Every time a bomb explodes or a funeral is held, Syria’s “most outraged bystander” appears on Syria’s state TV to praise Bashar al Assad and excoriate his enemies - http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/21/syrian-televisions-most-outraged-bystander #Syria #propaganda
How the Commons can break the silence over Halabja
The British Parliament is set to debate the political recognition of Saddam Hussein’s campaign against the Kurds as genocide. With the threat of chemical weapons in Syria a declared ’red line’, the need to properly understand and account for the legacy of the largest chemical attack against a civilian population remains as pressing as ever.
http://www.opendemocracy.net/opensecurity/gary-kent/how-commons-can-break-silence-over-halabja
Syria: ONE-MILLION REFUGEES, CAMPS OVERCROWDED
The number of Syrian refugees that fled over the borders has reach around 1-million, based on the latest updates of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. The data indicates that Jordan and Lebanon are the nation’s registering the highest number of arrivals, with around 300,000 each, followed by Turkey, Iraq and Egypt. The overall number registered are 925,000 refugees partly settled in overcrowded camps.
Nasrallah : l’annonce de ma mort est très prématurée
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/nasrallah-refutes-rumors-ill-health-hezbollah-syria
Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah debunked rumors regarding his health as well as reports of his deputy Naim Qassem’s assassination in a televized speech Wednesday evening, while renewing calls to ward off “Sunni-Shia strife in Lebanon” and “plans to partition Syria.”
Reports of Nasrallah’s ill-health circulated in the Israeli media over the last two days, and were followed by rumors Wednesday of Qassem’s killing by members of the Syrian armed opposition.
“Talk of Sheikh Naim Qassem’s death are complete lies and baseless,” said Nasrallah.
“If new rumors go around, you’ll see me again,” a smiling Nasrallah said at the close of his speech, in an apparent reference to his alleged sickness. The reports had claimed that the Hezbollah chief was seeking treatment for cancer in Iran.
Fact and Fiction: Looting of Syrian Ruins
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/fact-and-fiction-looting-syrian-ruins
He singled out reports issued by a France-based organization, the Association for the Protection of Syrian Archaeology, which claimed that 12 of Syria’s 36 national museums had been plundered.
“There is no inkling of truth in that information,” he said. “All the collections of Syria’s museums are safe. Many rare pieces have been secured in places far from any likely attacks. All of Syria’s museums have been completely emptied of antiquities, other than fixed objects that are difficult to move, and are tightly guarded.”
#Syrie #Syria : de #nouvelles #armes apparaissent
http://www.argotheme.com/organecyberpresse/spip.php?article1649
L’ #Arabie #Saoudite fournit des armes achetées de #Croatie
Les #rebelles #syriens ont longtemps déploré l’absence d’un #soutien #international . L’Organisation des Nations Unies #ONU estime que 70.000 personnes ont été tuées dans la violence incessante, continuant la comptabilité macabre. De nouvelles armes provenant de l’ex- #Yougoslavie et de la #Chine se retrouvent dans les mains des rebelles, selon des #observateurs qui suivent leur #apparition principalement avec les #vidéos d’ #Internet .
In Shift, Saudis Are Said to Arm Rebels in Syria
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/26/world/middleeast/in-shift-saudis-are-said-to-arm-rebels-in-syria.html?pagewanted=all&_r=2
Saudi Arabia has financed a large purchase of infantry weapons from Croatia and quietly funneled them to antigovernment fighters in Syria in a drive to break the bloody stalemate that has allowed President Bashar al-Assad to cling to power, according to American and Western officials familiar with the purchases.
The weapons began reaching rebels in December via shipments shuttled through Jordan, officials said, and have been a factor in the rebels’ small tactical gains this winter against the army and militias loyal to Mr. Assad.
The arms transfers appeared to signal a shift among several governments to a more activist approach to assisting Syria’s armed opposition, in part as an effort to counter shipments of weapons from Iran to Mr. Assad’s forces. The weapons’ distribution has been principally to armed groups viewed as nationalist and secular, and appears to have been intended to bypass the jihadist groups whose roles in the war have alarmed Western and regional powers.
Ah ah, les séoudiens qui armeraient des « laïcs et nationalistes » au détriment des islamistes, ah ah. Genre : des nassériens, quelque chose comme ça ? Ah ah.
U.S. considers direct aid to Syrian rebels
The Washington Post
The Obama administration is moving toward a major policy shift on Syria that could provide the rebels with equipment such as body armor, armored vehicles and possible military training and could send humanitarian assistance directly to Syria’s opposition political coalition, according to U.S. and European officials.
The administration has not provided direct aid to either the military or political side of the opposition throughout the two-year old Syrian conflict, and U.S. officials remain opposed to providing weapons to the rebels.
Rebel cooperation in Syrian town shows challenge of isolating Islamists
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/02/28/184493/rebel-cooperation-in-syrian-town.html
VERDA ÖZER - The devil’s triangle: Turkey, Iran and Egypt
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/the-devils-triangle-turkey-iran-and-egypt.aspx?pageID=449&nID=418
It came first as a surprise when Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced a proposal for regional talks between Turkey, Iran and Egypt on resolving the Syrian crisis following his meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Baku October 2012. Hence it was no longer a surprise when Ahmadinejad said that the three countries are moving toward cooperation on Syria right after the trilateral meeting between the three leaders in Egypt during the 12th Summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) early this month.
Lebanon and the Arab Civil Wars: An Import-Export Business – Talal Salman
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/politics/2013/02/lebanon-arab-civil-wars.html
When the Arabs “succeeded” in importing the worst aspects of the Lebanese regime of so-called “pluralist democracy,” designed to camouflage its confessional and sectarian nature, they added a touch of Salafist fundamentalism to it. And now here they are exporting the virtues of these organizations. Afterward they began to export to this small and beautiful country preachers and missionaries preaching of “the righteous faith” — as if they were the first to discover it, and had no choice but to spread it...among the believers.
Here the cancer of sectarianism and confessionalism is ravaging Syria, prompted by the transformation of a political conflict into a project for waging civil war. It is ravaging Iraq as well, spreading the dangers of partition through civil conflict. At the same time it is spreading a climate of confrontation among Egyptians, both Muslim and Copt, who have historically enjoyed exemplary bonds of patriotic kinship.
[…]
The sectarian arsenal is always ready for use in confronting the call to building a viable state in Lebanon. Just as it is always ready to sow discord in national unity, and instability in existing states, in countries throughout the region. It is happening [in Lebanon] now, just as it has been arranged to happen in Syria and Iraq. Regardless of the nature of the ruling regime or the degree to which it approximates democracy.
There are those who are ready to finance this arsenal and to strengthen it with weapons and political cover. It is of no concern to them that they rule their “flock” by the sword, deprive them of elections, forbid women from driving a car, and force them to cover themselves in veils from head to toe … and then they go out “to champion” democracy in other countries by kindling the flames of civil war and sectarian butchery.
It is unfortunate that certain political forces in Lebanon are avid players in the game of stoking civil war, supposing it to be a surefire source of popularity — even if it comes at the expense of the country, the unity of its people, and the stability of its state.
Version originale:
http://www.assafir.com/Article.aspx?EditionId=2389&ChannelId=57455&ArticleId=1685&Author=طلال
Syria’s second largest Palestinian refugee camp, Khan al-Sheeh, has slowly been turned into a war zone, much like the Yarmouk camp before it. Over the past three weeks, large sections of the camp have been overrun by fighters from the Free Syrian Army (FSA).
At first camp residents responded with peaceful protests, but then turned to armed resistance when the FSA ignored their demands that the camp remain neutral in their battle against the regime.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/syria-resistance-mounts-against-fsa-palestinian-camp
War between Qatar and Syria
The Future Movement enjoys full control over the Tripoli Port and has between 750 and 800 elements occupying the port. Indeed, all those working in it, from the port’s tower to the loader on the ship belong to the Future Movement, at a time when the elements of the customs authority do not exceed 11, thus allowing the Future Movement to operate in the port without any monitoring or control. In that same context, the Internal Security Forces are not sending any troops to the port, while the army’s role is to protect it, not to interfere with the goods being delivered to it. Therefore, through its dispatch of weapons by sea from Egypt to the Tripoli Port, Qatar does not only want to fight the Syrian regime, but also set up a weapons arsenal for the Sunnis in the North, to help them proclaim positions in the future, reaching the point of announci ng the formation of an Islamic Emirate.
“Consequently, Qatar received a warning from Syria, saying that just like it confronted Turkey although the balance of powers tilted in its favor, Syria might proclaim war on Qatar, without there being any fronts between the two. Hence, Qatar’s interests around the world could be targeted, not by Syria, but the Popular Front – General Command led by Jibril. At this level, Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad feared seeing an assassination attempt, considering he is always in London, Paris and other European capital, where it is easy for any two armed men from the Popular Front to reach him. In addition, Syria will carry out indirect actions against the Qataris coming to Jordan, Iraq or Lebanon.”
– Ad-Diyyar, Lebanon
Al Nusra: Al Qaeda’s Syria Offensive
– The Daily Beast
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/02/23/al-nusra-al-qaeda-s-syria-offensive.html
Al Qaeda’s franchise in Syria, just one year old, is now the fastest-growing al Qaeda front in the world, attracting fighters from across the Islamic world. Jabhat al Nusra, translated variously as the Victory Front or the Support Front for the Syrian People, was founded in January 2012, almost a year after the first demonstrations against the dictatorship of President Bashar al-Assad. It was created with the assistance of the al Qaeda franchise in Iraq that was formed nearly a decade ago during the American invasion. The Iraqi base provided a safe haven for setting up the front in Syria and still provides sanctuary for the Syrian group to this day.
Qatar cuts poet’s life sentence to 15 years for “inciting revolt”
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/qatar-cuts-poets-life-sentence-15-years-inciting-revolt
A Qatari poet jailed for life for criticizing the emir and attempting to incite revolt had his sentence cut to 15 years on Monday, in a case human rights groups said showed hypocrisy by the Gulf state, which has supported uprisings elsewhere in the Middle East.
In his verses, Mohammed Ibn al-Dheeb al-Ajami praised the revolts that toppled several authoritarian leaders across the Arab world, often with the help of money and other support from Qatar, a close US ally which also backs rebels in Syria.
But the poet also criticized Qatar’s absolute monarch and spoke, for example, of “sheikhs playing on their PlayStations.”
He was sentenced to life in prison in November, but he appealed against the conviction and sentence, arguing he should be freed as there was no evidence that he had recited the offending verses in public and so no basis for charging him with incitement.
Russia-US spat dooms UN statement on Damascus bomb | The Times of Israel
http://www.timesofisrael.com/russia-us-spat-dooms-un-statement-on-damascus-bomb
La Russie, les Etats-Unis et le peuple syrien.
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia and the United States are blaming each other for the failure of the Security Council to issue a statement condemning the car bomb attack in Damascus that killed at least 53 people.
The attack Wednesday on Syria’s ruling party headquarters and two other bombs that struck intelligence offices left at least 75 dead.
Russia accuses the US of blocking a council statement condemning the rebel attacks. The US says it supported the statement but wanted to add language condemning the Assad regime’s recent attacks.
The sniping between Moscow and Washington over Syria, while not new, hardly augurs well for a Feb. 26 meeting in Berlin of Russia Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and John Kerry, the new US secretary of state.
The meeting will focus on Syria, among other matters.
Arab Perspectives on Iran’s Role in a Changing Middle East
http://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/arab_perspectives_irans_role_changing_middle_east.pdf
The complexity of these Arab attitudes means that, unless and until Egypt becomes a stable, popular, and credible Arab power that captures Arab public imaginations, Iran will continue to have ample opportunity to influence politics in the region, with or without war and regardless of what happens in Syria—particularly in the absence of IsraeliPalestinian peace.
For American policy toward Iran, including the prospects of war, the starting point is, of course, an analysis of direct American interests. What is clear is that even aside from the potential military and economic costs of war with Iran, war is unlikely to limit, and can possibly expand, Iranian opportunities for influence in the Arab world—regardless of its consequences for Iran’s nuclear program.
Très intéressant article sur les tentatives de manipulation médiatique au Liban par l’Armée syrienne libre et ses soutiens locaux : Hyping Hezbollah’s Role in Syria
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/hyping-hezbollah%E2%80%99s-role-syria
On Tuesday, 19 February 2013, the Free Syrian Army (FSA) issued a statement accusing Hezbollah of shelling Syrian territory and threatening to “shell and silence the sources of Hezbollah fire in Lebanese territory” if it did not stop within 48 hours.
No sooner had the ultimatum expired did various media outlets broadcast reports that Hezbollah bases in Syria and Lebanon had been targeted, including an artillery position in the border village of Hawsh al-Sayyed Ali.The news spread like wildfire.
Yet in the town of Hermel and the adjoining villages of Qasr and Hawsh al-Sayyed Ali – scenes of the supposed attacks – life continued as normal. The only thing disturbing the peace of local residents was the inundation of phone calls from concerned or curious outsiders.
“There’s nothing happening here,” a local source told Al-Akhbar. “It’s just media propaganda to go with the statements made by the armed groups in Syria. It’s coming from the channels that support them.”
To him, the false reports had a clear political objective. “It’s about covering up what happened in Ersal, and the general impression it left that some of the people there are harboring al-Nusra Front members. In return, they want to give the impression that the Assi Valley villages, whose people have faced killings and displacement, are harboring Hezbollah fighters.”
Syria’s war, Israel’s trap | openDemocracy
http://www.opendemocracy.net/paul-rogers/syrias-war-israels-trap
Par Paul Rogers.
Le likoudien (et champion de l’unilatéralisme par la force) INSS israélien serait tellement inquiet des évènements dans la région qu’il appelle Netanyahou à « présenter un plan raisonnable aux leaders de la Cisjordanie. »
Paul Rogers n’y voit pas une ultime tentative d’anesthésier son monde, mais une « petite raison d’espérer. »
There appears to be some recognition of this in the surprising decision of the hawkish Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) - which has close links with prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu - to urge a resumption of talks with the Palestinians (see Barbara Opall-Rome, “Israeli Experts: Palestinian Peace Plan Could Push Agenda for Region”, Defense News, 11 February 2013).
True, Israel’s perceived need to gain diplomatic credence, not least with the Obama administration, is part of the reason for this move. Defense News says:
“Before Washington and the international community impose conditions on both parties - and in order to forestall new rounds of violence that will further inflame public opinion in Egypt, Jordan, Turkey and other countries with a common interest in derailing Iran’s nuclear weapons program - INSS experts urge the new Netanyahu government to present a reasonable plan to Palestinian leaders in the West Bank.”
There is something more than political calculation in the Israeli institute’s analysis. The wider reality is that events are moving against Israel across the region. Indeed, the massive border defences are a clear indicator of this. Israel is now completely surrounded, and its treatment of the Palestinians both isolates it further and creates the potential for deeper instability. The INSS’s move indicates that the depth of this predicament is understood by some among Israel’s security elite, and no longer confined to critical analysts who have long pointed this out. So far, there is little sign that Netanyahu has got the message. But this shift in an Israeli think-tank’s outlook gives some small cause for hope.
What the Syrian death tolls really tell us
| Sharmine Narwani |
guardian.co.uk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/feb/15/syrian-death-tolls-tell-us
La bataille des chiffres sur les morts en Syrie, personne n’est vraiment innocent
As if to underline the point, Libya’s new government recently announced that death tolls had been exaggerated during the 2011 Libyan civil war; that there had been around 5,000 deaths on either side – a long way from the reported tens of thousands of casualties that set the scene for Nato’s “humanitarian” intervention, or the 30-50,000 deaths claimed by opponents of this intervention.
While physically present in Iraq, the US and British governments were unable to provide estimates of the numbers of deaths unleashed by their own invasion, yet in Syria, the same governments frequently quote detailed figures, despite lacking essential access.
Syria’s death toll leapt from 45,000 to 60,000 earlier this year, a figure gathered by a UN-sponsored project to integrate data from seven separate lists. The new numbers are routinely cited by politicians and media as fact, and used to call for foreign intervention in the conflict.
Editorial: William Hague has been outflanked on Syria
- The Independent
http://www.independent.co.uk/topic/Syria
Britain’s inability to persuade its fellow EU countries to have weapons supplied to non-Islamist groups in the Syrian opposition was a diplomatic failure waiting to happen. The result is that Britain is left wringing its hands on the sidelines, while Russia’s efforts to guide future peace negotiations between the two sides seem increasingly assured and promising. To invert Douglas Hurd’s famous formulation, we are punching below our weight: pressing for aggressive solutions which we lack both the muscle to impose ourselves, and the powers of argument to convince our allies to support.
Syria’s civil war destabilising the Caucasus - World Socialist Web Site
Une vision un peu décentrée du conflit en Syrie
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/02/18/cauc-f18.html
Syria’s civil war destabilising the Caucasus
By Clara Weiss
18 February 2013
The civil war in Syria is increasingly destabilising the Caucasus. Chechen Islamists fighting against the Kremlin are supporting the Syrian Islamist opposition. Russia fears that an Islamist regime in Damascus would change the whole balance of power in the region. At the same time, ethnic conflicts threaten to spill over from Syria into the southern and northern regions of the Caucasus.
Since the middle of last year, it has been known that the Syrian opposition has included up to 6,000 Chechen Islamists, who have been fighting for national independence from the Russian Federation since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. In August, an air attack on Aleppo led to the death of Gelayev Rustam, the son of a prominent Chechen warlord who had fought for years against the Russian army.
L’étrange proposition d’un ministre iranien sur les négociations nucléaires
Iran tries to link nuclear talks to Arab uprisings
THE DAILY STAR
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/Feb-15/206561-iran-tries-to-link-nuclear-talks-to-arab-uprisings.ashx#axzz2Kx
The semiofficial Iranian news agency Mehr said Tuesday Tehran had proposed including Syria – where an increasingly sectarian civil war is raging – and Bahrain – which is grappling with unrest by majority Shiites – in the talks with world powers.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has proposed as a suggestion to Western countries that the crisis in Syria and Bahrain be among the issues discussed in negotiations in Kazakhstan,” Mehr quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi as saying.
Si cette proposition était confirmée, elle entérinerait l’idée que l’Iran cherche à travers le débat sur le nucléaire, à se voir reconnaître, y compris par les Etats-Unis, un statut de puissance régionale. Ce qui inquiète au plus haut point les monarchies du Golfe.
Ce qu’ Fateh Abdel Salam, dans Az-Zaman appelle le Saddam deal
“The matters concerning the Iranian nuclear file have reached what can be dubbed “the Saddam phase” in reference to Saddam Hussein who always aspired for an all or nothing deal with the USA. His occupation of Kuwait in 1990 represented the beginning of his deal offers where he demanded that Syria withdraws from Lebanon, which is not something that Washington wanted...
FRAPPES ISRAELIENNES CONTRE LA SYRIE.
Un article du Washington Post cité par l’institut de recherche israélien The Institute for National Security Studies
Israeli strike in Syria might be first in series
By Joel Greenberg and Babak Dehghanpisheh
Published: February 9, 2013 in The Washington Post
JERUSALEM – Israel’s recent airstrike in Syria, which according to Western officials targeted weapons destined for the militant Lebanese group Hezbollah, could mark the start of a more aggressive campaign by Israel to prevent arms transfers as conditions in Syria deteriorate, according to analysts in Israel and Lebanon.
Israel’s readiness to strike again if necessary heralds a new and more volatile phase in the regional repercussions of Syria’s civil war, which has raised concerns in Israel about the possible transfer of advanced or nonconventional weapons to Islamist militant groups.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak all but acknowledged that Israel carried out the strike near Damascus on Jan. 30, saying it was “proof that when we say something we mean it.” An Israeli cabinet minister had warned before the attack that Israel could act against transfers of chemical weapons to militant groups.
Amos Yadlin, a former chief of Israeli military intelligence who directs the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, said in an interview that while future Israeli action could be expected, it would depend on specific calculations of the advantages and risks of such strikes.http://www.inss.org.il/upload/(FILE)1360487092.pdf
Sur l’effort israélien de propagande à destination de l’Europe, je viens de retrouver l’article d’origine (28 novembre 2010) : Lieberman urges Europe embassies to use ’allies’ in PR efforts
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/lieberman-urges-europe-embassies-to-use-allies-in-pr-efforts-1.327261
The Foreign Ministry team will produce three types of materials: political messages, in which Israel’s positions on the peace process, the settlements, etc. will be encapsulated; “branding” messages which will position Israel in specific areas of activity, such as technology, economy, tourism, etc.; and messages about problematic developments in the Middle East which are not directly related to Israel, such as human rights in Iran or Syria, Hezbollah’s take over in Lebanon, etc.
L’attentat du 1e février à Ankara devrait pousser le Premier ministre turc à revoir sa politique exérieure.
The Hindu : Opinion / Editorial : Erdogan should talk Turkey
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/erdogan-should-talk-turkey/article4400728.ece
The facts about the bombing may seem unproblematic, but Turkey’s domestic and international policies cause bitter resentment among several sections of its 74 million population, and any one of several groups could have carried out the recent attack, for a variety of reasons. Hardline leftist groups have long opposed Turkey’s collaboration with NATO — the country is a member of the Atlantic alliance — and have gained fresh resolve from Ankara’s help for Washington in the Syrian crisis; Turkey, which favours foreign intervention in Syria, hosts NATO troops and a Patriot missile system near the Turkish-Syrian border. Most of Turkey’s Alawite community, however, are strong supporters of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, who belongs to the ruling Alawite minority there. Yet another sect, Turkish Alevis, are disproportionately represented among the country’s Marxist factions. In addition, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), led by Abdullah Öcalan, who is imprisoned on an island off Istanbul since 1999, has been involved in a 40-year war for independence that has cost 40,000 lives so far. Istanbul’s security services have been talking with Mr. Öcalan since December 2012, but a political settlement looks as remote as ever. The sooner Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdog˘an responds to the justifiable disquiet that Turkey’s domestic policies and international realpolitik generates among substantial sections of its people, the better the prospects of lasting peace in the country and region.