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"In a catastrophe that refocused the world's attention upon the country, 108 people were killed in Syria last week \u2014 likely at the hands of government forces controlled by President Bashar Assad, according to United Nations observers.\nAnti-Assad protests and violence began in January of 2011 as part of the Arab Spring and have been continuing since then, escalating into what could well be described as a civil war. However, few foreign journalists are allowed inside Syria, limiting the amount of footage reaching the world's eyes. \nCitizen journalists, many of them part of the opposition, have turned to YouTube and other video platforms as a way to get their message broadcast outside the country's borders.\n\nSEE ALSO: iPhone Documentary Takes On Syria: Is This the Future of Journalism?\nClick through our gallery below for five of the most interesting and prolific YouTube users following the Syrian situation. Do you think citizen journalists have filled the media's role in this troubled country? Share your thoughts in the comments below.\nNOTE: Extremely graphic content. The views expressed in any of the videos below do not necessarily represent those of Mashable. We attempted to gather a wide array of political viewpoints in the following collection.\n\n\n5 Must-Watch YouTube Accounts to Follow the Syrian Uprising\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSyrer10\n\nSyrer10's real name is Ali Haj Ali Bek, a self-described \"Syrian blogger living in Germany\" who aligns with the opposition. On his YouTube profile, he posts footage taken by members of the Syrian opposition.\nThe content is sometimes highly graphic: dead bodies, executions and the brutality of up-close warfare. He also posts footage of anti-Assad rallies. He's amassed more than 315,000 views. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nsyrianpress\n\nThe Syrian Free Press is aligned with Assad's government, and its videos label the opposition movement as \"terrorists.\" It claims to be an outlet for footage from Syria that's \"not censored by Zion-Western media.\" \nSome of its videos are footage of civilians thanking the Syrian Army for protecting them, others are news broadcasts recast with a pro-Assad point of view.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJobarRev\nJobarRev is a citizen journalist politically aligned with the opposition. Most of his footage is of anti-government rallies protesting violence against civilians. He lists his age as 22 and his location as Damascus, Syria. His videos have racked up nearly 40,000 views between them.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSyrianDaysofRage\nAnother pro-opposition account, SyrianDaysofRage aggregates content from across Syria. The account lists its own location as Turkey, and it has more than a million views. Video footage includes rallies, combat operations and interviews with Syrian citizens.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAl-Jazeera English\nAl-Jazeera English is a 24-hour news network headquartered in Dubai. It does an excellent job of collecting video shot by activists for inclusion in professional-quality news footage complete with context and analysis. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSHAMSNN\nExtra: Reader Dridi Hamza clued us on to SHAMSNN, which has been covering the uprisings and has nearly 30,000,000 views.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2012/05/29/youtube-syria/>