Media’s poisoned narrative over Syria atrocity

“Syrian Army eliminates tens of terrorists in chemical warehouse.” So read the headline of a Tunisian leftist newspaper following the poisonous gas attack in Khan Sheikhun in Syria’s Idlib province, which resulted in the death of dozens of people, including many children.
Once again, we find ourselves confronted by elements of the Arab media that do not see, nor wish to see, the war in Syria as anything other than a war against an extremist “Islamist” enemy.
Some media have diluted the reality of the Syrian crisis for a large segment of public opinion by ignoring, over-simplifying, and questioning the shocking impact of ongoing massacres. And, over the past six years, crimes of the Syrian regime and its Iranian and Russian allies have continued.
Certain media outlets have even gone so far as to suggest a global conspiracy against the Syrian regime.
The recent massacre in Khan Sheikhun has reignited a renewed sense of helplessness regarding the ongoing killing.
The Syrian regime, with this new massacre, is not challenging the international community, nor is it seeking to prove its might and strength to anyone.
However, the regime has displayed a sense of arrogance in carrying out a massacre of this magnitude and type. The term “combatting terrorism” is being used to justify genocide.
The Syrian regime, without a doubt, was aware of the extent to which the images of the chemical massacre would circulate through the media in the Arab world and on the international scene. It in fact intended this circulation, as unrequested proof regarding the seriousness of its empty slogan to “fight terrorism.” It is as though the regime is suggesting it will never stop killing Syrians until it regains full control.
The massacre, in its horrific proportions, constitutes an official declaration of the start of a scorched-earth policy in Idlib province. The area has over the past year been transformed by the regime into a narrow enclave that receives forcibly displaced people from other opposition areas.
All its civilians and armed individuals are described as “terrorists,” on the premise that groups linked to Al-Qaeda have been in the area since 2013. This description — applied to any living being there — in turn serves as a justification for the regime’s crimes.
Some media have resorted to camouflaging the massacre, using the same excuses to deny its existence. Ultimately, they have adopted a narrative that equates Syria to the scene of a Hollywood movie, by suggesting that armed groups are killing their own children and planting poisonous gas near the homes of their families, in order to accuse Bashar Assad of such acts.