Iraqi Shia fighters warm up to fight in Syria

A video emerged on Youtube showing a crowd of Iraqi Shia beating their chests and chanting. The video was posted on May 1, another video was posted on the same day.

 Some have suggested the video is old and the names of Syrian cities, Deraa and Harasta, mentioned in the chants are part of ancient predictions about the end of time. But the Islamic year on the black banner behind the cheer-leader reads 1434, which is 2013. And Deraa is mentioned in the context of "the spark was triggered in Deraa". The chants are clearly by Iraqi Shia about what is happening now in Syria.

 The chants suggest that there are signs that Shia's hidden imam is due to appear. The signs include the Syrian uprising and the rise of the Syrian rebels. The chants seem to call on Shia worshipers to go to Syria to fight alongside the Assad regime.

 Here are transcripts of the chanting in both Arabic and English.

جدح من درعا الشرر، و خصم مهدينا ظهر. ومن حرستا ننتظر أول علامة

زينب اليوم بخطر و سكنى مرقدها إندثر. و يا أم رقية بكرا تقوم القيامة

باجر جيش المنتظر يهتف: يا حيدر علي. محشر يصير و يصرخ بساحة المحشر

رغم الأنوف الحاقدة ينصب منبر

زهرائيون والحقوق هناك ترجع إلينا

نسحق خشوم اللي يعادينا يا زهراء يا زهراء

سنين جانت شيعتك مظيومة .. والأمام يصيح يا مظلومة

"The spark was triggered in Deraa (the birthplace of Syrian uprising), and the opponents of our Mahdi (the hidden imam who is set to come at some point) have shown up.

And from Harasta (a town near Damascus), we are awaiting the first sign.

[The shrine of] Zainab (the Prophet's granddaughter) is today in danger and [Zainab's sister] Sakeena's shrine has disappeared. Oh Umm Ruqaya, tomorrow the judgment comes

 Tomorrow, the army of the awaited imam will shout: oh Haidar oh Ali. The resurrected army will be shouting in the resurrection site (believed to be in the Levant).. despite the hateful noses, we will erect a platform

 Zaharayoon (from Zahara, Zahraites) and the rights will return to us. We will crush the noses of anyone who oppose us. Ya Zahraa, ya Zahraa

 For years, your Shia (backers) were oppressed and the imam shouted: oh you who are oppressed (Zahraa)

This type of mourning chanting is called latimiya in Arabic, often recited during Ashura anniversary. It is sometimes more gruesome as men use iron chains to beat their chests and backs till bleeding, in a show of repentance for failing to protect Al-Hussain and his family who were slaughtered in Kerbala by the Ommayads (based in Damascus)."

 In a recently posted video, the leader of Iraq's Hezbollah also suggested that the Free Syrian Army is in fact the army that would fight Al Mahdi when he appears and called on worshippers to support the Syrian government. The key word in such statements, and others made by Hizbollah members or supporters in Lebanon, is: the protection of Zainab and preventing her capture again.

 The breaking news to such extremists is that Sayyida Zainab was killed more than a thousand years ago and that those who are fighting against the Syrian regime are fighting against tyranny and oppression (meaning, if they really believe in the symbolism of Zainab, they should stand by the oppressed people of Syria, not the other way around. But these people are being manipulated in the worst possible ways.

 Young men from Lebanon and Iraq are being dragged into this bloody war to defend the pathological criminal that is Bashar Al Assad. These are still a tiny minority that do not represent Shia but they are dangerous because they are deranged band of savages that are sparking a dangerous civil war across the region. Some of those are already fighting alongside the Syrian regime, that still pretends it's the last bastion of secularism in the region, and have taken part in some of Syria's most gruesome massacres.

 As far as Syrian people are concerned, many are taking these examples to support the narrative that this is a purely sectarian war backed by Iran and Hizbollah and Iraqi Shia.