-
- eon/GPO)
- Living in a cage: On jail, running and the Shuafat
Camp<http://972mag.com/living-in-a-cage-on-jail-running-and-the-shuafat-camp/79945/>
ByMoriel Rothman <http://972mag.com/author/972blog/>1 CommentPublished
October 4, 2013
<http://972mag.com/living-in-a-cage-on-jail-running-and-the-shuafat-camp/79945/>
PHOTOS: Palestinian activists dismantle Israeli
roadblock<http://972mag.com/photos-palestinian-activists-dismantle-israeli-roadblock/79909/>
ByActivestills <http://972mag.com/author/activestills/>1 CommentPublished
October 3,
2013
-----------------------------------
http://972mag.com/after-chemical-attack-damascus-suburbs-face-starvation/79851/
After chemical attack, Damascus suburbs face starvation
*Since the beginning of 2013, Assad’s forces have laid siege on the
suburbs of the capital known as Ghouta, which was the target of a chemical
weapons attack earlier this summer. Regime forces are stopping food and
other goods from coming in and as winter approaches, activists are warning
that the situation is about to get even worse.*
By Elizabeth Tsurkov
The chemical weapons attack on the eastern and southern outskirts of
Damascus (collectively known as Ghouta) have garnered a great deal of
international attention over the past month. While pundits and experts
discussed the imminent American-led strike on regime targets and later how
to disarm the Assad regime of its chemical weapon stockpiles, however, few
focused on the situation on the ground in the areas affected by the
chemical attack itself (which are targets of daily artillery attacks and
air strikes by the regime). These areas have been besieged by the regime
forces since January 2013, leading to severe shortages of food, medicine
and fuel that have resulted in the death of at least eight malnourished
children and many patients who could have been saved had proper medical
treatment been available to them.
Ghouta has been an opposition stronghold since the first days of the Syrian
uprising. Many of the residents of Ghouta’s conservative Sunni
working-class towns were displaced from southern and eastern Syria due to long
years of
drought<http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/4383/sowing-the-seeds-of-dissent_economic-grievances-an>
and
the government’s mismanagement of the drought crisis. During the initial,
peaceful stage of the Syrian uprising, Ghouta witnessed large protests.
Soon after the opposition began to arm itself in 2011, the towns of Ghouta
were wrestled from regime control in 2012 and are now in the hands of the
rebels. Civil society organizations sprung up to fill the void created by
the government’s absence in the area.**
<http://972mag.com/after-chemical-attack-damascus-suburbs-face-starvation/79851/ghouta1/>
Destruction due to Shelling in Zamalka, a besieged town East of Damascus.
(photo: Lens of a Damascene Girl)
The Ghouta region, unlike rebel-held areas in northern, eastern and
southern Syria, is completely surrounded by regime-controlled areas. As a
result, the regime is able to utilize greater firepower against it, and to
besiege it. The siege of Ghouta dates back to in January 2013 when regime
forces erected checkpoints at all roads leading to the area, positioned
snipers nearby, blocked the entry of food and other goods. Activists and
rebels who attempted to smuggle food into the area were shot at checkpoints
or by snipers.**
<http://972mag.com/after-chemical-attack-damascus-suburbs-face-starvation/79851/ghouta2/>
The Palestinian Yarmouk Camp south of Damascus came under siege by the
regime in July 2013. Residents now resort to eating flatbreads baked from
stale lentils. (photo: Palestinian Camps News Network)
Impoverished eastern Ghouta is experiencing a significant shortage of
flour, a basic staple. According to Susan Ahmad, spokesperson for the
Revolutionary Command Council in Damascus Suburbs (a civil society
organization that helps administer rebel-held towns in Ghouta), those who
are lucky enough to find flour anywhere are forced to pay 1,500 Syrian
($7.50) liras for just one kilogram. The siege and bombardment of the area,
however, have nearly halted all economic activity, leading to soaring
unemployment. Residents of the area who once traveled to Damascus for work
have been laid off due to the contraction of the Syrian economy. Others
have stopped showing up for work because they fear being arrested at regime
checkpoints.**
<http://972mag.com/after-chemical-attack-damascus-suburbs-face-starvation/79851/ghouta4/>
Destruction due to shelling in Douma, a town under siege northeast of
Damascus. (photo: Adasa Sham)
Only in recent months have residents truly began to feel the serious
deterioration in conditions in eastern Ghouta. In an interview to +972
Magazine from eastern Ghouta, Susan Ahmad, explained that, “until now,
people ate what they grew in the summer – mainly vegetables and fruit.” The
prices of those goods are very high due to the siege and many have to rely
on handouts from friends and family or assistance from civil society
organizations. But the situation is about to deteriorate. “Winter is coming
and there will be no more crops,” Ahmad added.
Tariq al-Dimashqi, an activist who volunteers with a field hospital in
eastern Damascus told +972 Magazine it is unlikely that the rebels will be
able to break the siege any time soon, adding, “there is no hope at all.
The situation is going to worsen more and more unless something happens.”
The shortages of medicine and fuel are an additional problem. Tariq said
that the field hospital he is working for in a town east of Damascus lacks
antibiotics, among other drugs. “We had small amounts of medicine, but now
they are almost finished.”
While the situation is dire in eastern Damascus, it is much worse in
Moadamiyat al-Sham, a rebel-held town south of they Syrian capital. The
regime laid siege to the town at the same time as eastern Ghouta, but
according to Ahmad, “the siege [of Moadamiya] is tighter. Moadamiya is
surrounded by Assad strongholds; it is next to the Mezzeh Military Airport
and many brigades, including the 4th Armored Division [made up of Alawite
soldiers and led by Bashar al-Assad's brother, Maher – E.T.] surround it.”
Moadamiya residents relied on stored food until March when it ran out. Water
is also scarce <http://www.vdc-sy.info/index.php/en/reports/1379660373> in
the area because the regime has cut off the water supply and targeted tanks
on residential buildings and public reservoirs.
<http://972mag.com/after-chemical-attack-damascus-suburbs-face-starvation/79851/ghouta6/>
Destruction in Moadamiyat al-Sham due to shelling. (photo: Lens Young
Moadamani)
The siege of Moadamiya resulted in the death of seven children in the past
month, according to videos uploaded by the opposition, while another child
starved to death in the besieged Hajeerat al-Balad, south of Damascus. The
videos <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_TpZ38FjIU>, shot in field
hospitals, showpale <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49X0CQkEbXQ>,
malnourished <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGz3AHN9Fe4>
children<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=em5vhJcnFes>,
either dead or taking their last breaths. Both Ahmad and al-Dimashqi
confirmed that despite the risk of death, some have managed to smuggle
small amounts of food and medical equipment into eastern Ghouta. But in
Moadamiya, the situation is different. According to Ahmad, “there is no
food at all and no supply of medicine” to the area, “FSA [Free Syrian Army]
fighters eat just leaves, without bread.” A field doctor working in
Moadamiya told the *Washington
Post<http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/a-month-after-chemical-attacks-syrian-residents-of-ghouta-struggle-to-survive/2013/09/20/999e39a4-2238-11e3-ad1a-1a919f2ed890_print.html>
* that their flour supplies ran out six months ago, adding that, “those
that used to eat three meals a day now eat one.”
<http://972mag.com/after-chemical-attack-damascus-suburbs-face-starvation/79851/ghout3/>
Ibrahim Khaleel, 3-year-old resident of Moadamiya who died of hunger on
August 31, 2013. (photo: Moadamiyat al-Sham Media Center)
**Ahmad expressed anger at the lack of action to end the siege of his and
other hometowns by the international community. “Syrians will never forget
and forgive those who let them down! Everyone who didn’t do anything to
save innocent lives are criminals because they help Assad to kill more
people and destroy more cities,” she said. “We just want our freedom and
dignity and we want to live peacefully like everybody around the world and
we get killed for this!”
Tariq took a more conciliatory tone: “Dear brothers in humanity, you like
freedom and democracy, we also, like freedom and democracy. Please, stand
by us and help those innocent people bring the regime down.”**
*Elizabeth Tsurkov is an Israeli human rights activist and blogger who
closely monitors events in Syria.*
