The crippling government siege in the Damascus outskirts village of Madaya’s siege has risen to international attention in recent weeks. But it doesn't mean the hits have scaled off. Rather, the propoganda war appears to be getting worse as reports surface of a Syrian reporter taking seflies over dead bodies from the village as a sign of his loyalty to the Syrian regime.
Lebanon-based sawtbeirut.com reports Shadi Helweh, a reporter for Syrian state TV, is taking photos of himself with the bodies of Syrian opposition fighters and supports and posting them to social media. Here's one example, via Facebook:
The news outlet says the famous reporter has also posted images of himself with prisoners arrested by the Syrian regime, including some who are underage.
This comes just after similar news of Syrian regime and Hezbollah supporters posting photos of food under the sarcastic hashtag #متضامن_مع_مضايا (Solidarity with Madaya) to taunt victims of an ongoing starvation in the city, where just last week images of starving childen and chilling footage of emaciated bodies took social media by storm. And it's far from the first time such media wars have ignited, reminding us that five years into the conflict—and less than a month away from the peace talks—things on the ground are only getting more divided.
