Local journalists and media activists in north-west Syria say they fear for their lives following the assassination of prominent media activist Raed Fares last month.
Fares was driving home from the media office with friend Hammud Al Junayd in the town of Kafranbel when they were shot and killed by unknown gunmen on November 22.
Fares, 46, was a journalist who launched the station Radio Fresh in his hometown of Kafranbel in 2013. With the help of US funding – which was terminated earlier this year – the station aimed to train a new generation of Syrian journalists while countering regime propaganda and religious extremism. Yet Fares may be best known for his sarcastic and witty protest banners, which were shared widely online and made Kafranbel famous.
Al Junayd was also hailed by his peers for capturing footage of the regime’s indiscriminate airstrikes since the start of the uprising.
His colleagues now fear that his death portends the silencing of their dissenting voices in the last rebel-held enclave of Syria.
“Syrian journalists and media activists are afraid they will suffer the same fate as Fares and Junayd,” said Mohammad, a photographer from Kafranbel who asked to withhold his last name for security reasons. “We’re not afraid of taking photos, but we are scared to roam around the streets at night.”
Friends of Fares suspect that Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS) – the Al Qaeda offshoot governing most of Idlib province – was responsible for his death. On Radio Fresh, Fares sometimes ridiculed the extremist group, which has a long record of arresting and disappearing activists.
While the assassination came as a shock, citizen journalists said it came amid a decline in media freedom in north-west Syria. In mid-November, well known media activist Bilal Srewel was detained in the district of Afrin by the Turkish-backed militia Sultan Murad.
"The [group] asked me what I was doing with my camera, and I told them that I was just taking photos of people on the street," the 25-year-old told The National. "The group then put me in a car and took me to an office outside Afrin. That's where I was beaten and interrogated for four days."
After Srewel was released, he uploaded photos of his battered body on Facebook. Dozens of media activists shared the photos in a campaign to shame Sultan Murad. Srewel says that Turkish authorities promptly responded to the outcry by evacuating him to a hospital in the southern Turkish city of Gaziantep, where he now resides.
Other media activists have not been so lucky after being released by militias. Aaz Al Tadamn, a journalist who came to Idlib after escaping the Palestinian camp of Yarmouk in 2017, said he has scaled back his work after being abducted twice this year.
The last time was on September 21 when he was snatched by another Turkish-backed militia in Afrin called Furqa 23. The group took Al Tadamn to a makeshift prison, where he was interrogated about his activism for three days.
HTS also detained him in a market in Idlib in May. Al Tadamn says five men in ski masks put a gun to his head and told him to get into a van. He was then driven to a makeshift jail, where inmates told him that he was in the central prison of HTS.
"All I did was write articles and take photographs of regime shelling and massacres," Al Tadamn told The National.
Despite the lawlessness, and the risk of a catastrophic regime assault if the ceasefire breaks down, there is little escape from Syria’s north-west. The border with Turkey is sealed, but like Fares and Al Junayd, most journalists elected to stay behind a long time ago.
“I know my life is in danger and that most of my work is voluntary, but I can’t leave,” said Al Tadamn.
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About Krews
Founder: Ahmed Al Qubaisi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Founded: January 2019
Number of employees: 10
Sector: Technology/Social media
Funding to date: Estimated $300,000 from Hub71 in-kind support
RESULT
RS Leipzig 3
Marcel Sabitzer 10', 21'
Emil Forsberg 87'
Tottenham 0
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League last-16, second leg:
Real Madrid 1 (Asensio 70'), Ajax 4 (Ziyech 7', Neres 18', Tadic 62', Schone 72')
Ajax win 5-3 on aggregate
SM Town Live is on Friday, April 6 at Autism Rocks Arena, Dubai. Tickets are Dh375 at www.platinumlist.net
Where to donate in the UAE
The Emirates Charity Portal
You can donate to several registered charities through a “donation catalogue”. The use of the donation is quite specific, such as buying a fan for a poor family in Niger for Dh130.
The General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments
The site has an e-donation service accepting debit card, credit card or e-Dirham, an electronic payment tool developed by the Ministry of Finance and First Abu Dhabi Bank.
Al Noor Special Needs Centre
You can donate online or order Smiles n’ Stuff products handcrafted by Al Noor students. The centre publishes a wish list of extras needed, starting at Dh500.
Beit Al Khair Society
Beit Al Khair Society has the motto “From – and to – the UAE,” with donations going towards the neediest in the country. Its website has a list of physical donation sites, but people can also contribute money by SMS, bank transfer and through the hotline 800-22554.
Dar Al Ber Society
Dar Al Ber Society, which has charity projects in 39 countries, accept cash payments, money transfers or SMS donations. Its donation hotline is 800-79.
Dubai Cares
Dubai Cares provides several options for individuals and companies to donate, including online, through banks, at retail outlets, via phone and by purchasing Dubai Cares branded merchandise. It is currently running a campaign called Bookings 2030, which allows people to help change the future of six underprivileged children and young people.
Emirates Airline Foundation
Those who travel on Emirates have undoubtedly seen the little donation envelopes in the seat pockets. But the foundation also accepts donations online and in the form of Skywards Miles. Donated miles are used to sponsor travel for doctors, surgeons, engineers and other professionals volunteering on humanitarian missions around the world.
Emirates Red Crescent
On the Emirates Red Crescent website you can choose between 35 different purposes for your donation, such as providing food for fasters, supporting debtors and contributing to a refugee women fund. It also has a list of bank accounts for each donation type.
Gulf for Good
Gulf for Good raises funds for partner charity projects through challenges, like climbing Kilimanjaro and cycling through Thailand. This year’s projects are in partnership with Street Child Nepal, Larchfield Kids, the Foundation for African Empowerment and SOS Children's Villages. Since 2001, the organisation has raised more than $3.5 million (Dh12.8m) in support of over 50 children’s charities.
Noor Dubai Foundation
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Noor Dubai Foundation a decade ago with the aim of eliminating all forms of preventable blindness globally. You can donate Dh50 to support mobile eye camps by texting the word “Noor” to 4565 (Etisalat) or 4849 (du).
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Favourite holiday destination: Thailand. I go every year and I’m obsessed with the fitness camps there.
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Personal motto: Believe it and you can achieve it.
Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
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Rating: 3/5
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Business Insights
- Canada and Mexico are significant energy suppliers to the US, providing the majority of oil and natural gas imports
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UAE players with central contracts
Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Rameez Shahzad, Shaiman Anwar, Adnan Mufti, Mohammed Usman, Ghulam Shabbir, Ahmed Raza, Qadeer Ahmed, Amir Hayat, Mohammed Naveed and Imran Haider.
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Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sept 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
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Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
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Chinese Grand Prix schedule (in UAE time)
Friday: First practice - 6am; Second practice - 10am
Saturday: Final practice - 7am; Qualifying - 10am
Sunday: Chinese Grand Prix - 10.10am
