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Desecration of Church Property to Silence Syrian Voices – SSUK Extremism Exposed

Vanessa Beeley
21st Century Wire

On Thursday 19th October, the Media on Trial Event was held in the Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church (BCBC) in London. Prior to the event there had been the usual stream of emails denouncing the speakers as “genocide deniers” “Kremlin agents” “conspiracy theorists” and “Assad propagandists” in an attempt to get the event shut down by targeting the venue. BCBC stuck by the principles of freedom of speech and nobly refused to be swayed by what amounted to aggressive lobbying for its suppression. 

When we arrived at the church in the afternoon to set up for the evening event, we were told that two men had entered the church during the afternoon. When asked why they wanted to go into the church, they told the staff that they wanted to pray. They were allowed in. They then poured what smelled like ‘skunk water’ (raw sewage) onto the carpet at the front of church, directly in front of the pulpit where the speakers would be presenting.

This was a deliberate campaign to sabotage the event and to clamp down on any dissent against the corporate media narrative on Syria that has unanimously supported UK State foreign policy ie the removal of President Assad and the destabilisation of Syria by any means available. This, of course, included the backing & promotion of the multitude of terrorist entities inside Syria, euphemistically described by the UK FCO as the “Syrian opposition” or the “democracy”  “freedom fighters”.

The desecration of Christian church property  is a crime that has been committed throughout Syria by the US Coalition-financed & armed extremist globe-trotters. Drugged-up mercenaries, whose disdain for sacred sites, protected by Syria’s secular state for centuries, translates into the destruction of Christian heritage sites with a violent, brutal hatred. They have had pretty much the same intent as the two saboteurs in London, to simply destroy all that stands in the way of their ideological supremacy in the region.

Abdo Haddad is a respected geopolitical analyst and esteemed representative of the ancient Syrian Christian town of Maaloula that was invaded by the US Coalition terrorist factions in 2013/14. When he heard about the attacks on the BCBC & the Media on Trial Event, he wrote the following on his facebook page:

“Two days ago, a group of Syria’s extremist supporters scammed their way into a Church where the honest Vanessa Beeley and a group of loyal friends were going to lecture about the propaganda against Syria. These ingrates distributed some sort of foul smelling liquid in the church without any respect or regard whatsover to the holiness of the place.

This brought to my mind the first hours of our returning to our beloved town Maaloula on April 14 2014 after it was occupied by the same fanatical “rebels” and terrorists. We found our 2000 years old churches full of their stench and garbage of all sorts. I refrain from disclosing any further description because I am trying hard to remove these attrocious scenes from my memory.

Most of the traitors of Maaloula are now in Europe acting as refugees and spreading their culture of poison and hatred everywhere. I am sure that these ingrates are more happy to desecrate a Church in the middle of London as their mates did in Maaloula in order to sabotage Vanessa and her colleagues’ event . They are also passing on this mentality to their children. I believe that the UK has lost the battle against them long time ago and we in Syria remain one of the last defences against the spread of their fanaticism & culture of sectarian racism….

I stand in solidarity with you Vanessa. Blessings from Maaloula.”


Some of the looted, broken and descrated Church belongings recovered in 2016. (Photo: Abdo Haddad)

“Historically, the Levant is the birthplace of Christianity and the oldest Christian communities have lived in it and the entire Fertile Crescent since the start of Christian history. Early Christians called themselves followers or people of «the Way» before they adopted the term Christian; in Arabic their antiquated name would be «Ahl Al-Deen».” ~ Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya

Driven by their extremist ideology that dictates all “infidels” are to be subjected to humiliation, torture, rape and ethnic cleansing, these western backed terrorist groups have systematically destroyed churches, convents and even mosques that dont comply with their hardline doctrine, in their insatiable march towards imposing Islamic state extremism upon the Syrian people.

The tide of their bigotry, elitism and racism has been forced back by the Syrian Arab Army and allies to the brink of their eradication from Syrian soil. The liberation of Deir Ezzor broke the back of international terrorism and re-opened the pandora’s box of US collusion with terrorism inside Syria. Syriana Analysis produced the following video, detailing the huge caches of US coalition supplied-to-ISIS armoury, equipment and weapons found after the liberation of Deir Ezzor:

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Reverend Andrew Ashdown is an Anglican priest, doing doctoral research on Syria. Revd. Ashdown has visited Syria many times both before the US Coalition-fomented conflict and during the extremist war upon the very fabric of Syrian secular society. He had this to say, about the horrifying effects upon the Christian communities of this wave of murdering, sectarian terrorism:

“During multiple visits to Syria in the last few years, I have witnessed the desecration and destruction of Churches and Church properties wherever the so-called ‘rebel’ groups have launched their reign of terror.  In Maaloula, members of the FSA, joined with Jabhat al Nusra, Jaish al Islam, Al Faroukh brigades and others, in killing Christian civilians, kidnapping and later murdering others, spraying on the doors of Christian homes: “We will slaughter you,” and desecrating and burning some of the most important shrines in the Middle East. 

Nearby in Saidnaya, ‘moderate’ terrorists attacked the 6th Century Convent of Our Lady.  The Mother Superior there says:

“It is a shame that Christians in Europe, instead of supporting us, are supporting those who are killing us.  People in the West should come and thank the Christian and Muslim citizens of Saidnaya for saving this ancient monastery from the terrorists.” 

In May this year, I visited an area of Christian villages in the hills between Lattakia and Idlib.  So-called ‘moderate’ terrorist groups had completely destroyed the villages and burned their Churches, smashing the altars, and fonts, and destroying or stealing the icons.  Arabic graffiti painted on the walls of the destroyed Churches proclaimed: ‘Freedom’. I heard how they slaughtered some of the Christian villagers who failed to escape.  Today, the Christian quarter of Damascus faces constant random shellings from ‘moderate rebels’ which have killed numerous innocent civilians, including many women and children, and have targeted Churches and schools.

The Patriarch of the Syrian Orthodox Church, His Excellency Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II, said in a meeting in 2015:

“We support a legitimate government.  If we stood with the west and toppled our Government, we would have Mullahs ruling us now, and there would be no secular opposition.  We don’t want Shari’a and theocracy.  Their interpretation of the Qur’an is killing. I wish our brothers and sisters in the west would support us.  Come and see for yourselves.”   

Christians and Muslims from different communities all speak of the brutality committed by those they consistently call terrorists, and have no desire for the authoritarian rule of tyranny that these extremists would bring to a country that has been renowned for its plurality, co-existence of multiple communities, and social and religious freedom that allows men and women to practise their faith and their social traditions however they wish.”


Terrorist mortar attack on the Christian quarter of Damascus three days ago. Jaish al Islam, a western backed extremist group, regularly fire mortars or explosive bullets into residential areas, focusing on the Christian area of Bab Touma. The shopkeeper was killed and a customer injured. (Photo: Ghoufran Derewan)

Three days ago the western backed “rebels”, Jaish al Islam, who have embedded themselves in the subterranean catacombs of Jobar and Eyn Tarma to the east of Damascus, fired mortars into the Christian quarter of Bab Touma. They targeted a busy residential and market area in Straight Street. A shopkeeper was killed and a customer seriously injured.

The smell of blood was awful, this area is targeted so regularly, I was so scared” said Ghoufran Derewan who lost her sister and her sister’s one year old baby boy in a terrorist mortar attack on the same area just over one year ago. That mortar struck a busy restaurant at lunchtime, killing her sister and baby nephew. It took them hours to find the tiny body of the little boy among the rubble and debris.

“The Christian communities of Syria, which constitute at least 10% of the Syrian population, have been systematically targeted; their churches have been attached and desecrated; their priests, monks, and nuns murdered; and generally discriminated against by the anti-government forces that the US, UK, France, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, and their allies support. The objectives of establishing this exodus are reflected by the anti-government chants: «Alawites to the ground and Christians to Lebanon!»” ~ Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya: ‘Wiping out the Christians of Syria and Iraq to Remap the Middle East’


Despite fierce street fighting, the statue of the Virgin Mary remained intact, until recently. (Photo: Haralddoornbos)

Recently I have been having conversations with relatives of Syrian/Armenian Christians who have steadfastly remained in the US Coalition-terrorist-occupied Christian villages of Qunaye, Jdeideh and Yaqoubia in Idlib. I have been told that the statue of the Virgin Mary in Qunaye, that had remained intact up until now, has been destroyed and that crosses have been removed from the churches by the extremist factions and their White Helmet criminal cohorts.

The Zionist Principles 

Of course the practice of desecrating places of worship that clash with a religious elitism is not exclusive to Wahabi fanatacism. The illegal state of Israel is a historical master of sectarian erosion of “non-conformist” communities by both stealth and violent ethnic cleansing.

“The Christian communities of the Levant and Iraq have long distrusted the US government for its support of Israel, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and fanatical militants with anti-Christian leanings.” ~ Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya: ‘Wiping out the Christians of Syria and Iraq to Remap the Middle East’


A nun inspects the damage at the Church of the Mulitplication at Tabgha. (Photo: IMEMC)

Life under the Zionist or fundamentalist settler jackboot is the same for Palestinian muslims as it is for the indigenous Christian community. The latter is a radical, extremism that takes its origins from a distorted or selective interpretation of the Talmudic Jewish laws that condone the killing of “non-Jews” with impunity. Jewish extremism and Zionist racism run parallel and serve one another.

“We the Palestinian Christians suffer along with the rest of Palestinians from occupation and hardships of our economic situation. Muslims and Christians suffer equally, as there is no difference in suffering for any of us. We are all living in the same complicated circumstances, and overcoming the same difficulties.” ~ Archbishop Sebastia Theodosios, of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

Under this Zionist dictatorship, churches are looted, threatening graffiti is liberally scrawled on the walls of Christian neighbourhoods. Ultra orthodox Jews stand accused of spitting on Old City clergymen . Just as in Syria, where Christians have fled western backed sectarian terrorism – in occupied Palestine,  Christians have fled the clandestine persecution they suffer at the hands of extremists, encouraged by the illegal State of Israel. In Syria, Christians are fleeing a brutal perversion of Islam. In the occupied territories of Palestine, Christians flee a brutal perversion of Judaism or the apartheid of Zionism. In both countries, invaded by Islamic or Jewish fundamentalism, Christians are targeted, churches are burned, bombed, blown up. Holy Christian artefacts are pillaged, sold on the open market and traded by the terrorists of either faith.

“These are the views of the most extreme religious leaders and zealots, but have influenced individuals with a supremacist paradigm, including the Price Tag perpetrators. Such ideologies can be seen on the fringes of all faith groups, and are consistently refuted by moderates of their communities.” ~ IMEMC

Palestinians returning to their homes in Gaza after the savage 2014 Zionist bombing campaign, found that the occupying IOF forces had defecated on the floors, urinated in water bottles and written vindictive, murderous messages on the walls of their houses.


IOF forces spray Palestinian protestors with skunk water. Kafr Kama. (Photo: Active Stills)

The Zionist entity uses “skunk water” to disperse Palestinian protestors. Skunk water was developed to leave a putrid stench & residue on the clothes and skin of protestors. While the IOF describe it as “eco-friendly”, it is described by victims, as worse than raw sewage, a mix of excrement and decomposing flesh. Very similar to the liquid poured onto the church floor in Bloomsbury on Thursday, by the SSUK militants.

There are also more flagrant links between Zionism, Jewish fundamentalism and Salafism. The illegal state of Israel has treated Syria’s “moderate” extremists in its hospitals, before releasing them back into Syria to continue their ethnic cleansing pogroms, or to act as custodians of the illegally-annexed-by-Israel Golan Heights. It has recently been reported that ISIS is setting up recruitment & training centres along the Golan Heights-Israeli borders.

Zionism, Jewish fundamentalism and Salafism work hand in hand against the “apostates” and “infidels”.

SSUK  Tactics (or those of their supporters) Originated in Zionist or Islamist Extremism

The “guerilla tactics” of the SSUK (Syria Solidarity UK) members and their entourage can be compared to the methods of intimidation and censorship deployed by both Islamist and Zionist fundamentalism. The “skunk water” attack was not the first time this group had used such sabotage techniques. During my talk in London at the Marx Memorial Library, one of their fan base had entered the talk equipped with stink bombs that she intended to throw either directly at me or into the audience.

Zosia Brom was spotted, again, rubbing shoulders with the SSUK demonstrators at the Media on Trial Event, along with SSUK stalwart & Syrian “revolution” advocate, Clara Conolly:


Zosia Brom in red scarf, bareheaded.


Clara Conolly at a SSUK pro terrorist, disguised-as-FSA, rally in London. 

SSUK are fraudulent astro-turfers for regime change in Syria. They are advocates of the “new-age” anti-anti-war, leftwing, liberal, R2P homongenized community that stridently proclaims the need for “action” from the UK Regime to protect Syrian civilians, a euphemism for military escalation. All this, while draped in the “revolutionary” flag that designates terrorism under the guise of “moderate” extremism. (Former) co-founder, Abdulaziz Almashy regularly shouts down dissent with his clarion call ” listen to Syrians”, which really means “listen to Syrians” that listen to  Almashy & support his demands for “Assad to go”.

[Author’s note: Allegedly Almashy was “sacked” from the SSUK in February 2016. Despite this low-key statement, Almashy appeared on the BBC in March 2017 and was introduced as “one of the founders of the Syria Solidarity Movement. The SSM UK adopted the name of  SSM US that defends the Syrian people and Syrian sovereignty. Following legal action from the SSM US, the UK anti-Syria group were forced to change the name to SSUK. ]

“A three word refrain that begins his speech, just as in sloganised form it lends legitimacy and moral authority to his whole Syria Solidarity UK campaign.” ~ Wall of Controversy

Watch Almashy shout down Syrian voices in the Marx Memorial Library: 


“Moreover, as a slogan it is as fraudulent as it is deliberately dishonest. There is no singular Syrian voice. How could there be? Not that the gulf between pro- and anti-government sides is the razor sharp divide of Shia versus Sunni we are encouraged to believe. In fact, most of those who support the government including fighters in the Syrian Army are Sunni not Shia. And if we are really to “listen to Syrians” then we will find a wide range of opinions (as you would from any other nation), although only a minority of those living in Syria who support these so-called “rebel groups”, which are indeed sectarian. What the majority desire instead, besides a rapid return to law and order, is the restoration of Syria as a secular society”  ~ Wall of Controversy

Challenges such as those mounted by the SSUK motley crew will increase as the public consensus on Syria shifts dramatically on a daily basis. The bastion of colonial media has been undermined by the people of Syria and their refusal to capitulate to the western onslaught of terrorism on all levels, military, economic and propaganda.

SSUK will soon become as much a dinosaur as the hegemonies they endorse, that are rapaciously consuming much of the world in corporate militarism. Syria is the beginning of the end for the corporatocracy and plutocrats. When they fall, so shall their minions and marionettes. Karma is a bitch and she has been waiting a long time for this  moment.

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