Charles Lister
@Charles_Lister
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Director of @MEI_Syria & @MEI_CTE at @MiddleEastInst. Founder https://t.co/QX1KDOZXMg.
Joined January 2012
Wow, I’m speechless. An old lady, with head uncovered, walks through the city of Rasht in northern #Iran chanting “death to Khamenei.”.
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NEW - #UK’s @BWallaceMP announces that Star Streak anti-aircraft systems will soon be provided to #Ukraine️.
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On Sept 12, 2001 -- 24hrs after 9/11 -- Queen Elizabeth ordered the U.S. national anthem be played at the Changing of the Guard outside Buckingham Palace. Nothing like that had occurred in 600 years. 🇺🇸🇬🇧.
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The scenes coming from #Sednaya are haunting — this wasn’t just a prison & torture center, it was a concentration camp. A true horror. Mountains of bodies. Rooms full of disposed clothes & shoes. Skeletons. Bodies partially destroyed by acid.
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While attention fixates on the fate of #Hezbollah leader Hassan #Nasrallah, bear in mind that flattening 6+ high-rise apartment buildings, without prior notice/evacuation, means 100s of casualties. This is a mass casualty event, whatever #Hezbollah losses.
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BREAKING - State Dept dissent memo published, condemning #Trump’s #MuslimBan as “counterproductive” -.
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WHAT. A Dutch researcher managed to log into @realDonaldTrump's Twitter account by guessing his password ("maga2020"), which had no 2-step verification.
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NEW -- S-300 air defense systems have been sent into #Ukraine, by U.S. or #NATO allies -- per @RepMcCaul, the top Republican in the House Foreign Affairs Committee. (stock image)
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The information space around #Syria has collapsed into a toxic pot of vitriol, wild misinformation and. some facts. Large numbers of people are tragically dead, but the circumstances & context are far more complex than is being widely conveyed. A 🧵:.
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Last week, a boat carrying ~750 desperate refugees sank off the coast of #Greece -- only 104 survived. Today, a search is on for a submersible carrying 5 wealthy individuals in the Atlantic. Both are tragedies, but one achieved hour-to-hour media coverage. Guess which.
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My God. @clarissaward & her team find a prisoner still in #Assad’s Air Force Intel HQ in #Damascus, abandoned alone in a cell. 2 days after the prison was thought to have been emptied. Watch this.
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This is utterly bizarre. This clearly shows a basement in a @WHO-run hospital was being used as a bomb shelter -- but the presence of toilets, showers, diapers & chairs becomes "evidence" of hostage storage. The "hostage list" at the end is a calendar w. nothing but days/dates.
Special footage from the Rantisi hospital in Gaza - on the basement floor, a room was found with signs indicating hostages were held there, underground headquarters and a room full of weapons inside the hospital:
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NEW -- the Christian Church in #Latakia rebuffs rumors of instability, saying a meeting with the interim gov't GSS "reassured.". "Do not get carried away with rumors," it warns.
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Next month, #Russia will be given Presidency of the @UN Security Council. No, it won't be April Fools. It's like making a burglar a bank manager -- yet another mockery of an outdated & often illogical UN system. @JeffSonnenfeld & @SergiyKyslytsya:.
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This is called a war crime — on camera. Medics, in uniform, in clearly marked vehicles, shot dead point blank, unprovoked. This is what #Assad’s regime might have done. Utterly abominable.
New video shows Israeli forces open firing on medics in Gaza. I’ve spoken with the IDF multiple times about this day and was told “several vehicles were identified advancing suspiciously toward IDF troops without headlights, or emergency signals.” . That is clearly not true.
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Stunning exchange at Senate Intel:. Q: GOP Sen - ‘Why do #Russia active measures work?. A: @selectedwisdom - “Because #Trump embraces them."
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2 Syrian painters displayed their solidarity with #GeorgeFloyd in the only - & best - way they know. A powerful mural on the ruins of a destroyed home in #Binnish, #Idlib, by art duo Aziz Asmar & Anis Hamdoun.
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"I promise #Russia's forces. that I will not spare them & I'll make mountains of Russian tanks & armor, which I will destroy as soon as I enter #Ukraine." . @suheilhammoud, aka "Abu TOW," arguably the world's most experienced ATGM operator:.
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The U.S. has given #Ukraine 7,000 Javelin ATGMs in recent months -- which is 1/3 of the entire American stock & will take 1+yr to replace. Also 2,000 Stingers -- 1/4 of the U.S. inventory, which'll take 5yrs to replace. Is this supply sustainable?.
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NEW - the U.S. has stopped all humanitarian aid efforts using the DOD-constructed maritime pier, which is now heavily damaged & floating adrift after bad weather. Who’d have thought — maybe it would have been better to simply deliver aid via #Gaza’s 7x land crossings?
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NEW - Barack #Obama will address the nation today at 5pm EST, regarding #GeorgeFloyd & protests across #America.
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With an open invitation to the @WhiteHouse, these images of Gen. Mazloum (real name: Sahin Cilo) are a bit problematic. 1. Swimming as a teenager w. #PKK founder/leader, Abdullah Ocalan, in #Latakia, #Syria. 2. Sat next to #PKK leader Duran Kalkan, wanted by @StateDept for $3m.
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NEW - U.S. DOD official says "more sophisticated" air defense systems will soon be sent to #Ukraine. A step above shoulder-fired MANPADS.
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The imagery here couldn’t be more powerful for Syrians. President Sharaa & his wife walking amid children whose parents were lost to #Assad’s killing machine, as they play in the grounds of the presidential palace. Just extraordinary. Via @MousaAlomar
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Let's be honest here -- if an American was killed with a head-shot by soldiers in, say, #Russia or virtually any country worldwide. it'd trigger a diplomatic earthquake. Let's see if it happens on this occasion.
NEW -- an American woman was shot dead (with a single round to her head) by @IDF forces in the #WestBank today. The killing took place during a protest. The IDF says troops fired on someone throwing stones.
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#Syria President Ahmed al-Sharaa & Foreign Minister @AsaadHShaibani playing basketball in #Damascus. Clearly not their first time…
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Let's be completely honest here -- if an incident like this happened in #Russia, #Syria, #Iran etc., the media coverage would be utterly visceral, instantly alleging "war crimes," a "massacre" and more. Drone strikes & tank shells were fired on people desperately seeking aid.
At least 100 killed and 700 injured in chaotic incident where IDF opened fire as people waited for food in Gaza, Palestinian officials say.
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#Assad killed 500,000 of his own people & disappeared 130,000 more, dropped 82,000 barrel bombs, conducted 340 chemical attacks & he runs a narco state worth tens of billions of dollars. So of course, let’s give him a seat at the #ArabLeague! That’ll resolve everything.
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Genius protest outside @RussianEmbassy in #London — washable paint “spilled” onto the road, for cars to drive through & create a massive #Ukraine flag for all to see.
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WOW -- 6,000 bombs in 6 days, in 365 km2 #Gaza. For comparison, the international anti-#ISIS coalition dropped an average of ~2,500 bombs **per month, across 46,000 km2 in #Syria & #Iraq.**. #Gaza's death toll is now 1,420+, including 447 children & 248 women.
Dozens of fighter jets and helicopters attacked a series of terrorist targets of the Hamas terrorist organization throughout the Gaza Strip. So far, the IAF has dropped about 6,000 bombs against Hamas targets.
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Law enforcement sources tell @CNN that the shooter was spotted some time earlier walking through a nearby field with a rifle -- and then seen again on the roof of the building "some time" before he opened fire. Questions, questions, questions.
“Quite frankly, I have no idea how the shooter got to where he did… that’s something that will have to be investigated.”. Butler County Attorney General, speaking to @CNN just now.
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#Argentina just elected a new President -- who says he met his 1st dog while he was a gladiator in #Rome 2,000yrs ago & that he now communicates with his 5 cloned dogs though a mystic. Oh, and he also wants to legalize the organ trade, amongst lots of perfectly sane ideas.
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#Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa & his wife, Latifa al-Droubi gathered children of those killed in conflict, giving them gifts for #EidAlFitr & setting up a playground in the grounds of the Presidential Palace.
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If the 1,000s of prisoners in #Assad’s infamous Saydnaya & Mezzeh prisons are aware of what’s coming, I cannot even imagine the euphoria & anticipation of what’s around the corner. Remember Saydnaya had an industrial crematorium to deal with mass executions.
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In case anyone missed it:. A U.S. fighter jet shot down a Turkish drone over NE #Syria earlier today -- I've had that confirmed by a senior U.S. official. That's a VERY rare NATO-on-NATO clash.
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Entirely right that the US should call out killing of innocent civilians — but the framing here is desperately simplistic. And it’s missing a 2nd half… About the #Iran-backed pro-#Assad gunmen who killed 400+ interim gov’t forces & a large number of civilians.
The United States condemns the radical Islamist terrorists, including foreign jihadis, that murdered people in western Syria in recent days. The United States stands with Syria’s religious and ethnic minorities, including its Christian, Druze, Alawite, and Kurdish communities,.
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Militarily, #HTS has invested enormously since 2020 in enhancing combat capabilities, improving professionalism, tightening its structure & command/control etc. From an 'officer' class, to special forces, night-time units & an entire drone force - it's changed the game.
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NEW -- #Israel's defense minister confirms *in writing* that "Israel's policy is clear & no humanitarian aid will enter #Gaza.". Not even Bashar al-#Assad was willing to publicly admit to a siege-starve policy.
כפי שציינתי בהודעתי, מדיניות ישראל ברורה ולא עומד להיכנס שום סיוע הומניטרי לעזה ומניעת הסיוע ההומניטרי לעזה הוא אחד מכלי הלחץ המרכזיים שמונע מהחמאס שימוש באמצעי הזה מול האוכלוסייה, בנוסף לשאר הצעדים בהם ישראל נוקטת - וחבל שיש מי שמנסה להטעות. אף אחד לא עומד במציאות הנוכחית.
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The expansion of units like Asaib al-Hamra & introduction of Saraya al-Harari and Kataib Shaheen -- along with large-scale indigenous rocket & missile production -- has created a force that #Assad's regime has seriously struggled to defend against, let alone outmaneuver.
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Messages dropped over #Damascus with flowers today:. - "From you, with you & for you. The Homeland Army. - "From barrels of death to flowers of life. Peace in the skies of #Damascus.".- "Today, helicopters offer you hope & peace, not pain & fear".- “Peace is born from suffering;
6 months ago, a helicopter flying over a crowd in #Syria would have caused complete terror. Today, this one is reportedly dropping rose & jasmine petals over Syrians celebrating the anniversary of #Syria’s now victorious revolution. That’s change for you.
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NEW - reports of a rocket attack & targeting the U.S. consulate in #Erbil just now. Large explosions heard. Several fighter jets now heard in the skies, per locals.
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After @CNN & @nytimes investigations & strong US pressure, an #IDF investigation reportedly confirmed allegations:. - Torture with electricity .- Amputations .- Systematic beatings.- Rape.- Sensory disorientation, leading to bleeding ears & eyesight loss.
Extraordinary scenes in #Israel, as the @IDF is dispatching 2 battalions to an IDF base (Sde Teiman) to put down a huge standoff -- between (a) local IDF force & allied far right supporters & (b) police sent to investigate the mass torture of Palestinian detainees.
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NEW -- #HTS leader Jolani:. - It's strictly prohibited to enter any public institutions. these will remain under the authority of the former Prime Minister until they are officially handed over & it is forbidden to fire a single bullet.
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The rolling eyes & the smirk say it all here -- the moral indifference & cold dismissal of calls to protect human life is nothing short of sickening. There was a time when being liberal meant something truly good -- but some of the left has gone off the deep end in recent years.
JC:"They're stealing Ukrainian children. 500 just yesterday were shipped to Russia. & this is why we should be supporting them. We cannot allow this kind of evil to go unchecked. Don't you agree with me on that?". BG: "I'm sorry, I don't. And here's why.".
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300 days ago, my friend Elizabeth Tsurkov (@Elizrael) was kidnapped by Kataib #Hezbollah in #Baghdad, #Iraq. Amid the #MiddleEast's many spiraling crises, Liz's case must not be forgotten. She must be released.
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NEW -- the #Biden admin is considering designating #Russia's Wagner Group as a terrorist organization, per @DanielPFlatley & @StephaniBaker.
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Here’s Ahrar al-Sham No. 2 Ahmed al-Dalati (@ah_dalati) speaking at #Aleppo’s al-Rawdah Mosque, urging inclusivity & respect for all Syrians, including the city’s Christian & Armenian communities.
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Imagine being so desperate to save your own skin that you reach out to #Trump for help -- 35 days before he becomes president. There's literally nothing he can do to help you, Bashar.
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Syrians are celebrating in NW #Syria, amid news that #Hezbollah leader #Nasrallah is likely dead. #Hezbollah was responsible for countless months & years-long sieges, in which 1000s died & others were forced to eat grass & animal feed to survive.
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