Houla hoops

Via xymphora



Horrific Massacre in Houla, Syrian Authorities Deny Responsibility
Initial Report of Judicial Investigation Committee on al-Houla Massacre:
Victims belonged to Peaceful Families who Refused to Stand up against State



"Some Questions on the Houla Massacre...and Beyond":

"The Houla story is still murky. No one knows what happened. We know that there are innocent civilians who were killed. We know that both sides are exchanging accusations ... But we can raise some questions:

-Why have the Western media ignored stories of kidnappings and killings of civilians by the gangs of Free Syrian Army (which is really merely a name used by a variety of gangs and bands largely with Islamist – and in some cases Bin Ladenite – ideology)?

-Why were there no attempts made at deconstructing the stories spread by the exile Syrian opposition. Initially, they claimed that the Syrian Army killed those civilians by shelling. It was only the other day when the UN stated that less than 20 were killed by the shelling ...and that most were killed at close range. There were claims of knife attacks but it seems that most were shot.

-Why was there an attempt to make it as though the Houla massacre was a sectarian crime (by Shia/Alawis against Sunnis) when it is emerging that maybe a third of the victims were Shia. Were there sectarian killings going on in the region in the days preceding the massacre? Why has there not been in the Western press any reference to the sectarian kidnappings (by Salafi armed groups in Daraa comprising even some Libyans according to Al-Akhbar correspondent who visited the scene) against Druze in the Sweida region (the Druze, in turn, kidnapped people from Daraa before the matter was resolved and hostages exchanged.

-Why did the media not notice that the Free Syrian Army, the Syrian National Council, and the Muslim Brotherhood all admitted that they were in touch with the sectarian group that kidnapped the Lebanese Shia pilgrims? In fact, famed liberal Syrian dissident, Haytham al-Malih, told a newspaper owned by a Saudi prince (Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat) that he supported the kidnapping and called on the kidnappers to not release the pilgrims.

Is it possible to believe the story that was told: that Shia and Alawis who reside in a predominantly Sunni area decided to suddenly turn against the majority and butcher them? And how did the surviving victims know the sectarian identity of their killers? Well, according to the Neil MacFarquhar, they bizarrely told them, “we are shabiha.” They all but left pictures of Bashar Assad behind them. Another story (wildly circulated on Twitter) has a more bizarre twist: apparently, the killers had “Shia slogans written on their foreheads” (the story was written by a Western reporter and then circulated by Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi (who will soon direct a news station owned by the Prince Al-Walid bin Talal)."

The Official Story of Houla is starting to resemble the David Cross sitcom Todd Margaret, where the unbelievable lies told compulsively by the main character don't wash with his audience so are 'improved' by doubling down with a series of even more unbelievable lies, with the fact that the lies aren't even consistent having no effect on the incompetent liar.

"West Desperately Attempts to Spin Syrian Crisis"

"Russian Journalist Exposes Propaganda Lies about Houla Massacre"

"The Guardian Readers Don't Feel Well Served"

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian  
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