Understanding the war in Syria – a sketch video

Posted on June 9, 2014 by fatherdave

This is an engaging attempt to explain the violence in Syria, if a little simplistic. I would question it at two points.

Firstly, I’m not convinced that the Syrian war ever did start as a purely democratic uprising. I suspect that (as the Syrian government asserts) it was infiltrated from the start by forces whose interests had nothing to do with the advancement of democracy.

Secondly, I believe the US is more directly involved in the destruction of Syria than this presentation suggests. The well-attested existence of US military training camps in northern Jordan, for instance, suggests that the US has a very hands-on approach in supporting  the rebellion and was not just drawn into the conflict unwittingly through its association with Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Personally, I believe that the Syrian crisis is simply another manifestation of the long-term project of the US and its Gulf-State allies to maintain economic dominance of the region through weakening Iran and its allies. So called ‘terrorists’ have always been employed by Western powers when it suited them. US support for Al-Qaeda should not surprise us.

The Syrian war is complex indeed, at one level. At its basis though it is simply another chapter in the ongoing battle of Empire to maintain its money and power. And as ever, the poor and the vulnerable pay the price.

Father Dave

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Boxing in the streets of Syria

Posted on May 26, 2014 by fatherdave

It’s been a long time in production but here it is – the video that I’ve been yearning to share with you since returning from our peace mission: “Boxing in the Streets of Syria”

My plan is to use this video as the basis of our recruitment drive to see if we can capture the imagination of some high-profile boxers from Australia and from around the world – capture their imagination to the extent that they will be drawn to join us in running boxing training camps for the young people of Syria! :)

As you’ll see from the video, we were very well received by the Syrian people, and the children of Syria were enthusiastic beyond words! Sol Egberime – Australia’s greatest Junior Welterweight fighter – was an absolute natural with these young people. At one point, as we finished a session with a group of boys in Latakia and got back into our bus, the entire troop of kids followed the bus chanting “Solomon, Solomon …”, which brought our young champion to tears!

Will you do me a favour please and share this video with everybody you know? The persons we are most hoping to reach are high-profile boxers, but even if you don’t know any fighters at all, it may be that some of those you send it to do know some boxers and will pass it on.

Father Dave

Boxing in the Streets of Syria

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Syria – every story has two sides

Posted on May 25, 2014 by fatherdave

“Silver Water: Syria Self-Portrait” is a movie that recently debuted at the Cannes film festival in Paris – the only Arab film in the fest’s official selection.

The movie documents human-rights abuses allegedly carried out by Syrian government forces in the city of Homs. Lilly Martin – an American who has been living in Syria for more than 20 years – raises serious questions about both the movie and the way it is being received! Martin lives in Latakia – only two hours drive from Homs.

Martin doesn’t deny that government forces didn’t commit the atrocities highlighted in the movie. What she does contest though is that those fighting the Syrian government are any less guilty of similar crimes! Martin speaks with first-hand knowledge of rebel atrocities, but points out too that the Internet is rife with examples of crimes committed by FSA fighters, let alone the various takfiri forces!

Martin contests that a movie that only tells half the story is a propaganda movie! It may be entertaining and artistic, but if its effect is to move viewers towards wholesale support of the rebel forces in Syria then it needs to be recognised for what it is – a piece of propaganda.

Father Dave

peace activists greet us in Latakia

peace activists greet us in Latakia

source: www.opednews.com…

Where is the other half of this film? A critical look at the film reviews of “Silvered Water: Syria Self-Portrait”

A film about the war in Syria has been shown at the Cannes Film Festival. It was received with a standing ovation for the woman who shot the film in Homs, and the director who developed the film in Paris. Ossama Mohammed and Wiam Simav Bedirxan teamed up to produce a film about the war in Syria, shot in Homs by Wiam. Ossama had left Syria and was living in Paris, when Wiam contacted him from Homs, and the project began after their discussion of her videos of Homs.

Ossama Mohammed said he believed the Syrian regime wanted to destroy the story of each individual that opposed them and that his film could give them a voice. Ossama Muhammed is a well-known critic of Syrian President Bashar al Assad. He used his expertise in film to present his own personal attack on the Syrian regime. His work is not art, but it is pure political propaganda.

Film has been used as war propaganda many times. Johnny Rico wrote on the subject of war movies as propaganda, “Top War Films Used as Political Propaganda“.

“Sometimes it’s to give visual presence to an unknown story of war, or to simply viscerally entertain. But other times, it’s to push a political agenda and sway perspectives. Pushing propaganda is one of the cardinal violations of my rules for war films. In short, this film floods the viewer with all of these troubling narratives and horrific descriptions in the hopes of striking a strong emotional cord, without any accompanying explanation or nuance.”

I live in Syria. I have never left Syria. I have buried my friends and neighbors from 2011 to 2014. My own home in Latakia has been attacked; my summer cottage has been occupied and destroyed in Kassab. My neighbors in Ballouta and Kassab have been massacred and made homeless. My neighbors have been kidnapped and are still held and tortured. I am supporting a refugee family from Aleppo.

You will not see any of my personal experience in Syria told in this film. You will not see any of my neighbor’s experiences in Syria in this film. The film “Silvered Water: Syria Self-Portrait” is missing the other half of the film, in order to be a complete and whole picture about the Syrian war. This film shows you one side only. It shows a brutal regime, with a brutal military who torture, rape, maim and kill innocent civilians.

Where are the equal numbers of civilians tortured, raped, maimed and killed by the rebels, and their Al Qaeda affiliates? There are two deadly sides fighting in Syria, two killing machines in Syria. But, this film shows a two-sided war from one side only. For every war crime and atrocity committed by the Syrian government and the military, I can show and document an equal number of war crimes and atrocities by the rebels and their associates the Radical Islamic terrorists.

The innocent film audience will be moved, swayed and emotionally affected. They will come away from the film with a feeling of hatred and disgust at such a regime or military that could treat human beings in Syria with such viciousness. However, those innocent viewers do not understand the full picture. They have been handed half a film and told to make up their minds.

When will we see the other half of this film? When will all the Syrian people’s suffering be viewed equally? Why should some Syrian’s suffering be more important to watch than others? The director Ossama Mohammed found his perfect partner in the camera of Wiam Simav Bedirxan. Both partners had one political view and their combined efforts have produced a one-sided war-propaganda film about Syria, shot in Homs.

If anyone wants to re-construct the other half of this film, all they have to do is go towww.YouTube.com… and watch the hundreds of beheadings, eating of raw dead flesh and other war crimes committed, videoed and uploaded by the Free Syrian Army and their Radical Islamic affiliates. There are countless websites documenting the war crimes of the Free Syrian Army, and anyone can go through those documents by using www.google.com…. You can look for news articles and videos on Jibhat al Nusra, Islamic Front, Al Qaeda and Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. These are all the rebel fighting groups in Syria that are fighting the Syrian regime. The war crimes and atrocities are documented and videoed on the internet.

I will just give you just two examples of what the rebels have done to my own neighbors. On the night of August 13, 2013, in the village of Ballouta, they entered the homes of sleeping civilians. There was no Syrian regime or Syrian Army presence in the village whatsoever. This was a purely civilian rural location near the border with Turkey, and near Latakia. The terrorists went from house to house killing whole families. Men, women and children were slaughtered. There were no bombs, no cross fire, no battle. The rebels, who are opposed to the regime of President Assad, cut the pregnant belly open of one woman and hung the fetus in the trees by the umbilical cord. There were survivors, who ran and hid in the forests and were eventually taken to shelter at a school in Latakia, where their stories began to be told as eye witnesses to a massacre and war crime. Some survived the massacre, but were kidnapped. These kidnapped people numbered about 100 and were composed of a few adult females, some teenagers, and the rest were very small children. Recently, in Latakia about half of those kidnapped were released in a deal worked out that also included rebels in Homs. The kidnap victims who were released told of being kept nine months in Selma, under the ground, without light. They told of torture and suffering, including the eyes of one small child being gouged out by the rebels and one small boy being shot through the head for no reason except for the pleasure of killing. Still, there are about 50 kidnap victims being held by this same rebel group, who claim they are fighting the regime of Bashar al Assad. How do kidnapping, killing, and torture of small children fit into the heroic freedom-fighter image?

Another part of the film you will never see in “Silvered Water: Syria Self-Portrait” is how in the dead of winter in Aleppo, with heavy snow on the ground, rebels attacked and entered a private mental hospital in Aleppo. Ibn Khaldoun Hospital was attacked in January 2013. They killed and abused some of the staff and patients. They kidnapped one mental patient who is personally known to me. The kidnappers called his father and demanded a ransom to free him. The ransom amount was agreed upon. Then the phone calls stopped. The family feared the worse. Finally, one day a man called and said they had rescued the patient and taken him to another hospital in Aleppo. Because the rebels had thrown him into the snow, he had frost bite on his feet which required the partial amputation of his foot. His crime: being mentally ill and in a private hospital with no connection to the regime or government of any kind.

I am a human-rights activist. I care about people who are suffering inside Syria regardless of their political opinions. I hate the abuse and torture of any person in Syria, regardless of who is the abuser. I also hate the one-sided depiction of the war in Syria. By showing one side only you are helping the conflict to continue without resolve. Showing one side is feeding the flames of war, torture and death. Film: as a tool of torture and a weapon of war. We all lived in Syria in peace and respect of our neighbor’s rights before and it can be done again. The Syrian people are fully capable of resolving political differences among themselves without international intervention or interference. The propaganda-war film, “Silvered Waters: Syria Self-Portrait,” is an attack on the suffering Syrian people from the south shore of France.

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Mairead Maguire reports on the 2014 Peace Pilgrimage to Syria

Posted on May 7, 2014 by fatherdave

I’ve had the privilege of joining Mairead and her team on both of her recent visits to Syria. She is an inspiring leader whose wisdom is only overshadowed by her humility.

What follows is her personal report of our April 2014 mission. Her experiences were slightly different to mine just as her goals were slightly different.  She wasn’t there to box, but she was there to spread love and hope, both of which she exudes in abundance!

Father Dave

meeting up with Mairead Maguire in Tehran

meeting up with Mairead in Tehran

FROM:  NOBEL PEACE LAUREATE  MAIREAD MAGUIRE  (24.4.2014)
PEACE PEOPLE, NORTHERN IRELAND.

INTERNATIONAL PEACE PILGRIMAGE TO SYRIA VIA IRAN
5th April, – 14th April, 2014.

Ann Patterson and I were honoured to participate in the International Peace Pilgrimage to Syria via Iran, from 5th – 14th April, 2014. During an international delegation to Syria last year, we had both promised to return to Syria, and we also fulfilled a long-held intention to visit Iran.

IRAN

We arrived in Iran on 5th April, and joined an international delegation of 14 from Lebanon, Australia, Canada, Pakistan, the UK and Germany.   We were invited by the Unified Union of Unified Ummah’s, who organized this peace and humanitarian mission via Iran.  Although Iranians are themselves suffering economic duress from some of the same nations oppressing Syria, they choose to show solidarity with Syria by sending large amounts of aid, purchased with the individual contributions of thousands of caring Iranian citizens.

We spent four wonderful days in Iran, where we visited Tehran, (for the main meetings and conference), Isfahan (a centre for Iranian and Armenian Christians), and Qom (a religious centre for Shia Muslims, where we met with Shia scholars).  There was also a major event at Tehran University, where we spoke to students, and children sang and presented toys, including their own, for Syrian children.  We also met with the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament and other political representatives.

I was deeply moved by the warmth and friendliness of the Iranian people, and was particularly impressed with the youth.  We asked some women students about their hope for the future of their country and they replied that they feared an attack by the US or NATO, but hoped otherwise.  We found this sad, as these young people are eager to travel and make friends in other countries, like most young people.

The cities we visited were modern, and the Islamic architecture magnificent, as was the Armenian church.  I would encourage people to visit Iran to meet its people and experience its beauty. Indeed I believe this is the only way to peace – people to people and country to country.    Foreign women are encouraged to wear the headscarf, out of respect for Iran’s tradition.

During our visit we also met with an Iranian friend, who shared her story of imprisonment and abuse, due to her human rights advocacy.  There is no doubt Iran needs to show greater respect for human rights, but many said that it is moving in the right direction.

It was a great inspiration to visit Iran, and I look forward to visiting again in the future.  I would like to extend our deepest thanks for our Iranian friends for their wonderful hospitality during our visit to their country.

FROM IRAN TO SYRIA

On 10th April, forty people, including 24 of the most highly respected and well-known cultural and religious Iranian leaders, together with 16 internationals, flew from Tehran to Damascus.  We brought medical aid (co-ordinated by Iranian Red Crescent) and also toys and other gifts, all collected with donations from people of Iran and the international visitors.

We were welcomed in Damascus by Dr. Ahmed Khaddour, Mother Agnes Mariam, the Mussalaha organization, Dr. Declan Hayes, and Mohamed Quraish. I would take this opportunity to thank them for their central role in conceiving this project and bringing it to fruition.  Other pilgrims joined us from Lebanon, the US, Canada, and other locations.

During the next four days our delegation visited the Great Mosque, Chapel of St. Paul, the Sayyidah Zaynab Mosque, (in the words of the Iranian Imam, ‘a dream come true for Iranian pilgrims’).  It was a great privilege to join and pray with our Muslim and Christian friends.

Our delegation also travelled to Latakia and Homs. We saw the damage and spoke to Syrians who were unable to live in their homes and have suffered unspeakable crimes committed by rebels against them. Outside our hotel in Damascus we heard two large explosions that killed a soldier and three civilians in two cars.  They were the result of random mortar attacks that plague a city otherwise apparently under control of government forces. Even the wife of the ex-president was killed in her home by such an attack whilst she was cooking breakfast.

In Latakia, Governor Abdel-Qader told us that the Syrian people are facing with steadfastness an international plot against their country.  He pointed to thousands of Jabhat al-Nusrah fighters that swarmed across the Turkish border on March 21, 2014, with Turkish military support to attack Christian Armenian Syrians north of Latakia. Eyewitnesses reported that 50-90 residents were massacred, others taken into Turkey against their will, and a large number sent in flight to Latakia. We visited some of these refugees, who were staying in an Armenian Church.

We also visited refugees from Haram, near Idlib, Syria.  They told us how over a year ago hundreds of foreign fighters had crossed from the nearby Turkish border, kidnapped over 300 people and brutally killed another 150.  Many had fled and were afraid to return to their area, seeking instead to live in as refugees in Latakia. They also reported that Jabhat al-Nusrah fighters received support from the Turkish military, and launched cross border artillery, tank fire and missile attacks against not only Syrian Army positions but at the civilian population of Latakia. (Some Syrians told us that Turkey has evolved into a major military operational base for a NATO backed invasion of Syria.)

In Latakia we met with Lilly Martin, an American immigrant to Syria who has lived there permanently for 24 years.  She told us that missiles are fired daily into Latakia from Turkish territory, upon the civilian community, and often killing many people on the streets of the city.  She said that Syria was “neither in civil nor sectarian war” and that the crisis that began in March, 2011 in Deraa, Syria, was not a popular uprising, or a revolution but rather a foreign funded and foreign planned attack on the Syrian government and its civilian population, for the express purpose of regime change.  When asked, “What do you see as the solution for Syria, and whom do you want to hear this message?” Martin replied, “The solution to the crisis in Syria will come when the United States of America will make a public political decision to stop aiding and supporting terrorism, and specifically the Al Qaeda terrorists and their affiliates who are killing Syrians daily.  I want President Obama to hear my message and the message of the Peace Pilgrimage to Syria, April 2014.”

In Homs, where the Musalaha movement began with Mother Agnes Mariam as one of its leaders, and where its members continue to work for peace and reconciliation, we met a group of ex-fighters who have accepted the Syrian government offer of amnesty (the 5th such) and stopped fighting. Some are now working with the Musalaha movement for a peaceful solution in Syria.   (Before leaving Damascus we learned over 100 rebels had agreed to give up their guns and that this is happening throughout Syria.)

We also met with six registered opposition parties.  They said that internal problems, such as marginalization of a big part of the Syrian society, was part of the conflict, but that Syrians could deal with these problems, without foreign intervention and internationalization of the crisis in order to implement foreign agendas.

During a reception, the religious leaders, including Grand Mufti Dr. Ahmad Badr al-Din Hassoun and His Beautitude, Patriarch Gregorios Laham, shared their message that Syria is united in its diversity, and their belief that Syrian people will be able to reach an understanding amongst themselves and resolve their differences in a national dialogue and without the use of guns.  They believe in a Syria that is created by Syrians and not by outside forces.  Like most Syrians, they are sure that if other countries will stop the flow of arms, fighters and other interference in Syria, the Syrian people will be able to reach an understanding amongst themselves and rebuild Syria together.  We were also informed that they all support the planned elections in spite of the fighting.

Our delegation left Syria inspired by and hopeful for the Syrian people, for peace in their country, and we ask our countries and indeed all countries, to respect the integrity and sovereignty of Syria.

To all those who have lost loved ones, we extend our deepest sympathy.  We thank our hosts and the Syrian people for their kindness and hospitality and assure them of our solidarity as they rebuild their country, which has suffered so very much.

Mairead Maguire
Nobel Peace Laureate
Member of International Peace Delegation to
Iran and Syria, April, 2014.
www.peacepeople.com…

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Syria in the spotlight on Sputnik!

Posted on May 5, 2014 by fatherdave

Recently it was my great privilege to join my friend John Shipton as guests on ‘Sputnik’ – RT’s wonderful current affairs show, hosted by George Galloway and his partner Gayatri.

With Gayatri, John and George on Sputnik

With Gayatri, John and George on Sputnik

George is a real mentor to me. I remember asking him when I first met him last year “How is it that you always say what you believe to be true, and yet you’re a politician!” George said “I have nothing to lose! I have no real money or power so there is nothing that they can threaten me with in order to compromise me!” George is a true prophet – powerless yet powerful, poor in worldly goods but rich in all the things that count. I count it a privilege to call him my friend. 🙂

Father Dave

Father Dave & John Shitpon on Sputnik

P.S. You can see my earlier interview with George here

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Why the Syrian rebellion may soon collapse like a house of cards!

Posted on April 25, 2014 by fatherdave

I have just returned from Syria. Over the space of a couple of days our group drove from Damascus to Lattakia to Homs and back to Damascus – all without harassment or signs of imminent violence. The contrast with my last trip – almost exactly a year earlier – could not have been greater!

Last year Damascus seemed under siege! The red glow of mortar fire filled the horizon every night and when members of our delegation tried to leave town in the direction of Homs their car was fired upon! A year ago the mood everywhere was tense and fearful, but now the Syrian people seemed to have a new strength and confidence. The battle was nearly over, and Syria was going to win!

This is certainly how the Syrians we met perceived the war. They don’t see it as a civil war at all. They see a foreign invasion, led by the US and its client states – Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Israel and Turkey. As Syria enters its third year of bloody conflict and as the number of actual Syrians in the anti-Assad alliance becomes an increasingly small percentage, this interpretation looks increasingly compelling.

Of course our delegation included a good number of us ‘Westerners’ which made things uncomfortable at times! “Why do you want to destroy us?” people asked. Why indeed?

Thankfully most of those who asked such questions were also wise enough to realise that we were in Syria precisely because we did not accept the official narrative of the Western media – that the rebels are Robin Hood and his merry men trying to topple the evil prince. We recognised that the war in Syria had far more complex causes, rooted in the economic threat posed by Iran to the other main players in the region.

Note that I speak of Iran’s ‘economic threat’ and not ‘existential threat’. Despite all rhetoric to the contrary, this war has always been about nothing more than money.  It’s a battle between business magnates who seek to control oil and gas flow across the region. The Syrian people are simply the canon-fodder who pay the price of corporate greed.

Of course the average Syrian doesn’t understand all this and neither is the average Syrian interested in issues of global hegemony. She just wants to get on with her life and bring up her family in an environment that is stable and secure. The Syrian people are sick of the violence. Even those with a passion for political reform recognise that nothing constructive can happen until the violence ceases. And this is why the people cling to Bashar Al-Assad even if they don’t particularly love the man. He offers a return to normalcy and peace whereas his takfiri opponents offer only a return to the Caliphate!

Syrians want peace, and the religion of the takfiri has never had any place in Syrian culture, and this is why the whole rebellion could collapse any day like a house of cards! I appreciate that analysts everywhere are saying that there is no end in sight for the conflict and that it could drag on for years to come but this is because they focus on logistics and on the policies of the foreign interventionists. What they fail to take into account is the strength of the resolve of the Syrian people!

The Syrians are a proud people. They don’t want to be controlled by foreign empires and they don’t want their culture of pluralism and religious tolerance destroyed. Whatever problems Syrians might have with the Assad government, it is their independance and way of life that is at stake in this conflict and so it is only a matter of time before Syrians of all political persuasions join hands to push out the foreign invaders!

This process is already well underway. We met a Sheikh Tahhan in Lattakia who is a much sought-after man by members of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in Homs. He is the go-to guy for those who want to take advantage of the government’s armistice – guaranteeing protection from prosecution to those who will hand over their arms! There were FSA fighters trickling into the peace camp like this when I was in Damascus last year. Now that trickle has become a steady flow!

Sheikh Tahhan with Mother Agnes Mariam and a former FSA fighter

Sheikh Tahhan with Mother Agnes Mariam and a former FSA fighter

The Sheikh had three former-fighters with him when he met us, each of whom seemed very happy to be out of the fight. Tahhan’s report though was more encouraging still – that the entire FSA garrison in Homs might be on the verge of laying down their arms! If this happens it will doubtless start a chain-reaction. Syrian rebels everywhere will abandon their foreign-led battalions and come back to their families, and once this happens the end will come quickly.

Of course on paper the forces of Jabhat Al Nusra and ISIS and the other foreign jihadists could still put up a fight for years to come, but once the Syrian people unite the writing will be on the wall and these takfiri will lose their financial backers. Once the money dries up the violence will stop.

For it is the bottom line that is the bottom line in the Syrian conflict. In the end it is all about money and so it can only last so long as foreign investors are willing to pour their cash into it. Once Syrians unite to throw out the takfiri the whole venture will start to look like a very poor investment and so the rebellion will collapse like a house of cards!

My hope and prayer is that this will happen within months, maybe even within weeks! Certainly I don’t expect to see another year end with jihadists decorating trees with the severed heads of Christians in mock celebration of Christmas. The strength and resolve of the Syrian people will not allow this sort of barbarity to subsume their culture. A ceasefire is on the horizon, after which will begin the more lengthy process of national reconciliation.

Father Dave
member of the 2014 International Pilgrimage of Peace to Syria

Father Dave with refugees from Yarmouk (April 2014)

Father Dave with refugees from Yarmouk (Damascus, April 2014)

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Is Turkey gearing up for open war on Syria?

Posted on April 4, 2014 by fatherdave

Below is the recording and transcript of the recently leaked phone conversation between two high-ranking Turkish military officers, discussing a possible false-flag operation that would initiate open warfare against Syria!

If you’re not familiar with the ‘false flag’ concept, think of Hitler’s burning of the Reichstag. Hitler starts the fire himself, blames the communists, and then uses the crisis as an excuse to arrest all his communist political rivals so as to consolidate his own power. In this case, Turkey starts shooting, blames the Syrians, and then they claim that they have no excuse but to defend themselves by engaging in open violence!

How and why the recording was leaked, nobody is quite sure, and yet neither Prime Minister Erdogan nor any of his cabinet has bothered to deny that the recording is genuine. Instead they have followed what is becoming standard procedure. They threw a tantrum, accused the person who leaked the recording of treason, and shut down Turkish access to both YouTube and Twitter (though the court has subsequently switched both services back on).

That Turkey has been quietly funding and assisting the rebellion in Syria is well known, even if it is never openly admitted. So we might wonder how much difference it would make should there be a few extra troops on rebel side carrying Turkish coffee in their backpacks.  The issue though is not the extra troops but the fact that Turkey is a member of NATO, and once NATO has troops on the ground in Syria, God knows where they might take the fight from there! We could be looking at another Libya?

Father Dave

[imaioVideo v=1]

if you can’t view this video, click here

PART 1

Ahmet Davutoglu: “Prime Minister said that in current conjuncture, this attack (on Suleiman Shah Tomb) must be seen as an opportunity for us.”

Hakan Fidan: “I’ll send 4 men from Syria, if that’s what it takes. I’ll make up a cause of war by ordering a missile attack on Turkey; we can also prepare an attack on Suleiman Shah Tomb if necessary.”

Feridun Sinirlioglu: “Our national security has become a common, cheap domestic policy outfit.”

Yasar Güler: “It’s a direct cause of war. I mean, what’re going to do is a direct cause of war.”

FIRST SCREEN:

Ahmet Davutoglu: I couldn’t entirely understand the other thing; what exactly does our foreign ministry supposed to do? No, I’m not talking about the thing. There are other things we’re supposed to do. If we decide on this, we are to notify the United Nations, the Istanbul Consulate of the Syrian regime, right?

Feridun Sinirlioglu: But if we decide on an operation in there, it should create a shocking effect. I mean, if we are going to do so. I don’t know what we’re going to do, but regardless of what we decide, I don’t think it’d be appropriate to notify anyone beforehand.

Ahmet Davutoglu: OK, but we’re gonna have to prepare somehow. To avoid any shorts on regarding international law. I just realized when I was talking to the president (Abdullah Gül), if the Turkish tanks go in there, it means we’re in there in any case, right?

Yasar Güler: It means we’re in, yes.

Ahmet Davutoglu: Yeah, but there’s a difference between going in with aircraft and going in with tanks…

SECOND SCREEN:

Yasar Güler: Maybe we can tell the Syrian consulate general that, ISIL is currently working alongside the regime, and that place is Turkish land. We should definitely…

Ahmet Davutoglu: But we have already said that, sent them several diplomatic notes.

Yasar Güler: To Syria…

Feridun Sinirlioglu: That’s right.

Ahmet Davutoglu: Yes, we’ve sent them countless times. Therefore, I’d like to know what our Chief of Staff’s expectations from our ministry.

Yasar Güler: Maybe his intent was to say that, I don’t really know, he met with Mr. Fidan.

Hakan Fidan: Well, he did mention that part but we didn’t go into any further details

Yasar Güler: Maybe that was what he meant… A diplomatic note to Syria?

Hakan Fidan: Maybe the Foreign Ministry is assigned with coordination…

THIRD SCREEN:

Ahmet Davutoglu: I mean, I could coordinate the diplomacy but civil war, the military…

Feridun Sinirlioglu: That’s what I told back there. For one thing, the situation is different. An operation on ISIL has solid ground on international law. We’re going to portray this is Al-Qaeda, there’s no distress there if it’s a matter regarding Al-Qaeda. And if it comes to defending Suleiman Shah Tomb, that’s a matter of protecting our land.

Yasar Güler: We don’t have any problems with that.

Hakan Fidan: Second after it happens, it’ll cause a great internal commotion (several bombing events is bound to happen within). The border is not under control…

Feridun Sinirlioglu: I mean, yes, the bombings are of course going to happen. But I remember our talk from 3 years ago…

Yasar Güler: Mr. Fidan should urgently receive back-up and we need to help him supply guns and ammo to rebels. We need to speak with the minister. Our Interior Minister, our Defense Minister. We need to talk about this and reach a resolution sir.

Ahmet Davutoglu: How did we get specials forces into action when there was a threat in Northern Iraq? We should have done so in there, too. We should have trained those men. We should have sent men. Anyway, we can’t do that, we can only do what diplomacy…

Feridun Sinirlioglu: I told you back then, for God’s sake, general, you know how we managed to get those tanks in, you were there.

Yasar Güler: What, you mean our stuff?

Feridun Sinirlioglu: Yes, how do you think we’ve managed to rally our tanks into Iraq? How? How did manage to get special forces, the battalions in? I was involved in that. Let me be clear, there was no government decision on that, we have managed that just with a single order.

FOURTH SCREEN:

Yasar Güler: Well, I agree with you. For one thing, we’re not even discussing that. But there are different things that Syria can do right now.

Ahmet Davutoglu: General, the reason we’re saying no this operation is because we know about the capacity of those men.

Yasar Güler: Look, sir, isn’t MKE (Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation) at minister’s bidding? Sir, I mean, Qatar is looking for ammo to buy in cash. Ready cash. So, why don’t they just get it done? It’s at Mr. Minister’s command.

Ahmet Davutoglu: But there’s the spot we can’t act integratedly, we can’t coordinate.

Yasar Güler: Then, our Prime Minister can summon both Mr. Defence Minister and Mr. Minister at the same time. Then he can directly talk to them.

Ahmet Davutoglu: We, Mr. Sinirlioglu and I, have literally begged Mr. Prime Minster for a private meeting, we said that things were not looking so bright.

FIFTH SCREEN:

Yasar Güler: Also, it doesn’t have to be crowded meeting. Yourself, Mr. Defence Minister, Mr. Interior Minister and our Chief of Staff, the four of you are enough. There’s no need for a crowd. Because, sir, the main need there is guns and ammo. Not even guns, mainly ammo. We’ve just talked about this, sir. Let’s say we’re building an army down there, 1000 strong. If we get them into that war without previously storing a minimum of 6-months’ worth of ammo, these men will return to us after two months.

Ahmet Davutoglu: They’re back already.

Yasar Güler: They’ll return to us, sir.

Ahmet Davutoglu: They’ve came back from… What was it? Çobanbey.

Yasar Güler: Yes, indeed, sir. This matter can’t be just a burden on Mr. Fidan’s shoulders as it is now. It’s unacceptable. I mean, we can’t understand this. Why?

SIXTH SCREEN:

Ahmet Davutoglu: That evening we’d reached a resolution. And I thought that things were taking a turn for the good. Our…

Feridun Sinirlioglu: We issued the MGK (National Security Council) resolution the day after. Then we talked with the general…

Ahmet Davutoglu: And the other forces really do a good follow up on this weakness of ours. You say that you’re going to capture this place, and that men being there constitutes a risk factor. You pull them back. You capture the place. You reinforce it and send in your troops again.

Yasar Güler: Exactly, sir. You’re absolutely right.

Ahmet Davutoglu: Right? That’s how I interpret it. But after the evacuation, this is not a military necessity. It’s a whole other thing.

SEVENTH SCREEN

Feridun Sinirlioglu: There are some serious shifts in global and regional geopolitics. It now can spread to other places. You said it yourself today, and others agreed… We’re headed to a different game now. We should be able to see those. That ISIL and all that jazz, all those organizations are extremely open to manipulation. Having a region made up of organizations of similar nature will constitute a vital security risk for us. And when we first went into Northern Iraq, there was always the risk of PKK blowing up the place. If we thoroughly consider the risks and substantiate… As the general just said…

Yasar Güler: Sir, when you were inside a moment ago, we were discussing just that. Openly. I mean, armed forces are a “tool” necessary for you in every turn.

Ahmet Davutoglu: Of course. I always tell the Prime Minister, in your absence, the same thing in academic jargon, you can’t stay in those lands without hard power. Without hard power, there can be no soft power.

EIGTH SCREEN

Yasar Güler: Sir.

Feridun Sinirlioglu: The national security has been politicized. I don’t remember anything like this in Turkish political history. It has become a matter of domestic policy. All talks we’ve done on defending our lands, our border security, our sovereign lands in there, they’ve all become a common, cheap domestic policy outfit.

Yasar Güler: Exactly.

Feridun Sinirlioglu: That has never happened before. Unfortunately but…

Yasar Güler: I mean, do even one of the opposition parties support you in such a high point of national security? Sir, is this a justifiable sense of national security?

Feridun Sinirlioglu: I don’t even remember such a period.

NINTH SCREEN:

Yasar Güler: In what matter can we be unified, if not a matter of national security of such importance? None.

Ahmet Davutoglu: The year 2012, we didn’t do it 2011. If only we’d took serious action back then, even in the summer of 2012.

Feridun Sinirlioglu: They were at their lowest back in 2012.

Ahmet Davutoglu: Internally, they were just like Libya. Who comes in and goes from power is not of any importance to us. But some things…

Yasar Güler: Sir, to avoid any confusion, our need in 2011 was guns and ammo. In 2012, 2013 and today also. We’re in the exact same point. We absolutely need to find this and secure that place.

Ahmet Davutoglu: Guns and ammo are not a big need for that place. Because we couldn’t get the human factor in order…

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What if Syria happened in London?

Posted on March 7, 2014 by fatherdave

I have cried every time I’ve watched this video. I don’t know what that says about me. Perhaps, having three lovely daughters myself, these scenes of a young girl growing up touch something deep in me. Even so, this is a powerful production.

The video – put together by ad agency ‘Don’t Panic’ for ‘Save the Children’ – is done in the ‘second-a-day’ format – a series of tiny one-second snippets from the girl’s life over the space of a year, between two birthdays. It mirrors the reality for so many children in Syria, where more than a quarter of the population have now been displaced!

I appreciate that appealing to sentiment like this can be a manipulative way of raising funds, and I likewise recognise how sad it is that we had to make the Syrian girl English-speaking and white before we could identify with her. Even so, I think it is great that this video has gone viral and I hope it generates a lot of money and interest.

Father Dave

[imaioVideo v=1]

If you can’t view this video, click here

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Syrian Archbishop says the US, Britain and France are “Screwing Us”!

Posted on March 3, 2014 by fatherdave

It was only a day ago that a Muslim friend asked me “why aren’t the Christians of Syria speaking out more about rebel atrocities?” The truth is that they are speaking out but nobody is listening, and the strong language of this Archbishop may indeed reflect frustration with the deafness of the world’s media as well as with the foreign powers who are funding the violence against his people.

Jacques Behnan Hindo has been Archbishop of the Catholic Diocese of Hassake in Syria since 1996. Like most Christians in Syria he is not necessarily pro-Assad but he is certainly against the foreign takfiri who threaten to take over his country and turn it into an Islamic state. Not one to engage in political double-talk, he speaks plainly about the “fake humanitarian sentiment” displayed by US Foreign Secretary, John Kerry, and says that he and French Foreign Minister Fabius are “screwing all Syrians”.

 We can only hope that this exasperated cry from one of Syria’s leading churchmen gets the attention of the world media and has some reverberations in the corridors of power. Even so, as the Archbishop makes clear, his hope is in God and in the miracle of resurrection that the cross anticipates!

Father Dave

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If you can’t view this video, click here.

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Community leaders take the initiative in bringing peace to Syria!

Posted on February 20, 2014 by fatherdave

This is what we saw happening in Damascus when we were there in April 2013 – local community groups organising ceasefires between government and rebel troops.

Despite the fact that the politicians and power-players haven’t agreed upon any ceasefire as yet, this hasn’t stopped local community leaders from taking the initiative and reaching agreements with their neighbours! This is a true sign of hope for Syria!

This has certainly been the focus of the ‘Mussalaha’ (reconciliation) group with which I continue to be involved. Below is a picture of some of the figures of a local Mussalaha initiative – priests, sheikhs and other community leaders working together for the sake of their people. 

Despite the horrors of war, the humanity of the Syrian people cannot be repressed!

Father Dave

local community leaders in Damascus, working together for peace

local community leaders in Damascus, working together for peace

source: english.al-akhbar.com…

Syria army, rebels agree new Damascus area truce

Syria’s army and rebels agreed a truce in the capital’s southern suburb of Babbila Monday, the latest in a series of local ceasefires in Damascus flashpoints, an AFP reporter said.

The truces come more than a year into fierce daily battles in and around several areas of the city that have led to rebels and President Bashar al-Assad’s forces deciding to compromise, with neither side able to claim victory.

In addition to Babbila, deals have been struck for local ceasefires in Qudsaya, Moadamiyet al-Sham, Barzeh, Beit Sahem, Yalda and Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp.

The accords are negotiated by public personalities from disputed areas, including businessmen and former ministers.

They involve a ceasefire, a siege being lifted and food allowed to enter rebel-held areas, with opposition fighters handing over heavy weapons and the regime raising its red, white, black and green flag there.

A new agreement is reported to be in the offing for Harasta, a rebel bastion northeast of Damascus, and talks over Daraya southwest of the capital are also taking place.

An AFP journalist visiting Babbila accompanied by official regime escorts on Monday saw dozens of cheering residents chant: “One, one, one! The Syrian people are one!”

Journalists saw streets completely destroyed by bombardment and fire. On Babbila’s main street, every single building had been either destroyed or damaged.

On Monday, regime troops raised the Syrian flag over the municipality of the southern suburb, which had been used as a rebel rear base until several months ago when the army laid siege to it.

Armed rebels were still present in the area, as the terms of the agreement also included an amnesty, a security source said.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, rebels and regime loyalists have even set up joint checkpoints in some areas such as Qudsaya.

Syria’s nearly three-year war is estimated to have killed more than 100,000 people and forced millions more to flee their homes.

An activist from Damascus said the local ceasefires are strongly backed by people who lost their homes and are paying exorbitant prices for basic daily needs, amid skyrocketing inflation and corruption.

Just two key rebel bastions in the Damascus area remain in open conflict with the regime: Douma to the northeast and Daraya to the southwest.

Both are besieged and being shelled daily.

Activists say the wave of truces comes after the army turned to siege tactics after being unable to take and neutralize pockets of resistance near the capital, and as rebels failed to achieve their goal of breaking into Damascus proper.

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