The Media Coverage on Syria is the Biggest Media Lie of our Time' -- Interview with Flemish Priest in Syria
By Weird Duk
Saturday February 4, 2017
Flemish Father
Daniël Maes (78) lives in Syria in the sixth-century-old Mar Yakub
monastery in the city of Qara, 90 kilometers north of the capital Damascus.
Father Daniel has been a witness to the “civil war” and according to him,
Western reports on the conflict in Syria are very misleading. In short: “the
Americans and their allies want to completely ruin the country."
Interviewer: You
are very critical of the media coverage on Syria. What is bothering you?
Father Daniel: “The
idea that a popular uprising took place against President Assad is completely
false. I’ve been in Qara since 2010 and I have seen with my own eyes how
agitators from outside Syria organized protests against the government and
recruited young people. That was filmed and aired by Al Jazeera to give
the impression that a rebellion was taking place. Murders were committed by
foreign terrorists, against the Sunni and Christian communities, in an effort
to sow religious and ethnic discord among the Syrian people. While in my
experience, the Syrian people were actually very united.
Before the war, this was
a harmonious country: a secular state in which different religious
communities lived side by side peacefully. There was hardly any poverty, education
was free, and health care was good. It was only not possible to freely
express your political views. But most people did not care about that.”
Interviewer: Mother
Agnès-Mariam, of your Mar Yakub (“Saint Jacob”) monastery, is accused of siding
with the regime. She has friends at the highest level.
Father
Daniel: “Mother Agnès-Mariam helps the population: she has recently opened
a soup kitchen in Aleppo, where 25,000 meals are prepared five times a week.
Look, it is miraculous that we are still alive. We owe that to the army of
Assad’s government and to Vladimir Putin, because he decided to intervene when
the rebels threatened to take power.
When thousands of
terrorists settled in Qara, we became afraid for our lives. They came from the
Gulf States, Saudi Arabia, Europe, Turkey, Libya, there were many Chechens.
They formed a foreign occupation force, all allied to al-Qaeda and other
terrorists. Armed to the teeth by the West and their allies with the
intention to act against us, they literally said: “This country belongs to us
now.” Often, they were drugged, they fought each other, in the evening they
fired randomly. We had to hide in the crypts of the monastery for a long time.
When the Syrian army chased them away, everybody was happy: the Syrian citizens
because they hate the foreign rebels, and we because peace had returned.”
Interviewer: You
say that the Syrian Army protects civilians, yet there are all sorts of reports
about war crimes committed by Assad’s forces, such as the bombardments with
barrel bombs.
Father Daniel: “Do
you not know that the media coverage on Syria is the biggest media lie of our
time? They have sold pure nonsense about Assad. It was actually the rebels
who plundered and killed. Do you think that the Syrian people are stupid?
Do you think those people were forced to cheer for Assad and Putin? It is
the Americans who have a hand in all of this, for pipelines and natural
resources in this region and to thwart Putin.”
Saudi Arabia and Qatar
want to establish a Sunni state in Syria, without religious freedom. Therefore,
Assad must go. You know, when the Syrian army was preparing for the battle in
Aleppo, Muslim soldiers came to me to be blessed. Between ordinary Muslims
and Christians, there is no problem. It is those radical Islamic,
Western-backed rebels who want to massacre us. They are all al Qaeda and IS.
There are not any moderate fighters anymore.”
Interviewer: You
once mentioned Hillary Clinton to be a "devil in holy water," because
as Secretary of State she deliberately worsened the conflict.
Father Daniel: “I
am happy with Trump. He sees what every normal person understands: That
the United States should stop undermining countries which possess natural
resources. The Americans’ attempt to impose a unipolar world is the biggest
problem. Trump understands that radical Islam is a bigger threat than Russia.
What do I care whether
he occasionally takes off his pants? If Trump practices geopolitics the
way he has promised to do so, then the future looks bright. Then it will become
similar to Putin’s approach. And hopefully then, there will be a solution for
Syria, and peace will return.”
Interviewer: You
understand that your analysis is controversial and will encounter much
criticism?
Father Daniel: “I
speak from personal observation. And no one has to believe me, right? But I
know one thing: The media can either contribute to the massacre of the
Syrian people or help the Syrian people, with their media coverage.
Unfortunately, there are too many followers and cowards among journalists.”