Yes, it is. It's remarkable how eager people are to believe this kid doesn't exist. I don't know, for sure, that he does. I haven't seen him with my own eyes. Perhaps he's a clever digital invention or some kind of al Qaeda front. But I do know, for sure--
that there are many real Syrians who *are* what he appears to be. I've met enough of them to be damned sure there's such a thing as a "terrified Syrian teenager who's been pushed into Idlib and is now facing death." So it is perfectly plausible that he's just what he seems.
The only thing about him that doesn't add up is that the regime hasn't killed him yet. See: nybooks.com/contributors/m…. The regime targets anyone who might be able to get the word out about its abominations. He's now well known, so I'm surprised he's still alive.
I appreciate that none of us can be sure exactly what's going on in Syria unless we're on the ground--and even then, we can't know what's going on elsewhere in Syria--but it requires an absolutely radical skepticism, of the "I'm not sure the earth isn't flat" variety,
to be in doubt that 1) Assad's regime is murderous and monstrous on the order of the Khmer Rouge; and 2) among the people it has killed and will kill are teenagers who would say something roughly like this.
The predisposition to skepticism about the veracity of @muhammadnajem20's account reflects a predisposition to deny the enormity of the regime's crimes. He may not be what he appears to be. But for sure, there are many kids who are exactly what he appears to be.
We don't want to believe that because it suggests a moral obligation. So we're very happy to be told by Russia that it isn't true. But denying what happened in Syria--and what continues to happen--is, like Holocaust denial, a grotesque moral perversion.
I don't agree with everything the author of this blog writes. I'm not sure who he is. But I sure agree with this: insufficientrespect.blogspot.com/2018/07/the-sy…. Apologists for Assad should be treated as the moral lepers they are.
