Talk:Yarmouk Camp


 * ''See also: Starving Children in Moadamiyeh

Early Violence
(forthcoming)

Summer 2012

 * SOHR Facebook, August 2, 2012:
 * Footage from Damascus showing the direct aftermath of yesterday's (2/8/2012) mortar shelling of the Yarmouk camp. 15 people, 2 of them children, were killed by the assault. (video


 * SOHR Facebook, Aug. 5: Final report on the documented deaths for 4/8/2012
 * 15 unidentified corpses were found in the city of Damascus, they were killed recently. 6 of them, including a child, were shot on the al-Mutahaleq al-Janubi (southern ring road) in the Jobar area. The 9 other corpses were found in the neighbourhoods of al-Mukhayam al-Filastini (Palestinian camp), Mukhayam al-Yarmouk and al-Tadamon.

December Rebel Conquest

 * December 18: Ahmed Jibril flees, rebels have won.
 * December 19: Israel trumpets rebel victory
 * Side-note - this is surreal, having studied the Lockerbie bombing (do check out Morag G. Kerr's new book!). Iranians ordered that, Jibril's PFLP-GC, based in Syria (but with Syrian role I know of beyond that), arranged the bombing, likely through Jibril's nephew, "Abu Elias." He now lives in Virginia, it seems, hushed-up until recently as "Basel Bushnaq," Libya was blamed for Lockerbie and sanctioned as a terrorist state, they were later regime-changed with al-Qaeda in the Maghreb's help, uncontrollable terrorists from there are now attacking Syria, in concert with Sunni extremists fighting the PFLP-GC in Syria to cheers in Israel, in concert with the campaign against Iran and its allies, which previously gave us such hits as the July 1988 downing of Iran Air 655, which led directly to Lockerbie. Only parts of that are relevant here, but oh well. I can go off at times. --Caustic Logic (talk) 15:07, 13 January 2014 (UTC)

Control of Yarmouk seems to have first been in rebel hands at that point, and has gone back-and-forth somewhat after this, but with rebels apparently in charge at the moment. --Caustic Logic (talk) 15:07, 13 January 2014 (UTC)

"Liberated" Yarmouk

 * March 3, 2013: Syrian rebels hang two 'collaborators'

Violent deaths that are recorded at the VDC are fairly scant in later 2013. One incident of possible interest from Dec. 23: Shadi Ibrahem al-Jabali, Civilian Adult - Male, Damascus, Yarmuk Camp, killed 2013-12-23 by Detention - Torture. Fadi Dawoud Jbali, Civilian, Adult - Male, Damascus, Yarmuk Camp, 2013-12-22, Detention - Torture. --Caustic Logic (talk) 13:17, 14 January 2014 (UTC)

PFLP-GC "Shabiha"
The VDC lists 17 "Shabiha" killed Aug. 24, 2013 in the Yarmouk camp. All are listed as members of the PFLP-GC. This supports that "Shabiha" is the demonizing term for popular committees (Lijan Shabiya) and all local defenders, not just an Alawite death cult militia of the Assad family. --Caustic Logic (talk) 13:33, 13 January 2014 (UTC)
 * Ah, 2013 ... this is a week after rebels were fighting local committees in Christian Marmarita, Homs province. There the fight was with "Lijan Shabieh," local committees, VDC says. Others specify "the filth shabeeha" of Marmarita killed those Christian civilians by putting them in the way of rebel rockets. --Caustic Logic (talk) 15:50, 13 January 2014 (UTC)

Siege and Starvation in Yarmouk
See: here for one of the basic questions we might ask here. Why are certain people, especially when they're children, starving clear to death while others - notably the rebel fighters and activists and field clinic "doctors" all around them - aren't, and with full bellies blame the regime. Clearly food is getting in/is available, it's just not being shared. In a rebel-held area (like all those allegedly besieged so babies are starving), that will be a problem to take up with the rebel administrators, especially those holding hostages, from whom it's easier to withhold food. --Caustic Logic (talk) 14:26, 13 January 2014 (UTC)
 * Syrian Perspective – January 8, 2014:
 * The 42 years old Sahar Tawfiq Omaik died of #hunger today in #Yarmouk #Palestinian #Refugee #Camp in #Syria.


 * LCC Syria News - January 9, 2014 (Warning: Graphic Videos)
 * Aref Abdullah the five months old baby from Al-Yarmouk camp in Damascus martyred due to starvation. Before his martyrdom he was beaten with his family while trying to escape through Yilda checkpoint. video
 * After his starvation, he doesn't appear the slightest bit emaciated or even malnourished. Nor really beaten either. I'd guess suffocation. --Caustic Logic (talk) 14:26, 13 January 2014 (UTC)


 * LCC Syria News - January 10, 2014 (Warning: Graphic Videos)
 * (Horrible top image of two living but very emaciated babies. One appears to be...)
 * The Palestinian child "Alaa Al-Masri "is facing death in Al-Yarmouk camp video - alive but not needed anymore - death report expected today - no one could get her any food, this whole damn time...) --Caustic Logic (talk) 14:26, 13 January 2014 (UTC)
 * Oh yeah, this is days old. I did call it. Same-day in fact. Alae al-Masri died Jan. 10. Another baby girl - Mariam Mohammad (age 50 days, not the second starving girl shown in the photo) - and no one else allegedly starved in Yarmouk the same day.

Below that video, another:
 * An elderly died of starvation in Yarmouk refugee cam [sic] video - wasted away, terrible. --Caustic Logic (talk) 14:26, 13 January 2014 (UTC)


 * Photo: Syrian Revolution: :Her name is Ala’a Al-Masri from #Yarmouk Palestinian Refugee Camp. Humanity in 2014! #Syria pic.twitter.com/ZGrBtDxf5J A rebel guy holds a deceased baby Ala'a. He's not chubby, but he's been eating fine. She clearly did not. The contrast is right there, and the questions not asked widely enough. Why some and not others? And how is the regime enforcing that divide in a rebel-held camp with rebel-held babies? --Caustic Logic (talk) 11:03, 15 January 2014 (UTC)
 * Re-tweeted with mods by me. --Caustic Logic (talk) 11:56, 15 January 2014 (UTC)

Aid Convoy Fired On
Then we have this chain of events on Monday the 13th:
 * Ma'an News Jan 12: Some kind of agreement
 * A Fatah official said that the siege on Syria's Yarmouk refugee camp would be lifted on Monday. Central Committee Member Mohammad Shtayyeh said Sunday that Palestinian sources in Yarmouk told him the siege would be lifted on Monday, without providing further details.


 * Ma'an News Jan 13: Six trucks sent to Yarmouk
 * A delegation representing the PLO shipped six truckloads of food and medicine into the besieged Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus on Monday, an official said. Awni Abu Ghosh, a member of the politburo of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said in a statement that the shipment marked a "breakthrough" in the Yarmouk camp crisis.
 * The statement added that six trucks loaded with foods and medicines were headed to the Yarmouk camp under the auspices of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. The trucks are expected to enter the camp on Monday afternoon to help ease the humanitarian crisis inside the camp.
 * If fair distribution could be assured with the current management (and that's apparently not the case) this shipment might well have helped. However:


 * Press TV Jan 13: Syria militants attack aid convoy to Yarmouk
 * On Monday, the militants opened fire on a convoy of UN vehicles carrying tons of food supplies to civilians besieged inside the camp.
 * ''In a related incident earlier this month, militants prevented elderly and sick civilians seeking medical treatment from leaving the refugee camp.
 * On January 8, hundreds of people marched at the entrance of the camp in Damascus to reach out to their sick and the elderly relatives. The demonstrators called for the evacuation of over 300 sick people trapped inside Yarmouk.
 * “My children and family are all inside the camp. There is no food or clean water. Why are those militants attacking us? We want them out of our camp. Let them return to where they came from… We want them to stop using our children as human shields,” said one of the demonstrators.
 * Many refugees have died in the camp due to food and medicine shortages.


 * Ma'an News Jan 13:
 * "All efforts to end the siege on Yarmouk camp have failed," the director of the Palestinian Democratic Union told Ma'an. There was "an incident that occurred at the entrance of the camp, preventing the entry of supplies," Khalid Abu al-Haija said, without elaborating. A PLO Executive Committee member said that the presence of militants in Yarmouk camp impeded the entry of supplies, due to a heavy exchange of fire.
 * Ahmad Majdalani said that Palestinian officials would continue their efforts to "save refugees in Yarmouk camp." "We are in intensive contact with Syrian officials and militants in Palestinian camps in Syria in order to reach a solution and create a safe passage for the entry of relief supplies to Yarmouk," Majdalani said.
 * Message sent, not as subtly as it should be: "that's not what we meant by lifting the siege. Until trucks with fresh fighters and heavier weaponry are allowed, people will die of starvation daily, until we run out of people." Also proven - those rebels themselves are well fed enough they were willing to chase food aid away just to make some kind of point by worsening the crisis. --Caustic Logic (talk) 11:23, 14 January 2014 (UTC)

Also, obviously, the "opposition activists" will blame sleeper cells of "Shabiha" for the incident, because the regime is evil (proof below when someone goes to find it or runs across it, I'm in no rush). --Caustic Logic (talk) 12:23, 14 January 2014 (UTC)

Section 215 Starving Victims
Note: Nothing (I've seen yet) says these victims were Palestinians or directly connected to the starvation in Yarmouk, except by being in the same basic Damascus area and time. However, that alone makes it worth considering, and there may be more to it. --Caustic Logic (talk) 13:01, 16 January 2014 (UTC)
 * Ammar Abdulhamid: Amongst his deceptive commentary, Abdulhamid shares a rather shocking image that may be a whole new twist. I see 12 fighting age men here, killed at once (and recently) either by starvation or (how do 12+ men starve to death at once?) preceded by some degree of it. Some are fully emaciated, others just skinny and not visibly shot - possibly suffocated. Most are naked, but that's blurred. The regime alone can be blamed for this, he says, due to the numbers written on their chests. Abdulhamid explains:
 * Now, this horrific image currently making round on social media sites seem to capture this truth: the numbers on the rotten [sic] cadavers, denote the security branch responsible for this massacre. In this case, it’s the infamous Section 215 of the military intelligence apparatus. The emaciated bodies of the dead underscore the living conditions prevailing in the camps. The picture was reportedly smuggled out by a defector, and while its authenticity is yet to be confirmed, it’s consistent with the myriad eyewitness accounts given to Human Rights Watch, among other organizations.

The VDC at least doesn't yet reflect any such batch of victims, but that could change. So ... they starved some Palestinians in the 215 branch prison, and when enough had starved it was time to make the biggest batch they could at the moment, wrote that on the corpses - for internal administrative purposes? Then they dropped the bodies off somewhere rebels would find them swiftly and advertise the stamp of guilt. Clearly if true, the regime thugs wanted the rebels to do this, so the authorities could awkwardly deny it and blame the terrorists, which of course is just silly. They don't have markers! --Caustic Logic (talk) 11:03, 15 January 2014 (UTC)
 * Sorry, wasn't paying close enough attention. They claim a defector took the photo, behind the scenes, and the bodies have since disappeared with presumably no documentation, presumably among the thousands dug up (by whoever) after the war. Expecting no further info and Moving on from that point, then ... --Caustic Logic (talk) 12:47, 16 January 2014 (UTC)


 * Petri - who's stamp is that? They seem to be the contacts with this "defector" --Caustic Logic (talk) 12:47, 16 January 2014 (UTC)


 * LCC daily report, Jan 12 features this as the top image, with no information beyong the caption beneath, which reads:
 * Damascus : This picture, taken by a defector from Assad's intelligence services prior to his defection, shows the emaciated bodies of a few of the Assad regime detainees tortured and starved to death daily in the regime's infamous '215' military security prison in Damascus. The victims' bodies have been scrawled on with marker pen for identification and disposal.

What this image is supposed to show, apparently, is that there's an overall regime design to starve people at this time. So whatever you might say about the role of food distribution within rebel-held areas of Yarmouk, Assad is the one starving people anywhere possible now, especially in areas, like the section 215 prison, which he controls. Therefore, it's probably Assad who, true to proven form, is making it so ... the rebels just cannot manage to share their food with certain babies and other people who - incidentally - would make great camera-fodder. --Caustic Logic (talk) 13:01, 16 January 2014 (UTC)

Victims Analysis
Amal Sheikho: adult female, age 24, reported on January 11 by LCC "martyred earlier this morning due to starvation." Fuller name given below: Amal Hussien [sic] Shaikho. Her VDC entry agrees except on name - presumably simple error led them lo list Ahmad Husain Sheikho, adult female, with the standard notes for Yarmouk starving victims. The  Video both link to is where I got the images here.

To me she looks starved, but not quite to death. Her clothing is odd, an extra-large sweatshirt awkwardly pulled over everything else, perhaps after death. Maybe that's to help her look more shrunken, or more importantly to hide something, or just bad fashion choices in grim days. The main thing I noticed is her similarity to the Aqrab captives of a year ago. Like them, it looks like she was held captive, denied food and water, and deliberately exposed to massive smoke to cut oxygen out as well. It looks someone then washed off her face, but not so much her neck, or the insides of her nostrils. More than usual, people in Yarmouk this winter have been exposing themselves to fire for simple heat, with electricity gone. But this must be day's worth, coating her hair too it seems, never washed off. Sure there's supposedly a water shortage too, but... this is quite possibly a clue to how certain Palestinians are starving in the rebel-held areas, like Aqrab was rebel-held. --Caustic Logic (talk) 11:05, 17 January 2014 (UTC)

VDC

 * 39 Yarmuk/Yarmouk deaths by "other" as of January 12. Some carry the note "Martyred as a result of malnutrition and starvation because of the siege imposed by the forces of regime on the city, Palestinian nationality." Children and elderly predominate lately. I didn't see a clear match for the elderly man above, but this is another, died Jan. 11.


 * Also: Un-allowed to seek Medical help -- Petri Krohn (talk) 17:18, 13 January 2014 (UTC)
 * Good call. A smaller and murkier category, but part of this picture. --Caustic Logic (talk) 10:32, 14 January 2014 (UTC)

"Other" will include more than starvation: medical problems, maybe car accidents, heart attacks (especially if it's from fear of regime this-or-that), and now winter cold. But mainly I think itll be suspiciously starved people. They start with a baby, Jana Ahmad Hasan, died August 18, 2013 from starvation (imposed by whoever) complicated by "lack of appropriate infant milk to her and did not accept any breastfeeding than any other nursing" and also by "note that her mother had not been able to access the camp a few days ago." Starvings picked up only in October: the regime starved a 92-year-old woman, Azizeih Muhammad Nouaeimi Oct. 15, a non-emaciated infant girl Oct. 28, a wasted 4-year-old boy (from Yarmouk, martyred in Hajar Aswad?) Nov. 2, etc. Deaths from "other" occur there on 11-10, 11-20, two on 12-16, 12-21, two on 12-23, 12-24, 12-26, four on 12-27, three on 12-29 and the food is really running low now. One dead each Dec. 30 and 31, three on January 1, three on the third, then five days there was a bit off food again? Jan. 8 two die, one the 9th, two baby girls the 10th, two women and a man on the 11th, two men (Qurabi and Shihada) on the 12th.
 * Jan. 13, two more, both starving victims. A man Basel Hasan Shehabiand a woman Nour. Added later, another woman with no family name given also died the 13th: Nora. "Full name was not received, Martyred as a result of malnutrition and starvation because of the siege imposed by the forces of regime on the city." That will be 42 others now.
 * Starved to death Jan. 14: Safia Deeb al-Shibly Adult female - Hussain al-Nazzal Adult Female.

October 26, 2013: An unusual case: Mahmod Ahmad Alaa Eddin from Yarmuk Camp "Palestinian, Martyred due to eating wheat grains contaminated with mice poison, because of the food shortage because of the siege imposed by the forces of regime on the city, which led to hair loss then death, members of his family are still sick due to the same reason." I could swear I'd seen another entry, in Yarmouk the same basic time, got sick from grain purposefully poisoned - by Shabiha. Can't re-locate it right now. --Caustic Logic (talk) 14:42, 13 January 2014 (UTC)

(to move later, stumbled on: 2012-11-17, Damascus Suburbs: Bahariah: "he was martyred after suffocating due to poisonous chemical gas dropped from the regime's warplanes on Al-Bahariya town in what appears to be the first time such thing happens". Cause: other. Then I guess they created the category for toxic gasses. --Caustic Logic (talk) 14:42, 13 January 2014 (UTC))

LCC
Local Coordination Committees daily reports will add some alleged details. These have bee have been running a day or two behind, just now adding the 13th. Damascus seems to be the top story, and Yarmouk the top part of that. For all reports, warning - graphic videos, many of them, embedded right there waiting for you to accidentally click play. --Caustic Logic (talk) 11:01, 16 January 2014 (UTC)


 * Jan 9


 * Jan 10


 * Jan 11 "107 martyrs including ... 22 in Damascus and its Suburbs" Videos: Save Yarmouk Camp-Freedom Qashoush Symphony - Assad’s SAA starve out the Palestinian people of Yarmouk camp in Damascus - Amal Sheikho ( 24 years old) from Al-Yarmouk camp martyred earlier this morning due to starvation. - Funeral of Martyr Akram Slaiman Al-Alal, died due to a food shortage, in Yarmouk Camp, Damascus - Alaa Al-Masri is a Palestinian child who is in a critical condition because of dehydration and malnutrition that caused her a kidney failure as a result of the siege imposed on the Palestinian people in Al-Yarmouk camp in Damascus by Assad's gangs, and regime's checkpoints not allowing the girl to leave for treatment. Her family is appealing to the international commissions, Red Cross and Red Crescent to let this girl get out of the camp because her health is deteriorating.  - A little Palestinian boy starving under the Assad regime's siege of Yarmouk says that he is hungry would like one slice of bread, a cup of milk, food, that he has nothing, no food. The children's mother tears a verbal hole in Assad, Obama, Abu Mazen, the leaders and the world who watch silently as the Palestinians of Yarmouk and the people of Syria are starved and slaughtered.  -  Text:  Amal Hussien Shaikho was martyred due to lack of food due to the siege in the neighborhood.

Videos: A report, filmed earlier today, from Palestinian activist Rani Al-Sayed in Yarmouk about conditions in the camp, where children, women and men are dying of starvation daily under the siege by the 'pro-Palestinian' Assad regime's forces and their accomplices, which has now continued for 183 days. - Assad’s SAA starve out the #Palestinian people of #Yarmouk camp in Damascus - Yarmouk Camp,Damascus: Palestinian kid Israa Almasri starved to death. Text: Damascus: Yaymouk Camp: A sit-in by the residents of the camp, demanding to break the siege and the introduction of food and medical supplies to the area.
 * Jan 12: "129 martyrs including 14 children, 20 women and 9 martyrs under torture: 90 martyrs were reported in Aleppo; 15 in Homs; 14 in Damascus and its Suburbs..." Top photo: the twelve starved men photo, captioned: Damascus : This picture, taken by a defector from Assad's intelligence services prior to his defection, shows the emaciated bodies of a few of the Assad regime detainees tortured and starved to death daily in the regime's infamous '215' military security prison in Damascus. The victims' bodies have been scrawled on with marker pen for identification and disposal. 

Text: Yarmouk Camp: A sit-in of the camp's residents demanding to break the siege and entering food and medical materials to the area. - Damascus: Yarmouk Camp: Basel Hasan Al Shehabi,72, and Ms Nour were martyred due to lack of food and the seige in the neighborhood. Damascus: Yarmouk Campp: Mhmoud Sbagh,10, Majd al-Awad and Zyad Naji were martyred by regime's snipers in the neighborhood.
 * Jan 13: "72 martyrs including 11 children, 3 martyrs under torture and 2 women: 27 martyrs were reported in Aleppo; 25 in Damascus and its Suburbs..." Top photo: "Damascus: Yarmouk Camp: regime forces attach a bundle of bread at the entrance in front of starving people." (Someone's gun barrel - context needs sussed out.) Videos: Yarmouk Camp,Damascus: Child Martyr Mahmoud Alsabbagh - Martyr Mjid Abo Myasar from Qaboun Neighborhood, Damascus - The funeral in Yarmouk camp for Jamil Saleh Al Qarabi, an elderly Palestinian gentleman who died yesterday (Monday January 13th) of starvation and dehydration due to the regime siege on the camp. - Yarmouk residents waiting for the promised aid today that never arrived.

Opinion and Commentary

 * Ali Abunimah, Electronic Initifada, Jan 13: “Profound civilian suffering” in Syria’s besieged Yarmouk camp: This article adds little, and lays the blame clearly on the blockade. I felt a counter-point was needed and left a comment. In case it's deleted, I reserve the right to preserve it here. In fact, I'm not seeing it there at all. I'll try and submit it one more time and check back tomorrow. --Caustic Logic (talk) 13:17, 14 January 2014 (UTC)
 * Alright, my first comment I could fault ... toned it down, left little excuse not to publish it, and it was published. Good. Unless it's removed, I direct readers there for what I asked and any response from the author, which I invited. A prior comment (of two so far) also struck a contrary note, more political but less incisive than mine. Both appear. So this guy Ali might be okay. But I'm a cynic, so eh... --Caustic Logic (talk) 14:36, 16 January 2014 (UTC)


 * NOW Lebanon Jan 14: Murdering Palestinians by starvation By Hussein Ibish.
 * There isn't much the Palestinian people haven't suffered. But the use of enforced starvation against them by the Syrian dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad at the Yarmouk refugee camp breaks new ground in cruelty. Hundreds are said to be facing imminent death by starvation, lack of water and medical care, and the loss, for almost a year now, of all heat and electricity.
 * As Adam Larson I left a comment here that appears for now. And a couple follow-up ones in reply to question-raiser "FSA MAKE GENOCIDE ON PALESTINIANS." --Caustic Logic (talk) 12:36, 16 January 2014 (UTC)