Interview conducted by Vanessa Beeley at Harjallah IDP Camp, May 2018

Vanessa Beeley, IDP Camp

I asked Sabah Al Mushref what she thought about the media in the West describing the Free Syrian Army as democratic forces for good in #Syria.

“The FSA were liars, thieves and murderers. Even children would shout at them in the streets.

They gave us nothing, nobody cared about us when it was cold, our children almost died from cold and starvation.

Only those who collaborated with the FSA received help from them.

The house we were in had no sewer, the kids got sick from the awful smell. Nobody cared, they lived in the big luxury houses. Our children called them thieves.

The TV commercials were lies, they were so cruel to us. They burned everything, they sold everything. If any civilian challenged them, they would imprison them or execute them on the spot.

Even if people went to find something to burn to keep warm, they would kill them, as if it were a crime.

They would lock them in the basement while they allowed Jaish Al Islam and Al Rahman to take anything they wanted.

They would see a starving kid on the road and they would drive past him. They would see a dead body and they would drive over it.

They are liars, the West are liars, the media are liars. They (FSA) were child killers. All humanitarian aid, they stole it and sold it, traded it. They even traded the children and their organs, everyone knew that. “