Social Media Monitor: The Chemical Debate

A cartoon by artist Juan Zero – Facebook

 

 Syrian opposition supporters seemed particularly preoccupied by the debate about the Syrian regime’s intentions to use chemical weapons.

 Activist Faeik al-Meer wondered whether the regime would go as far using these weapons, especially since toxic gases could reach loyalist areas.

“I’m not a chemical weapons expert… but I wonder if, when they fire chemical weapons, [the gases] will stay in their place; will [the regime] be able to control the movement of air, considering that the population is mixed…do you think the rift between us and them has become so deep that our air has become different than theirs??”

Syrian Kurdish activist Dlshad Osman expressed his surprise that loyalists ask the regime to use such weapons.

“There’s a strange, overwhelming trend among loyalists, who are demanding the use of chemical weapon! Do they really believe the rotten Baathist regime’s delusions [when it declares] that it possesses smart weapons that would only reach the opposition?” he wrote on Facebook.

After Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and British Foreign Secretary William Hague warned the Syrian regime not to use chemical weapons, activist Hamouda Makkawi suggested that the regime would not dare to do it.

“When it comes to the Syrian chemical weapons, it’s like waving a stick but not hitting anyone,” he wrote on Facebook.

Other Syrian dissidents mocked the statements made by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon about the same issue.

“All previous statements about chemical weapons are just verbal bubbles, but when Ban Ki-moon expressed his concern it became a different matter. Syrians, wear your gas masks and say your last prayers,” Imad al-Abbar wrote on Facebook. “What I’m concerned about the most in this life is Ban Ki-moon’s own concern!”

 Government spokesman defects

 There were several rumours surrounding the news about the defection of Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Spokesman’s Jihad Makdissi. After regime sources first denied the fact, loyalist journalist Ahmed Haj Ali tried to belittle Makdissi when the defection was confirmed, saying the latter had once stolen £ 2000 from a store in London when he was on a diplomatic mission.

 Syrian activist Abed Alhamdou tweeted the following in response:

“Steal 1000 and you’ll become a diplomat; steal 2000 and you’ll become the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; steal the country and you’ll become its president.”

Another tweet by Bassma, who presents herself as a journalist working for Al-Jazeera English, recalled Makdissi’s past statements that usually confirmed claims made by other regime officials.

“I was in Homs during the Hula massacre. I will not forget the shelling that day, the neighbours who were shouting Allahu Akbar from the balconies, my hosts crying in front of the TV or Jihad Makdisi’s statements. ”

Aleppo witnesses a bread crisis

A long queue in front of a bakery in Aleppo – YouTube

Syrian activists warned about the possibility of famine in Aleppo, where bread has become very scarce and its price has rocketed.

Reem al-Turkmani held the opposition responsible for this crisis in a comment she posted on Facebook.

“There are calls everywhere to provide relief for Aleppo, where there is a lack of food, power and fuel. Did those who implicated Aleppo in an armed conflict not know that this will be the city’s punishment?” Turkmani wrote.

Mustafa Hadid also suggested that it is the opposition’s responsibility to resolve the crisis:

“Whoever wants to convince us that he is a better leader than the gang [ruling the country] should solve the bread problem. Bread is more important than rockets, friends of Syria.”

An article posted on Al-Mundassa Al-Souriyya blog reminded Syrian expatriates of their duty to help their compatriots who remained in Syria.

“There are more Syrians outside Syria than there are inside… it’s a shame that we, expatriates, leave those who remained in Syria [as if] to be devoured by dogs,” the article read.

Bassel Shehadeh: Syrian morning gift

Shehadeh’s award-winning film Saturday Morning Gift – YouTube

Bassel Shehadeh’s film titled Saturday Morning Gift won the golden award at the Arab Camera Festival in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Shehadeh was killed while covering artillery shelling in Homs in May 2012.

Actor Fares al-Helou, who received the award on behalf of Shehadeh, published the speech he gave at the closing ceremony on his Facebook page.

“Bassel Shehadeh is one of the young Syrian cinematographers who gave up their privileges to join their people’s uprising… they are risking their lives for the sake of freedom of information,” Helou wrote.

Blogger Razan Ghazzawi addressed Shehadeh in a blog entry titled “And You’re Still Dead”.

“We’ve lost so much of our humanity, we’ve became numb to news, but you can still make me cry. How can you be dead to me, Bassel, when you’re the one who’s making me human again?” Ghazzawi wrote.