Syrian Revolution Digest, April 18, 2011
After at least a dozen protesters were killed yesterday, the inhabitants of Homs marched to the old Clock-Tower Square, now renamed Al-Hurriyyah (Freedom) Square, for what they vow will be a sit-in to last until regime falls. Thousands of protesters are said to be taking part, chanting slogans of national unity, such as “Peaceful, peaceful, Muslims and Christians,” as well as “the people want to topple the regime” and “the people want to remove the President.” Threats by security forces were met with indifference, as the deadline they gave to protesters to disperse passed and all that the security officers could do is watch with incredulity the unfolding scene.
The Sit-In lasted the entire day and well through the night, but as the day unfolded numbered to around 6,000 protesters around 2am on Tuesday. Shortly after, eyewitnesses reported the beginning of a crackdown by security forces. Early reports spoke of heavy gunfire but mentioned only one fatality and a number of injured. Videos that were posted later seem to confirm these reports. Assad security officers might have been shooting in the air to scare off the remaining protesters. occasionally firing straight at them, as some eyewitnesses asserted.
Meanwhile, Lattakia held protests and funerals of its own, as Sunday’s death toll has been confirmed at 12 but is expected to rise as we get further confirmation. Communications with Lattakia have been sporadic.
Protests were also reported in a number of Damascus suburbs including, Douma, Barzeh and Mouaddamiyyeh, which witnessed some violent episodes on Sunday as well. Deraa to the South and the Kurdish town of Kobani/Ain Al-Arab to the North also saw protests and demonstrations.
Homs – Timeline of Crackdown in Freedom Square
At 0:20, protesters can be seen carrying one of their colleagues. This conforms with early reports of 1 fatality and three injured. At 1:15 and 1:40 protesters voice can be heard calling each other and encouraging each to “return” to Square, as they curse the security officers. At 2:15, protester says mockingly “this is the reform!” Another says: “So breaking things is forbidden, but shooting us is not” (referring to statues of Assad that brought down in Rastan, elsewhere). At 2:40, gunfire stops, protesters return momentarily to Square. At 3:10, “Dogs, this is the reform! Return guys, return.” Protesters start pouring back in chanting: “the people want to topple the regime,” immediately gunfire can be heard again. At 5:07, protester says “there are snipers guys.” At 5:25, “he who kills his own people is a traitor.” As we can deduce from video, security shot mostly in the air to scare off the protesters. The video itself seems to show the square after protesters withdrew into the myriad side-streets.
From Social Networking Websites
Main Videos of The Day
Video of security and army personnel cheering over the killing and torturing of demonstrators in Al-Bayda city in Banias “Oh Bahar, don’t bother.. We’re your men, and we drink blood”
Video part of the sit-in of Homs and thunderous chanting of “The people want to topple the regime”
Homs
Video 1, v 2, v3, v4, v5, v6, v7 Thousands in a huge sit-in in Homs in loyalty to the blood of martyrs and demanding to topple the regime
Video 1, v2, v3, v4, v5 Several funerals
Video demo demanding to put Bahsar Assad to trial
Video demo against the lying Syrian media
Video of the participation of women in the sit-in and thunderous chanting of “The people want to topple the regime”
Lattakia
Video indicating the security forces directly shooting demonstrators
Video1, v2 of a night demo and chants of ‘The people want to topple the regime’
Video of one of Lattakia’s fallen heros who fell on the Independence Day
Video, v2 Demo supporting of Homs uprising
Damascus & Damascus Suburbs
Video Duma – Tearing down Bashar’s poster amid chants of toppling the regime
Video Duma – Tearing down the father dictator’s poster
Video of women’s demo in Moaddamiya in support of the youth of the revolution
Video 1, v2 of demo in Moaddamiya and chants of ‘The people want to topple the regime’
Video of demo in Kisweh and chants of ‘Hear Hear, Bashar… Freedom forever’
Video of women’s demo in Brzeh supporting the demands of the youth of the revolution
Kobany (Ein Al-Arab)
Video 1, v2 demo in solidarity with the martyrs of freedom
Al-Sanamein
Video of demonstrators stepping on a poster of Bashar’s
Idlib
Video 1, v2 of demo in Gisr El-Shoghoor on the Independence Day
Al-Selmeyya
Video 1, v2 A night demo on Independence Day stressing the rejection of sectarianism and the unity of the Syrian people
Aleppo
Video The students of Aleppo university perform prayers for the souls of the martyrs
Souwaida
Video 1, v2, v3, v4, v5, v6 Demo on Independence Day
Selection of TV Coverage
Video of Aljazeera’s report on military and security forces responsible for suppressing the unarmed demonstrators
France 24 interview with Ammar Qurabi
Video for the call of sheikh Anas Ayrout on Al-Arabiya channel about the demands of the people of Al-Bayda and Banias
Video Alhiwar channel report about the dismissal of demonstrator students from universities
Video an eye-witness from the sit-in square in Homs on Aljazeera channel
Video Aljazeera’s report about the Syrian revolution in the end-of-day program
Video Haitham Al-Manaa’s call-in on BBC about the events of the Syrian revolution
Video from Aljazeera international about the security forces in Syria
Video Zeyad Sayed’s interview on BBC on WikiLeaks documents
The digest is produced in cooperation with Kafa Samtan and the Strategic Research and Communication Centre.
Damascus Bureau is not responsible for the content of external links.
