Syria: The slaughter of Houla caused international uproar

On May 25 anti-government protesters in Houla, northwest of Homs, took to the streets at noon without knowing that their protest would eventually [in] answered with a slaughter of unprecedented savagery [in]. At least 116 people were killed [in] by forces loyal to the regime.

That day, there appeared a video [GRAPHIC] on YouTube of men running away from what appears to be a bombing. Reports say that tanks, artillery, rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns of high caliber were used in the attack. The cameraman filmed the entrance to a building where bodies were lying on the ground, crying the name of the town of Houla. Light suggests that was the beginning of what would be a seven-hour bombardment.

Another video [GRAPHIC] shows what appears to be a room with corpses - mostly children - covered with sheets, while a man accused cries silence the Arab world.

Victims

In Houla, activists like Hadi Abdullah reportedly called on the UN observers to immediately and fungieran were witnesses of the events - but to no avail:

@ Thanku4theAnger : Hadi Abdullah warned the leader of UN monitors on the slaughter in Houla. His answer was "the regime does not allow us to travel at night"

@ Thanku4theAnger : Hadi Abdullah: We have over 300 wounded and dying in front of us we can not provide even the most basic emergency care

The UN observers finally arrived the next day and confirmed the casualties.

Mass burial of corpses of the victims, Houla, Syria. Sniperphoto Photo Agency, license © Demotix (26/05/2012).

There was immediate reaction of shock and horror around the world:

@ Acarvin : The photos are being shared through the label ‬ ‪ # HoulaMassacre are bloody, graphic and heartbreaking. So many beautiful children, dead. ‪ # syria

@ NMSyria : The Security Council of the UN has condemned [in] unanimously the use of heavy artillery in # HoulaMassacre ‬ which left 108 dead. Really?

@ Hamadx : # AlHoulahMassacre ‬ I do not want to have children. This world is not safe, not human.

Egyptian blogger Zeinobia reacted on his blog [es]:

Whoever perpetrated this horrible slaughter has no human feelings, you have been brainwashed level have become a killing machine that does not differentiate between what is right or wrong to kill a child that way.

On May 27 spokesman Syrian Foreign Minister denied that the Syrian military was responsible, blaming the slaughter terrorists affiliated with al Qaeda. Lebanese blogger As'ad Abu Khalil ("Angry Arab") was cynical [in]:

How I can continue commenting on developments in Syria? Just do not believe the Syrian regime or Syrian opposition groups in exile: both have a history of massacres and crimes and lies and fabrications. [...] Of course the government, given its bloody history and military (led by Hafiz and now Bashshar ) could easily be responsible for this slaughter. They have no moral scruples or ethical factors to avoid carrying out a crime like this. But as a friend (Amer) I wrote on the subject: "No version of which I heard makes sense, the amount of lies makes it impossible to know the truth: bombing? ¿Slaughter? ¿Militia? ¿Plundering villages between them? this can not happen all at once. "

Maysaloon blogger criticized the ambivalent view of Abu Khalil:

@ Maysaloon : The Angry Arab position on Syria is unclear: no opposition and the regime, but mainly to the opposition and the regime, but mainly to the opposition.

Mustafah Ruwayda commented on the position of Russia [in]:

@ RuwaydaMustafah : This just. 'Russia says both sides are involved in the slaughter of Houla'. Why the protesters would kill their own children?

Some even compared to the Syrian government with Israel (which was responsible for the slaughter [in] 1948 in a Lebanese village coincidentally called Houla):

@ SultanAlQassemi : Slaughter of the Innocents - Bashar Al Assad is the new Ariel Sharon

Was carried out strikes throughout Syria in solidarity with the victims:

@ HamaEcho : General strike in major markets of Damascus today condemned the massacres of the regime.

@ ZainSyr : The shops in the old souq of Medhat Basha and Hareqa are closed! X 1a. After participating in a strike! ‬ Damascus! We are approaching

The blogger has Yorikirii a tribute to the slaughter with a poem :

There are places in the war
That become sacred places.
Places of massacres. Crucial moments.
Who did it? We all know. Who's asking?
The reality on the scene speaks for itself.
My sacred places. One day in May. This was Houla

Written by Ammoun · Translated by Elizabeth Rivera · View original post [en] · Comments (0)
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