Galloway: chemical weapons in Syria were used by Al Qaeda, supplied by Israel!

Posted on August 23, 2013 by fatherdave

Questioning over the possible use of chemical weapons in Syria is serious business at the moment! Horrendous images of apparently infected persons have been plastered all over the world’s TV screens and, amazingly, this has happened just at the time that UN inspectors have arrived in Damascus to do a full investigation on on the subject!

Various European leaders have suggested that this incident ought to be a ‘game-changer’, leading to the sale of more weapons to the rebels, and yet it’s not clear that anything has been substantiated as yet. Was there really a massacre? If so, were there chemical weapons used and, if they were used, who used them?

Two questions in particular have me confused:

Firstly, why is everybody so concerned about these chemical weapons attacks? I appreciate that such forms of warfare are monstrous, but I’m not convinced that any form of warfare is less than monstrous, and why are we focusing on these deaths that may have caused some hundreds of casualties when other forms of warfare in Syria have cost over 100,000 lives.

Secondly, why would the Syrian government use chemical weapons when the UN inspectors were already in the country! We have to assume that Assad’s regime is either incredibly brazen or just plain stupid!

The Jerusalem Post ran a misleading article today, saying that British MP, George Galloway “responded to the latest alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria, stating that if there has been any use of sarin gas, it was radical Islamist group al-Qaida, using gas supplied by Israel.”

The Post included a YouTube video of a statement made by Galloway on (Iranian) Press TV, where he indeed postulates both theories. The problem is that the Press TV statement was not a response to the latest alleged attack. A more complete version of the same Press TV statement can also be found on YouTube that dates back more than three months!

Certainly the accusations made some months ago, that the Syrian government was using chemical weapons, were not substantiated. Indeed, despite the ‘game-changer’ rhetoric at the time, the evidence did seem to suggest that it was the rebels who had been using sarin gas, and once this was established the rhetoric suddenly dried up!

It’s worth noting that the Galloway statement published on YouTube and used by the Jerusalem Post was published by GallowayWatch – an anti-Galloway group – and the video is intended to illustrate Galloway’s lunacy! Personally, as one who considers Galloway a friend and a mentor, I find his theory entirely plausible.

Father Dave

Here’s the fuller (and older) of the video statements:

[imaioVideo v=1]

if you can’t view this video, click here

George Galloway and Father Dave - July 2013

George Galloway and Father Dave – July 2013

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Palestinian refugee camps in Syria targeted by Jihadists!

Posted on August 10, 2013 by fatherdave

The relationship between Palestine and Syria is a complex one, and no one understands that better than my insightful friend, Franklin Lamb.

Palestinian refugees in Syria receive equal rights to Syrian citizens – a privilege denied them everywhere else in the Middle East – and so you might expect Palestinian leaders to be strong supporters of the Syrian government. And yet Khaled Mashal (leader of Hamas) moved his headquarters from Damascus to Doha and was, at one point, sending Hamas soldiers into Syria to fight alongside the rebels!

Mashal was probably acting under orders from senior figures in the Muslim Brotherhood. Certainly his wavering allegiances should not be taken as indicative of the broader position  of Palestinians, let alone of Palestinian refugees in Syria who seem, for the most part, to prefer the secular rule of Bashar Al-Assad to the religious tyranny of the Jihadists!

Father Dave

Franklin Lamb with his son, Alistair, in Beirut

Franklin Lamb with his son, Alistair, in Beirut

Seven of Syria’s Thirteen Palestinian camps now controlled by Salafi- Jihadists

Vows of ‘Occupation Until Martyrdom’

by FRANKLIN LAMB

Homs Palestinian Camp, Syria

Jihadists are entering Syria at an accelerating pace, according to Syrian, UNWRA, and Palestinian officials as well as residents in the refugee camps here. For the now-estimated 7000 imported foreign fighters, Palestinian camps are seen as optimal locales for setting up bases across Syria.

“Syria’s Palestinian camps have become theaters of war,” said UNWRA Commissioner Filippo Grandi.

The Syrian people compassionately host 10 official, UN-mandated Palestinian camps, along with three unofficial ones, whose populations total at least 230,000. Eight of these are “Nakba (“catastrophe”) camps,” organized soon after Palestinians were expelled from their homes in 1948, while two, Qabr Essit and Dera’a (emergency camp), are “Naksa (“day of setback”) camps.” The latter were set up in 1967 as a result of the internationally condemned Zionist-colonial aggression against the two sister-Arab-nationalist regions—Palestine’s West Bank and Syria’s Golan Heights.

And it was on the Ides of March of the year 2011 we saw an explosion of violence near one of these camps, the Dera’a camp established in 1950, in the south near the Jordanian border.

But first, perhaps a simple listing of the camps, along with their populations and dates of establishment, would be in order here:

1950, Dera’a, 5,916
1967, Dera’a (Emergency), 5,536
1950, Hama, 7,597
1949, Homs, 13,825
1948, Jaramana, 5,007
1950, Khan Dunoun, 8,603
1949, Khan Eshieh, 15,731
1948, Neirab, 17,994
1967, Qabr Essit, 16,016
1948, Sbeineh, 19,624
1955-6, Latakia camp, 6,534 registered refugees
1957, Yarmouk Camp, 112,550 registered refugees
1962, Ein Al-Tal, 4,329 registered refugees

As of 8/8/13, seven of the camps—two in the north and five in the Damascus area and in the south of Syria—are presently with their throats under the jackboot of foreign Salafi-Jihadists. These jihadist cells moved against the camps early in the current crisis for purposes of forced recruitment, to benefit from a supply of noncombatant human shields, to shakedown the residents and take over UNWRA facilities, and to make use of the erstwhile “refugee camp security zones.” All these steps were precursory to the setting up of military bases from which to launch operations aimed at toppling the current government of the Syrian Arab Republic.

How do the jihadists infiltrate the camps?

How is it possible that more than half of the Palestinian camps in Syria not only fell, but did so, regrettably, without all that much resistance, to the point at which we see them now—dominated by largely foreign jihadists who continue to impose their unwanted extremist religious beliefs on a largely progressive secular Palestinian community? It is a subject currently much discussed here.

This observer has deduced from a number of conversations—with former and current camp residents, as well as members of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, Palestinian NGO’s, and also with academics—that there is a ‘model of occupation’ metastasizing in Syria in a manner strikingly similar to what we saw six years ago at Nahr al Bared Palestinian camp near Tripoli Lebanon. The stories we hear today are quite similar to those from among the nearly 30,000 refugees at Nahr al Bared who were forced to flee to the nearby Badawi camp or to Lebanon’s ten other camps—reports related to this observer in visits to Nahr al Bared in May of 2007.

What we hear today in Syria bears an almost uncanny likeness. For instance one lady, whose family is from Safad in occupied Palestine explained: “First they (the intruders) appeared only a few in number. We noticed them and that some had ‘foreign’ accents and wore conservative clothes, most had beards. They were polite and friendly. Then more arrived, a few followed by women and children. They stayed to themselves at first and they began using the local mosque—even being welcomed at first by local sheiks who sometimes expressed admiration for the sincerity and devoutness. Then some of them began to preach their versions of the Koran, and at some point their gentle teaching became more strident, and soon these men were commenting on how some of the Palestinian women dressed in an un-Islamic fashion and even lectured young women about modesty and that they must change their ways, including stop smoking, and to leave public meetings if they were the only women present, and wear a full hijab.”

The lady’s sister interrupted: “Then guns appeared and some of the men appeared to be very skilled when they would use, for example, a school or playground to train. They were so serious and seemed to be in a trance of some kind. There was no possibility to talk or reason with them. All they seemed to want was martyrdom! Some actually believe that Syria was Palestine and they were here to liberate Al Quds!”

Upon some in the camps it began to dawn that the newcomers intended imposing their ideas, and that they fully intended that camp residents should submit to “pure Islam,” as they view it. Some resistance began to jell from camp residents, but the camp popular committees did not have the power to confront them, and a few actually joined them. The fighting with Syrian government troops accelerated the takeover process, and soon the camp residents were presented with a demand: join the gunmen and “liberate” the camps.

With respect to Ahmad Jibril’s Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command—and no offense meant to them and their officials, with whom this observer met in July and early August—but several of their best Palestinian patriot commanders jumped ship in protest against the plan to “liberate” Yarmouk. At the same time many of the PFLP-GC rank-and-file fighters split and joined the opposition for various reasons, including better pay and wanting to be on the presumed winning side. That being said, however, camp residents overwhelmingly rejected the PFLP-GC “defense” project, and insisted that their camp was neutral, that it was to be maintained as a safe zone for its residents, who were guests in Syria pending their return to still-occupied Palestine.

Again, this chain of events is singularly similar to what we saw (too late as it turned out) in Lebanon’s Nahr al Bared, a process which, like the one unfolding now in Syria, was accelerated by the civil war raging here.

There is fear that the Syrian army will sooner or later attack and destroy the camps in order to confront the rebel militias—similar to what the Lebanese army did during the 75 days of shelling in 2007. At that time it took vengeance on the camp and demolished it in an unjustifiable frenzy of shelling for the criminal attack and killing of some Lebanese troops, an attack that had been carried out by camp invaders, not Palestinians. For Palestinians in Syria, it is the all too familiar fate of outsiders entering and seeking to control their camps, coupled with the threat of a host army attacking them to confront the invaders. The residents are once more killed or forced to flee and their homes are destroyed.

Here once more comes to mind the cliché: “Where is the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Council, the EU or the UN? Where’s Waldo?

In order to gain control of the camps in Syria, two main processes appear to be made use of by the al Qaeda affiliates. One is what this observer labels the ‘Nahr al Bared model”. A Popular Committee member from Yarmouk, who just barely escaped the camp before his home was destroyed by a direct hit mortar round, put it this way:

“Some come bearing gifts. They usually set up small problem solving centers. Maybe a little cash, offers of medical aid, bread distribution, pledges of camp security, these sorts of currently absent social services.”

But the camps quickly become petri dishes, and the explosive growth of the foreign implantations is sometimes dazzling. By the time government supporters report the camp invaders it’s too late. And what can the government do anyhow? Guns appear everywhere, and suddenly it’s no longer ‘nicely nicely’ polite treatment from the Islamic brothers. Residents are told they must help liberate the camp from the Assad regime or face the wrath of Allah. Consequently, fleeing for one’s life becomes an utmost urgency, often literally as the snipers arrive and intense fighting, and rooftop targeting, ensues.

Dodging the snipers

So what happens next to the Palestinian camps in Syria? Is a hopeful, positive or peaceful resolution possible? This observer’s 2-cents worth of analysis suggests that the answer is no. The camps will stay largely under the domination, militarily and socially, of the jihadist elements that continue building fortifications and ‘digging in.’ What is happening is a God-awful calamity, one being foisted upon those whose only prayers and wishes are to leave Syria and return home to reclaim their stolen lands.

A central question is the precarious situation in Yarmouk and the fate of the 18-20 percent of its population still remaining. These are people risking their lives daily trying to avoid snipers from both sides. One can hear speculation on the prospects that the Syrian Army, aided by Hezbollah, will move on Yarmouk to try and expel the rebel militia. Some PLO officials with offices inside the Yarmouk neighborhood claim that Ahmad Jibril’s PFLP-GC is being beefed up and armed by the government with more than just AK47’s and RPG’s. Last winter, some of Jibril’s forces were expelled when they tried to eject the foreign militia, while others, as mentioned above, went over to the opposite side. At the same time, three PFLP-GC commanders quit over tactics while questioning Jibril’s decision to violate the camp’s neutrality, a decision leading to the destruction of parts of Yarmouk.

As to speculation on the possibility of the Syrian government and/or Hezbollah moving to eject the foreign forces from Yarmouk, this observer does not give the reports much credit. The Syrian Army has more urgent and prioritized battles being waged today, with others being planned. Hezbollah, likewise, is facing challenges at present, and fighting in Yarmouk against unknown numbers of rebel militia would surely add to them. Moreover, any force invading a Palestinian camp faces being roundly condemned over violations of the Cairo agreement forbidding host governments from entering UNRWA refugee camps.
This observer and contacts in the Palestinian community cannot verify the recent report for a foreign media source that al Nusra has fled Yarmouk and is on the run. On the run from whom? Currently they are not being seriously challenged. On the contrary, the al-Qeada affiliates are busy digging more tunnels under the camps to store weapons and move freely. Their ranks are growing not dwindling.

Grim as it sounds, they who reside in Syria’s camps, along with the 12 million Palestinian refugees worldwide, will continue to be at the mercy of events they had no part in creating. It is a fate they share at this moment with much of the rest of Syria’s population, and things are not likely to improve in the immediate term.

But on a more positive note, the Palestinians of Syria persist in their resistance and opposition to the illegal occupation of their country. Theirs is a determination to return to their homeland that simply will not fade or wither, and speaking with Palestinian refugees these past several days in Damascus and Homs has convinced this observer more than ever that on this they will not retreat a single inch—and that in time they will liberate their country.

Franklin Lamb is doing research in Syria and Lebanon and can be reached c/o fplamb@gmail.com…

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The persecution of Christians in Syria continues

Posted on August 7, 2013 by fatherdave

Christians are not the only minority group in Syria being persecuted, of course. I was speaking to a friend in Damascus last night and she told me that there had been massacres in seven Alawite villages. She knew personally of 136 people who had been killed because they were Alawites.

Meanwhile the US and NATO move to give further aid to the very persons committing these massacres!  Lord, have mercy on us!

Father Dave

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10218869/Syrian-Christian-towns-emptied-by-sectarian-violence.html…

Christians and Muslims working together for peace in Damascus

Christians and Muslims working together for peace in Damascus

Syrian Christian towns emptied by sectarian violence

Towns and villages in Syria that have been home to Christians for hundreds of years are being steadily emptied by sectarian violence and targeted kidnappings.

By Ruth Sherlock, Istanbul 

Tens of thousands Syriac Christians – members of the oldest Christian community in the world – have fled their ancestral provinces of Deir al-Zour and Hasakah in northeastern Syria, residents have said.

“It breaks my heart to think how our long history is being uprooted,” said Ishow Goriye, the head of a Syriac Christian political Hasakah.

Mr Goriye, told The Daily Telegraph how, over the past two years he has watched as Christian families from Hasakah pack their possessions on the rooftops of their vehicles and flee their homes “with little plan to come back”.

Conflict in the area, desperate economic conditions, lawlessness, and persecution by rebel groups born from the perception that Christians support the regime, remain the main reasons for why Christian families are fleeing the area.

The growing presence of radical jihadist groups, including al-Qaeda, has also seen Christians targeted.

“It began as kidnapping for money, but then they started telling me I should worship Allah,” a male Christian resident of Hasakah who was kidnapped by jihadists said.

“I was with five others. We were tied and blindfolded and pushed down on our knees. One of the kidnappers leant so close to my face I could feel his breath. He hissed: ‘Why don’t you become a Muslim? Then you can be free’.”

Another Christian in Hasakah said he knew of “five forced conversions” in recent weeks.

Mr Goriye’s Christian ‘Syriac Union’ party has long been in opposition to President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

While speaking to The Telegraph, its members were loath to criticise the opposition rebels, but many confessed that the situation had become “too bad” not to talk about it.

Hasakah and other towns in northeastern Syria have long been one of the main population centres for Christians, who make up approximately 10 per cent of the country’s population. Residents estimate that at least a third of Christians in northeastern Syria have fled, with few expecting to return.

One Hasakah resident who has now escaped the area said: “Rebels said we had to pay money for the revolution. My cousin is a farmer, and wanted to check on his land. I warned him he should take armed security but he refused. A group kidnapped him in the barn of his farm. We had to pay $60,000 [£52,000] for his release. They are milking the Christians”.

Though accused by some opposition groups of supporting Mr Assad, much of Syria’s Christian community has avoided “choosing sides” in the war, seeking self-preservation in neutrality.

But the strategy has left Christians defenceless in the face of sectarian attacks and the lawlessness that now define rebel-held areas. Last year, when government forces pulled out Hasakah province, leaving the terrain in the hands of Kurdish groups and Sunni opposition rebel, Christians became an easy target.

A Christian man calling himself Joseph and living in Hasakah said: “The only unprotected group are the Christians. The Arabs had arms coming from Saudi and Qatar, the Kurds had help from Kurdistan. We had no weapons at all.”

Local residents said many Christians had tried to join the rebellion against President Assad, but their efforts were marginalised early on by sectarian minded Sunni rebel groups.

Joseph added: “We are not with the regime. Many times the Islamists didn’t want us to join them in the demonstrations. We tried to participate but we were not given a role. It felt as though it was a strategy to force Christians out of the revolution”.

Bassam Ishak, a Christian member of the main opposition bloc the Syrian National Coalition, who comes from Hasakah, said he and his colleagues had tried “several times” to approach western officials asking for weapons for Christian groups to defend their areas.

“The West wants to arm the seculars or ‘West friendly’ people, well we, the Syriac Christians those people. We want arms to protect our communities,” he said. “We spoke to western diplomats asking for help, and everyone ignored us”.

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Divide and Conquer – the future of Syria?

Posted on August 2, 2013 by fatherdave

More insights from Sharmine Narwani that highlight the complexity of Syria’s position.

When George Galloway spoke recently at the Sydney Town Hall he reminded us that the ‘divide and conquer’ strategy that seems to be at the heart of US’ Middle East policy is nothing new. “How do you think England last century manged to control 600,000,000 Indians with only 60,000 British troops?” he asked us!

So long as the Arab states remain divided and absorbed in sectarian squabbles the reigning superpower has nothing to worry about. Israel will retain its hegemony in the region, the Palestinian Occupation will continue on indefinitely, and Syria will continue to blaze until  nothing is left!

Father Dave

Those who pay the price of war - syrian refugees

Those who pay the price of war – syrian refugees

english.al-akhbar.com…

Arabs, Beware the “Small States” Option

At the heart of all politics lies cold, hard opportunism. New circumstances, changed alliances and unexpected events will always conspire to alter one’s calculations to benefit a core agenda.

In the Middle East today, those calculations are being adjusted with a frequency unseen for decades.

In Egypt and Syria, for instance, popular sentiment is genuinely divided on where alliances and interests lie. Half of Egyptians seem convinced that deposed President Mohammed Mursi is the resident US-Israeli stooge, while the other half believe it is Egypt’s military that is carrying out those foreign agendas.

In Syria the same can be said for Syrians conflicted on whether President Bashar al-Assad or the external-based Syrian National Council (SNC) most benefits Israeli and American hegemonic interests in the region.

But Egyptians and Syrians, who point alternating fingers at Islamists or the state as being tools of imperialism, have this wrong: Empire is opportunistic. It has ways to benefit from both.

There is another vastly more destructive scenario being missed while Arabs busy themselves with conspiracies and speculative minutiae: A third option far more damaging to all.

Balkanization of Key Mideast States

At a June 19 event at the University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger touched upon an alarming new refrain in western discourse on Mideast outcomes; a third strategy, if all else fails, of redrawn borders along sectarian, ethnic, tribal or national lines that will shrink the political/military reach of key Arab states and enable the west to reassert its rapidly-diminishing control over the region. Says Kissinger about two such nations:

“There are three possible outcomes (in Syria). An Assad victory. A Sunni victory. Or an outcome in which the various nationalities agree to co-exist together but in more or less autonomous regions, so that they can’t oppress each other. That’s the outcome I would prefer to see. But that’s not the popular view…First of all, Syria is not a historic state. It was created in its present shape in 1920, and it was given that shape in order to facilitate the control of the country by France, which happened to be after UN mandate…The neighboring country Iraq was also given an odd shape, that was to facilitate control by England. And the shape of both of the countries was designed to make it hard for either of them to dominate the region.”

While Kissinger frankly acknowledges his preferred option of “autonomous regions,” most western government statements actually pretend their interest lies in preventing territorial splits. Don’t be fooled. This is narrative-building and scene-setting all the same. Repeat something enough – i.e., the idea that these countries could be carved up – and audiences will not remember whether you like it or not. They will retain the message that these states can be divided.

It is the same with sectarian discourse. Western governments are always warning against the escalation of a Sunni-Shia divide. Yet they are knee-deep in deliberately fueling Shia-Sunni conflicts throughout the region, particularly in states where Iran enjoys significant influence (Lebanon, Syria, Iraq) or may begin to gain some (Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen).

“Seeding” Sectarianism to Break Up States

If ever a conspiracy had legs, this one is it. Stirring Iranian-Arab and Sunni-Shiite strife to its advantage has been a major US policy objective since the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran.

Wikileaks helped shed light on some of Washington’s machinations just as Arab uprisings started to hit our TV screens.

A 2006 State Department cable that bemoans Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s strengthened position in Syria outlines actionable plans to sow discord within the state, with the goal of disrupting Syrian ties with Iran. The theme? “Exploiting” all “vulnerabilities”:

“PLAY ON SUNNI FEARS OF IRANIAN INFLUENCE: There are fears in Syria that the Iranians are active in both Shia proselytizing and conversion of, mostly poor, Sunnis. Though often exaggerated, such fears reflect an element of the Sunni community in Syria that is increasingly upset by and focused on the spread of Iranian influence in their country through activities ranging from mosque construction to business. Both the local Egyptian and Saudi missions here, (as well as prominent Syrian Sunni religious leaders), are giving increasing attention to the matter and we should coordinate more closely with their governments on ways to better publicize and focus regional attention on the issue.”

Makes one question whether similar accusations about the “spread of Shiism” in Egypt held any truth whatsoever, other than to sow anti-Shia and anti-Iran sentiment in a country until this month led by the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood.

A 2009 cable from the US Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia continues this theme. Mohammad? Naji al-Shaif, a tribal leader with close personal ties to then-Yemeni President Ali Abdallah ?Saleh and his inner circle says that key figures “are privately very skeptical of Saleh’s? claims regarding Iranian assistance for the Houthi rebels”:

Shaif told? EconOff on December 14 that (Saudi Government’s Special Office for? Yemen Affairs) committee members privately shared his view that Saleh was providing false or exaggerated? information on Iranian assistance to the Houthis in order to? enlist direct Saudi involvement and regionalize the conflict. Shaif said that one committee member told him that “we know? Saleh is lying about Iran, but there’s nothing we can do ?about it now.”

That didn’t stop Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lying through her teeth to a Senate Committee a few short years later: “We know that they – the Iranians are very much involved in the opposition movements in Yemen.”

US embassy cables from Manama, Bahrain in 2008 continue in the same vein:

“Bahraini government officials sometimes privately tell U.S. official visitors that some Shi’a oppositionists are backed by Iran. Each time this claim is raised, we ask the GOB to share its evidence. To date, we have seen no convincing evidence of Iranian weapons or government money here since at least the mid-1990s… In post’s assessment, if the GOB had convincing evidence of more recent Iranian subversion, it would quickly share it with us.”

Yet as Bahraini rulers continue to violently repress peaceful protest in the Shia-majority state two years into that country’s popular uprising, their convenient public bogeyman mirrors that of Washington: Iranian interference.

read the rest of this article here.

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Australia gives humanitarian assistance to Syria instead of weapons!

Posted on July 27, 2013 by fatherdave

This is indeed encouraging news. While the US and NATO focus on adding more weapons to the Syrian conflict, Australia is committing itself to supporting the victims! It’s not often that I have a reason to feel proud to be Australian, but credit should be given where it is due. Well done, Bob Carr!

Having said that, the question that isn’t answered in the report below is where this aid will go and how it will be used? ‘World Vision’, ‘Oxfam’ and ‘Save the Children’ are mentioned but, as far as I can work out, none of these organisations is actually operative within Syria itself!

I spoke with a representative of ‘Médecins Sans Frontières’ earlier this year and was told that NGO’s are having a hard time getting into Syria. The Bashar Al-Assad government has been very suspicious about the activities of NGO’s as they claim that anti-government elements readily embed themselves in such organisations (as allegedly happened in Libya). Even so, the cost of such caution is paid by suffering civilians!

Father Dave

Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Bob Carr

Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Bob Carr

AUSTRALIA BOOSTS AID TO WAR-TORN SYRIA

au.news.yahoo.com…

Australia has pledged an extra $21.5 million in humanitarian assistance to victims of the Syrian civil war.

The money will be spent on emergency food supplies, medical supplies, shelter for refugees and ensuring people have safe drinking water.

Since the war began in 2011 there have been an estimated 93,000 deaths while around 1.8 million refugees, mostly women and children, have fled the country.

Foreign Minister Bob Carr said on Thursday that the violence and human suffering in Syria was continuing unabated.

“A refugee exodus of this size has not been seen since the Rwandan genocide almost 20 years ago,” Senator Carr said.

Australia’s total humanitarian assistance to Syria, since June 2011, is $100 million.

The latest pledge has been welcomed by aid organisations World Vision, Oxfam and Save the Children.

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Mairead Maguire urges the Vatican to support Non-Violence in Syria

Posted on July 26, 2013 by fatherdave

Mairead is at the Vatican, – an Apostle for peace,  taking her message to the heart of the church!

Quite frankly it is said that the message of peace for Syria has to be taken to the Vatican when it should be emanating from the Vatican! Even so, let us hope that Mairead’s mission will help strengthen the church in its resolve to support the people of Syria.

Father Dave

Mairead Maguire weaing my hat! :-)

Mairead Maguire weaing my hat! 🙂

www.fides.org…

ASIA/SYRIA – The Nobel Maguire at the Vatican: “Non-violence and dialogue are the only path to peace”

Non-violence, dialogue, reconciliation and peace are “the key words to solve the Syrian crisis.” They are “the only possible way to avoid a regional degeneration of the conflict, with unpredictable outcomes”. These are “the values that the Catholic Church strongly promotes, according to the Gospel message of Jesus Christ”: This is what Mairead Maguire, Nobel Prize for Peace in 1976 for her commitment to solving the conflict in Northern Ireland said in an interview with Fides Agency. Maguire was in the Vatican in past days, where she held talks with the Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, and the President of the Pontifical Council “Justice and Peace”, Cardinal Peter Turkson. “I expressed the desire to meet Pope Francis and return home full of hope that a strong message of peace will come from the Holy See in support of peace in Syria”, she explained to Fides.

“During the conversations, we agreed that the Catholic Church must promote a strong message of peace for Syria. A very clear message of non-violence and reconciliation are urgently needed as roads to peace. They are the paths that Jesus chose”, explains Maguire, who is Catholic, and responsible of the NGO “Peace People” in Belfast. “The world needs a message of peace, a word about love towards the enemy and forgiveness. If this message is not spread by the Church, who can offer it?” She notes.

Speaking to Fides about the Syrian scenario, the Nobel notes that “the situation today is very complicated due to new outbreaks, violence and weapons. The figures related to the victims are frightening and, as the UN said, compared only to the Rwandan genocide. Now, after two years of conflict, it is necessary to stop and to support those who seek to bring people together, to propose dialogue again, starting with a cease-fire and put an end to indiscriminate violence. A political solution should be strongly reconsidered”.

Maguire made a trip to Syria last May, at the head of a delegation of peace: “We were in Syria and in Lebanon, visiting the refugee camps.

We participated in interfaith prayer meetings. We met ordinary people, members of the government and the opposition. Most of the groups, civil and religious, call for dialogue and pushes for peace. The population is tired of death, violence and destruction”. “We cannot but reiterate – she continues – that peace, reconciliation are the supreme good and many people in Syria have chosen this path. There are many initiatives from below, perhaps little known, like that of the ‘Mussalaha’ movement, supported by Patriarch Gregory III Laham”.

In concrete, Maguire suggests, “we need to provide technical and material support to promote a de-escalation of the conflict. You have to talk to everyone and restart national dialogue between the government and opposition, tracing a transition, while respecting the principle of self-determination, asking the Syrian people what they want”.

Maguire proposes to apply the model that brought peace to North Ireland, in a society where hate and division were rooted: “We started to promote friendship, forgiveness and reconciliation from the bottom, and then bring them to a political and institutional level. This can also happen for Syria, but the weapons must be silent. The international community should support those who promote this approach for an inclusive dialogue”, she concludes.

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FSA to declare war on Jabhat Al-Nusra?!

Posted on July 20, 2013 by fatherdave

Surely this is the beginning of the end for the Syrian ‘rebel alliance’. The Al-Nusra Front has brazenly murdered an FSA commander and the FSA has responded by threatening open war against Al-Nusra. Is it even sensible to refer to this as an ‘alliance’ any more?

Meanwhile the U.S. and Britain are still promising more arms to the rebels. This, of course, is all in the name of ‘democracy’. The irony is that NATO’s own figures show that only 10% of the Syrian population still support the rebels!

Indeed it is a dark and despicable game that is being played by the ‘great’ powers while the poor people of Syria continue to pay the price.

Father Dave

Syria in Crisis

photo by Denning Isles (iammordechai.com…)

freebeacon.com…

Al Qaeda Rebels Kill Free Syrian Army Commander

Assassination triggers third front in Syrian civil war

Bill Gertz

A key commander of the U.S.-backed Free Syrian Army was killed recently by Syria’s al Qaeda rebels, a sign the opposition to the Bashar al-Assad regime is fracturing and Islamist rebels are on the rise.

Kamal Hamami, the FSA commander, was killed as he went to a meeting of al Qaeda-backed rebels to discuss joint operations against the Syrian army, a U.S. official said, confirming Middle East press reports.

Hamami had opposed the al Qaeda-linked rebels and said there was no place for them within the opposition forces.

He was killed in Latakia province, in the northern part of the country near the Turkish border, a known stronghold of Islamist rebels.

The assassination triggered a call by the FSA for a declaration of war against al Qaeda rebel groups, including the two major groups, the al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant.

“The Nusra Front and the AQI-sponsored Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) seem to have different ideas about working with the mainstream opposition and this could lead to growing problems within the extremist landscape,” said the U.S. official.

“More attacks by Islamic extremists against mainstream opposition figures could lead to retaliation by others in the extremist universe who have been focusing the fight on Assad’s regime,” the official added.

Meanwhile, FSA Chief of Staff Gen. Salim Idris said this week that British Prime Minister David Cameron had betrayed the rebels by deciding not to provide arms. The decision will boost al Qaeda rebels’ control.

“This decision paves the way for al Qaeda to control opposition fighters,” Idris told the Daily Telegraph. “The West promises and promises. This is a joke now. … What are our friends in the West waiting for? For Iran and Hezbollah to kill all the Syrian people?”

However, William Hague, Britain’s foreign secretary, announced on Wednesday that the government would equip “moderate armed opposition” forces in Syria with anti-chemical weapons gear.

Syria’s Islamist rebels are committed to creating a post-Assad state that adheres to extremist Sharia law tenets. The killing of the Hamami is the first indicator that the Islamist rebels will not cooperate with FSA rebels in seeking the ouster of the Assad regime.

The split further complicates Syria’s civil war that has claimed more than 93,000 lives.

Until recently, the rebels had been advancing on the capital city, Damascus. However, military and other support from Russia and Iran has forced the rebels further from the city.

Residents in the northern Syrian province of Al-Raqqah held a protest Wednesday against the al-Nusra Front that has controlled the area since the spring. The protesters said the group was no different than the Assad regime.

Nearby, al-Nusra jihadists fought against Kurdish Popular Protection Units in Ra’s al-Ayn, on the Turkish border.

The Washington Free Beacon first reported July 2 that thousands of foreign terrorists joined Islamist rebel groups in Syria over the past several months.

Most of the groups are fighting for the al-Nusra Front, and in some cases, entire brigades are being formed of jihadists from foreign countries.

While numbers are difficult to estimate, U.S. officials say Islamist opposition rebels number between 6,000 and 10,000 fighters.

The Free Syrian Army, which includes former Syrian military forces, is said to number as many as 80,000 rebels.

However, some of the FSA rebels have switched and sided with the Islamists in recent months.

The Obama administration announced recently that it would begin providing arms and other lethal support to secular rebels. Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and several Persian Gulf states also are arming both camps of rebels.

The Assad regime is backed by Russia, Iran, and the Lebanese Hezbollah terrorist organization.

Meanwhile, U.S. officials also identified a new foreign fighter group in Syria called Jaysh al-Muhajirin wal-Ansar, Arabic for the Army of Foreign Fighters and Local Supporters. The group is made up of foreign jihadists and is coordinating its operations with the al Qaeda Islamic State of Iraq and Levant.

The terrorist group has been active near Aleppo in northern Syria and appears to be using several different names. It is made up of terrorists from several nations, including some in Europe, Chechnya, Turkey, and Syria.

Another foreign group also has been identified as Katibat al-Muhajirin fi Bilad al-Sham, or Al-Muhajirin Brigade in the Levant, which is made up of Libyans and has carried out attacks in northwestern Syria and the Latakia region.

Hamami’s death provoked FSA rebels to vow the opening of a third front in the civil war

“We will not let them get away with it because they want to target us,” a senior FSA commander was quoted by Reuters. “We are going to wipe the floor with them.”

The assassination followed a dispute between Hamami’s forces and the al Qaeda-linked rebel group over control of a strategic checkpoint in Latakia, Reuters reported.

While Hamami’s forces previously fought together with the Islamists, the FSA has sought to separate itself from Islamist rebels to put off western concerns that any arms supplied to the FSA would reach al Qaeda.

According to Reuters, FSA political coordinator Louay Mekdad said Abu Ayman al-Baghdadi, the Islamic State’s Emir of the coastal region, personally shot Hamami and his brother at the roadblock.

Additionally, Mekdad said one of Hamami’s fighters was allowed to return to the FSA in order to relay the terrorists’ message that the FSA is now viewed as “heretics,” and that the FSA Supreme Command will now become a target of al Qaeda.

The Hamami assassination appeared similar to al Qaeda’s assassination on Sept. 9, 2001, of Afghan rebel leader Ahmad Shah Massoud, a revered figure who was killed by terrorists posing as news reporters two days before the al Qaeda attacks on the United States.

Massoud led the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan whose forces were opposing the Islamist Taliban that was backing al Qaeda. The Taliban were ousted in October 2001, but Taliban insurgents are continuing to wage jihad against U.S. forces and Afghan government troops.

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Mairead Maguire talks about Syria

Posted on July 19, 2013 by fatherdave

I have wonderful memories of travelling through Damascus with Mairead. One of most enduring was seeing Mairead finish a conversation with a Syrian girl and turn to me and say “aren’t people wonderful, Dave?”

It is a simple love of people that drives Mairead. Her mind is sharp and she recognises that the problems are complex, but it’s her simple and pure love of humanity that makes her such an inspiration.

Father Dave

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What the media is NOT telling you about Syria!

Posted on July 15, 2013 by fatherdave

This is a polished and informative presentation from Ben Swann of the ‘truth in media’ project.

I don’t know who Ben Swann is. Perhaps he has a dark side? Even so, his stated goal of bringing truth back into the media is something this world is certainly hungry for!

Father Dave

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The monastery of Mother Agnes of Homs is under attack!

Posted on July 8, 2013 by fatherdave

For those who write off Mother Agnes Mariam (pictured below in Beirut between myself and Mairead Maguire) as a pro-regime stooge, it’s worth noting that her monastery has been attacked by government forces. A total of 21 missiles have been fired into it!

2013 - with Mother Agnes and Maired Maguire in Beirut

The damage has been extensive, as can be seen from the pics below. Thankfully no one has yet been killed but one of the sisters has been injured. It would appear that the attacks are designed to terrorize the sisters and refugees who take sanctuary in the monastery. One could believe that it was all a mistake if it had happened just once, but the helicopter gunship has made three separate attacks now!

monastery-homs-2 monastery-homs-1

The article pasted below from Vatican News makes clear that the monastery is also in the sights of the rebels!

We pray for the health and safety of all those who shelter in the monastery of ‘St James the Mutilated’ who are already experiencing some of the suffering of their namesake!

Father Dave

www.news.va/en/news/asiasyria-a-catholic-belgian-priest-and-a-monaster…

A Catholic Belgian priest and a monastery are in the sights of the jihadists

Qara – The Belgian Catholic priest Fr. Daniel Maes, 74, of the religious Order of “Canons Regular Premonstratensian”, is in the sights of jihadist groups who intend to eliminate him and invade the monastery of San James mutilated in Qara, 90 km north of Damascus. The monastery, belonging to the Greek-Catholic diocese of Homs, is situated on a border area between warring groups and could be occupied to become a military logistic base of the rebels. After the death of Fr. Francois Murad, the Christian community in Syria is very concerned. Each line of communication with the monastery is interrupted. The alarm was sent to Fides Agency by some Catholic Syrian leaders and by the families of monks living in St. James, who belong to 9 nationalities, even in Europe.

Fr. Maes taught moral theology in Belgium for 20 years and since 2010 resides at the monastery, where he is director of the Seminary. The convent of St. James in Qara is an ancient structure dating back to the fifth century A.D. There is a female monastic community, led by the Palestinian nun, Sister Agnes Mariam de la Croix, enriched over the years by a religious community of men and families of lay Christians, Sunnis and Alawites. In past months, the monastery was at the center of gunfire and was hit and damaged by the bombing of the regular Syrian army helicopters that probably wanted to hit arms depots placed in trenches or ditches near the monastery, used for supplies of water in the Byzantine period.Lately, the monastery houses and assists refugee families, regardless of their religious affiliation. Fr. Daniel maintains close contacts with Syrian groups in France, Belgium and the Netherlands which, through voluntary associations, send humanitarian aid to the displaced.

The priest denounced the “ethnic cleansing” carried out on Christians in Qusair, when the town was taken by the rebels and by jihadist groups. “The surrounding Christian villages were destroyed and all the faithful who were caught were killed, according to a logic of sectarian hatred,” he wrote in recent weeks to Fides Agency. “For decades, Christians and Muslims lived in peace in Syria. If criminal gangs can roam and terrorize civilians, is this not against international laws? Who will protect the innocent and ensure the future of this country? ” Says the priest. Thus Fr. Maes describes the current social situation in Syria: “Young people are disappointed, because foreign powers dictate their agenda. Moderate Muslims are worried, because Salafists and fundamentalists want to impose a totalitarian dictatorship of religious nature. The citizens are terrified because they are innocent victims of armed gangs”. Fr. Maes concludes: “The Syrian regime had long since lost all credibility. Today, the urgency is to allow Syria to survive. The Syrian people themselves must reform the country, according to a process of true democracy: a people who, independently, ensures equal treatment for all”.

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