Truth has come and falsehood has perished

There is no online text of Jolani's speech. I literally listened to the entire speech and typed it out.

Truth has come and falsehood has perished

The Speech of Syrian President al Daraa at the UN

September 25, 2025

A land of ancient civilization and culture deserves to be a state of law. Protecting everyone, safeguarding rights, guaranteeing freedoms, and fostering life to flourish while turning the page of a wretched past. We are determined to restore Syria’s dignity, glory and honor. And in continuation of the Syrian story, I declare before you today the triumph of truth over falsehood. Truth has come, and falsehood has perished. Syria is reclaiming its rightful place among the nations of the world. This announcement is the echo of a great people’s will. A people who forged glory throughout the ages, who rose again from beneath the rubble to restore their rights and freedom and dignity. On behalf of the Syrian people, I extend gratitude to everyone who stood by the Syrian cause, who aided Syrians in their tragedy, and who welcomed them in their countries, and to all nations and peoples who rejoiced in the victory of the Syrian people’s will. And I particularly thank Turkey, Qatar, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and all Arab and Islamic states, the United States of America, and the European Union. And before I conclude, let me affirm. The suffering Syria endured, we wish upon no one. We are among the people most deeply aware of the horrors of war and destruction. For this reason, we stand firmly with the people of Ghaza. For this reason, we stand firmly with the people of Ghaza, its children and women and all peoples facing violations and aggressions. We call for an immediate end to the war. In conclusion, the Syrian story has not come to an end. It continues to write a new chapter, entitled Peace, Prosperity, and Development. And may the Peace of God be upon you. 

Bismillahi Rahmani Rahim, in the name of God most Merciful most Compassionate: 

The Syrian story is filled with emotions, and it mixes pain with hope. The Syrian story is a struggle between good and evil, and between the weak, right cause, that has no supporter except God. Our story is one of the lessons of history, and it is an embodiment of noble human meanings and values in this eternal struggle between good and evil. We find in this Syrian story a new chapter of the struggle, one filled with creativity and determination and patience and torture and pain and sacrifice, and clinging on to noble customs and values and hard work and relying on God. All these are tools for truth against injustice and falsehood. 

Your Excellency, Mister Secretarial General, Madame President of the General Assembly. Your Excellency, may the peace of God be upon you. I come to you from Damascus, the Capital of History and the Cradle of Civilizations, a beautiful country that has taught the world the meaning of Civilization and values and coexistence, to be a beacon for the world.

Syria however for 60 years, fell under oppressive rule that disregarded the value of the territory it ruled over. For long years, we suffered under injustice and deprivation and oppression, and we rose - Bismillah - and in claiming our dignity, the previous regime has used the worst kind of torture against our people ; chemical weapons and bombardment and torture and prison and displacement and sectarian strife and using drugs against our people and the world.

It has torn our country apart, and brought forth fighters from around the world. The former regime killed around a million innocent people and displaced thousands and millions, and demolished 2 million homes. Ladies and Gentleman, the unarmed people were attacked, using chemical weapons. Our women and children have inhaled toxic gases. All this to silence truth. And with all this criminality, there was no language for solution. Despite the offers, the community had no choice but to organize itself, and to organize militarily and to oust a criminal regime. 

It was a military operation that was filled with mercy and good, and that prioritized tolerance, and that did not target civilians. It targeted justice without vengeance. We restored our right, and we became victorious for the sake of our grievances. We were victorious for the mothers of the martyrs, and for all of you people of the world, for the future of our children and yours. And we pave the way of the refugee, and we destroyed the trafficking of drugs. Accordingly, Syria has transported from an exporter of crises to opportunities for peace for Syria and the region. 

Ladies and Gentleman. This unique Syrian achievement and the solidarity between our peoples has led us to try to uproot sectarianism and to fight against attempts to divide our country once again. But the Syrian people are once again aware enough to understand, and to resist.

We reformed Commissions for fact-finding and granted access to UN fact finding missions. I guarantee to bring accountable anyone that is responsible for bloodshed. And in this context, the Israeli strikes and attacks against my country continue. And Israeli policies contradict the international supporting position for Syria, which threatens new crises and struggles in our region. For this purpose, and in face of this aggression, Syria is committed to dialogue, and we are committed to the disengagement of forces agreement of 1974, and we call on the international community to stand beside us in the face of these attacks. 

Ladies and Gentleman, from the very moment the former regime fell, we set out a clear strategic policy built upon three pillars: Balanced diplomacy, security, stability and economic development. We filled the power vacuum, called for an inclusive national dialogue and announced a government of competence. We strengthened the principle of participation and established a national commission for transitional justice, and another for the missing, ensuring justice and fairness. We are now proceeding toward electing representatives of people in the legislative council. We restructured all civil and military institutions, dissolving all previous formations. Through intensive diplomatic activity, Syria restored its international relations, and forged regional and global partnerships, and achieved the lifting of most international sanctions. And we call now for the complete lifting of sanctions, so that they no longer shackle the Syrian people. Investment laws have been amended and major regional and international companies have already begun entering the Syrian market, contributing through investment and construction.

Syria today is rebuilding itself through establishing a new state, building institutions, and laws that guarantee the rights of all without exception. A land of ancient civilization and culture deserves to be a state of law. Protecting everyone, safeguarding rights, guaranteeing freedoms, and fostering life to flourish while turning the page of a wretched past. We are determined to restore Syria’s dignity, glory and honor. And in continuation of the Syrian story, I declare before you today the triumph of truth over falsehood. Truth has come, and falsehood has perished. Syria is reclaiming its rightful place among the nations of the world. This announcement is the echo of a great people’s will. A people who forged glory throughout the ages, who rose again from beneath the rubble to restore their rights and freedom and dignity. On behalf of the Syrian people, I extend gratitude to everyone who stood by the Syrian cause, who aided Syrians in their tragedy, and who welcomed them in their countries, and to all nations and peoples who rejoiced in the victory of the Syrian people’s will. And I particularly thank Turkey, Qatar, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and all Arab and Islamic states, the United States of America, and the European Union.

And before I conclude, let me affirm. The suffering Syria endured, we wish upon no one. We are among the people most deeply aware of the horrors of war and destruction. For this reason, we stand firmly with the people of Ghaza. For this reason, we stand firmly with the people of Ghaza, its children and women and all peoples facing violations and aggressions. We call for an immediate end to the war.

In conclusion, the Syrian story has not come to an end. It continues to write a new chapter, entitled Peace, Prosperity, and Development. And may the Peace of God be upon you.

Bus Driver Union: "Dump Veolia"

Boston: Corporation which Exploited Syria & Iraq Opposed by Black Bus Drivers' Union "Dump Veolia" campaign. Workers also helped "Free Aafia" Movement. Islam forbids Private Ownership of Natural Resources.


Islam often presents itself as the Middle Path between the two extremes of Capitalism and Communism. Islamic Law would eliminate the need for class struggle by creating a society where property owners are held accountable. Yet, no Islamic society exists in this century. What is important to understand however is that Islam considers environmental and mineral resources to belong to Allah. That means nobody can own them. An Islamic movement has to protect and utilize natural resources for the public benefit. Leftist speech refers to "The People" while Islamic speech invokes "Allah" - but essentially they are both saying the same thing: that water and other resources belong to the government and cannot be privatized.

We have been hearing the word "privatization" a lot as local governments for example Flint, Michigan take the water and sewage infrastructure out of public control and give it to a private company that then contaminates the water and destroys the pipes. The Flint move was touted as part of "austerity measures," even though the privatization actually cost the city much more. It was really about corporations lining their pockets with public money. When a government hires a "private" company to run basic civilian infrastructure, we are not talking about a small private company with scientific expertise to solve environmental or organizational problems. These "private" companies are actually huge international corporations, which are steadily consolidating their power to create what increasingly appears to be a global takeover of control that is able to overrule local governments and impose its will on the people via distribution or non-distribution of water, food, and resources. Islamic hadith prophesied the coming of such a global rule - Dajjal - that represents an evil force of oppression, which rules by controlling access to food, water, and other resources.

The poorest of the poor, from India to South America suffer from lack of access to clean water while their freedom of movement is often brutally hindered. These conditions do not arise because of the backwardness of the people but are due to deliberate maneuvers by the political elite. The poor are further degraded by unsafe working conditions and inadequate compensation from corporate bosses that prevent workers from organizing to demand improvements. The ongoing current struggle against multinational corporations is being spearheaded by labor unions and social justice groups in a wide variety of locations. Because of increasing global communication, activists involved in protests and strikes all over the world are not only able to offer solidarity but compare notes on the common global enemy and strategies for defeating it. An increasingly organized, informed and supported labor movement can only be a good thing.

The business connections between those building the wall between the US and Mexico and those building walls surrounding Palestinian areas are unsurprising, but not everyone is aware of the vast extent of the massive web of international corporate control of water, sewage, and transportation systems around the globe. A particularly evil French corporation named Veolia, which dates back to the time of Napoleon, made huge profits from French colonization of the West Indies and Algeria by building railways and water treatment plants. In 2013 the UN hired Veolia to destroy Syria's chemical weapons. Veolia thus profited off the Syrian civil war, while engaging in a political charade, as the UN continued to allow Assad to destroy infrastructure and mass murder political opponents using non-chemical weapons. Veolia is also profiting off the US occupation of Iraq, as the Iraqi Ministry has employed Veolia to build a water treatment plant.

This same company, Veolia, is currently engaged in privatizing the water and transportation systems in many cities around the US, committing fraud and embezzlement, contaminating water, reducing services to poor areas while increasing fees, and breaking union contracts.
In 2013, Veolia also took over the management of Boston Public School Bus transportation, sparking an ongoing struggle by the school bus drivers union USW Local 8751 against Veolia's unfair labor practices including payroll shortages, impossible demands on bus drivers, overcrowding of buses, failure to provide agreed upon benefits, and bad faith negotiations resulting in the attempted prosecution and termination of union organizers. Veolia's efforts to crush Boston's only black and immigrant-majority union failed due to hundreds of protesting bus drivers and incredible support from solidarity activists. This union's struggle is important on many levels because not only are they resisting a corporation that has already destroyed many other cities' water supply and workers' rights on several continents, but Boston bus drivers themselves have a decades-long history of supporting people's justice issues. They played a huge role on the front lines of desegregation, escorting black children to school through angry racist white mobs. Not only has the bus drivers' union stood against Israeli Apartheid but they did much of the organizing and provided the sound system for Boston's recent rally to support Dr. Aafia Siddique on March 8, 2016.

The Dump Veolia campaign is growing in many countries around the world from Chile to India, resulting in a surge of political and social networking. "Veolia is just one window to understand the need for joint struggle, how corporatization entangles us with past histories of oppression and present global resistances," writes Maia Brown for Stop Veolia Seattle. "When we understand the historical continuities, exemplified by Veolia, between early structures of Western Imperialism and industrialization and today's globalization and neoliberalism, we strengthen our ability to form new solidarities and communities of struggle." 

Attempt to Use Quds Day in Support of Assad Regime

Al Quds Day should only be for Palestine


I was confused by Al Quds day in Boston on July 1, 2016. The organizer was trying to "tie in" the issue of Syria, Yemen etc, condemning ISIS, Taliban, al Qaeda and talking about "stability in the Middle East" (code words for supporting Assad.]

When I mentioned that the Russians, Hizbollah and Assad bombing is what is destabilizing the region, and demanded why they are trying to limit Al Quds day for Shia and Assad loyalists, she would not budge from that position, and only one brother (a Palestinian refugee) defended my argument for keeping this strictly about Palestine so as not to alienate Sunni Muslims. Most people were saying I was really rude. It was disappointing to see exclusionary sectarian politics taking over what should be a unified mass movement in support of Palestine.

FaceBook.com/photo.php?fbid=992195764229026 

Trying to Understand Syria

On Monday, August 1, 2016 I was privileged to have an in depth conversation with a Syrian doctor who has lived in the US for the past 27 years, to get his personal analysis of the political situation in Syria. I had approached him with many questions due to what appeared to me to be a near complete disconnect between Islamic vs Leftist, or US vs Russian news reports. I would like to resolve this gap in mutual understanding to move to the next level of problem solving.

Sam said in order to understand, we have to go back in history. His father was a member of the socialist, nationalist Baathist party, which was one of many post-colonial movements, and came to power in Syria in 1963. He said his father was a “true leftist” and a high-ranking military officer. In 1970, Hafiz al-Assad, the defense minister, staged a coup against the party to take power. He claimed his intention was to get the Baath party on the right track after it had become corrupted. Assad’s “corrective movement” purged half or more of the party’s leaders, including Sam’s father.

Leftists in Syria believe that Hafiz al-Assad’s coup was staged by the West in order to dismantle the socialist movement. The US at that time was propping up several governments in South America, Southeast Asia and Africa where policy decisions were made by one person. These governments, including the newly installed Assad regime, were less than socialist and more like a dictatorship. Under Assad, the political rhetoric remained leftist but in actuality, Assad tortured and wiped out all the Communists in Syria, which had been around 10% of the population.

King Hussein of Jordan had previously kicked the Palestinians out of Jordan and sent them to Lebanon. Under Hafiz Assad, Syria occupied Lebanon and purged both leftists and Palestinians. He sent the PLO and Arafat out of Lebanon and forced them to live in Tunisia. Eventually, they were able to return to the West Bank after Arafat’s peace treaty with Israel.

The Syrian regime has always been pro-Western and pro-Israel but using leftist rhetoric because of popular sentiment. Assad depended heavily on his Alawite sect, the elite of which became a mafia ruling the country and dominating the military and intelligence agencies. Assad ruled by force of intimidation and torture. His dictatorship was run by the Alawite minority using socialist slogans. Syria was not anti-American/pro-Russia as many western leftists believed. The Syrian regime, similarly to the Iranian, would use slogans such as “resistance and steadfastness” and “Death to America!” which caused the gullible to believe these regimes were anti-imperialist. However, Iran has helped the US greatly in both Afghanistan and Iraq. The US then basically handed the power to Iran in Iraq after removing Saddam Hussein at great cost.

Syria was also no anti-imperialist. The Golan Heights never had a more secure Israeli border until after Assad. Rather than pushing against Israel, Assad was busy fighting Palestinians in Lebanon. If Assad had pushed against Israel, Israel would not have swallowed the West Bank.

The US didn’t mind him saying anti-American things. He still sent his kids to college in the US and came to the US for medical treatment. His and his junta’s assets were secured in Western banks. Assad regime was not anti-US nor anti-Israel.

The Syrian Revolution came in spite of the Americans, it was not instigated by the US. They said at first they would support the “moderates” but they didn’t deliver on their promise. The US could have helped Syrians overthrow the regime but the fighters didn’t get the anti-aircraft missiles they needed, (and were crucial to win) except what they captured from the regime. The US did give FSA a few anti-tank missiles but the revolution could not survive without anti-aircraft missiles, which the US gave out 2 or 3 at a time. The short supply was secured by the US government, which could deactivate the anti-aircraft missiles at will. The technology was constantly monitored as to its whereabouts by the US, and only one person was allowed to use it, using their thumbprint. Then whenever the US decided they could cut him off. So this American help was not help. There was no trust.

Had the US supported moderate rebels, they would have overthrown Assad long ago. US is working with the regime. Their goal is not to allow any side to win, and not ending anything.

Chemical weapons were used, and nothing happened despite American declared red lines. There was a point when the regime was weak but the US did not intervene to tip the balance towards the rebels. After a few planes had been shot down, Assad would have been forced to come to the negotiating table. But the US is working with the Russians.

The US gave limited amounts of weapons to FSA -  the Syrian army members that defected because they refused to fire upon their own people and have now joined the people’s struggle. The FSA received no practical help from the US. The Islamists have more support. They are rumored to receive weapons from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and even from Iran and the regime!

Why? Because the Syrian regime wants to be seen as “fighting Islamic extremists.” The world would see the moderate democratic rights activists as a viable option to replace Assad. But the world will never accept an Islamic government. Therefore in 2012, the regime actually released thousands of Islamic movement prisoners, who became the leaders of the Islamic resistance, which soon overpowered the secular Free Syria movement. Most Syrians do not want an Islamic government and many even prefer the regime, but the world powers promoted the Islamists in order to get rid of the potential acceptance of a popular Syrian movement for democracy.

The regime is acting in concert with the West’s policies. They got rid of any acceptable replacement to their government. The initial revolution was wiped out and their struggle for freedom was replaced by a struggle between the regime and Islamist forces.

Since the 1940’s, there existed the Muslim Brotherhood, who wanted to work within the system and use elections to promote their political platform, but there was no big Islamic movement in Syria. The moderate Muslim Brotherhood was outlawed and their members would be executed.

ISIS could not survive without outside support. They have regular military parades displaying their weaponry but nobody bombs them. Nobody touches the ISIS convoys with their many many vehicles. They are supposedly opposed by Russia, the West, and all other countries but even the US bombing is not effective. It serves no purpose except to justify continued military presence in the area.

The US support to the Kurds is very open, and serves to demonstrate the difference between Kurdish areas and other areas in Syria. Any time a Kurdish town is about to fall, the US will actively intervene effectively. The Kurds have a defacto alliance with the Syrian regime, who does not bomb them, and with Israel, who used them to fight against Saddam Hussein.

Nobody really knows who arms ISIS. They are heavily armed, made up of foreign fighters, and they are fighting the Syrian regime’s foes. The regime gave up land to ISIS without a fight. There was a regime prison notorious for torture. ISIS blew up the prison, destroying all evidence.

Sam said the US preferred Assad and stability for their geopolitical ambitions. Assad helped Israel neutralize Egypt in Sinai. He told me to look up Henry Kissinger’s 1973 pact between Assad and Israel.

Regardless of what the US wants, the Assad regime is no longer acceptable to govern because of what he has done. Assad has to be replaced; could be with a similar regime with a new name but that he needs to be replaced is a fact. It doesn’t mean that the US desires it but they have to work with the situation. The US has not supported the uprising against Assad. But at this point there is no choice for the world powers. Once they desire to solve the problem, replacement of Assad is a must. This is not a victory for the revolution. Perhaps some of the people’s demands will be addressed.

Syrian Migration to Europe Could Have Positive Impact.

Europeans have recently been forced to acknowledge the genocide going on in Syria because of dead bodies washing up on their beaches. Europe is experiencing the Syrian war on a level that is far removed from the American left's blind theorizing about what foreign powers are responsible. When one mentions the bombs come from Russia and the pilots are Iranian they short-circuit because the Americans really only get their alternative news from leftist, pro-Assad sources.

A certain photo of a little boy who had drowned got past the censors and went viral, as well as the story of an entire container load of corpses, many children, that washed up on a beach in Vienna. Germany made the first move to accept ten thousand refugees. However, there are more than ten thousand refugees so other European countries are being pressured to help out. So far all of the refugee burden is on Italy and Greece due to their proximity to Syria via the Mediterranean Sea. Fascist Hungary is building an Israel-like wall on its border with Serbia, to keep the refugees out. There are reports of Serbians welcoming the Syrian refugees, but there is historical anti-Turk bias.

As a result of not wanting to repeat the Holocaust, and genuine humanitarian concern, hundreds of demonstrating Austrians held signs reading "Refugees Welcome" this week. They must have been moved to the depths of their being because my experience of Austria was that they were quite xenophobic and openly hostile towards Turks. I was denied service there while wearing hijab. However, not in Vienna. Vienna is a very open-minded city with a long intellectual history.

While there are complaints about Arab and Muslim countries not doing enough for the Syrians, and those countries who do try to help are accused of harboring terrorists, it makes sense for Europeans to shelter this sudden influx of new talent. Countries such as Germany and Austria are so desperate for young people to fill their employment vacuum that they already offer free university tuition and serve as a destination for foreign students from Gaza, Africa, and Eastern Europe. Syrian immigrants may perhaps be valued above others because of their colored eyes.

Iceland, the most racist country in Europe, well shall we say the least diverse, offered 11,000 homes up voluntarily to house Syrian refugees. This is a profoundly anti-immigrant state.

According to census polls, the white race, in other words colored eyed people with blonde or red hair, are becoming an endangered species, after World War II caused them to kill each other off. In Europe and America, the inability to replace the population lost in WWII was caused largely by the personal choice to become gay, use birth control, or delay marriage until after menopause. Prior to the Syrian war, the Syrian population was considered the top producing country of whites. Even despite the war and refugee status, they continue to multiply. If it were not for the Syrians, the white race was due for extinction within the next century. The war happened after these population statistics were released in 2010.

Desperate for a global population to represent, white rights leaders such as David Duke expanded the definition of "white" to include Italians, Greeks and Syrians, calling them "Mediterranean whites." Dr. Duke visited Syria on multiple occasions as a guest of Assad, who is ironically now mass murdering the last of the blue eyeds.

With the Syrian war not likely to end soon, Syrians will probably become a permanent part of Europe, which already has twice the Arab/Islamic presence as the United States enjoys. This may have long lasting consequences on support for Israel, but at the same time, European housing of the Syrian refugees helps Zionism attain its goal of clearing that entire area for "Greater Israel."

According to Zionist plans that began to be discussed in the late 1800s in Switzerland, Iraq was supposed to become like an American Indian reservation for refugees, while Syrian land would become suburban luxury homes for foreign wealthy Jews and collaborative "investors."

Time will tell how that plot pans out, but Allah may have other plans. Syrians are a family oriented society and other than hygiene needs, they are not likely to cause instability in Europe. Rather, they might actually cause stability. They are bringing in a much needed homogeneous population of literate, well-mannered and hard-working people that will be able to assimilate very quickly. By expanding the definition of "whiteness" to include Arabs and Muslims, Europe will be in a stronger negotiating position worldwide, than in the outdated past when Christianity represented Europe.

http://newtrendmag.org/ntma1618.htm

Syria: First UK drone attack on British citizens

The UK just created history on 21 and 24 of August 2015 by committing targeted assassinations of British citizens residing in Syria using drone strike.

"Cardiff-born Reyaad Khan, 21, and Ruhul Amin, from Aberdeen, died last month in Raqqa, alongside another fighter, in the first targeted UK drone attack on a British citizen, Cameron told MPs," reported the BBC. http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-34178998

The British government claims the lads had been plotting "barbaric" attacks on UK soil and they had no other choice but to kill them just in case. The media called Junaid Hussain a "cyber jihadist" and pictured him with a rifle in a photo.

Both Khan and Hussain had been involved in actively recruiting IS "sympathisers" and plotting to attack "high-profile public commemorations" taking place in the UK this summer, the prime minister said.

"There was a terrorist directing murder on our streets and no other means to stop him."

This makes no sense. He was overseas. They could have just prevented them from returning to Britain, arrested him and given him a trial. And what do they mean by attacking? Like he might have gone there to pass out flyers about the Syrian situation? What exactly. I guess we will never know since he's dead. God rest his soul.

"Khan was killed in a precision strike on 21 August by a remotely piloted aircraft, "after meticulous planning" by the UK government, while he was travelling in a vehicle," reported BBC. Another British national, Junaid Hussain, 21 and from Birmingham, was killed in a separate air strike by US forces in Raqqa on 24 August.

Two years ago, Britain refused to enter the war to help Syrian refugees but last September approved British participation in air strikes against IS targets in Iraq only. This recent action is the first time Britain has droned anyone at all in Syria, so it is interesting that their first choice as a target was their own citizens. To spare themselves the hassles of being prosecuted or retaliated by a foreign government, the UK has simply taken to using their own citizens for target practice overseas. I guess that would limit the legal repercussions!

We do not know enough information right now to determine whether the UK was just practicing their weaponry on some soft targets or if any of the victims were potential political activists in some way. Officials told the media the UK would "act immediately [in Syria] and explain to Parliament afterwards."

The strike on Khan was "the first time in modern times that a British asset has been used to conduct a strike in a country where we're not involved in a war", said Cameron. "Britain has used remotely piloted aircraft in Iraq and Afghanistan but this is a new departure and that's why I thought it important to come to the House and explain why I think it is necessary and justified."

FSA Making Strides Despite Russian Bombing

My primary access to information in the English language, other than New Trend, is from youtube videos forwarded by Syrian Americans of live war footage as well as Arabic news shows that have subtitles or at least give a summary of what is going on in the video. So I lack military knowledge, but I have grown up around the Arabs of Michigan.

My intuitive analysis is that the mainstream attitude of Syrian-American youth is represented by support for the Free Syrian Army. Al-Nusra's approach to politics represents the mainstream point of view of the Sunni religious conservative elders. ISIS represents or draws from the glorious End Times Prophecies, including the Return of Jesus (pbuh), that are described in some Islamic hadith and are very often quoted by South Asians. Some Muslims base a large part of their faith upon these prophecies while others view these hadith as weak and suspect that they were planted by the British Illuminati. Either way, these hadith are very important to understanding why people would leave their homes to go fight for an Islamic State as opposed to mere political freedom for the Syrians.

About one month ago, American journalist Bilal Abdul Kareem interviewed Shaykh Abu Firas [ YouTube.com/watch?v=0RIsR9LXiWU ] , member of Jabha Nusra's Majlis Ashura, regarding his group's stance concerning ISIS

Abu Firas stated that ISIS offered to join forces with al-Nusra, which is often called an offshoot of al-Qaeda. The US State department considers them as Islamic moderates affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. The old bearded man said that they do want to establish Islam as the law of the land, that is their goal. However, al-Nusra is not comfortable with ISIS's approach, in particular their decision to declare the Free Syrian Army (FSA) as kuffar or infidels. ISIS leaders told al-Nusra that they would only be willing to work with them if al-Nusra would fight against FSA.

The Shaykh said they could not agree to this because the FSA represents the vast majority of the local Syrian militia groups, most of whom are guarding their own town. FSA is a wide spectrum of people whose common goal is to topple Assad and to defend their homeland. Some of the fighters are sincerely religious Muslims who want to establish Islam as a way of life, while other fighters have a more secular mindset. Many even have family members living in the US. Al-Nusra refused to reject the FSA as allies or to declare them kuffar. This is why the two main Islamic fighting groups are not working together.

October 7, 2015 was a historic day for the FSA. "Let today be the day that it is recorded... The Assad regime with Iranian boots, Hezbollah mercenaries, sectarian militias, and the cover of Russian aerial bombardments.... Could NOT.... advance on the Free Syrian Army in Hama's suburbs....AND....That our freedom fighters were able to destroy 26 tanks (and others).... Seize two tanks a spoils... Take some POW's.... And much more...." was the news circulating on facebook. Other accounts place the number of tanks destroyed at closer to 15.

The Orient News [ YouTube.com/watch?v=wQFJFrx6Sys ] showed very exciting footage of FSA fighters shooting rockets at advancing tanks. One shot, and the tank is completely obliterated. They didn't just topple the tank over. BOOM! The tank is gone. The marksmanship of the fighters is impressively accurate despite the apparent clumsiness of the launching apparatus, while the weapons themselves must be very advanced, to cause such total damage. This is no homemade device. I am told the rockets are supplied by Libya or UAE.

"On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin's fighter jets rocketed an ammunition storehouse, destroying artillery, armored personnel carriers and even tanks belonging to Liwa Suqour al-Jabal, or The Mountain Eagles, a U.S.-backed brigade of the Free Syrian Army," writes Michael Weiss in the Daily Beast.

A video uploaded by the brigade to YouTube shows the burning wreckage of the Russian airstrike, in Mansoura, in the western suburbs of Aleppo, as the local commander known as Abu Mohammed taunts his enemy: "Thank God, we are all fine," says Abu Mohammed. "We don't fear Russia or anyone helping the Russians. Bashar, we will remain resistant fighting you even without any ammunition or bullets. We will fight you with knives. We don't need ammunition, Allahu Akhbar."

Weiss reports also that while the Russian airplanes were targeting Suqour al-Jabal's weapon depots in Aleppo and ISIS attacked the bases with explosives at the same time.

"In the last week, less than 10 percent of all Russian missiles (and now ship-borne cruise missiles) have struck ISIS or al-Qaeda-affiliated targets, according to the U.S. State Department. What is a consensus view among analysts is that ISIS clearly is not Putin's quarry in Syria, at least not yet, because he's too busy killing the anti-Assad rebels supported and armed by the Central Intelligence Agency. U.S. officials have acknowledged as much."

Further complicating things, Russian propaganda is stating that they are bombing ISIS targets when in fact they are bombing areas that are held by FSA. On October 5, 2015 Bilal Abdul Kareem reported [ YouTube.com/watch?v=tXy5vkPKw9g ] on site very close to the Turkish border. His interviewee, a fighter for FSA, said the Russian planes trespassed over Turkish airspace, flying over from the Turkish side before bombing.

Due to smart phones, the front lines of war are being filmed in action and watched online. Lighter videos involve fighters showing off their weapons and their prowess. The darkest documentaries show piles of dead children and total desolation. It remains to be seen if our ability to literally watch a war as it unfolds on the ground will result in anything but personal horror, or if there will be some ability for people to influence events due to their ability to communicate directly with the people involved in wars.

[New Trend comment: Daily Beast is a known anti-Islam publication. The editor of New Trend was subjected to slanderous attacks by the Daily Beast. The attacks were then picked up by all the Zionist media from the New York Times to the Washington Post. Secondly, the claim that some hadith were planted by the "British illuminati" is simply too ridiculous to require a response. Thirdly:The viewpoint of al-Nusra would be acceptable if ISIS' viewpoint were placed next to it. ISIS has set up a Caliphate and the debate should be within that context. Fourthly the FSA's viewpoint that the war is for secularist values must be rejected. Perhaps the conflict originally began for democracy and justice but Bashar Assad drowned the unarmed protests in blood and torture. It is now Jihad all the way. The Islamic resistance is the key to the struggle against Assad.]

http://newtrendmag.org/ntma1623.htm

Obituary for a Syrian Journalist

Syria 

Very Young Journalist connected to New Trend Killed in Russian Air strike.
Obituary and last interview. 


Obituary for Mahmoud Alloz 

On October 21, Mahmoud Alloz posted on facebook a photo of his martyred brother Khalid, who was a media activist killed in Russian airstrikes. Mahmoud was interviewed by New Trend on October 23, 2014. That same day in 2015, Mahmoud followed his brother in martyrdom. In commemoration of his life, I present our full interview.

Mahmoud Allouz, born in 1992 in Homs, was a journalist and a former student at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering (He could not complete an education because of the war). A media activist from the beginning of the revolution, he was killed while covering the front lines of the Free Syrian Army, three days after his brother.

Earlier this year, Mahmoud got a severe head injury from an Assad barrel bomb. He lay in the hospital wearing a headband bearing the Shahada. Miraculously, he lived to return to his media activism, only to be killed by Russia.

Mahmoud Alloz (MA): hi

Karin Friedemann (KF): hi, thank you for your time 

MA: thank you

KF: Are you in Homs right now?

MA: yes

KF: what is the situation like there right now? First of all, is any of the city still standing with life going on, or is it all ruins with fighters running around?

MA: Do you have enough info on the status of Homs ?

KF: I know that it has been a site for protests and that the Syrian government attacked the protesters, since then there was fighting, and the regime bombed a lot if not everything. I do not know the ins and outs of each group who they are what they believe.

MA: Do you have inform the geographical on the nature of Homs? I mean geographical situation and regions of the control of Assad regime and armed opposition and ongoing war?

KF: no, is there a map?

MA: Mediates the Syrian cities, Homs is the capital of the Syrian revolution. Strategic importance of the system is very large.

At the beginning of the revolution protests permeated the city of Homs and its countryside

for example, the campaign the first was on the neighborhood of baba amer even dominated after it was destroyed, and then a vigorous campaign on the Homs the old and the failure of the imposition of the siege which continued to nearly two years

And a military campaign on the southern countryside lasted for several months and got violent battles and dominated by the help of the Lebanese Hezbollah after it was destroyed

KF: thank you

MA: The countryside north of Homs are still under the control of the rebels.

There is Al waer densely populated area and besieged and subjected to daily shelling.

Gets the daily massacres

This is a summary of the situation in the field.

Do you have questions ?

HEZBOLLAH 

KF: Did Hezbollah retreat or are they still active on the ground?

MA: Still is on top of any military campaign

And also present in some areas

KF: they are being paid by Lebanon but answering orders of Assad?

MA: Sorry I did not understand your question

KF: who is paying the Hezbollah? or are they volunteers

MA: Hezbollah works on the orders of the party leadership

KF: why do they want to serve Assad instead of their own country?

MA: hTey want to service their project which is sectarian Shiite

They are Fighting and they brutally destroy and commit crimes

IRAN 

There are fighters from Iran also taking part in the ranks of the Assad regime

KF: why do shiite support alawite

MA: Sorry I did not understand your question

KF: Assad is not Shiite so what are they gaining?

also, do you know anything about opium fields on syria lebanon border? to what extent is the war about drugs, about oil, about land, or what other factors?

MA: Assad, Iran and Hezbollah interests are on one common list on a sectarian basis. Assad is a spoiled child with Iran and Hezbollah

The fall of the Assad regime is the demise of the interests of Iran and Hezbollah from Syria

HAMA 
MA: In the countryside of Hama, there are battles. But the city of Hama is under the control of the Assad regime, and there being many cases of arrests and violations.

[At this point the discussion switches to a photo of a rocket which hit Assad's death squads known as shabeeha near Homs]

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‎Student طالب جامعي‎

Lives in Homs, Syria

10/25/2014 7:01PM

KF: what is the story of this photo? [photo unknown]

10/25/2014 8:44PM

MA: Unfortunately not be aware of your question

I see a rocket. who is shooting the rocket at whom, and where 

The Grad missiles 'Corps Homs' launch on gatherings shabeeha in Homs in response to the massacres of the regime in the neighborhood of the forest

The Grad missiles 'Corps Homs' launch on gatherings shabeeha in Homs in response to the massacres of the regime in the neighborhood of the waer

missiles are launched by rebels?

what is the meaning of shabeeha 

Homs Corps is the largest faction of the Free Army in Homs

what are shabeeha gatherings? 

Shabeeha groups of mercenaries fighting in the ranks of the Assad regime, mostly of the Alawite sect, have committed several massacres in Syria and Homs

so they have a camp or where is the missile going to hit 

Rebels firing rockets at gatherings shabeeha in camps and neighborhoods in the occupied city of Homs

did they hit anyone 

What ??

did they destroy anyone or anything or it was just a cute rocket 

Yes, it is destroying the camps that are stationed where the thugs, and thugs fired all kinds of shells toward the neighborhood Al waer

did that stop them or invigorate them to retaliate? 

Shabeeha not stop bombing and criminality, but this is an attempt by the rebels to stop the bombing as much as possible and with available weapons 


http://newtrendmag.org/ntma1629.htm

Michigan Sisters Helping Syrian Refugees

Two of my fellow graduates of Wayne State University in Detroit are abroad looking into the situation of Syrian refugees.

Neda Kadri, a Syrian first generation American from Dearborn, Michigan is currently in Greece as part of a volunteer group that is helping rafts full of people onto shore and assisting with immediate aid such as mittens and blankets. Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian first generation American from Southwest Detroit and former Michigan Congresswoman, is part of a delegation visiting refugee camps in Lebanon along with Ali Saleh, the mayor of Bell, Michigan. They are doing a brilliant job bringing light to the American people regarding the desperate yet seemingly permanent situation of Syrian refugee families.

"Most days are 15 plus hours of nonstop work. I haven't even yet processed what I'm experiencing," Neda Kadri messaged me. "I've never felt as alive as I do on this island. I've found my calling and it is I that is grateful for the opportunity to serve!"

The volunteer group, whom celebrity Susan Sarandon joined for a day, waits by the shore for rafts full of refugees. People in wetsuits wade into the frigid water to bring people ashore. The weather is cold, but this has not stopped the influx of refugees. As each raft lands, the people shout "Allahu Akbar!" and help the people onto land. Many rafts arrive every day. When it is pouring rain and these people have no shelter. People can hand out blankets but at a certain point, everything is soaking wet.

"We are deeply concerned because hundreds of refugees and migrants are continuing to arrive despite the winter cold," said Boris Cheshirkov, the UNHCR spokesperson on Lesbos.

Cheshirkov said that in the first three weeks of 2016, more than 20,000 people have arrived after crossing the Mediterranean, more than the total numbers of arrivals for the first five months of 2015. "It's an incredibly desperate situation. Yesterday alone, on January 20, we saw about 40 boats, overloaded rubber dinghies, amid ice cold winds, with snow and rough seas, coming through this perilous journey from Turkey to Greece to seek safety," Cheshirkov said.

Ongoing funds are desperately needed to provide basic necessities to people landing on shore. https://www.gofundme.com/85evvexn 

There is no government, nor NGO, who is doing this. This is a totally volunteer group relying on your donations to help each Syrian person arriving on a raft.

Meanwhile. Rashida Tlaib visited Shatila refugee camp of Palestinians that had to flee their homes in 1949 and 1969. The delegation from Michigan not only observed but played with the children, some of whom were wearing flip flops in the snow. The delegation traveled about two hours from Beirut over the snowy mountains to the border of Syria, in the Bekaa Valley. They found a small camp full of Syrian refugee families being housed in temporary shacks. Some have lived there for nearly 5 years.

"Their stories deserve to be told individually. Like Hajji who is 9 years old but is smaller than an average 5 year old and healthcare is really impossible. Or Zeinab who is an orphan and is mothering (pretty darn well) her younger brother and has more dignity and honor than I can fathom. And Yisra who is embarrassed she has worn the same pink outfit for 3 yrs and can sing her ABCs so well," writes Kristin McCarthy.

"My heart broke today. This is beyond a crisis," reported Rashida Altlaib. "When we pulled up to Barelias Syrian Refugee Camp in Bekaa Valley, it was three large fields of tent homes. So many children, beautiful children who are more than statistics spewed out in the news and policy briefs we are given. The health clinic coordinator said he never seen people like us who just stopped and played with the kids, but really looked at them and listened. The tears won't stop when I think of those precious faces. May Allah protect them and give them strength, Ya Rab." The group also visited Burj el Barajneh refugee camp in Lebanon.

"Met with U.S. Ambassador to Egypt, Stephen Beecroft. Most people think of the pyramids when Egypt is mentioned, it is so much more. One of four Arabs in the world are Egyptian and the instability in the country can impact the rest of the world because of the importance of the Suez Canal," posted the Mayor Ali Saleh, of Bell, Michigan.

The Arab American Institute delegation held a panel forum at the American University of Cairo on public policy and the experience of serving as Arab Americans in our communities. Rashida took some photos of Shatila Refugee Camp, which demonstrate a serious need for electric rewiring.

"Over the past 4 years, I've been touched and deeply saddened by the Syrian refugees suffering due to the war in their country. Yesterday, the Arab American Institute delegation ‪#‎aaiusa‬ visited a refugee camp in the border area of Lebanon in the Bekaa Valley. None of us were prepared to the human tragedy we've witnessed no matter how many pictures/ videos we've seen, articles we've read or conversations we've had about it.

"Hearing from Zeinab how both of her parents were killed in the war, and how she fled Aleppo with her grandmother and uncle is heartbreaking. Zeinab and her friend Aya insisted that I have a cup of tea in their tents.

"Hajji is 8 years old boy looks like a 5 years old due to a disease. His mother has desperately talked to every agency that visits the camp to no avail. A mobile "pharmacy" , a doctor and two nurses visit the camp once a month to provide medical care. As moving as these pictures are, the tragedy is much bigger to be depicted in pictures, videos or even personal stories!"

These amazing women from Detroit area are bringing us the real situation.

Syria: Let Us Be Steered Towards Mercy

February 2 marked the 33rd anniversary of the Hama Massacre, which took place in the city of Hama, Syria in 1982. A year earlier, in April 1981, Syrian security forces randomly executed 350 residents of the city, who were chosen among the male population over the age of 14. This event caused the majority of people in this area to turn against the Ba’athist, socialist government.

“Back then, the city of Hama was the stronghold of Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood and the center of an anti-regime uprising that had been targeting government buildings and minority Alawite military officers for years,” wrote Azmat Khan for PBS.

“In 1982, the regime basically said, ‘That’s it. That’s enough. We have to deal with this once and for all. We have to show that we’re in control,'” David Lesch told FRONTLINE.

Hafez al Assad, then president of Syria, sent the army to lay siege upon the population for 27 days, during which 45,000 people were killed. About 1,000 Syrian soldiers were also killed during the operation. Large parts of the old city were destroyed.

“Assad's troops pounded Hama with artillery fire for several days and, with the city in ruins, his bulldozers moved in and flattened neighbourhoods,” reported the Guardian. Syrian forces, flown in by helicopter, searched the rubble in order to kill any remaining rebels.

This was one of "the single deadliest acts by any Arab government against its own people in the modern Middle East."

My friend described the situation there in the 80s, which was very similar to what is going on today. The people were demonstrating against the Assad regime and the Syrian government opened fire on them. As a result, some people started firing back. Secret police came to his home looking for his brother, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. Finding him not at home, they killed two brothers and a sister. They shot his sister in the stomach so many times that her body was in two pieces. I am a moderate person by nature and I try to see all sides. I understand some people’s fear of Islamism due to its predictable excesses and even the desire for secularism. However, if this government represents them, then I cannot agree. Because any government that comes into someone’s home and shoots a family down is pure evil.

A Syrian ex-patriot gave Voice of America many gruesome examples of atrocities.

A wealthy old woman lived in a beautiful mansion with her son. “After the soldiers looted the house they poured gasoline on both of them and burned the house.”

“And in the same neighborhood, two buildings down the street, a family owned a place for wood chipping. They took the whole family down and they shot them all.  About 25 of them.”

Another woman had “many gold bracelets on her wrists, so they cut off both of her hands and let her bleed to die.”

She quickly followed up with another story about a father who was pleading with a  soldier.

“I have a 14-month-old baby,” the man said. “Please don’t make him an orphan.”

The officer said, “Oh, you don’t want him to be an orphan?

“Now your son won’t be an orphan,” the officer said.  Then he shot dead the child, the father and the rest of his family.

She said she learned about what happened to this family from a soldier, who defected from the army. He said, “I’m not going to be with an army like that.”

In a suburb of the city called New Hama, soldiers stood in the street while an officer used a bullhorn to call residents out of their homes.

“You all come down to the street.  Women, children, everybody,” the voice announced… And after that they went and raided the homes and whoever stayed in there they took them out and they dug a big ditch and shot them and threw them in the big ditch. They say in the neighborhood about 1500 people got shot.”

This actually reminds me of Dachau, Germany, where I took a tour of the concentration camp. While the “gas chambers” story never happened, at least not in Dachau, unwanted persons were told to dig a ditch, then lined up and shot. The Hollywood version of the Holocaust is a fabrication, but the behavior of socialist governments, whether of the Nazis or Assad’s tyranny, draws many parallels.

The problem resides in the ego-based concept of “unwanted persons.” Once a person becomes “unwanted,” almost anything can be justified against him, even in the name of religion. Those of us who desire to attain spiritual excellence need to learn to temper this particular passion. Like all passions, this destructive desire serves only to swerve away from the Middle Path towards the gutter. Whatever we do in life, we need to ask our Creator for personal permission first. Even when we eat a meal involving an animal who gave its life, we say grace first.

There was a moment when Hazrat Ali (ra) was dueling with an opponent, and he had got him beat to the ground. However the man spit at Ali. It was such an offensive moment that Ali let the man go free because if he had killed him now, which he could have easily done, it would have been committed in an act of anger, which Ali knew could send himself straight to the hellfire.

Muslims need to know that even in war, every act of mercy could go recorded for generations. Laura Ingalls, author of “Little House on the Prairie,” married a farmer named Almanzo. His name dates back to the Crusades, when his ancestor’s life was spared by a man who was in the position to kill him, named Al-Mansour. The Wilder family thenceforth dedicated one male in each generation to be named after this true Muslim. Laura and Almanzo’s daughter Rose Wilder later wrote some of the most beautiful statements about Islamic culture that have ever been written.

Unraveling Syria: Many Citizen Militias Fighting Against Assad

Many good people sincerely believe that the Syrian revolution is a CIA-Mossad plot against Bashar Assad, who they think is against Israel. Other well-meaning people are convinced that that ISIS is a CIA-Mossad plot to undermine the legitimacy of the Free Syrian Army.

“95% of ISIS weapons are from Russia who are likewise arming Assad and therefore Russia profits both sides of the engineered conflict,” insisted an FSA supporter. “If FSA was supported by USA - then Assad would be gone, tried and sentenced to death for his war crimes against all of Syria 4 years ago and ISIS would not exist.”

In order to try and clarify the mystery of who’s who in the Syrian war, I talked to Ahmed, a Syrian-American opponent of the regime, whose family members recently fled the country. His family has suffered brutally under the Assad regime for decades.

He wanted me to be aware that the Syrian uprising began after 40 years of oppression. Spontaneously in 2011 some young kids in the south of Syria in the city of Dara wrote “Freedom! Freedom” on a wall. They were arrested by the secret police. One kid’s body was returned to his family after being tortured to death. The other kid was returned alive with his fingers chopped off.

Protests against the government spread throughout the country over the next month. Law enforcement shot live ammunition at demonstrators. Townspeople started gathering to defend the demonstrators with personal arms such as AK-47.

Within six months, low rank Sunni army personnel started mass defections from the military, because they did not want to shoot their own people. The high ranking officers are all Alawite. The ex-military Sunnis turned freedom fighters started gathering and made connections in border areas in Turkey and Jordan. The Syrian border with Turkey is mountainous and there are many villages, which makes it easy to escape. But the border with Iraq is desert and it is very difficult.

There was no Islamic movement the first year of the uprisings. Only small arms were used on both sides. The second year, 2012,  the Assad regime became increasingly unstable and started sending in tanks and doing aerial bombardment of civilian populations. At this point, humanitarian volunteers from Bosnia, Chechnya, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq started pouring in for emotional and religious reasons. The local population welcomed them on an individual basis. There was no official organization. The people started grouping and making connections in nearby countries where they could travel and visit.

As the movement got bigger, the original freedom fighters who defected from the army went to retire in nearby countries for a number of reasons: There was no financial support for their families, and they were not people of high ideology who want to die for the sake of Islam. Neighboring countries hosted 2000 high ranking Syrian ex-officers to keep as assets to use for future influence, when it appeared the regime would fall. However, these officers cannot leave. They are kept in some kind of camps or living quarters..

Then, the Syrian government asked for help from Iran and Lebanon’s Hizbollah to fight for the Shia. The Syrian government is not Shia. Shia is a sect of Islam. They are Muslims. The Alawite are not Muslims. Historically, France declared Alawites as Shia. But Syria is not Shia.

Many people mistakenly believe that Syria is defending Al-Aqsa, even though on the Israel/Syria border, nobody ever tried to attack Israel. This is Israel’s most stable border, protected by Assad. Iraq is under the influence of Iran. Iran doesn’t want Syria to be Sunni.

At this point, there are hundreds of fighting groups, said Ahmed, who says he truly believes that ISIS was started by foreign agents but lost control “just like the Taliban.” The majority of the leaders of ISIS are high-ranking Iraqi ex-army officials, who used to work for Saddam Hussein. The Iraqi army was the 4th largest army in the world. They are now working with foreign intelligence and serving in ISIS and getting income from foreign countries, plus plunder.

Ahmed said that the majority Syrian population does not want a conservative Islamic state. They are Islamic liberals. They like to have fun. They have no interest in fundamentalism or “radical Islam.” Western injustice and aggression leads to IS politics, he said.

I asked, “When there is no government and everything is destroyed, wouldn’t it be natural for the town to meet at the mosque, and if there is no law, it would be easiest to use Islamic law?”

“People will go back to their natural religion when there is no infrastructure other than the madrasa,” stated Ahmed, who has spent significant time in Afghanistan. However, he did not feel that Syria was anything like Afghanistan. 

In the 1970’s, Wahhabis from Saudi Arabia came to indoctrinate Syrians but people argued against them. Nevertheless, like Bosnia, Syrians will welcome those who help to control Syria and establish order and peace.

Ahmed said the west is pushing Syria to the point where they will say, “Please bring anyone, even another Alawite, to get rid of Assad” to stabilize the region. No matter what, it will take 25-50 years to rebuild the country to what it was.

Regarding the Free Syrian Army, he said there are three kinds: those who gave up and left the country, those who will fight for whoever pays more, and those who are controlled by third parties. He had a higher opinion of al-Nusra, whom he said number in the thousands, not hundreds. The majority of al-Nusra are Syrians not foreign fighters. They have the best fighters. They have good individual support but also have influence with high rank people. Both Saudi Arabia and Jordan try to send their infiltrators to get high ranks to try and get influence or reward.

The “sincere fighters” don’t belong to any big party or private agenda. The majority of Syrian fighters belong to loose small groups. Around Homs and Damascus, in the revolution areas, there could be 15-20 small groups of 100, 200 or 300 militia men for every local area. Some groups make Islamic council and unify with groups like al-Nusra or Ahrar al Sham.

I mentioned the news that Iranian General Mohammad Ali Allahdadi was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Syria along with six Hizbollah fighters in the Golan Heights. Ahmed said that on that same day, the Syrian opposition shot down a small plane that was filled with high ranking Iranian, Jordanian and Hizbollah officials. He theorized that the media gave Israel credit for the killing in order to downplay the powerful news of the Syrian resistance.

Regarding foreign funding, he mentioned a few weeks back there was a local militia named Hazen that took money from America but then gave it to al-Nusra.