Arab states silent over Syria Ramadan massacre

A makeshift gallows depicting the execution of Syrian President Bashar Assad and others during an anti-regime protest outside the Syrian embassy in the Cypriot capital Nicosia on July 31, 2011.

/ PATRICK BAZ/AFP/Getty Images

The Muslim religious festival of Ramadan started Monday, and it is supposed to be a month-long period of fasting during the day intended to teach followers of Islam about patience, humility and submissiveness to God.

In Syria, President Bashar Assad's regime has turned the start of the holy month into a lesson about submitting to his rule, as his tanks and troops used explosive and overwhelming force to crush protesters throughout the country for a second day. Although casualty tolls are impossible to confirm, witnesses say hundreds have died in the last two days, mostly in the western city of Hama.

In addition to the cruelty of Assad's tactics, another stand-out fact about this latest crackdown is the deafening silence of Arab governments, who are likely terrified of inspiring uprisings in their own countries, and are also likely to consider using similar tactics - as happened in Bahrain recently - to crush dissent.

"It's a crime! Where is the world? Why doesn't anyone see?" cried one distraught Syrian resident in the midst of the crackdown through the phone to an Associated Press reporter.

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In 1982, the city of Hama was the scene of a planned brutal slaughter of Muslim Brotherhood dissidents by Assad's father, in which thousands were killed. It has remained a hotbed of opposition to the Assad dynasty ever since, and memories of the 30-year-old massacre are fresh there.

The current crackdown appears aimed at preventing the Muslim holy month from inspiring further organized revolt in Hama and elsewhere. Perhaps because it is Ramadan, and because Arab governments and organizations are doing and saying almost nothing in opposition to Assad's crackdown, rage appears to be growing throughout the region.

"The world is watching the slaughterhouse in Syria. Shame on us," Egyptian presidential candidate and Nobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradei said in a well-received message on social media site Twitter on Sunday, according to Reuters. "The peace of God be upon Syria's martyrs. Shame on every Arab and every human being," he also wrote in Arabic.

The U.S. and European states have imposed sanctions on the Assad regime and condemned the slaughter openly and repeatedly. However, the U.N. Security Council has done nothing, as veto-wielding Russia and China as well as South Africa, Brazil and India, which holds the council presidency this month, have opposed any action on Syria, verbal or otherwise.

The Ramadan massacre may have begun to turn the tide of official opposition a bit. The Russian foreign minister said his country was "concerned" over reports of Assad's troops using tanks against civilians, according the U.A.E.-based Gulf News. Also, regional power broker Turkey, once a crucial ally of Assad, has condemned his actions of recent.

"The footage from Monday's events has horrified us," Turkish President Abdullah Gul said, according to Gulf News. "The use of heavy weapons in Hama against civilians has given me a deep shock."

[conservative_1_Chick]

by euge005 August 3, 2011 6:58 AM EDT
It is all about monet. We have lots of flakes too. David Koresh, David Duke, Jim Jones, Dick Chaney, John Wayne Gaycee, Rush Limbaugh, the list goes on, but we error on the side of freedom and pay the price. The sotry is right that the other Arab cpountgries are just as bad. Now if Syria had oil, the GOP would be hopping up and down to do something. Just listen to McCain on Lybia. Their screams are no louder nor blood any redder than in Syria, but they got oil and they are closer to more NATO countries.


Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/8601-503543_162-20086565-0.html?assetTypeId=41&blogId=503543&tag=contentBody;commentWrapper#ixzz1UHNfjzLt

You are an idiot. Why don't you do your home work before you make stupid remarks like this. Dick Cheney & Rush Limbaugh have nothing in common with this. You are a doofus to put these people in the same contex as mass murders. They are public figures & have to put up with pea brains like yourself sir, but they are not in the same class as the other people you mentioned. Your a sick individual.

[aftinc]

Just another step in an area of the world that seems to never have the ability to control themselves. Be glad for the sake of faith that your sole was not born to a body in this part of the world. Man what a bunch of nuts.

[euge005]

It is all about monet. We have lots of flakes too. David Koresh, David Duke, Jim Jones, Dick Chaney, John Wayne Gaycee, Rush Limbaugh, the list goes on, but we error on the side of freedom and pay the price. The sotry is right that the other Arab cpountgries are just as bad. Now if Syria had oil, the GOP would be hopping up and down to do something. Just listen to McCain on Lybia. Their screams are no louder nor blood any redder than in Syria, but they got oil and they are closer to more NATO countries.

[rf35]

Muslims killing Muslims. This isn't news, it's expected.

[wdh3007]

Syria times have changed people and governments are broke it's every single country for itself. The U.S is done helping were broke too the only way to get the reform you seek is to assasinate Assad.

[Harden_Tar]

When a government starts killing its own people, its days are numbered. Assad is literally living on borrowed time.

[euge005]

So was the Soviet empire and they lasted 70 years, the Butchers in Peking killed tons of millions and they are still in power. Look at the 80 year old miscreatent in Rhodesia, still in power. Evil buys time to do evil with whatever it takes. Just people hide from responsibility and we end up with another Bush.

[ToddLW]

As a resident of Dubai, United Arab Emirates I can say that the headline for this story is utterly false. Arabs are outraged by the Syrian massacre, as any civilized people would be. Here is a link to the Gulf News, the Dubai newspaper for confirmation.

http://gulfnews.com/news/region/syria/ramadan-eve-massacre-in-syria-1.845638

[Harden_Tar]

I read the link above. It does report the atrocity, but all the condemnation is coming from the US, Germany, France, Britain and Italy. Not a single Arab county is quoted as coming out against what is happening in Syria. Not even the country that this article is coming from, the UAE is on record here.

[UForgotPoland]

Why would Arab governments care about this? Most of their governments are either military dictatorships, ignorant backwards theocracies, or corrupt monarchs. The only examples of somewhat democratic governments are the ones foreign powers forced upon them (Iraq).

We just need to leave the arm pit of the world known as "the MidEast".

[sidiferruch]

Silence=Complicity.

[Canuck42]

Primitive countries with primitive cultures ..what do you expect!!!! Their psyche is still in the Dark Ages...

[SandmanUSMC]

Assad's days are numbered. The people of Syria will not rest until he is brought to justice. There is absolutely no doubt he is guilty of war crimes by committing genocide against his own people.

@USSEC @NATO, finish of Qaddafi and turn your sights on Assad.