Syrian tragedy & media frightening

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ALARMISM in both the Arab and Jewish sides is etched in the memories of those who watched the massacre in Deir Yasin, Palestine in 1948. The Arabs then wanted to smear the image of Jewish gangsters in front of the British and the West in general. The Jews also tried to exploit vacant Arab villages around Al-Quds to minimize losses to the lowest possible.

However, the Arabs failed considering that the alarm was raised, especially since the news about the rape and torture of women and the killing of children appeared to be the narration of a myth. The Jews succeeded in exploiting the weakness of Arabs in presentation and honor to play the strings by instilling fear in their minds.

This led to the exodus of Palestinians, while it became extremely difficult and almost impossible to find fair solution to the issue. More than 68 years after, the Arab media is dealing with the Syrian problem with the same foolhardiness. Since the beginning of the incident in Al-Sham, the media has put the situation under the microscope of fright which has become an established concept to attract sympathy for warring parties.

The idea is that it could assist in enabling both parties to achieve their goal quickly. We have seen scary and tragic pictures of children, women and old people. It later dawned on us that some of these pictures were manipulated or the photos of incidents elsewhere copied from the Internet for publicity stunt. What has been the outcome of the civil war that has been going on for five years and some months, other than increase in the rate of killings and massacres due to fear evoked by the media? The opposition has not achieved its objectives. Here they are seeking alms from the West and other Arab nations to support them.

However, they have not gone beyond loud slogans and sweet talks, while some of them are now talking about deception of the United States to the revolution. Meanwhile, the situation of the regime is not better. It got assistance from Iran, Russia and Hezbollah; as well as sectarian insurgents from Iraq and Afghanistan, to regain control over the entire Syria Undoubtedly, both parties paved way for quick spread of the Syrian arm of al- Qaeda (Al-Nusrah Front), DAESH and other terrorist groups. This produced the monster of division from its garbage by cutting out a part of the territory known as the Kurdish autonomy government.

Again, the result is that millions of Syrians are now living in deplorable refugee camps in Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan; depending on aid crumbs. These camps are not even suitable for livestock pens. Hundreds of thousands of people risked their lives at sea just to look for greener pastures in Europe where they were used for terrorist projects and living the worst standard of life. Media frightening that causes serious fear is the basic reason behind the tragedy.

It remains the absolute determinant for deterioration of the situation in Arab countries which are ‘melting’ through catalepsy. If only the media had been sensible in dealing with the situation according to the right standard from the beginning, they would have saved Syrians from a great deal of tragedy. If only millions of Syrians had remained in their country, the situation would have changed a lot. No regime will kill those millions and it is impossible to ignore their demands, such that they would have forced the regime to succumb to their wishes. Looking briefly into the incidents in Syria today, we will realize that everybody has lost the battle.

However, Syria as a country and geographical location is the worst loser. Does anybody know the sacrifice associated with that threat? After all that happened in the past five years, it is high time for Syrians to be resolute by returning to their country and deal with the issue by themselves, because they are the only ones who can choose their leader and the method of governance.

By Ahmed Al-Jarallah Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times

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