Better than the Bulk Barn! (Canadian reference ?) A thorough breakdown of the array of spices sold in his shop, from a gentleman shy to have his face videod but who in any case described the uses or benefits of many spices and herbs. We also took a walk along the nut and dried fruits aisle, and the herbs and dried flowers (for teas) aisle. ? At the end, in addition to a litre of olive oil, a pack of coffee, and a bag of sesame seeds, I bought two spice mixes from him, which he mixed in front of me, again explaining as he went. All cost just over US$11--which it has to be said is expensive for Syrians, with the economy shattered by the criminal US sanctions and of course 8 years of the US-led war on Syria. If the US (and co cowards) lifted the sanctions on Syria, ended their occupation and ended support to terrorists in Syria, didn't block Syria and Russia from exterminating terrorism in Idlib, Aleppo countryside, Hama countryside and eastern areas of Syria, think how this marvellous country could flourish anew. *Read this article by Caitlin Johnstone on "starvation sanctions". Excerpt: "Starvation sanctions kill people. Tens of thousands of Venezuelans have reportedly already died as a result of this administration’s relentless assault on their economy; those human beings are no less dead than they would have been if the US had killed them by dropping cluster bombs on Caracas. Yet these deaths have received virtually no mainstream media coverage, and Americans, while they strongly oppose attacking Iran militarily, have had very little to say about Trump’s attacks on the nation’s economy. The economy which people use to feed their children, to care for their elderly and their sick. I’m titling this essay “Starvation Sanctions Are Worse Than Overt Warfare”, and I mean it. I am not saying that starvation sanctions are more destructive or deadly than overt military force in and of themselves; what I am saying is that the overall effect is worse, because there’s no public accountability for them and because they deliberately target civilians." https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2019/06/23/starvation-sanctions-are-worse-than-overt-warfare/ From a 2016 article I wrote after interviewing Dr. Bouthaina Shaaban: "Sanctions: It is the Syrian People Who Are Suffering Dr. Shaaban emphasized the Syrian realities at a meeting in her office in December. A crucially-important issue that media pundits ignore is that of the crippling sanctions on Syria. In terms of how to provide actual relief to the Syrian people, Dr. Shaaban stated: “The first thing the West should do in this battle against terrorism is to lift the sanctions from the Syrian people. The sanctions are helping terrorists against the Syrian people, who are suffering doub ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE-Ik5zvdV4

Recently, I spoke with Dr. Husam al-Samman, a Syrian doctor living in the United States, about issues pertaining to the health care system in Syria; about the early days in Syria--when corporate media claimed the protests were peaceful--and about the criminal western sanctions on Syria, which prevent even the delivery of critically-needed medicines, including Dr. al-Samman's attempt to deliver medicines for cancer remission patients to Syria and being literally blocked from doing so, in spite of his tireless and heroic efforts, by the United States. Dr. al-Samman finished his medical studies in Damascus, and during the early years of the war on Syria, was returning to Damascus (from Saudi Arabia where he lived at the time) every two weeks. What he saw and experienced was starkly opposite what corporate and Gulf media were reporting. He gave a personal example of his family nearly coming under fire from "peaceful" revolutionary types when they were passing through Madaya in mid-2011--his family was saved by a Syrian soldier who ran into the open waving his arms and telling them to turn their cars around. His fate is unknown, but it is likely he was killed in the terrorists' gunfire he was saving the family from. We also talked about an article that came out recently--written by none other than the wife of Ken Roth (the 2 decades dictator of Human Rights Watch (with a terrible sense of geography--Gaza is not Syria...), attacking Syria's health care system--a system which provides free health care to all citizens and which is still functioning after nearly 8 years of war on Syria, after terrorist attacks on hospitals and health care workers, after criminal western sanctions on Syria. *We did speak for over an hour, however the sound quality was unfortunately not great always, so I've had to cut out murky bits. However, the remaining content is still fascinating, well worth listening to. ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHhvSvl4XCs

A resident of the Bab Sharqi (east Gate) area of Old Damascus speaks of the mortars and other shells that terrorists used to fire on residential areas, noting that not only his shop--now a bar--was affected, but that his own home was hit three times. He also mentions how early on in the war on Syria, the so-called "revolutionaries", who the West insisted were mainly calling for democratic changes, used to come from eastern Ghouta to Old Damascus and point out which house they would occupy/steal, mistakenly thinking that Damascus would fall to the terrorist-'"revolution". Not even one day did he feel that the government would fall, nor did he ever want to leave his area--because he had faith in the government, that it would defeat the terrorists. He is so patriotically-Syrian that he didn't even want a Syrian passport because he has no intent to leave the country. "I don't have a passport, we are in the land of the Syrian Arab Republic and I have my Syrian I.D." RELATED LINKS: Mortars Which Terrorized Damascus Residents Fall No More https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3dDmv1VbM8& Mortars on Damascus one quiet courtyard night https://ingaza.wordpress.com/2014/04/27/mortars-on-damascus-one-quiet-courtyard-night/ Terrorist Mortars on Damascus, Apr 2014 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTNYsjSXUyk US-Backed Terrorism in Syria: A First-Hand Account of the Use of Mortars Against Civilians https://www.globalresearch.ca/us-backed-terrorism-in-syria-a-first-hand-account-of-the-use-of-mortars-against-civilians/5401390 Damascus: Life Returns 5 Years After NATO Destabilization Efforts https://www.mintpressnews.com/damascus-life-returns-5-years-after-nato-destabilization-efforts/218601/ Damascus churches and Patriarch Laham’s message for peace https://ingaza.wordpress.com/2014/04/20/damascus-churches-and-patriarch-lahams-message-for-peace/ Easter service led by Patriarch Laham; Message of Peace https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=by046zKy5tE Saaed Association, Volunteers at Christmas https://www.facebook.com/EvaBoBeeva/videos/1118877578122235/ Christmas Celebrated in Terror-Ravaged Syria https://ingaza.wordpress.com/2015/12/29/christmas-celebrated-in-terror-ravaged-syria/img_20151216_143542/ Not only mortars, but gunfire, too, on Damascus https://ingaza.wordpress.com/2014/04/28/not-only-mortars-but-gunfire-too-on-damascus/?fbclid=IwAR1LK7Nxsd7HjfazdYWCZtGWCIisQ1gt0colQP-hjKbiBXVSXxRU4JKsPZE ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6baOT7vTvA

... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwI-49MKgmM