Regional Voices: Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, Israel, and Egypt

“I swear to God we will eat your hearts and your livers, you soldiers of Bashar the dog.” –Abu Sakkar, leader of the Syrian rebel Farouq Brigade from Homs, as he bit into the heart of a regime soldier

“What do I care if they destroy Tel Aviv and lose Beirut?” –Amin Hoteit, retired Lebanese colonel close to Hezbollah, on the possibility of escalating tensions between Hezbollah and Israel

“Israel never bent down before anyone, but they did for him — at least, that is the perception among the Turkish public.” –Cengiz Candar, one of Turkey’s leading political commentators about Israel’s apology to Turkey for the Mavi Marmara incident

“The security forces don’t ask me to make up stories, but I know informants who do because they want more money.” –Ghalib, a Baquba resident and informant for the Iraqi security forces

“We could now envision selling gas to Egypt…The pipeline is there. You can simply change the direction the gas flows.” –Pinhas Avivi, Israeli Foreign Ministry official

“I think the army has an important role to play in this phase — to get us out of this tragedy that the Muslim Brotherhood has put us in.” –Shadi al-Ghazali Harb, a prominent Egyptian liberal activist