Violence Shatters Truce in Yarmouk
The AFP reports that weekend attacks in Yarmouk, the besieged Palestinian refugee camp outside Damascus, have broken a truce that had begun to allow food aid to reach the camp.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that the al-Qaida-linked Jabhat al-Nusra and the pro-regime Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command had resumed hostilities there.
“The cease-fire had taken hold on February 10 when al-Nusra withdrew its fighters from Yarmuk after months of fierce battles between rebels and forces loyal to Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad. The army laid siege to the camp, trapping tens of thousands of people inside, including Palestinian refugees and Syrians who had fled violence from other parts of the country.
“The camp’s population shrunk to 40,000 from more than 150,000, and conditions deteriorated to the extent that residents were forced to eat grass to survive, with some dying of starvation, activists have said. In January the U.N. Relief and Works agency (UNRWA) began distributing aid in Yarmuk after clinching a deal with the warring parties, with 7,500 food parcels handed out since then.”
Pro-Hezbollah Song Opens Musical Front in Syrian Civil War
The New York Times’ Ben Hubbard and Hwaida Saad report on Ali Barakat, a pro-Hezbollah singer whose pro-Assad anthem has sparked new fault lines in what they call Syria’s new musical front.
“Since its release, the anthem has, perhaps predictably, become yet another flash point in the Syrian civil war. Those backing the government of President Bashar al-Assad have spread it on social media. Rebels and their supporters have recorded their own musical rejoinders and accused Mr. Barakat of sectarian incitement,” write Hubbard and Saad.
“This new musical front in the bloody civil war underlines just how much the conflict in Syria has inflamed sectarian tensions in the Middle East and even permeated the cultural realm. Where Sunni and Shiite singers once aimed their barbed lyrics at Israel, they now increasingly target each other.”
In one lyric, Barakat sings that Hezbollah “flattened the army of the Jews, and now it is your turn in Yabroud.
“The most inflammatory response is an equally rousing tune that tells Hezbollah fighters to dig their own graves and threatens bomb attacks against areas in Lebanon that support the group, warning them to expect ‘body parts with no heads.’”
Former Ambassador Robert Ford on What’s Gone Wrong in Syria
Former Syrian Ambassador Robert Ford has spoken for the first time since leaving his post last month.The Christian Science Monitor reports on his weekend comments at Tufts University conference.
“His outlook was bleak,” it says, “warning that a fractured rebellion, the presence of al-Qaida inspired fighters on the battlefield, and the fears of the country’s minorities are a recipe for prolonged conflict.
“’You have one al-Qaida faction fighting another al-Qaida faction. That’s how fractured this is. One sharp sliver fighting another sharp sliver,’ he said, a measure of disbelief in his voice. ‘I bring no good news to you tonight about Syria.’”
The Monitor says that the key takeaways from his speech were that “it’s the regime’s fault,” but “the opposition isn’t helping its cause,” that the Iranians and extremist fighting groups will eventually have to be included at the negotiating table, and that Assad should not run in proposed June elections.
Suggested Reads from Our Editorial Team
BBC: Ex al-Qaeda Member Warns UK Over Syria Threat
Guardian: An Airlift Could Save the Starving in Syria
Daily Star: Car Bomb Provider Killed in Yabroud, Syria
Washington Post: The U.S. Makes Crises in Ukraine and Syria Worse by Not Planning for Them
Telegraph: [Syria: Hizbollah Recruitment Surge as Sectarian Conflict Spreads][8]
Al Arabiya: Thousands of Children Flee Syria Without Parents, U.N. Agencies Say
[8]http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10671167/Syria-Hizbollah-recruitment-surge-as-sectarian-conflict-spreads.html