Introduction
On April 28, 2016, the Syrian army, along with Russian and Iranian forces, launched a crushing assault on the city of Aleppo that included massive airstrikes that lasted one week and inflicted hundreds of casualties. The assault came after some two months of a cessation of hostilities following an agreement between the U.S. and Russia in February.
The Aleppo assault triggered harsh criticism among Syrian oppositionists and Arab writers,[1] which was also expressed in many cartoons published in the Gulf press. These cartoons attacked Assad and the forces aiding his assault, as well as the international community and Arab world in light of their silence, which was presented as enabling Assad's ongoing attacks on the city. Other cartoons portrayed the cessation of hostilities agreement as a complete failure and an excuse for Assad to continue fighting.
The following is a selection of these cartoons:
Criticism Of Assad Regime For Assault On Aleppo
The devil Assad burns
"Aleppo" in hellfire (Al-Watan,
Saudi Arabia, May 5, 2016)
Assad, appearing as
Hitler, changes "Halab" - the
Arabic name of Aleppo - to "Harb" - the Arabic word for war (Al-Watan,
Saudi Arabia, May 1, 2016)
Assad devours
"Aleppo," which becomes lodged in his throat (Al-Watan, Saudi Arabia, May 4, 2016)
"Syrian regime"
tanks crush "Aleppo" (Al-Madina,
Saudi Arabia, May 6, 2016)
Assad fiddles as Syria
bleeds (Al-Jazirah, Saudi Arabia,
May 8, 2016)
Russia Helps Assad Destroy Aleppo
Russia bayonets Aleppo ('Okaz, Saudi Arabia, May 9, 2016)
The "Russian"
bear and Assad (whose name is Arabic for "lion") devour Syria (Al-Watan, Saudi Arabia, May 8, 2016)
Russian, Syrian jets drain
"Syrian blood" (Makkah,
Saudi Arabia, April 29, 2016)
Russia attacks
"Aleppo" while levelling "accusations of terrorism" at it (Al-Arab, London, May 2, 2016)
"Russia plays
symphonies in Tadmur [Palmyra] atop the bodies of Syrians"[2] (Makkah, Saudi Arabia, May 9, 2016)
Criticism Of The U.S., U.N., And International Community's Apathy In Face Of Assad's Crimes
"#Aleppo_Burning"
- "International silence" helps Assad, Iran, and Russia reach
"Aleppo" (Al-Sharq,
Saudi Arabia, May 2, 2016)
"Obama's red
lines" form a nest for the crimes of the Syrian regime (Al-Arab, London, May 4, 2016)
U.S. gives green light to
"Aleppo massacre" (Al-Arab,
Qatar, May 3, 2016)
U.S., U.N., and
international community stand aside as Assad free-kicks bombs into
"Aleppo" goal (Makkah,
Saudi Arabia, April 30, 2016)
While UN throws Aleppo a
useless life buoy, Iran adds fuel to the fire (Al-Sharq, Saudi Arabia, May 1, 2016)
Syrian: "Aleppo is
being destroyed!" UN: "Too bad, bad, bad" (Al-Iqtisadiyya, Saudi Arabia, May 1, 2016)
UN's "urgent aid to
disaster-stricken areas in Syria" - a coffin (Al-Bayan, UAE, May 4, 2016)
The world sees Aleppo
victims as mere numbers (Al-Iqtisadiyya,
Saudi Arabia, April 30, 2016)
Criticism Of Arab World's Inaction Regarding Assad's Crimes In Aleppo
"Syria" being
ground to dust by Arab apathy (Al-Jarida,
Kuwait, May 4, 2016)
Counterclockwise from
upper right: "Aleppo's children" grow tired of waiting for "the Arabs"
("Ya Arab") and instead
wait for "God" ("Ya Rab") (Al-Sharq, Qatar,
May 4, 2016)
"#Aleppo_Burning"
- Israel "prepared," Russia "planned," Iran
"executed," and the Arab world "witnessed" (Al-Sharq, Saudi Arabia, May 4, 2016)
The Ceasefire - A Facade And Excuse For Assad To Continue Fighting
"Ceasefire"
provides cover for Assad to continue fighting (Al-Watan, Saudi Arabia, May 9, 2016)
"The Ceasefire in
Syria" (Al-Watan, Saudi
Arabia, April 28, 2016)
Barrel bomb dropped on
"ceasefire" (Al-Watan,
Saudi Arabia, May 6, 2016)
Oblivious UN declares that
"the ceasefire was a success!" (Alaraby.co.uk, April 30, 2016)
"#Aleppo
Burning" - Cessation of hostilities agreement on fire, on right, is being
ignored by the Syrian regime, which, sword in hand, on left, continues fighting
- all taking the shape of the Arabic word "Aleppo" (Alaraby.co.uk,
May 1, 2016)
*E. Ezrahi is a research fellow at MEMRI.
Endnotes:
[1] See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 6421, Syrian Opposition, Arab Writers: The U.S. Has A Hand In Aleppo Situation; The Syrians Are Being Slaughtered While The Arab World Does Nothing; and Special Dispatch No. 6422, Syrian Regime And Its Mouthpieces: Aleppo Campaign Will Continue Until Final Victory; U.S. And Its Regional Proxies Responsible For Aleppo Crisis, May 9, 2016.
[2] A reference to the May 5, 2016, concert organized by Russia in the liberated ruins of Palmyra.
