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Ethnic cleansing is also an international crime
Taken from LBN --
Al-Qaida Linked Rebels Attack Regime-Held Christian Village In Syria
Source: Associated Press
BEIRUT - Al-Qaida-linked rebels launched an assault on a regime-held Christian mountain village in the densely populated west of Syria and new clashes erupted near the capital, Damascus, on Wednesday — part of a brutal battle of attrition each side believes it can win despite more than two years of deadlock.
In the attack on the village of Maaloula, rebels commandeered a mountaintop hotel and nearby caves and shelled the community below, said a nun, speaking by phone from a convent in the village. She spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
http://www.leaderpost.com/news/Number+Syrian+refugees+tops+million+officials+lobby+Congress/8862199/story.html
Source: Associated Press
BEIRUT - Al-Qaida-linked rebels launched an assault on a regime-held Christian mountain village in the densely populated west of Syria and new clashes erupted near the capital, Damascus, on Wednesday — part of a brutal battle of attrition each side believes it can win despite more than two years of deadlock.
In the attack on the village of Maaloula, rebels commandeered a mountaintop hotel and nearby caves and shelled the community below, said a nun, speaking by phone from a convent in the village. She spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
http://www.leaderpost.com/news/Number+Syrian+refugees+tops+million+officials+lobby+Congress/8862199/story.html
DU'er Xithras offers some perspective --
Argh. Not Ma'loula!
For those who don't know, Ma'loula is famous for being one of only three villages on the planet where ancient Aramaic is still spoken on a daily basis. The other two are within sight of Ma'loula on the same mountain. Prior to the Islamic conversion in the Middle East and the cultural shift to Arabic, Aramaic was the language spoken throughout the entire region. If you're a Christian (which I'm not), it's best known as the language that Jesus spoke, and is the parent language of modern Hebrew.
The language has survived for thousands of years in that area because it's incredibly isolated and escaped the outside influences that caused it to be abandoned elsewhere. It's only spoken by a few thousand people today, and was already considered an endangered language before the civil war started. If the village is destroyed and the residents disperse, it will mark the end of more than 3000 years of Aramaic written history.
For those who don't know, Ma'loula is famous for being one of only three villages on the planet where ancient Aramaic is still spoken on a daily basis. The other two are within sight of Ma'loula on the same mountain. Prior to the Islamic conversion in the Middle East and the cultural shift to Arabic, Aramaic was the language spoken throughout the entire region. If you're a Christian (which I'm not), it's best known as the language that Jesus spoke, and is the parent language of modern Hebrew.
The language has survived for thousands of years in that area because it's incredibly isolated and escaped the outside influences that caused it to be abandoned elsewhere. It's only spoken by a few thousand people today, and was already considered an endangered language before the civil war started. If the village is destroyed and the residents disperse, it will mark the end of more than 3000 years of Aramaic written history.
eissa adds --
Ma'loula is not just your run-of-the-mill mountain village. It's a historic World Heritage site with deep connections to the dwindling indigenous Christian population in the region. This is exactly what so many minorities feared would happen once the rebels/terrorists got the upper hand.
Bear in mind Sen. McCain demanded -- and won -- verbiage in the AUMF that passed the Senate FRC to declare the objective would be to tip the balance of the war out of Assad's favor.
