Eva Karene Bartlett

As recent posting on social media is once again hyping up alleged atrocities of the Assad government (to obfuscate on the ongoing atrocities of the Joolani terrorist regime in Syria), let's revisit one of the very hyped places in 2016/17, Madaya, where media and social media claimed Assad was starving civilians. As it turned out, just like in Homs, in Aleppo districts, al-Waer (Homs), Douma and other towns in eastern Ghouta, etc, it was the terrorist factions who hoarded food—including aid sent or allowed in by the Assad government—& either didn't share it with the civilians they held as human shields, or sold it at massively inflated prices no one could afford. I went to each of these regions and spoke with civilians whose testimonies countered the claims of foreign media. Following are excerpts from an article I wrote in 2017 after going to both Madaya & al-Waer: "...During my visit in June, I met with Syria’s Minister of Reconciliation, Dr. Ali Haidar. Established in June 2012, the Ministry has successfully dialogued with tens of thousands of armed Syrians to enable and facilitate return to their civilian lives. Haidar explained to me that an agreement was reached at the end of 2015 that included Madaya, nearby Zabadani, and the Idlib villages Foua and Kafraya. ...According to Madaya’s mayor, the main armed factions that had been present were the terrorist groups of Ahrar al-Sham, al-Nusra and the FSA. I asked whether people had protested the presence of other militants. “Yes,” they said, “there were protests against the armed groups, and in support of the government, asking the government to come to Madaya."... To my question whether Western media was right, that the Syrian government had starved them, the four men answered ‘no’ in unison, talking over one another to make their point. [WATCH VIDEO HERE] “It was not the government that starved us, it was the armed groups,” a middle-aged man said. “We received aid convoys, but the armed groups would steal the supplies and monopolize them.” He said he had sold his car in order to buy overpriced food from Ahrar al-Sham and al-Qaeda: “They sold us a kilogram of rice for 100,000 Syrian pounds.” At current exchange rates, this came to around US$200. An older man nicknamed Abu Sharif said repeatedly that militants had hoarded food and extorted civilians, and added: “After the Syrian army entered, they found 50 storage units of food, also medicine. They are still uncovering storages.” According to this man, the militants also stole jewelry from women, and forced them to dress fully covered. “They called us ‘kuffars’ and said we weren’t real Muslims.” ...we stood near an apartment that had been occupied, one floor turned into a prison to hold locals until their fates (including execution) were decided in terrorists’ Sharia trials. Nestled behind the apartment, out of view, was a factory where terrorists manufactured mortars and rockets. Above that factory, one of the food storage caches was found after militants had left Madaya. Watch | Hidden factory where mortars and rockets were manufactured by terrorists Down the lane, another villa had also been used as a headquarters and prison until it was hit by Syrian army shelling, forcing the “rebels” to relocate. Another mass food storage was found in a neighboring building, the mayor said. Entering the relocated prison through a hole blown into the wall, I walked past a room containing a cooking stove and refrigerator, both booby-trapped by terrorists to kill whoever tried to move them. I had learned of this tactic in 2014 in the old city of Homs. Watch |Visit to the relocated prison ...Two rooms, metal doors welded onto the entrances, had been used as cells. In the middle of another room, a metal bed frame with a piece of cloth tethered at one end. “They interrogated and tortured people here,” a former FSA militant said. An unwilling participant, he said he was forced by other militants to join, & that he was among the first to take the government-offered amnesty when peace was restored..."