(Links i dette indlæg er på engelsk, medmindre andet er angivet)
Anti-regeringsdemonstranter indtog ved middagstid d. 25. maj gaderne i Houla, nordvest for Homs, uvidende om at deres demonstration i sidste ende ville blive besvaret med en massakre af hidtil ukendt grusomhed. Mindst 116 mennesker blev dræbt af regeringsvenlige styrker.
En video [voldsomme billeder] af mænd der løber fra hvad der lader til at være voldsom beskydning, dukkede op på YouTube samme dag. Rapporter siger at der under angrebet blev brugt kampvogne, raketdrevne granater og kraftige maskingeværer. Kameramanden filmer indgangen til en bygning, hvor der ligger livløse kroppe på jorden, mens han råber byens navn, Houla. Mængden af lys peger på, at dette er i begyndelsen af det 7 timer lange angreb.
Bevæbnede mænd i militæruniformer gik derefter ind i hjem og begyndte at skyde folk, herunder mange børn.
En anden video [voldsomme billeder] [ar] viser, hvad der lader til at være et rum, hvor lig – hovedsagligt børn – er dækket med tæpper, mens en mand råbende beskylder den arabiske verden for at være tavs.
I Houla opfordrede aktivister som Hadi Abdallah angiveligt FN-observatører til at komme øjeblikkeligt og være vidne til begivenhederne, men forgæves:
@Thanku4theAnger: Hadi Abdallah called head of UN monitors about Houla massacre. His reply “Regime does not allow us to travel at night”
@Thanku4theAnger: Hadi Abdallah : We have more than 300 injured dying in front of us & we can't even provide basic emergency care
FN's observatører ankom endelig dagen efter og bekræftede dødstallet
Verden rundt kom der øjeblikkelige reaktioner af chok og forfærdelse:
@acarvin: The photos being shared via the #HoulaMassacre hashtag are bloody, graphic and heartbreaking. So many beautiful children, dead. #syria
@NMSyria: The UN security council has unanimously condemned the use of heavy weapons in #HoulaMassacre that left 108 people killed. Oh really?
@Hamadx: #AlHoulahMassacre I don't wanna have kids anymore. This world is not safe, not human.
Den egyptiske blogger, Zeinobia, reagerede på sin blog:
Whoever did this horrible massacre got no human feelings, brainwashed to the level that he became a killing machine that does not differentiate what about what is right or wrong as a human to kill a child in that way.
D. 27. maj benægtede talsmanden for det syriske udenrigsministerium, at det syriske militær var ansvarlig og gav Al Queda-tilknyttede terrorister skylden for massakren. Den libanesiske blogger, As'ad Abu Khalil (“Vred Araber”) var kynisk:
How can I comment on developments in Syria anymore? I simply disbelieve the Syrian regime and the exile Syrian opposition groups: both have a proven record of criminality and massacres and lies and fabrications. […] Of course, the government given its bloody and war criminal record (under Hafidh and now under Bashshar), can easily be responsible for this massacre. It has no moral scruples or ethical factors that would prevent it from perpetrating such a crime. But as one friend (Amer), wrote to me about it: “No version I heard makes sense, the amount of lies makes it impossible to know the truth: bombing? slaughter? army? villages raiding each other? these things cannot happen all at the same time.”
Bloggeren Maysaloon kritiserer Abu Khalils ambivalente holdning:
@Maysaloon: The Angry Arab's position on Syria is clear: no to the opposition and regime, but mainly opposition, and regime, but mainly opposition.
Ruwayda Mustafah kommenterede Ruslands holdning:
@RuwaydaMustafah: This just came in. ‘Russia says both sides are involved in Houla massacre’. Why would protesters kill their own children?
Nogle sammenlignede endda den syriske regering med Israel (der var ansvarlig for en massakre i en libanesisk landsby, tilfældigvis ved navn Hula, i 1948):
@SultanAlQassemi: Massacre of innocents – Bashar Al Assad is the new
Ariel Sharon
Rundt omkring i Syrien er der strejker i solidaritet med ofrene:
@HamaEcho: General strikes in the main markets of Damascus today condemning the regime's massacres.
@ZainSyr: Shops in the old souq of Medhat basha & Hareqa r closed! 4 the 1st time they participate in a strike! Damascus! We r getting closer
Bloggeren Yorikirii has mindes massakren i et digt:
There are places in war
That become Sacred Places
Massacred Places. turning points
Who did it? we all know. who asks?
The realities on the ground speak their own truth
My Sacred Places. on a day in May. this was Houla
Der bliver til helligsteder
Steder for massakrer. vendepunkter
Hvem gjorde det? vi ved det alle. hvem spørger?
Realiteterne på jorden taler deres egen sandhed
Mine hellige steder. på en dag i maj. dette var Houla
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