship, or in order to violate freedom, which is already violated…Where is Syria heading?”

Activist Mostafa Alloush commented on his Facebook page, saying:

"May you have a country one day, where children who make a mistake are taught [not to repeat it], not killed!"
“May you have a country one day, where children who make a mistake are taught [not to repeat it], not killed!”

Suheir Atassi defends herself against accusations of corruption

 

The deputy chairwoman of the opposition National Coalition, Suhair al-Atassi, replied to several corruption allegations that were made against her on social media outlets.

One of the accusations was that Atassi is paid $4,000, a sum that is considered high in Syria.

Atassi admitted that she receives this sum as a salary for her position at the National Coalition, but said that she does not get paid for her work as a coordinator at a relief organisation, and she refused any accusations of corruption. She wrote on her Facebook page:

“We took to the streets asking for freedom, and freedom has limits, as you know. No one has the right to accuse others of being financially corrupt or indecent without a proof. ”

Commentators on her Facebook statement disagreed on whether Atassi should be defended:

Mohammad Alabdullah: "Only $4,000!!! You should not be paid a single dollar. From what I know, freedom fighters and rebels do not get paid in return for standing against tyranny." Mutasem Abou AlShamat: "How would they be able to …live if they didn't have money?" Mohammad Alabdullah: "If everyone at the [National] Coalition gets paid $4,000 a month, not counting the money they make on the side and tips J, then we should dissolve the Coalition and give this money to the distressed, displaced people who can't find a shred of bread."
Mohammad Alabdullah: “Only $4,000!!! You should not be paid a single dollar. From what I know, freedom fighters and rebels do not get paid in return for standing against tyranny.”
Mutasem Abou AlShamat: “How would they be able to …live if they didn’t have money?”
Mohammad Alabdullah: “If everyone at the [National] Coalition gets paid $4,000 a month, not counting the money they make on the side and tips J, then we should dissolve the Coalition and give this money to the distressed, displaced people who can’t find a shred of bread.”

Activist Eiad Charbaji defended Atassi. He commented on his Facebook page, saying:

"I really pity a woman who has struggled, such as Suhair Atassi. She has been the target of an organized campaign for several weeks, which has offended her honour and family… It is an unfortunate time when lowly people lead the public opinion. Just remember that Suhair was the first to receive a slap on her face during the revolution at the Bab Touma Police Station in February 2011, and now you're giving her thousands of slaps and completing the task [of security forces]."
“I really pity a woman who has struggled, such as Suhair Atassi. She has been the target of an organized campaign for several weeks, which has offended her honour and family… It is an unfortunate time when lowly people lead the public opinion. Just remember that Suhair was the first to receive a slap on her face during the revolution at the Bab Touma Police Station in February 2011, and now you’re giving her thousands of slaps and completing the task [of security forces].”

More than half of Syrians will need humanitarian aid by the end of 2013

The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, launched on Friday June 7 an appeal to raise $5 billion to help Syrians. The UN agency expects that around 10.25 million Syrians, nearly half the population, will be in need of aid by the end of 2013.

A comment that was published on Al-Mundassa Al-Souriyya blog criticized the UN for trusting the government with aid money.

“As pro-opposition Syrians, it hurts us to see UN aid being given to the regime…All the Syrian people are now living on the edge and not only half of the population as the UN claims…but we all know that these 10 million people live in areas that are besieged by the [government forces] and this aid will not reach them because they do not support the regime.”