Talk:April 29, 2011 in Deraa

Video Analysis

Mostly regarding https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hkv3AGR-iY

Arrest Sequence?

I broke the bad habit by going right to main page here with no talk, but in spots, the front page isn't so good. And I was about to rush this report through, finally watched the last parts of the long video. Should have before. I could use any second thoughts on the parts already covered up front, or on this segment.

41:10, presumable soldiers again at the "front line" of the highway, crouched behind that pole, shooting from someone continues - sometimes from them - there's smoke, from smoke bombs I suppose (one distinct puff appears) - they have AK-47s, there are 4 of them, with others nearby - they creep up on the pavement at 41:55, firing towards vid 2 location - creeping along its edge towards the back of the car - 2 protesters still cowering just on the other side, moments from arrest - maybe they were injured? Arrest not shown - the video cuts at 42:15.

Video resumes later, with different light - it's not sunset, just got cloudy, some minutes to an hour (?) has passed, I estimate it's 5:20-5:50 pm here, sun from up the road basically - so about 3 hours after first shots. It's filmed from another spot, behind a wire mesh window. No one is crouching behind the car now. The presumable soldiers are going back into the compound with (a detainee? in a bulletproof vest?) He's walking fine now, but they seem to be beating him up, pushing him down as soon as they're a few feet in. Occasional gunshots, a soldier standing guard on the highway, but otherwise really quiet, no clear sign if anyone else is left or not.

Not sure how to call this. But the mass arrest of several hundred must have started right after this? No, first there's more shooting, maybe inside the compound area around 45:15, and at the highway in front of the gate, and then the video cuts. THEN they poured out and started nabbing Mahmoud and Hamza and the rest? --Caustic Logic (talk) 01:52, 22 May 2016 (UTC)

One outside thought on seeing this - the detainee (center person in white shirt and black vest) is shorter and heavier than most. Hamza looks (to me) like a big-sized kid, tall for 12/13 besides heavyset ... what if that's him, left in a bulletproof vest by the car because he 'couldn't run' (when someone stabbed his right knee?) and was 'too heavy to carry' - until these 'soldiers' from the (perimeter of the) base came and took him into their perimeter? The official story says his body was found inside the compound... he was shot 3 times in the chest, probably after being bound, and clearly with no vest then ... hmm... so just who these soldiers really are could be very important (or not - that's a lot of imagination involved there). --Caustic Logic (talk) 03:27, 22 May 2016 (UTC)

Translations

Thamer

copied from Translation Requests

2 boys arrested or killed April 29, 2011, one of them very famously - morgue photos leaked in March, 2015 by "Caesar" of affiliates via Zaman al-Wasl - I tried making out the apparent abbreviations next to Thamer's unusual number. Looks like a modified Aliph (A), then Shin (sh), so maybe short for ash-shahid, the martyr? Below, an unclear shape/symbol. Then the big 12, unusually done in Western Arabic numerals. Every translation/connotation we can get from this helps establish what this shows. --Caustic Logic (talk) 07:30, 2 May 2016 (UTC)

It is just the number first written in numeric form then in words

12 أثنى عشر

12 Twelve

--TogetherSy (talk) 14:36, 19 May 2016 (UTC)

Huh, strange. This boy has strangely varied numbering. 12 in E.Arabic on a card, in W.Arabic, and spelled out, on this tape, and also in E.Arabic tiles in one morgue photo. I don't know why - maybe as a document of terrorism to show (in diplomatic circles?) to different audiences ... ?? --Caustic Logic (talk) 01:22, 22 May 2016 (UTC)

Those numbers intrigue me. The sequence, the tampering with them, and the entity that issued them. The sloppy date on the forehead of Mahmoud Al-Abdulrahman, that was discussed yesterday seems to be a sequence number of either 7 or 8 that was later sloppily turned into a date. As if number 7 in hindi numerals was written then someone later filled the date making use of the shape as a date divider and writing that odd shape 23 and filling the month & year.

If this lad is number 12, who is number 11? Who is number 1? and what is the last number in the sequence. I tried to open the SCFMD site, but they blurred out the numbers, why did they do that? And from where did you get the photos with numbers not blurred out?

--TogetherSy (talk) 01:34, 22 May 2016 (UTC)

I saw a 7 on Mahmoud as well, or an 8 with jumbles added (Hindi? I thought W.Arabic was what's called "Indian numbers"?)). Either number is open. Seems to be unidentified bodies, probably order found or logged at the hospital, and maybe per the one incident only. 28 victims returned, per reports, (see correaltion table on main page, all "t" victims) and numbers seen are 4, 10, 12, 22, 23, 27, 28 (and maybe 7 or 8). They aren't Caesar photo victims in the SAFMCD database except Mahmoud, or maybe another I don't recognize (no Hamza or Thamer, or any others I've seen). Why they blurred the numbers is hard to say ... likely to hide something. I've had a few guesses, and maybe there's no one reason. --Caustic Logic (talk) 06:33, 22 May 2016 (UTC)

Mahmoud Al-Zoubi

More questions about fellow victim Mahmoud Al-Zoubi - video of the martyr includes forehead and chest tape (good views inset), ID card, official paperwork, and narration. I'd like to know what the paperwork says (or is said to say), and if any sense can be made of the scribbles on the tape. words? letters? numerals? symbols? What does the narration add about how and when the man died and how they know that. How did these activists obtain his ID card? --Caustic Logic (talk) 05:57, 15 May 2016 (UTC)

This is the transliteration of the narration & its translation

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

In the name of Allah most gracious most merciful

قال عليه الصلاة والسلام: ان الله يستحي ان يعذب شيبة شابت في الاسلام

He, who mercy & prayers are upon him, said:

God shies from torturing a man whose hair became grey while [practicing] Islam.

ان هذا الرجل ذو الشيبة وهو يناهز من العمر 72 عاما

This man with grey hair, who is over 72 years old,

لقد اعتقل متلبسا وهو يقرأ القرآن

was arrested in the act of reading Quran

في طريقه الى درعا لفك الحصار عن أهله هناك

while he was on his way to Daraa, to break the siege [imposed] on his people there.

وتمت مجزرة صيدا بتاريخ 29/4/2011

And the massacre of Saida happened on 4/29/2011

وفارق الحياة تحت التعذيب

and he lost his life due to torture

على أيدي هذا النظام الظالم وأهله

[inflicted] by the hands of this unjust regime & its people.

ألا يستحون من هذه الشيبة؟ ألا يتفكرون

Don't they feel shy from his grey hair? Don't they think?

والى متى هذا القهر؟

And till when will this oppression [last]?

هذه الاصلاحات التي وعد بها بشار الأسد

These are the reforms promised by Bashar Al-Assad!

قتل الآباء والأبناء. قتل الأطفال والنساء

He [Assad] killed the fathers & sons. He killed the children & the women.

ولكن صدق الله حين قال في محكم كتابه:

But Allah told the truth when he said in his book:

وما الله بغافل عما يعمل الظالمون

Allah is never ignorant of what the unjust people do.

ولكن ما عهدناه عن هذا الرجل من التزام في بيوت الله

But of what we were accustomed to from this man: of being present in the houses of Allah [mosques]

من صلاة وقراءة قرآن

and praying and reciting Quran

أنه لايسجد ولا يركع الا لله

[therefore] He doesn't kneel but to Allah

وقد طلب منه أن يسجد الى صورة بشار الأسد

and it was asked of him to kneel to the photograph of Bashar Al-Assad

ولكنه أبى وقتل من أجل ذلك

but he refused and was killed for that.

والحمد لله رب العالمين

thanks to Allah the lord of all

سورية، درعا، بلدة المسيفرة

Syria, Daraa, the village of Musaifereh

بتاريخ 23/5/2011

on the date of 5/23/2011

حتى ما يقال نحن في ليبيا أو اليمن

so that they won't say we are in Libya or Yemen.

هذا الرجل وهذا التعذيب الذي عذب به

This man and the torture that he was tortured with

تحت الكهرباء وتحت العصي وتحت الهراوات الكهربائية

under electricity, by sticks, with electric batons

وهذا الحروق بالسجاير والكهرباء والضرب على الرأس والأقدام

these burns by cigarettes and electricity and the beatings on the head and feet

حتى قتل

until he was killed

ونسأل الله له الشهادة والحمدلله رب العالمين

We ask [Allah] to grant him martyrdom and thanks to Allah the lord of all.

The narration is an agitation message delivered in a religious sermon style. The narrator mimics the style & tone of mosque preachers in Friday prayers.

There is no mention of how they obtained his ID. Just an emphasis on showing his birthrate: 9 Feb 1939.

From 0:17 till 00:58 a photocopy of a hand written paper claimed to be the report of the forensic department in the hospital of Daraa is presented. Most of the paper is not clear, but the photographer is interested in only showing the photocopied stamp of the Forensic Department in Daraa Hospital which is in the lower left corner of the paper along with an indiscernible signature of a doctor & the date 23 May 2011. Then he focuses on the lower right corner that bears the words: "photo copy of the original" under the red stamp of the hospital. It is noticeable that there should be the signature of the person authenticating the photocopy of the document along with the stamp, but here it is lacking.

The photographer then shows us the last line of the paper, which [surprisingly] reads:

سبب الوفاة توقف القلب (الناتج): التالي لشدة نفسية ناجمة عن العنف والتعذيب

Heart arrest due to psychological distress caused by violence and "torture". [A phrase opposition members always claim that regime hospitals never issue to them]

The head tape is surprisingly upside down, in the direction of the camera view not the natural direction of the corpse. on the upper line an س like shape that I would say is a badly written 23 and under it there is /5/2011.

The chest tape shows the name of the deceased: حمود أحمد عبدالر Hmoud Ahmad Abdulra[hman], which is slightly different from the name on ID: محمود احمد العبدالرحمن [Ma]hmoud Ahmad [Al-]Abdulrhman.

--TogetherSy (talk) 20:08, 19 May 2016 (UTC)

Oh cool, thanks! Will review. Heart failure ... could actually be. Same story they say kept being repeated for the Caesar photos "detainees" except with violence noted... --Caustic Logic (talk) 23:19, 19 May 2016 (UTC)

Considering this fascinating story - adding to victim profile and upcoming Hamza report. "it was asked of him to kneel to the photograph of Bashar Al-Assad, but he refused and was killed for that." Huh. They learned about this. Same thing for both of the youngest victims, Hamza and Thamer - maybe they weren't reading the Quran in the van, but they were both asked to kneel to Assad or praise him, "witnesses" said, and were then killed for refusing. Pretty stupid story they've repeated three times now. Tape might say 5/2011 and then 23, so body return date. Very sloppy, but I can see it, and neither of us can see much else ... Great notes as well! --Caustic Logic (talk) 07:34, 21 May 2016 (UTC)

Addition to article will be slow - report first. --Caustic Logic (talk) 01:22, 22 May 2016 (UTC)

Like I said, it would be slow, but I finally updated the Mahmoud profile article to reflect these additions. I also took a minute to paint out what it seems the tape says. I presume this is what you meant. Super-deformed 23 in red, no slash, then 5 (purple), slash, 2011 (blue) underlined. All built around an original number (green). By vertical centering, that should be 7, upside down here - I think it would be underlined to clarify, and that line is now part of the 3 (another line there looked too distracting). --Caustic Logic (talk) 07:25, 12 June 2016 (UTC)

Hamza's Grave Marker

One last request, lodged right here ... last-minute double-check before finishing report ... Hamza's grave marker as shown by Zaman Al-Wasl - I can read the dates - May 6, 1998, and that looks kind of like born ( ولد ), and the last is May 25, 2011. The word above should not say died, but maybe buried, or other. I can make out his name in the middle. The rest may not matter. There's a video of the same damaged by a supposed shelling attack. The narration might have something worth noting. ?? --Caustic Logic (talk) 15:18, 23 May 2016 (UTC)

The translation of this image:

Al-Fatiha الفاتحة

In the name of Allah most gracious most merciful بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Peace be upon you, for your patience. سلام عليكم بما صبرتم

How excellent is the reward of [your ultimate] abode فنعم عقبى الدار

[Quran 13:24]

The tomb of the infant martyr مرقد الطفل الشهيد

Hamza Ali Al-Khatib حمزة علي الخطيب

Born 6/5/1998 تولد 5/6/1998

Martyred on استشهد في

25/5/2011

I will transliterate & translate the video later today.

--TogetherSy (talk) 10:54, 25 May 2016 (UTC)

Oh, thanks. Picture uploaded too, right move. Just too late to get in the report, at least as I noticed it ... but no big loss. It does say martyred on? Those numbskulls. His dead body with green patches was in his family's hands the day before at least. I should have included that then, but oh well... --Caustic Logic (talk) 12:54, 25 May 2016 (UTC)

This is the transliteration and translation of the video mentioned above:

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

In the name of Allah most gracious most merciful

درعا الجيزة 21/2/2013

Deraa - Al-Jizah - 21/2/2013

أثار القصف المدفعي

The results of the artilary bombardment

على المقبرة التي يتوجد فيها

on the cemetary that has

قبر الشهيد حمزة الخطيب

the tomb of the martyr Hamza Al-Khatib

القذيفة دمرت القبر

The shell destroyed the grave

هذا الشهيد الطفل الذي لم يسلم من بطش النظام

This infant martyr who did not escape the brutality of the regime

وهو على قيد الحياة

while he was alive

والآن وهو في قبره أيضا لم يسلم من بطش النظام

now while he is in his tomb also did not escape the brutality of the regime

هذا النظام الذي انتهك جميع الحقوق الانسانية

This regime that violated all human rights

ولم يحترم أي شيء

and did not respect anything

حتى القبور والمقابر قام بقصفها

even the graves & the cemeteries

حتى الشهداء والأموات في قبورهم لم يسلموا من هذا النظام

even the martyrs and the dead did not escape from this regime

هذه هي المقبرة وأثار القصف على هذه المقبرة

this is the cemetary and results of the bombardment on it

التي استخدمها النظام لكي يخيف الناس ويقول لهم

the shelling was used by the regime to terrorize the people and tell them

حتى أمواتكم لم يسلموا مني

even your dead won't escape from me

حسبنا الله ونعم الوكيل

Allah suffices us and he is [our] best agent

--TogetherSy (talk) 11:18, 25 May 2016 (UTC)

Brilliant move - hit the graveyard with a mortar shell, just to help Hamza make the news one more time... actually it would make sense - for the rebels - on a slow day when they were bored. --Caustic Logic (talk) 12:54, 25 May 2016 (UTC)

The grave seems to be hit with a hammer not an artillery shell. The plants & other graves in the background are not affected, only Hamza's tombstone and a nearby wall seems to have suffered some damage, self inflicted in my opinion probably by the same guy who was filming. No crater, no shrapnels, a too clean scene to have suffered bombardment.

--TogetherSy (talk) 21:19, 25 May 2016 (UTC)

That's an interesting notion. I wouldn't be the slightest bit surprised. But I don't feel like looking at it yet, so no opinion. I do suspect it was not, as they say, a deliberate government attack on Hamza's grave to deny him peace in death. --Caustic Logic (talk) 12:29, 26 May 2016 (UTC)

AF Intel Defector

A late find, with no rush, but sure to have interesting parts - video قصة إستشهاد حمزة الخطيب رمز الثورة - آفاق أحمد Al-Jazeera interview, April 29, 2012 (Arabic) Description, auto-translated: "The story of the martyrdom of Hamza al-Khatib code revolution with dissident Ahmed, Director of prospects, former President of the Center for special operations division at the air intelligence." TS, if you have a chance, some key quotes might help (but probably not the whole thing). Dates, specifics, things we can compare. --Caustic Logic (talk) 08:08, 27 May 2016 (UTC)

A note on the defector:

He claims to be the secretary of colonel Suhail Al-Hasan, the head of special operations division in the Air-Force Intelligence branch.

Gulf media outlets claim that he is also the brother-in-law of the colonel. And he was hailed as being the first or one of the earliest alawite defectors.

His alleged rank is assistant. That means he is not an officer.

Defection video:publication date: Nov 2, 2011

• According to skynewsarabia his date of defection was Oct 30, 2011

Interview on Al-Jazeera April 29, 2012

Transliteration & Translation of the interview:

The title is: The Story of the Martyrdom of the Symbol of the Revolution Hamza Al-Khatib - [by] Afaq Ahmad

I tried to make the translation as literal as possible, if it is not clear, I can fix the grammar and style into a more understandable form.

So name is Afaq Ahmad, or vice-versa? Below he's Mr. Afaq. --Caustic Logic (talk) 00:32, 29 May 2016 (UTC)

First name is Afaq, last name is the generic Ahmad.

--TogetherSy (talk) 09:09, 29 May 2016 (UTC)

Okay, that's how it seemed. Either way, it's a rare name آفاق - the VDC doesn't have it anywhere among martyrs or regime forces database, as a first or a family name (that's among a good chunk of all those killed, often listed poorly, but some kind of a sampling). Afaq auto-translates "prospects," and Ahmad means praised/praising (?) ... So it's an odd name, possibly not his real one (and his described job also might not be his own, etc.). --Caustic Logic (talk) 09:12, 30 May 2016 (UTC)

بداية نود أن نعرف أسباب انشقاقكم عن الجيش السوري

TV Anchor: As a start we would like to know the reasons for your defection from the Syrian Army

مساء الخير سيدتي، السبب المباشر هو كان هذه المجزرة التي تصادف ذكراها اليوم ولما شاهدته من فظائع نفذها الجهاز الذي أعمل به في هذا اليوم ضد المتظاهرين المدنيين الذين كانوا عزلا ليس معهم سكينا ولا حجرا واضافة الى محاولات النظام المتكررة لبث الفتنة الطائفية فوقفت أنا منذ ذلك اليوم وأبديت رأيي فطبعا الرأي كان غير مقبول لدى السلطات فقاموا بسجني عدة أيام فخرجت وانشقيت عن هذا النظام بسبب هذه الممارسات

Defector: Good evening my lady, the direct cause was this massacre, which its anniversary is today, and because of the atrocities I had seen perpetrated by the department I had been working in, against the civilian protesters who were unarmed and did not have a knife or a stone [on them], in order to spread sectarian strife, therefore I stood up from that day and voiced my opinion, and of course, my opinion was not welcomed by the authorities so they imprisoned me for several days then I came out and defected from this regime because of these practices.

بسبب هذه الممارسات سيد آفاق لكنك كنت شاهدا على ما حدث لحمزة الخطيب، هل لك أن تطلع المشاهد الكريم عن ما تعرفه؟

TV Anchor: [then it was] because of these practices Mr. Afaq, but you were a witness to what happened to Hamza Al-Khatib, could you please inform the dear viewer about what you know?

صحيح، في هذا اليوم من العام الماضي تم التحضير لهذه المجزرة منذ الصباح لوقف تدفق الجموع الى حافظة درعا خوفا من فك الحصار وسقوط درعا في يد المتظاهرين السلميين، فقامت قوات الخابرات الجوية عناصر النخبة من العمليات الخاصة بنصب كمين لهم عند مساكن صيدا العسكرية لاتهام المتظاهرين أنهم ينوون اقتحام المساكن العسكرية وبالفعل تمت المجزرة هناك وتم القاء القبض هناك على حوالي 160 معتقل وقتل ما يقارب المئتين شخص متظاهر وصل منهم الى فرع المهام الخاصة في المخابرات الجوية في مطار المزة حوالي 120 جثة وانا رأيتهم وأما من المعتقلين كانوا حوالي 160 ومن بينهم كانوا من ظهروا على قناة الدنيا محمد عياش ووعبدالقادر الزعبي وما زالوا أحياء حتى الآن موقوفين بالاضافة إلى الأطفال وقد شاهدت يومها الطفل حمزة الخطيب ولم يكن مصابا اصابة حقيقية ولكن لم يلفت نظري الا سوى ما شاهدناه بعد فترة بعد حوالي اسبوعين حيث سلم جثمانه لأهله ولكن انا رأيته حي

Defector: [That's] true, on this day in the past year this massacre was prepared on the morning to stop the flow of the masses to the governorate of Daraa fearing [that they will] break the siege and Daraa will fall in the hands of the peaceful protesters, so forces of the Air-Force intelligence and elite elements from the special operations [division] created an ambush for them at the military housing complex in Saida to accuse the protestors of intending to break into the military housing complex and indeed the massacre happened there and around 160 were apprehended and around 200 protesters were killed, 120 bodies of them reached the special operations division in the Air-Force Intelligence in Mezzah Airport and I saw them. But the detained were 160 and among them were those who were shown on Addounia [TV] channel [like] Mohammed Ayyash and Abdulqader Al-Zou'bi and they are still alive and in detention until now in addition to the children. On that day I saw the infant Hamza Al-Khatib and he was not suffering any real injuries, I didn't notice but what we saw after a while.. after 2 weeks when his body was handed back to his family but I saw him [when he was] alive.

رأيته حي اذن سيد آفاق وقبل أن يتوفى، ما الذي عرفته بخصوص هذه الحادثة والمشاهد يود فعلا أن يعلم تفاصيلها خاصة أن الرئيس السوري وعد بإجراء تحقيق لم تظهر نتائجه إلى غاية اليوم، واليوم مرت سنة على مقتل حمزة الخطيب.

TV Anchor: So you saw him alive Mr. Afaq and before his death. What do you know regarding that incident? [Our] dear viewer[s] would like to know its details, especially that the Syrian president promised to conduct an investigation which till today it's results haven't appeared and today it has been a year since the killing of Hamza Al-Khatib.

هذا الموضوع، تعرض والد حمزة الخطيب للضغط الشديد من قبل اللواء رستم غزالة لعدم البوح بما جرى مع إبنه لبشار الأسد حين استقبله، ولكن أنا قلت له أن بشار الأسد في كثير من الجوانب يجب أن يتحمل مسؤولية في هذا الموضوع...

Defector: Regarding this issue, the father of Hamza Al-Khatib endured extreme pressure from general Rustom Ghazala to not tell Bashar Al-Assad what happened with his son when he met him, but I said to him that Bashar Al-Assad should bear responsibility in many aspects of this issue... (interruption by the TV anchor)

لكن ماذا حدث؟ نود أن نعلم تحديدا ما الذي حدث لحمزة.

TV Anchor: But what happened? we would like to know what exactly happened to Hamza.

ما حدث لحمزة الخطيب هو أن عندما تقدمت هذه هؤلاء الموقوفين لفرع التحقيق نسبت اليهم التهمة من المخبرين الذين قدموا المعلومات أو من خلال المخابرات الجوية أن هؤلاء المواقيف هم كانوا في مظاهرة وفي حالة اقتحام للمساكن العسكرية لقتل الضباط العلويين هناك وسبي النساء العلويات وتصوير ... وكأنهم جماعات سلفية اسلامية تريد القضاء على العلويين في المساكن العسكرية. فعندما وصلوا هؤلاء الموقفين الى فرع التحقيق انهالوا عليهم بالضرب في الهروانات والعصي الكهربا وبدؤوا يلومونهم ويقولون لهم انتم تريدون سبي النساء وهذا ما يفسر اقتطاع العضو الذكري لحمزة الخطيب حيث أنهم اعتبروها رسالة الى هذا الخصوص لكن حقيقة عناصر ... الضباط المسؤولون عن التحقيق مع حمزة الخطيب هم ضابطان مسميان بالاسم الرائد سهيل الزمام والرائد طارق سليمان هم من حققوا مع الأطفال، أما من اعتقلهم هم قسم العمليات الخاصة وبقيادة العقيد سهيل الحسن وعناصره. المجزرة كانت واضحة المعالم، كانت مبيتة يعني يجب ان تكون في هذا اليوم مجزرة ضخمة لتوجيه ضربة لأبناء حوران والأمر الثاني لمنعهم من الوصول إلى درعا. هذه الخطة تمت في العمليات الخاصة في المخابرات الجوية ولكن ارسل تعميم الى جميع القوات المتواجدة في درعا للتصدي للجموع القادمة من المناطق الأخرى مثل اليادودة وخربة غزالة جسر عتمان، كما أنه صدرت أوامر من رئاسة أركان الجيش ووزارة الدفاع بأن جميع المساكن العسكرية في سورية مستهدفة في هذه اليوم، لذلك...

Defector: What happened to Hamza was that when the detainees were presented to the interrogation branch they were accused by either the informers or through the Air-Force intelligence that these detainees were [participating] in a demonstration and in the act of breaking into the military housing complex to kill the officers and enslave the alawite women. The issue was presented ... as if they were salafist islamist groups that want to annihilate the alawites in the housing complex, so when the detainees reached the interrogation branch they hit them [severely] with batons and electric sticks and they started blaming them and saying: "[do] you want to enslave the women?" This explains the amputation of the male organ of Hamza Al-Khatib as they wanted that [amputation] to be a message with this regard, but the truth about the people .... mmm the officers responsible for the interrogation of Hamza Al-Khatib was that they are named officers, their names are: major Suhail Zammam and major Tariq Suliman, those were who interrogated children. But they were apprehended by the special operations division under the leadership of Colonel Suhail Al-Hassan and his forces. The massacre was clear. It is premeditated, I mean, that on this day there should be a huge massacre to blow a strike to the people of Huwran and the second issue to stop them from reaching Daraa. This plan was concocted in the special operations division of the Air-Force intelligence and a memorandum was sent to all the forces in Deraa to resist the masses coming from different places like Yadoudeh and Khirbet Ghazala, Ataman bridge. Also orders from the joint command of the army and the ministry of defense were issued stating that all the military housing complexes are targeted on this day, therefore... (interruption by the TV anchor)

اشكرك

TV Anchor: I thank you

لذلك كانت الخطة على مستويات كبيرة وليست على مستويات صغيرة لأن هذه المجزرة تحديدا كانت نقطة تحول كبيرة في حياة .. تارخ

Defector: Therefore the plan was on a high level, not a lower one, because this exact massacre was a turning point in the life... the history... (interruption by the TV anchor)

في مسار الثورة السورية ونشكرك على هذه الشهادة التي قدمتها لنا آفاق أحمد مدير المكتب السابق لرئيس شعبة العمليات الخاصة في المخابرات الجوية السورية والذي انشق عن الجيش، شكرا جزيلا لك

TV Anchor: In the course of the Syrian revolution. We thank you for this testimony that you gave to us. Afaq Ahmad, the ex manager of the office of the head of the special operations division in the Syrian Air-Force intelligence who defected from the army. Thank you very much.

--TogetherSy (talk) 13:42, 28 May 2016 (UTC)

Fascinating allegations here. Working this into a revised report. Thanks! --Caustic Logic (talk) 12:37, 30 May 2016 (UTC)

Shooting at 45min

In Vid1 at 44:50-45:15, near the end, is some interesting audio - gunshot from nearby, possibly right here - men talking inside with the cameraman, and taking an odd tone (sort of an oh well, what the hell tone?), just before a very loud shot-blast sound at 45:07 (RPG?), followed by a guttural "Allahu akbar" in the near-distance. I'm curious what they're saying here and what it suggests. --Caustic Logic (talk) 12:37, 30 May 2016 (UTC)

Al-Zoubi

Hey Adam, interesting work. Some random observations:

In the SANA "official story" piece, the alleged buddy of the kid says that they used to "perform Friday prayers at the Grand Mosque in al-Jizah led by sheikh Haroon al-Zoubi and Talal Shkeir who were calling for Jihad.” Maybe head of the clan and reason why so many al-Zoubis were there?

The SANA report is among the Stratfor mails leaked by WikiLeaks, sent to HQ on June 1, 2011: SYRIA - Syrian news agency raps media for fake reports on death of 13-year old

In August 2012, a deputy health minister of Syria named Ma'moun al-Zoubi was assassinated in Deraa. The current Information Minister of Syria is named Omran al-Zoubi.

--CE (talk) 12:47, 4 May 2016 (UTC)

Thanks, it's been a bit sloppy but getting there. There are so many Zoubi, they're not probably all related. Like the guy was named Khatib, but not related to Hamza. But then, with so many Zoubis, how could some not be? (middle names help tie some of these together.) The Imam might relate ... could get many family involved, but would they be about half, or is there another reason they're about half of the dead? The minister I don't know ... there's also an al-Zoubi high on the rebel side, "Asaad al-Zoubi, a former army colonel who now leads the Free Syrian Army in southern Syria" and is head #2 of the High Negotiating Committee (where #1 is Mohammed Alloush). --Caustic Logic (talk) 22:55, 4 May 2016 (UTC)

The Zuaby clan (Arabic): الزعبي is a large & powerful clan that stretches between the border of Jordan & Syria. They are "THE" people in southern Deraa & the Jordanian city of Ramtha. A very active & highly political clan in both countries. On the Syrian side it is worthy to note that the longest serving prime minister in the Baath governments was Mahmoud Zuaby. Who resigned in 2000 & later committed suicide due to corruption accusations and favoring his clan members. IMHO, I do view the targeting of that clan as tactic used to stem anger in them and cause them to switch their loyalty by creating blood vengeance between them & the state. This clan highly relied on the political statuesque & received many favors from the state while its son was the prime minister and had had a free hand on the merchandising movement across the Jordanian border and many other privileges. Aside from their large numbers in that area, their political affiliation & ties to the regime; ties that the opposition desperately needed to severe, should be taken into consideration while discussing the high number of their victims in the early events of Daraa.

--TogetherSy (talk) 01:55, 22 May 2016 (UTC)

Very interesting. --CE (talk) 12:52, 22 May 2016 (UTC)