Robert Mackey writes:
While restrictions on independent reporting inside Syria make it difficult to say for certain what is going on in Hama, video posted online in recent weeks appears to show that Hama, Syria’s fourth-largest city, has emerged as a center of the current uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.
A generation ago, in 1982, before YouTube and ubiquitous camera phones, Mr. Assad’s father, Hafez, also used military force to crush an uprising in Hama, away from the world’s eyes. Before journalists were eventually allowed into Hama that year, after the bombardment was complete, at least 10,000 people are thought to have been killed.
That history makes every video clip showing tens of thousands of protesters packed into Hama’s central Assi Square somewhat remarkable. Among those clips is this video, said to have been filmed in the square two weeks ago, as a singer named Ibrahim Kashoush led the crowd in a rendition of his protest anthem, “Yalla Erhal Ya Bashar,” or, “It’s Time to Leave, Bashar.”
The 1982 battle has been distorted to propoganda advantage. “An attempted coup, by the Moslem Brotherhood in 1982, led to serious fighting within Syria, but the rebellion was put down: casualties topped 5,000 on both sides.” [NYT Almanac]. The Brotherhood had staged killings, bombings, attempted Assad assassinations, and conducted a massacre of 83 Allawite cadets. They also had destroyed wine storage areas [Allawites drink wine]. Members of the Brotherhood lived in and somewhat controlled Hama.