MESOP NEWS : TODAYS DIRTY GOSSIP BY RUSSIAN VOICES ON GHOUTA / ONLY “LICE” & “RATS”!

‘Mass psychosis’ in Eastern Ghouta? – Russia’s attempts to whitewash the gravity of the situation in Eastern Ghouta are emblematic of ‘post-truth’ logic.

by Halim Shebaya – Al Jazeera – 27 Feb 2018 – Ladies and gentlemen, there is nothing to worry about in Eastern Ghouta.Keep calm and carry on, we are being told. It is just a matter of “mass psychosis“.

Welcome to the “post-truth” age where there is an actual debate about whether or not we should rally around the International Committee of the Red Cross’ (ICRC) (among other organisations) call for restraint and access to the wounded.

The ICRC called the situation “madness” that had to be stopped. Yet, we are being told that it’s mere “fabrications”, “propaganda” and “mass delusions”.

Before proceeding, it is worth noting that indiscriminate targeting of civilians on all sides of the conflict is reprehensible. The ICRC statement mentioned that, “on the other side of the front line, people in Damascus are in constant fear that their children will be hit by falling mortars”.

Why, then, a focus on Eastern Ghouta? What we are dealing with is more than 520 dead and 2500 wounded (according to Medecins Sans Frontieres ) in five days. And the numbers are seemingly set to rise.

‘Hell on earth’ or ‘lice and rats’?

Silence is a sign of consent, according to an Arabic expression. But when UNICEF issued a blank statement for “lack of words” to describe the suffering in Eastern Ghouta, it was anything but an expression of consent.

It does not take a genius to decipher its intended message. The appropriate words had already been used throughout the Syrian conflict.

Indeed, the situation is one of a “deja vu”, as a Syrian writer described it – and a bleak reminder of what Bashar al-Assad’s “victory” in Syria has meant when it comes to the military strategies employed under the patronage of Vladimir Putin.

Syria war: ‘Gas attack’ kills child in Eastern Ghouta

“Hell on earth“, a “living nightmare“, “exceptionally deplorable developments“. The problem is not with finding the right words, but with a realisation that words have not helped.

UNICEF’s statement had a footnote: “Do those inflicting the suffering still have words to justify their barbaric acts?”

Apparently, some do. And the chosen words were “lice” and “rats” – written (later deleted from his Facebook page but still available here) by Nabil Saleh, a member of the Syrian parliament in reference to those the regime is fighting.  www.mesop.de