Child's Death in Deir ez-Zor Sparks Criticism of Hunger and Corruption

In Deir ez-Zor, a little girl died of hunger.

Because her mother had no one to care for her, she was left hungry.

Imagine, the mother is sitting in a house with no doors or windows.

And the girl died from the cold and hunger.

The governor, you son of a bitch, tells her: “Say she died of an illness, that she was sick,” “and we’ll fix up your house and stand by you.”

Just imagine. Look at this son of a bitch, the governor of Deir ez- Zor.

He has employed his wife, his cousin, his brother, my uncle and his in- law, his abaya, and they’re all ministry employees.

And the other one says, “By God, the burden is heavy.”

I pray to God to give us the strength to serve those in need.

Damn your father, you bastard. The father who put you here, the father who brought you into the world.

What have you done? All your lives, you’ve been collecting donations for the poor.

Where are they, you son of a bitch? Where are the poor, you sons of bitches?

What are people dying of hunger for? You’re good for nothing but collecting donations, cars, women, and living it up.

From the lying mufti to the youngest sheikh among you, you all deserve a beating.

Liars. You claim to follow Islam, but you know absolutely nothing about Islam.

A Muslim wouldn’t speak like this. You’re liars.

A Muslim isn't a thief, but you are thieves.

A Muslim doesn't betray, but you are traitors.

A Muslim doesn't kill, but you are killers.

You bastard. Where are the two authority flags?

Abdullah is at the front, Hasan behind him, and Yaman is on the right, the son of a shoe.

Where are the two European flags, you sons of dogs?

To hell with your fathers in power, from the biggest boss to the smallest.

You sons of the tribal sheikhs, where are you?

You're only good for talking. Gather them up for me. By God, we have a show of support for so-and-so.

And we have trouble with so-and-so. And we have one man who came.

Sheikh al-Sandal, so-and-so, came to the so-and-so tribe.

We want to slaughter a hundred sheep for him.

To hell with your father, Sheikh so-and-so.

In Deir ez- Zor there's oil, in Deir ez- Zor there's love, in Deir ez- Zor.

Good people are dying. People are starving.

This is our revolution. Man, back then the infidel was after me.

By God, you are infidels. By God, an infidel was after me. You are infidels.

Back then I got a food ration, and I got diesel, soot, and a bathroom.

And, and... a human being has worth. Man, you are dogs, you— You are dogs, applauding their rule and cheering them on.

You deserve a shoe. May God damn your fathers and damn a state like this.

Damn this government, and damn these media people.

And don't reassure me about you. For God's sake, someone reassure me about him, because things are a mess.

If things stay like this, we're going to lose our faith.

That's it, I'm going to become a Hindu. I'm going to go worship in a cave.

Because these are the deeds of Islam. Islam isn't like this.

Isn't this how Muslims used to scatter wheat on the mountains so the birds wouldn't go hungry?

Man, we're the ones who went hungry, we— We're a hungry people, starving.

We've lost our faith, we've lost our faith.

This is a state, this... They're good at banquets. The ministers, the People's Assembly, my foot.