Syria Video Discussion: Two Years After the Start of the Uprising (Al Jazeera English)

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Al Jazeera English hosts a discussion on the second anniversary of the uprising against the Assad regime, "Where is the Syrian Conflict Heading?"

I am not sure there is much value in this in the way of insight or dialogue --- rather, it is marked by warnings, forebodings, and fixed positions.

The panel includes Yaser Tabbara, legal advisor for the opposition Syrian National Coalition; analyst Joshua Landis; and Danny Makki of the Syrian Youth in Britain.

Syria Live Coverage: Fighting Escalates Near Damascus

See also Syria Feature: Remembering A Voice For the Syrian Revolution
Iraq (and Beyond) Coverage: At Least 10 Killed in Basra Bomb

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1544 GMT: Insurgent Advance Near Golan Heights. Insurgents commanders said they have seized a Syrian military intelligence compound in the southern Hauran Plain near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

The compound near the Yarmouk River in the town of Shagara, 8 kilomtetres (5 miles) from a cease-fire line with Israel, fell after a five-day siege, opposition sources said.

"We have completely taken over this security compound this morning. It's a command centre for the shabiha [pro-Assad militia]," said Abu Iyas al-Haurani, a member of the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade. "Anyone who was arrested in the Yarmouk Valley was sent to this military intelligence headquarters to be tortured and it has a strategic importance. With its fall we have completed our liberation of the town of Shagara."

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Syria Feature: Remembering A Voice For the Syrian Revolution (Hanano)

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On the eve of the second anniversary of the Syrian Revolution, I watched a single video: footage of an early expression of resistance recorded in central Damascus on March 15, 2011. After watching thousands of videos for the last two years of protests, funerals, destruction, bombs, and countless corpses — I was surprised that this video was as difficult to watch as the horrific ones. It’s a video that accidentally recorded an act of unparalleled bravery: one voice that pierced 41 years of a nation’s voluntary silence.

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Syria Live Coverage: The Protests on the 2nd Anniversary of the Uprising

Friday's opposition rally in Al Bab in Aleppo

See also Syria 1st-Hand: The Gazans Who Fight with the Insurgency
Israel (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The New Coalition Government
Friday's Syria Live Coverage: Britain and France to Lift Arms Embargo on Insurgents?

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0756 GMT: Cluster Bombs. Human Rights Watch, frp, field investigations and review of more than 450 videos, claims regime forces have used at least 156 cluster bombs in at least 115 locations in the past six months.

The organisation said it has investigated specific two cluster bomb attacks in the past two weeks --- one in Deir Jamal near Aleppo, and one in Talbiseh near Homs – that killed 11 civilians and wounded 27 others.

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Syria 1st-Hand: The Gazans Who Fight with the Insurgency (al-Ghoul)

Rally in northern Gaza for the Syrian opposition, January 2013

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On leaving the house of the Salafist leader, who insisted on remaining anonymous, I was able to get an interview with the families of two Salafists who had participated in the battle in Syria, and who were declared dead by al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra on the Internet.

When I reached the house of the deceased Muhammad Qunayta, his brother refused to talk to me, despite having earlier confirmed the meeting.

However, the women poured their hearts out to me, expressing their sorrow for the sudden and tragic death of their son.

The sister of the deceased said, “Before he traveled, he was watching several videos from Syria and bitterly crying for the souls of children, women and wounded people. Then, he told us he was going to Turkey for trade purposes. We found out later that he went to Syria to carry out a martyrdom there.” She added that her brother’s conscience pushed him to fight in Syria. In his last days, he used to repeat, “My conscience cannot rest with all this injustice in Syria.”

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Iran Special: How Western Media Missed The Important Story from Israel

On Thursday, the head of Israel's military intelligence, Major General Amir Kochavi, made an important announcement. He said that, while Iran is developing its nuclear programme in 2013, it "has not yet decided to build a bomb".

Here's the catch: those who rely on Western media are unlikely to learn of this.

Instead, they will be treated to this far scarier spin, also taken from Kochavi's presentation: "Iran and Hezbollah Have Built 50,000-Strong Force to Help Syrian Regime".

So why did one declaration of Kochavi --- which is a misreading of a statement by an Iranian military commander last autumn --- make the headlines? Why is another --- which is far more significant and points to the debate within Israel over what to do about Tehran --- ignored?

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Syria Live Coverage: Britain and France to Lift Arms Embargo on Insurgents?

1832 GMT: Massacre in Daraa. The Daraa Coordination Committee reports that at least 20 people have been found dead near a checkpoint in Daraa after they were arrested:

20 People from Daraa Mahata were martyred under torture at Hamida Taher checkpoint. Their bodies were moved to the national hospital; of which the following martyrs were identified: Sheik Walid al-Sari Abazeed, Mujahed Abazeed, Sheik Musleh Ayyash, Sheik Rabea al-Kakouni, Waseem Ali al-Falouji, Nassar Abu-Nabbout, Youssef al-Mefalani, Abu-Moayad Labash al-Abazeed.

At this point, 5 graphic videos posted to the Daraa Committee's Youtube channel show bodies of men that have some of the hallmark's of torture. Beatings, bruises, what may be burn marks or puncture wounds, black eyes, broken noses, gunshots to the head... the videos are ugly.

The Hamida Tahrir district is just north of Daraa Albalad, the southern half of Daraa that is still in rebel control (map). The checkpoint here, however, is under government control. It has reportedly been used to ensure that rebel spies, sympathizers, and defectors do not reach rebel territory or ferry information back and forth.

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Syria Audio Analysis: Stories Beyond European Arms Embargo on the Insurgents --- Scott Lucas with Monocle 24

I spoke with Monocle 24's The Daily last night about the possibility that the European Union, with a high-level meeting today in Brussels, might lift the embargo on arms to the insurgents.

Listen to interview, from the 5:46 mark, on The Daily's homepage or in a pop-out window.

The conversation quickly moved beyond that headline to the important realities and questions, including: 1) European countries such as Britain and France are already involved --- if not publicly --- in provision of weaponis to the insurgency; 2) the foreign special forces who may be inside Syria already; 3) the complications of the arms supply to the insurgency, with incidents such as the kidnapping of United Nations peacekeepers last week --- "this is not a clean operation; there is not one single opposition army here".

EA Video Analysis: Syria, 2 Years On --- The Kaleidoscope of Civil War

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On the second anniversary of the uprising against the Assad regime, thoughts about the current situation:

1. NOSTALGIA ABOUT THE PAST

"There are still the protests. There are still the signs that make us think that there need not be sectarian violence, that there has to be some way forward beyond the bloodshed, a way forward for all Syrians. But it seems almost Utopian."

2. THE KALEIDOSCOPE OF A CIVIL WAR

"There is no way to reduce this to a good v. bad scenario, even if you think one should be imposed."

3. YOU CANNOT CONTROL A KALEIDOSCOPE, AND YOU CANNOT CONTROL THE CONFLICT

4. WHERE NOW?

"There is going to be uncertainty, there is going to be a range of outcomes --- not all of them good --- whatever you advocate."

Syria Live Coverage: The Saudi Support of the Insurgency

See also Syria Audio Analysis: Is Assad's Military Crumbling? --- Scott Lucas with Monocle 24
Syria Feature: "Hundreds" of Saudis --- and Lots of Money --- for the Insurgency
Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Mubarak's Police Behind Almost 900 Killings of Protesters in 2011 Uprising
Wednesday's Syria Live Coverage: Turkish Special Forces Enter the Country

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Anhar Kocheva (see 0815 GMT)1935 GMT: Death Toll Rises. According to the Local Coordination Committees, today's death toll has risen to 126:

35 martyrs were reported in Tal Brak in Hasakeh in a massacre that was committed by the regime forces; 34 in Damascus and its Suburbs; 18 in Daraa, 11 in Homs; 11 in Aleppo; 6 in Raqqa; 5 in Hama; 4 in Idlib; 1 in Qunaitera; and 1 in Jableh.

See our note about the casualty numbers published by the LCC.

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