The Bombing of al-Bara | Syria Behind the Lines | FRONTLINE | PBS

When FRONTLINE filmmaker Olly Lambert sat to interview Jamal Maarouf, a Syrian rebel commander, he did not anticipate that bombs from government jets would begin to fall just 300 meters away.

Though the first blast knocked him to the ground, Lambert kept his camera rolling. He spent the next hour documenting the impacts of the Oct. 28, 2012 bombing of al-Bara, a village in Idlib province an hour south of Aleppo. The result is a rare, immersive portrait of the immediate aftermath of Syrian government air strikes on a civilian population.

via The Bombing of al-Bara | Syria Behind the Lines | FRONTLINE | PBS.

FRONTLINE | The Bombing of al-Bara | PBS – YouTube

Stop murdering Syrian people!

Published on Apr 8, 2013

Watch the full-length episode athttp://video.pbs.org/video/2364993210/ (US Only)
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontli… [Warning: Graphic violence] On Oct. 28, 2012, while FRONTLINE’s Olly Lambert was filming an interview with a Syrian rebel leader in the village of al-Bara, a regime airstrike hit barely 300 meters from where he was standing. He kept the cameras rolling, spending the next hour documenting the strike’s impact. This film, narrated by Lambert, is a rare, immersive portrait of the immediate aftermath of Syrian government air strikes on civilian populations.

Lambert is the first Western filmmaker to spend an extended period living on both sides of Syria’s war – and to document, on camera, the realities of everyday life for rebels, government soldiers and the civilians who support them. Lambert’s film, Syria Behind the Lines, airs Tuesday April 10 on PBS.

FRONTLINE | The Bombing of al-Bara | PBS – YouTube.

The VICE Guide to Syria

Assad; who do you think you are?

 

CITIZENSHIP

The Syrian national ID card includes its holder’s ancestral name and “place of origin,” i.e., the neighborhood and city most closely associated with his or her family name. Before the uprising, the ID card caused the kind of minor travel-related annoyances we’re accustomed to in the West. But in the past 20 months, the ID card has become a potent tool for profiling and weeding out suspected members of the opposition. If you get stopped at a checkpoint, being from a rebel city or neighborhood can mean the difference between life and death. And while an individual’s religion isn’t blatantly listed on the ID, most officials can make a pretty good guess about a citizen’s sect based on the information.

Syria has a long history of using citizenship restrictions to decide who’s in and who’s out. In 1962, the state arbitrarily revoked the citizenship of 120,000 Kurds. These Kurds and their descendants were all considered ajanib (stateless) until last May. Ajanib are not permitted to marry, own cars, rent houses, or possess national IDs. Below the ajanib are the maktoumeen (hidden)—those who live in stateless limbo, unable to leave Syria legally but also forbidden from getting a job.

After oppressing the separatist Kurds for decades, three weeks after the uprising Assad issued an amnesty, giving them full citizenship. This conspicuously timed move was a cynical political bid to keep the armed Kurds from allying with the opposition. It worked; the Kurds have become a third position of sorts, quietly laying the foundations for their own autonomous Kurdish revolution in the North while the FSA and the regime slaughter each other.

Even if you’re not against the regime, your ID can be used to punish you if you don’t take good care of it. This fall, the regime released 267 people from prison who had been found with broken ID cards. In recent months, a firebrand Syrian sheikh has been calling for Syrians to break their ID cards to protest the regime. One man told Agence France-Presse that he had been on his way home when security forces stopped him and found his ID card broken. Another unlucky soul told AFP, “They beat me and forced me to confess that I was following the sheikh’s instructions, which I didn’t know existed.” When these Syrians were released, their heads were shaved, and they bore signs of torture. The lesson is to take good care of your driver’s license, especially if you live under a paranoid-schizophrenic wartime regime.

via The VICE Guide to Syria | VICE United States.

Bahraini court orders retrial of jailed opposition activists – Trend

Bahrain’s Appeal Court on Monday ordered retrial in the case of prominent jailed opposition activist Abdulhadi Al Khawaja.

The court said in its verdict that the retrial will take place in a civil court, Xinhua reported.

Al Khawaja was jailed for life last year by the National Safety Court on several charges including plotting to overthrow the administration by force.

The court also ordered retrial in the case of 20 other people who were arrested with Al Khawaja last year during the unrest which allegedly had links with foreign terrorist organization. The defendants include Shia cleric Hassan Mushaima and Ebrahim Sharif, secretary-general of the National Democratic Action Society, a leftist group.

via Bahraini court orders retrial of jailed opposition activists – Trend.

Bahrain adjourns appeal for hunger-striking activist – Trend

Bahraini court postponed the appeal Monday of a hunger-striking activist jailed in connection with the Gulf country’s uprising last year, his defence lawyer said dpa reported

The appeal for Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, along with 20 other activists, was adjourned to April 30.

Al-Khawaja, who holds both Bahraini and Danish citizenship, was sentenced to life in prison for his role in protests led by the country’s Shiite majority, demanding more rights from the ruling Sunni royal family.

He was convicted by a military court of plotting against the state. He has been on hunger strike for more than two months in protest at the life sentence he received in June.

Several opposition members were standing outside the court to demonstrate against the trial, amid heavy security presence. Earlier this month, Bahrain rejected a proposal to transfer al-Khawaja to Denmark for medical treatment.

While his family expressed concern about his deteriorating health, fearing that he might die in prison, Bahrain’s attorney general issued a statement insisting the 52-year-old activist was in “good health.”

International human rights groups including Amnesty International have called on Bahrain to release al-Khawaja.

Earlier this month, the European Union foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton urged Bahrain to save al-Khawaja, saying his health was “a matter of the utmost urgency.”

via Bahrain adjourns appeal for hunger-striking activist – Trend.

British, Japanese journalists held in Bahrain – Trend

British TV crew and two Japanese journalists were detained by the Bahraini police on Sunday, RIA Novosti reported.

“We can confirm that our foreign affairs correspondent Jonathan Miller and his team have been arrested whilst reporting for the programme from a village in Bahrain,” Channel 4 News spokesperson said. “Our primary concern is for the safety of the team, and we are working with the appropriate authorities to secure a swift release.”

The team failed to obtain journalist visas and worked without official accreditation to cover the Bahrain Grand Prix and civil unrest, the channel said on its website.

The corresponded came in contact with the Channel 4 news service and told that police were aggressive during the arrest, especially against the team’s local driver, who was arrested and assaulted in front of the team, and then separated from them.

“We are operating without accreditation, so when we were caught filming a planned demonstration in one of the Shia villages – they [police] have not been particularly pleasant. They’ve been very aggressive towards me, my crew and driver and Dr Al Shihabi, a prominent human rights activist.” Miller said while being taken to a police station.

“Right now we’re concerned for our driver…things are rather worse for Bahrainis in police custody,” he added.

A prominent opposition activist, Mohammed Al-Maskati, told RIA Novosti that police also arrested two Japanese journalists who covered protests on a highway leading to the Bahrain International Circuit, where a Formula 1 Grand Prix took place on Sunday.

via British, Japanese journalists held in Bahrain – Trend.

Clashes in Bahrain as protesters mark Workers’ Day – Trend

Security forces and protesters clashed in Bahrain’s capital Manama and several other areas Tuesday, after people responded to a call from opposition groups for nationwide protests to mark International Workers’ Day.

In Manama, several people were injure as police dispersed protesters. The February 14 Youth Coalition had called for 15 such protests under the slogan “A hand builds and a hand resists.”

All protests began at the same time, 12:30 am at various villages and parts of the capital, DPA reported.

The group said the protests were meant as a sign of gratitude for the workers and to express solidarity with those who had been sacked from their jobs after last year protests.

The island country’s majority Shiites have been taking to the streets since early last year, demanding more rights from the ruling Sunni royal family.

More than 2,000 people were sacked from their jobs in connection with the protests.

via Clashes in Bahrain as protesters mark Workers’ Day – Trend.

Iran to manufacture multiple sclerosis cure – Trend

Iran will start domestic manufacture of Glatiramer acetate, which is used as a treatment for multiple sclerosis, General Director of Iranian “Tofik Daru” research company Huseyn Attar said, IRIB News reported.

Glatiramer acetate is an immunomodulator drug currently used to treat multiple sclerosis.

Although the clinical definition of multiple sclerosis requires two or more episodes of symptoms and signs, glatiramer acetate is approved for treatment after single episodes. It is also used to treat relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. It is administered by subcutaneous injection.

The drug was discovered first and manufactured in Israel, by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd – an international pharmaceutical company headquartered in Petah Tikva, Israel. Teva Pharmaceuticals is one of the 15 largest pharmaceutical companies worldwide.

Huseyn Attar added that Iran up until now has been importing Glatiramer acetate, however now the country will be able to manufacture it domestically.

“We’ve been importing several types of peptide drugs, such as Fentanil, Alfentanil, Sulfentanil and Glatimer acetate, a total of seven types,” Attar said. “To be manufactured, they require special technology, and Iran is able to produce them domestically”.

Attar added that Islamic Republic will be able to domestically manufacture 15 types of peptide drugs, among which is Glatimer acetate.

via Iran to manufacture multiple sclerosis cure – Trend.

Oil prices to jump 30pct on Iran sanctions – IMF – 260205 – 20

According to the International Monetary Fund, oil prices will gain 30% on average in 2012 compared with a year earlier on possible supply disruption from Iran.

The IMF in its new annual report of World Economic outlook has said that Iran related geopolitical oil supply risks extend beyond the reduction in oil production and exports that appears to be in the making already and is priced in by markets.

The following is the text of IMF’s report:

The impact on oil prices of a potential or actual disruption in oil supplies involving the Islamic Republic of Iran the world’s third largest exporter of crude oil would be large if not offset by supply increases elsewhere.

A halt of Iran’s exports to Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development economies would likely trigger an initial oil price increase of about 20% to 30% with other producers or emergency stock releases likely providing some offset over time a part of this is likely priced in already. Further uncertainty about oil supply disruptions could trigger a much larger price spike.

via Oil prices to jump 30pct on Iran sanctions – IMF – 260205 – 20.