Raed Fares, was one of the few peaceful pro-democracy activists from the early days of the Syrian uprising still making his voice heard .....
He had been a vocal critic of both President Bashar al-Assad, and the Islamist militants during the civil war.
He was the founder of Radio Fresh, an independent (but US funded) radio station, broadcasting from inside opposition-held areas in the country. But as the rebel areas have decreased, he was forced to cohabit in areas controlled by Islamic hard liners. A few years ago two gunmen from Islamic State (IS) tried to kill him, leaving him with several shattered bones, and a punctured lung. Mr Fares was left lying in a pool of blood, and only his brother rushing him to hospital narrowly saved his life.
From then on he lived with constant threats, but refused to carry a weapon. His radio station, which featured music and female presenters, both of which are No No's to the hard-line Islamist groups which overran Kafranbel and surrounding area, was also threatened. As well as IS, other groups such as the Nusra Front (the former al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria), Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, and the current occupiers the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham alliance, all had issues with Mr Fares and the radio station.
The latest was when this last group, the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham alliance, ordered Radio Fresh to stop broadcasting music .... unable to resist directly, the station started broadcasting tweeting birds, clucking chickens and bleating goats. They also got round being told to stop using women presenters by the now-dissolved, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, by putting the women presenters voices through a computer software programme, which made them sound like men.
Sadly, this couldn't go on forever, and on Friday the 23rd of November he was killed in the north-western town of Kafranbel, in Idlib province in Syria. Why does this matter?
Well, as we have noted before, nearly all the misnamed 'Islamic Spring' revolutions ended in violence, and most were hijacked by the same Islamic hard liners as in Syria. The moderate daydreamers who started the protests, were all killed by either the local regimes or the Islamists, and their peaceful revolutions turned to violence.
The differences between the European and Arab responses to calls for change couldn't be more stark. For every Poland and Czechoslovakia in Europe, there is a Libya and Syria in the Arab world. This difference has to reflect the underlying cultures .... its fairly obvious what the differences are between the two worlds. But last word to the idealistic but brave Mr Fares .....
"What can they do? Kill me?" he once asked. "Well let them kill me. I'm not going to leave, and leave them the country!"
 |
| Peaceful Syrian Activist Raed Fares .... |
He had been a vocal critic of both President Bashar al-Assad, and the Islamist militants during the civil war.
He was the founder of Radio Fresh, an independent (but US funded) radio station, broadcasting from inside opposition-held areas in the country. But as the rebel areas have decreased, he was forced to cohabit in areas controlled by Islamic hard liners. A few years ago two gunmen from Islamic State (IS) tried to kill him, leaving him with several shattered bones, and a punctured lung. Mr Fares was left lying in a pool of blood, and only his brother rushing him to hospital narrowly saved his life.
From then on he lived with constant threats, but refused to carry a weapon. His radio station, which featured music and female presenters, both of which are No No's to the hard-line Islamist groups which overran Kafranbel and surrounding area, was also threatened. As well as IS, other groups such as the Nusra Front (the former al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria), Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, and the current occupiers the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham alliance, all had issues with Mr Fares and the radio station.
The latest was when this last group, the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham alliance, ordered Radio Fresh to stop broadcasting music .... unable to resist directly, the station started broadcasting tweeting birds, clucking chickens and bleating goats. They also got round being told to stop using women presenters by the now-dissolved, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, by putting the women presenters voices through a computer software programme, which made them sound like men.
 |
| His Radio Station Posted This Picture Of the Murdered Mr Fares |
Sadly, this couldn't go on forever, and on Friday the 23rd of November he was killed in the north-western town of Kafranbel, in Idlib province in Syria. Why does this matter?
Well, as we have noted before, nearly all the misnamed 'Islamic Spring' revolutions ended in violence, and most were hijacked by the same Islamic hard liners as in Syria. The moderate daydreamers who started the protests, were all killed by either the local regimes or the Islamists, and their peaceful revolutions turned to violence.
The differences between the European and Arab responses to calls for change couldn't be more stark. For every Poland and Czechoslovakia in Europe, there is a Libya and Syria in the Arab world. This difference has to reflect the underlying cultures .... its fairly obvious what the differences are between the two worlds. But last word to the idealistic but brave Mr Fares .....
 |
| The Idealistic But Brave Mr Fares In More Optimistic Days ..... |
"What can they do? Kill me?" he once asked. "Well let them kill me. I'm not going to leave, and leave them the country!"
The World has lost a courageous man.
ReplyDeleteThere were not many secularists in the middle east. Most were in the baathist regimes of Iraq and Syria. We destroyed them both. How odd are we??
ReplyDeleteThere is certainly an argument that however how despicable the Ba'athist regimes were, they were more democratic than that Islamist regimes that replace them. Iraq is now a theocratic state in the Iranian model. Thanks for the comment.
Delete