(Zaman Al Wasl)- "Destroy the children of Ghouta; they are the children of terrorists, kill the women; they are the wives and mothers of the terrorists." This was a call by a pro-regime loyalist, Lama Dayoub, on her Facebook page to the regime army, Iranian militias and the Russian friends, and Iranian allies.
Such a call has exceeded ignorance in its sectarianism. Those who called for genocide in Ghouta justified their calls by saying that all the inhabitants of Ghouta are terrorists, at a time when all the world knows that the number of elements of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (al-Nusra formerly) classified as a terrorist organization does not exceed 200.
The bombardment of eastern Ghouta over the past week has been one of the heaviest of Syria’s seven-year war, killing at least 522 people in seven days, according to a toll compiled by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor.
On Saturday, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution demanding a 30-day cease-fire to allow for humanitarian aid deliveries.
The huge number of genocide calls makes it close to a collective call in participation with media outlets. This is what leads to the belief that the regime directed these calls to strengthen the sectarian strife and increase charging its sect community and its elements in the forces attacking Ghouta. Also, the calls came after reports of disputes between the militias called to participate in storming Ghouta.
"They are the devils, burn them," a comment on a hateful post published by the Latakia, Jablah and Tartous News Network. The rest of the comments were not less hateful. The absence of rational comments was noted or perhaps the comments were deleted (if any) based on instructions that security has likely passed to this network to increase sectarian freight, and sharpen their resolve to kill innocents.
This is some of the virtual reality, but the reality has seen more sectarianism and hatred, according to activists collaborating with Zaman al-Wasl. They pointed to the happiness of loyalists with reports of the killing of children, women, and elders in Ghouta.
Activist Mohamad al-Sahili pointed out that the seller of smuggled cigarettes in al-Sheikh Dhahir Square in Latakia distributed 100 packs of cigarettes free to celebrate the bombing of Eastern Ghouta, and a group of young women from the sect performed ‘Dabke’, traditional dance, in the same arena for the same purpose.
Activist Omar al-Bahri reported from Jablah that many of the city's minibuses transferred loyalist passengers for free turning on songs that salute the Assad army. Omar said the talk of loyalists in cafes, shops and transportation focuses on the events of Ghouta, and everyone wishes to crush Ghouta and kill its women and children and elders before their men, in retaliation for the killing of a number of residents of the city of Adra workers, they say.
The media activist Mustapha al-Banyasi pointed out that a group of young women and youth organized a donation campaign in Tartous and its countryside to give it to the families of the pilots who are bombing Ghouta in recognition of their heroism. A group in al-Qardaha called its "lovers of a martyr" " visited the families of those killed, and to offer them the blessing of near revenge on the killers of their sons.
Assad loyalists are used to sectarian incitement in conjunction with every army campaign carried out against civilians, but sectarian incitement has doubled in an unprecedented manner with Assad campaign supported by militias and countries that support him on Ghouta.
Zaman al-Wasl asked the social researcher Dr.Talal Mustafa about the secret of hatred, which Syria has not witnessed before and he said, "sectarian hatred is based on claiming the victimhood narrative."
He said, "The call for genocide of inhabitants of Ghouta and other Syrian cities is not made by ordinary Syrian figures, but of political figures that reflect hatred and hatred of others, and reflect historical cultural retaliation linked to historical victimhood narratives."
Dr. Mustafa added, "calls for genocide are not something new since the head of the regime Bashar al-Assad had described the other Syrians as germs, and called his loyalists to remove them from Syria, and this is what is happening in the eastern Ghouta and other Syrian cities."
Mustafa pointed out that this social phenomenon in Syria - the phenomenon of calling for the genocide of others - leads to legitimate questions about the factors behind its emergence and its uniqueness in the Syrian society. It is likely that the residues and the effects of sectarian fanaticism contribute to this phenomenon. If we examine the discourse of the calls for genocide, we find it ranging from an apparent national speech (fighting terrorism) to an explicit sectarian discourse, based on distortion and inappropriate expression, and a language of confrontation that refuses to compromise or agree, but to triumph as it claims even at the expense of human considerations.
Sociology researcher describes the language used in these calls as far from the realization of the mind, directed by wild instincts resulting from false totalitarian cultural residues that put all the good on one side and evil on the other side (terrorists), and do not allow questioning and discussion.
The researcher did not rule out that regime intelligence has a role in feeding these feelings to serve the Assad project in deepening the division between Syrians.
The United Nations Security Council resolution on the cease-fire was barely issued Saturday, with most pro-regime media outlets expressing outrage at the conspiracy against the leadership and the army. Al-Bahlouleya News Network described the revolution as a protection of terrorists under American sponsorship.
Assad forces and their mercenaries appear to have answered the calls of brutality of loyalists, in defiance of the UN resolution and the Security Council as the regime began ground attempts to storm Ghouta accompanied by aerial bombardment and artillery on a day no different than days before the truce.
Syria has been locked in a devastating conflict since early 2011 when the regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected ferocity.
According to monitoring groups, more than 470,000 people have been killed in the conflict to date.
By Abdul Salam Haj Bakri
Zaman Al Wasl
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