Another Syrian journalist killed while reporting on the terrorism of armed anti-government groups in Syria. Scarcely a peep out of MSM three days after his murder. Were this a Western journalist, you can bet that the headlines would be blaring outrage against this heinous murder. There is a FB memorial page for Thaer. CLICK HERE and share widely. It is important that the deaths of brave Syrian and other Arab journalists be recognized and remembered.
“Late al-Ajlani, reporter of Sham FM Radio, was killed on Monday morning while covering the continued operations of the army and armed forces against Takfiri terrorist organizations in Jobar neighborhood on the eastern outskirts of Damascus City.
Syria’s national media has followed up the war launched by Syrian Arab Army against Takfiri terrorism in all areas over the past years based on its keenness on conveying a true image about what is taking place on the ground and on unmasking the crimes of terrorists and their supporters as a number of journalists have been killed and others have been injured and the media institutions have been targeted for many times.”
“Martyr journalist Ajlani dedicated his life to serve his homeland and he was an example of the national journalist who is committed to his homeland issues.”–Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign and Expatriates Minister Walid al-Moallem
[**note: In contrast, no US administration expressed any condolences over the suspicious death of US/Lebanese journalist Serena Shim in Oct 2014 in (and by?) Turkey.]
*Reporting from Yarmouk in April 2015
*Thus far, only AFP seem to have mentioned the killing of Thaer, in a brief report loaded with innuendo:
“A Syrian journalist working for pro-government media was killed early on Monday as he was reporting on clashes east of Damascus, state media and a monitoring group said.
In a breaking news alert, Syrian state television reported the “death of National Defence Forces journalist Thaer al-Ajlani as he was covering the clashes in the Jobar area”.
Jobar is still mostly controlled by rebel groups including Al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate Al-Nusra Front.
Pro-government militia, including the National Defence Forces (NDF) and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, have surrounded the town in an attempt to recapture it.
State news agency SANA also reported Ajlani’s death, saying that he was covering government clashes “with takfiri (extremist Sunni) terrorist organisations” for radio station Sham FM.
Ajlani was also a correspondent for the Al-Watan newspaper, which is close to the government.
Ajlani’s last public post appeared early Monday on both Facebook and Twitter: “The Syrian army is firing barrages of rockets now towards the positions of Faylaq al-Rahman, east of Damascus.”
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group, Ajlani “was regularly embedded with the regime, NDF and Hezbollah in their battles.”
It said heavy fighting had erupted in Jobar on Monday morning, and that regime aircraft had conducted at least 20 strikes on the area.
Rebel groups seized control of Jobar in summer 2013, and regime loyalists began their counteroffensive in September last year.”
ليل حبيبة فيلم تسجيلي لـ ثائر العجلاني
Damascus by night
In this video, Thaer spends the night in Damascus’ streets interviewing whoever he encounters, asking them basic questions like how they find Syria (we love it, its beautiful, Syria is our mother…), whether they are afraid (no), what they wish for (Syria to return to how it was before this mess started), and he jokes with them, teases them. Their answers mirror the resilience and gentleness of Syrians I saw when in Syria three times over the past year.
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Below is an important video, Thaer reporting from the Yarmouk district in April 2015:
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A short compilation on Thaer’s work on THIS FB page
Rest in Peace, Thaer al-Ajlani
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!
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