A R A B I C A ارابيكا

By Kristen Gillespie

ALL-SYRIA FRIDAY
The "Friday of the Fall of Legitimacy" was met with protests around the country. Meanwhile, the Syrian military rolled up to within 500 meters of the Turkish border.

HAMA
A short clip of protests in the small city of Hama is here. This one, also filmed in Hama, shows thousands of Syrians marching down one of Hama's main streets chanting, "The people want the regime to fall." In the center of town, a blue vertical banner runs all the way down the clock tower inscribed with the words: "We will not surrender to you." Also in Hama, a few people carry an English-language handpainted banner reading: "I have a dream, Mr. Obama. Syrian nation."

HOMS
In Homs, amateur video shows five Syrian soldiers hauling off a protester, likely to a grim fate. "It's the ‘Friday of the Fall of Legitimacy,"" the narrator says. He is filming from above street level. "Look how many of those scumbags it takes," he adds.

DAMASCUS OUTSKIRTS
A chaotic video of tear gas being fired into a crowded, narrow alleyway outside Damascus. The panicked young men run, leaving a cloud in the street. Anti-government chants are heard in the background.

KISWEH
In the town of Kisweh, outside Damascus, men carry the body of a man just shot dead through the streets shouting, "There is no God but God." Blood leaks through the makeshift shroud.

DARAA
What sounds like an older man films a rooftop with snipers on it in Daraa. Like the others, he announces the date in the clip. He says he is in Dael, in the area of Daraa (south Syria). While focusing the camera on a clear shot of the snipers, the man says, "Assad's thugs have closed the local government and schools to stop the ‘terrorist protesters."" Tanks, meanwhile, rolled through a closed Daraa.

LATAKIA
A large-scale protest also took place in the coastal city of Latakia. Protesters shouted, "We saw your reforms, Dr. Bashar, in Jisr al-Shughour."

June 24, 2011

photo credit: illustir