Syria Video Special: A Protest Movement Renewed

A massive anti-Assad protest in Douma, an important Damascus suburb, during the funeral of Yusef Al-Toukhi.

Just two weeks ago, I was beginning to think that the protests were losing steam. Every passing day, since the fall of Tripoli, we see larger and larger protests in Syria. Protests in some locations were becoming smaller. In other places, the activists who were protesting seemed almost defeated. Reports from contacts in the country hinted that the spirit of the protesters was very low. At least 473 people had been killed by the Assad military since the beginning of Ramadan, according to rights groups. The bloody month had proven that the protests were not going away, the genie of Arab Spring would never be returned to the bottle in Syria, but it had also proven that the violence had taken its toll.

Some activists in Syria had even begun to question whether a peaceful revolution would be successful

All of that has changed in the last two weeks.

What we are seeing is protests in locations where there were not protests before, which has in turn caused the Syrian military to kill in those locations, intensifying protests in those locations. While Aleppo and central Damascus still seem elusive targets for widespread protests, the areas around these cities are seeing larger and more widespread protest. Eventually, these protests may very well push into the centers of the last two holdouts of dissent.

Below we're collecting just a sample of videos of the day. We'll add to the list as the day goes on:

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8. Protests in A'zaz, Aleppo (MAP). Earlier we noted daytime protests in Tall Rifat, halfway between A'zaz and downtown Aleppo, and there are also protests there this evening.

7. A puzzling yet impressive video. This clip claims to have been taken by soldiers during the siege of Daraa, and has apparently been set to (what we would assume is) victorious music, by the soldiers themselves. Smoke can be seen rising from the city, and smiling soldiers take up sniper positions on the rooftop.

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Syria Video Special: Assad Kills Protesters, but Can't Kill Protests

We've already received dozens of new videos, night protests in defiance of the massacres. How many people will Assad have to kill before he realizes that killing his own people is only swelling the ranks of the protesters? As the night wears on, we will add more videos to this list

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Syrian civilians in Homs hold up notes for the UN fact-finding delegation to read:

Qalamoun district of Damasacus:

Khalidiya district, Homs:

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Syria Special: Torture, Intimidation Used to Deter Protests

Syrian soldiers appear to be beating prisoners in a bus. We haven't received a full translation yet, but it appears that the soldiers are forcing these people to chant pro-Assad slogans:

UPDATE: 2011-08-19, 1900 GMT: Al Jazeera posts this translation with additional details:

Activists say the prisoners on the bus were arrested in Hama on July 29, just two days before the military assault on the city.

Men believed to be shabiha thugs dressed in military uniforms beat the prisoners, slamming their heads down and pulling their hair while screaming, "God, Syria, Bashar only!" and "With our blood and souls we sacrifice to you Bashar!" The men’s beards suggest they are not regular soldiers, as beards are banned in Syria’s military.

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NPR Reports that the tactics of the Syrian regime have become even more extreme. According to the report, Assad's forces are now torturing some detainees to death (audio of the full report):

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Syria Video Special: This is What Assad Calls "Withdrawing"

Even as the Syrian government, and the Syrian State Television channel SANA, were claiming that the soldiers and tanks were pulling out of Lattakia and Deir Ez Zor, we started to receive video of tanks repositioning to other locations, most notably Homs. Now, there are reports that most of the troops and tanks have not left Deir Ez Zor or Lattakia.

Is this what Assad calls "withdrawal?"

See Also, Syria, Libya (and Beyond) Liveblog: Pulling Out of Deir Ez Zor?

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Once again, every night since the start of Ramadan, protests are reported in almost every area of Syria:

Jobar, Damascus:

Al Korah, Deir Ez Zor:

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Syria, Libya (and Beyond) Liveblog: Pulling Out of Deir Ez Zor?

See Also, Syria Video Special: This is What Assad Calls "Withdrawing"

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2100 GMT: It is claimed that 10 Turkish F-16s have bombed several PKK camps in northern Iraq. However, no official confirmation has come from Ankara yet. 

1929 GMT: In our separate video entry, we've posted a clip claiming to show Syrian soldiers breaking in and looting a store in Hama.

1900 GMT: The number of killed Turkish soldiers has risen to 12. Meanwhile, the so-called "second man" of PKK, claimed to have been captured by Iranian forces, announced that PM Erdogan's "no tolerance" speech is nothing short of a declaration of war! He went further and threatened Ankara:

PM shall know that we have not used even five percent of our forces. We are waging a controlled defensive war now. If we take an official decision of war and order accordingly, then Ankara will be upside down. 

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Syria Video Special: Another Defiant Night of Ramadan Protests

UPDATE 1335 GMT: We struggled to find good video of last night's protests in Aleppo, but now we have found a clip of good quality:

Welcome to another night of Ramadan. Already, the opposition, and the regime, have established a routine. Each night, protesters attend Taraweeh Prayers, leave their mosques, and march through the streets. Each night, the Syrian regime beats, arrests, tear gasses, and shoots civilians.

And for the second night in a row, we have posted videos from the night.

We start with live-streaming audio from Hama, where the Syrian military shells the city with tanks. Just moments before the stream drops out, a loud explosion can be heard nearby and intense chanting can also be heard:

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Syria Video Essay: 1st Day of Ramadan was a Day of Chaos

UPDATE 1837 GMT: A new video, posted today, of yesterday's bombardment of Hama.

SeekerSK provides this translation:

Artillery shelling of Hama on 8-1-2011 before/when people break their fast- Vid was uploaded today

UPDATE 1245 GMT: James Miller here, with two additional updates about this first, and now infamous clip.

The first is that if you compare the audio from the original to the audio of the State TV version, the State TV version is worse (the state TV version starts at about 08:22). They have added a low-level buzz, and then the audio drops out and the buzz swells. As an audio professional in a previous life, I can testify that a battery operated camera will not get an audio buzz, only a broadcast camera, and it never sounds like that. It is our assessment that the Syrian State TV is obviously, and clumsily, doctored.

The second update comes from the Guardian's Paul Owen, who links to us and provides a translation for the video:

Some of (the bodies) seemed to have had their throats slit - (are) being thrown into the Al-A'assi river by Shabiha ("ghosts" – pro-Assad militia). The dead people are described in the caption as "heroes of Hama". The people around the Shabiha can be heard encouraging them, and insulting and cursing the dead people. The Shabiha shout "God is greatest" as they throw the bodies in the river. "Don't film" is also heard.

The video was uploaded on 31 July. The Arabic caption reads: "Is there any crime worse than killing someone and then throwing the body in the river? Where are human rights? Where is world opinion? Where is Amnesty International?" There is no way to properly verify the clip. Many thanks to my colleague Mona Mahmood for translation.

UPDATE 0830 GMT: And now a twist in the tale....

This 11-minute clip from Syrian state TV starts with footage which claimed to be of gunmen in Hama shooting at military from the streets and rooftops.

It is the final minutes, however, that are of immediate interest. The clip uses the same footage, posted by James Miller below, of what has been claimed as pro-Assad "thugs" throwing the bodies of protesters into a river near Hama. On state TV, however, the footage is protesters throwing dead troops over the bridge --- the sound has the men talking about the bodies as "soldiers".

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Syria Snap Analysis: Will 22 July Be Marked by History as A Turning Point?

Hama, 22 July (Reuters)The security forces have withdrawn from Hama and Deir Ez Zor. They are trying to quell the protests in Homs and around Damascus and Aleppo, but they are not succeeding. It is hard to imagine that the regime has any strongholds of significance left. Through crackdowns, and threats of sectarian violence, the protests have only grown in both scale, scope, and reach. To repeat the rhetorical question I asked on Friday; Where AREN'T they protesting in Syria?

And now the follow-up rhetorical question: how can the Assad regime possibly expect to survive this level of democratic upheaval?

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