Deraa, Syria after years of carpet bombing by Syrian & Russian bombers: indistinguishable from Gaza, Yemen, Iraq, & the rest of Syria. There are nearly 147,000 civilians in the Deraa metropolitan area. This is not liberation from terrorism. This is terrorism.

Deraa became known as the “cradle of the revolution” after the Assad dictatorship arrested 15 teenage boys for spray painting graffiti against his regime in 2011. This sparked protests across Syria that ignited the massive revolution of working people against dictatorship.

Long live the Syrian revolution against Assad’s dictatorship.

(Photo by Alaa al-Faqir/Reuters)

These are White Helmet rescue workers in Deraa, Syria taking advantage of a temporary ceasefire to clear unexploded cluster bombs dropped by Syrian air strikes. There are thousands of unexploded ordnance laying in the ground waiting to detonate & take out everything & everyone in proximity. Children are frequent victims.

Undetonated cluster bombs & other munitions cannot be handled & destroyed by untrained amateurs but require explosive specialist training & specialized equipment so they don’t blow themselves up. White Helmets play the function of bomb squads after receiving training courses in Turkey & Jordan & being provided with the necessary equipment. It still remains an extremely dangerous job.

Civilian rescue teams emerged in Syria in 2012 when Assad began bombing cities or areas where there was massive public opposition to his dictatorship. It was neighbors & residents coming to rescue the injured trapped in rubble from the bombing. Of course foreign agencies with ulterior motives glommed on to them; it happens all the time to human rights groups & activists all over the world. In some cases, it tempers the resistance of those groups. In the case of Syrian rescue workers now known as the White Helmets, it got them professional training in urban search & rescue operations, emergency & trauma care, setting up & managing field hospitals in a bombing zone, & in operating as bomb squads. It made them more effective in rescuing people buried in rubble, in treating their injuries, & saving their lives.

Full solidarity with the White Helmets. Full solidarity with the Syrian revolution against Assad’s dictatorship.

(Photo by Alaa al-Faqir/Reuters)

Reuters news service has broken its silence about the Israeli siege & occupation of the Al Aqsa compound in East Jerusalem by posting this photo of Palestinians running from an assault by Israeli troops outside the compound. They said this took place “after Israel removed all security measures it had installed at the compound.”

True enough Israel removed the metal detectors & surveillance cameras but they then increased patrols within the sacred site & placed snipers on the roofs. That’s not an end to the siege & occupation but an escalation. The Noble Sanctuary is a sacred religious site to Palestinians & has been for over 1,300 years. Jews & Christians have absolutely no claims to the site that aren’t manufactured to justify colonialism. Israel is attempting to desecrate & eventually destroy the site in order to build a temple there based on a pipe dream about Solomon’s temple & the Ark of the Covenant–showing that they watch too much racist Indiana Jones & read not enough history.

#HandsOffAlAqsa

End the occupation. Self-determination for Palestine.

(Photo by Amir Cohen/Reuters)

This vulgar, unseemly thing was posted to my wall by an Assadist in a recent barrage by them to counter a photo I posted about civilians being bombed & killed by Russian air strikes at Arbin outside Damascus. I hastily deleted it because it’s so offensive but am reposting it to show their level of political debate. They speak in memes of hate & Islamophobia. This is the same intellectual level & not a whit more cogent than the writings of Eva Bartlett, Vanessa Beeley, Tim Anderson, Rania Khalek, Max Blumenthal, Ben Norton, Denis Rancourt, Sara Abed, & the entire stable of them at Counterpunch, Global Research, & Consortium News.

Apologies for its vulgarity but it’s all they’re packing in defending dictatorship, carpet bombing, terrorism, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, & their political alliance with the fascist right.

Posted only for educational purposes.

Often I wonder what the rightwing, religious members of my family think about Trump’s misogynist vulgarities & the foul language his minions use. His racism would come easy to some of them. Some of them don’t allow me into their homes & won’t even associate with me on Facebook because I’m a socialist. Actually I know the answer: they would find excuses for him because he opposes abortion. Shunning can be a liberation.

The White House is looking more & more like a Godfather operation. Hopefully the ruling elite who thought a Trump presidency a good idea will live to regret that he has not only exposed & discredited the FBI, CIA, Justice Department, US Congress, & Supreme Court but also the Boy Scouts–& that may not be a bad thing.

The history of the Boy Scouts is rooted in the twisted American psychological device of “playing Indian” to bury social anxiety about genocide. Appropriated Indian symbols & traditions are part of that. That still prevails in American culture with sports teams & military terminology. If American Indian history were taught in US public schools, this would all be exposed. US history, as taught, is a progression of presidents & magnates. Working people, Blacks, Indians, Latinos play no role at all. Ignorance is not a political virtue. That’s what libraries are for if schools fail us.

Scene of a “clash” between unarmed Palestinian worshippers fleeing from Israeli troops shooting off tear gas, stun grenades, live ammo, water cannons.

“Clash” joins the lexicon where civilian deaths are “collateral damage,” secret, paramilitary warfare is “low-intensity warfare,” & orchestrated campaigns of ethnic cleansing are “communal conflict.” Soon carpet bombing, occupation, & war will be called freedom struggles as the Assad dictatorship & Hands Off Syria Coalition claim & a US-imposed No Fly Zone will be a way to enforce peace & end carpet bombing by Syria & Russia (so the US can bomb civilians all by itself).

That’s why this is the era of post-truth truthiness & Putin, Assad, & Trump are called champions of human freedom by those moving to the right under the banner of socialism.

Continued occupation of Al Aqsa mosque compound: just hours after pulling out the metal detectors & surveillance cameras, this is what Palestinians faced when they returned to the mosque for Friday prayers today. Media said “clashes broke out” within the compound after several days of civil protests & violence from Palestinians & some pointed out that the form of protest was thousands of Palestinians praying every day outside the Noble Sanctuary.

They did not discuss how police & paramilitary forces have been attacking unarmed protesters engaged in prayer with tear gas, stun grenades, & water cannons all over East Jerusalem, not just outside the compound. They did not discuss the Palestinians killed nor the hundreds injured, including from gun shot wounds.

To post this photo with a headline “clashes broke out” is a mockery of journalism but that is exactly what media did. The Al Aqsa compound is a Muslim holy site & neither Jews nor Christians have any kind of claim to it historically or archaeologically that aren’t manufactured to justify colonialism. Pointing assault weapons & using tear gas & stun grenades on Palestinians who came to gather for Friday prayers is worse than a provocation; it is a desecration of a Palestinian sacred site, a denial of religious freedom, & the violent military occupation of the Noble Sanctuary.

Emergency protests in defense of Palestinians & Al Aqsa are more imperative than ever. The crisis is by no means over. This is a call to arms for all who believe in religious freedom, not just for those who believe in Palestinian self-determination.

(Photo from Anadolu)

Trump is clearly not all there & is otherwise engaged but the US continues to conduct several wars & is even shifting its policies in Syria. This is a real Wizard of Oz situation. If Trump isn’t the one responsible for this situation, we’ll have to find those who are & take them down.

The political character of Assadists is revealed in their methods & language of discourse. On a post about the bombing of civilians & the death of small children in Syria, one of them posted a phallic looking message telling me to go fuck myself; another called me a “pernicious fucktard,” & others dispatched to assail my post associated me with the CIA & ISIS. They actually exhibited a higher level of intelligence & cogency than the average Assadist who tends to drool, stumble over epithets, & talk in mantras about regime change.

Method matters in politics. So does language. If go fuck yourself & “fucktard” (which demeans those with learning disabilities) are the best you’re packing in defense of dictatorship it’s because you are moving to the right–to the fascist right. Those who stand with justice don’t settle for abuse & vituperation. Maybe we use sarcasm & like to rough up our opponents a bit but we prefer to document our views & stand our ground rather than viscerally grope our way to hanging with fascists.