So there’s fighting in all the places there is fighting. SDF have reportedly made progress near Ayn Issa and Tal Abyad picking up some villages. Turkey is still pounding SDF near Tel Tamr. And our friend David Eubank may be moving through the stages of grief, because he’s pissed.
And Idlib is getting hit by Russian air strikes, as usual.
And Turkey is attacking Kurdish areas in Turkey and destroying parts of ancient cities in the process. And they’re conducting air strikes on Kurds in northern Iraq. Kurds in Iran appear to be safe.
In other developments, this is interesting: Four Arab tribes joined SDF. That’s both interesting in itself, but also this is an attempt to advertise that this is a thing that is happening.
The War on Twitter
More complaints about Twitter biased censorship are showing up. Accounts closed. The blue check system is completely fucked for SDF/SDC (and some Iraqi, from what I’ve seen.).
FakeNews: Turkey
AP now reporting on a pro-Turkish soldier fake news campaign.
AP: Twitter accounts push propaganda photos of Turkish soldiers
As Turkish forces invaded northern Syria in early October, supporters of the offensive launched a different kind of campaign — online.
Dozens of images claiming to show Turkey’s soldiers cuddling babies, feeding hungry toddlers and carrying elderly women spread across Twitter and Instagram where they were liked, retweeted and viewed thousands of times thanks also to popular hashtags.
Except some of the photos weren’t of Turkish soldiers. None of them were recent and some had been taken in parts of Syria unconnected to the invasion – even in other parts of the world.
The online campaign follows a pattern of social media propaganda that seeks to sway global opinion when controversial, international events erupt.
Turkey also arrests people for social media posts they don’t approve of. It’s part of why Kanter can’t talk to his family.
We Need at Least Two Rock.
Finally; Two more examples of rocks, but weightier than the others:
Christian Messaging
Rojava pushing the Christian angle hard again; seeing it show up more again, after there was a lull.
I mean, it also happens to be completely true. They seem baffled that people don’t care. It’s probably easier for them to keep track of a half dozen sides war, what with their survival depending on it and all.
FaithWire: The Plight of Ancient Christians in Northeast Syria
I’m really used to that kind of language being hyperbole. “It’s a literal death trap!”
Literally.
So how do we even speak about this stuff in any meaningful way?
Rojava to Rock 