Journalists and activists ‘laundering’ genocidal regimes
A week after Damascus feted a delegation of the European far right, Bashar al-Assad’s regime ushered in a new set of suitors. On Sunday, the American blogger and Sputnik contributor Max Blumenthal announced his arrival in Syria with a selfie. The caption read:
“Here I am near the border of Jobar, a neighborhood east of Damascus occupied by the Saudi-backed Jaish al-Islam until early last year. Militia control extended close to the tall building behind me. The one I’m in is in a mostly Christian area was hit by a mortar in April 2018.”
While Blumenthal made sure to insert into his tweet the “Islamist vs Christian” framing favoured by the regime, he made telling omissions. The tall building behind him that he references is the Zablatani Tower. In 2011, two years before Jaish al-Islam was formed, regime snipers shot unarmed protesters from its elevation.
By the time the regime forced Jobar’s surrender in 2018, it had damaged or destroyed most of the district and subjected it to 10 chemical (chlorine) attacks. Jobar is part of Eastern Ghouta region, which in August 2013 was also the target of the deadliest chemical attack since Halabja, killing over 1,400.
Some of this may be down to ignorance. But as someone claiming expertise on Syria, Blumenthal can’t be unaware of the significance of his location. Using geographical references in the image, it is possible to pinpoint his location to a balcony on the second floor of the building that houses the Bank of Syria and Overseas, Qassaa Branch.
The location puts him 450 metres to the west of the Zablatani Tower. But just 220 metres to his north-west is the Bab Touma branch of the feared Airforce Intelligence, identified in a comprehensive 2012 report by Human Rights Watch as one of the regime’s main torture centres.
About 300 metres further in the same direction is the Al Khattib Branch of the General Intelligence, another notorious facility known for its mediaeval torture methods. According to the UN, over 100,000 people have disappeared in Syria, many ending up in this torture archipelago.
Accompanying Blumenthal on the junket is Rania Khalek, a Twitter personality who produces viral videos for the Russia Today subsidiary “In the Now”. Khalek’s announcement of her arrival in Damascus was not dissimilar. [Continue reading…]