Syrians for BHL
Rami Zurayk (Land and People, 8 July 2011): “Is there anyone who follows politics and champions the Arab and Palestinian causes who does not know Bernard Henri Levy? . . . He was one of the first to enter the shattered remains of Jenin on board a Zionist tank to express his admiration for the Israeli army’s excellent work in ethnic cleansing and genocide. . . . This is the man who has taken the job of ‘liberating’ Syria. He called for a conference in support of the Syrian opposition in its French capital, Paris. Despite many refusals from those who were invited, and a modest statement from some intellectuals condemning the conference, there were some Syrians who headed to Paris, who sat down and listened and clapped their hands for the Zionists who are preparing to break Syria up into little pieces and drown it in blood, all in the name of ‘freedom and democracy.’ Those people, some of whom come from ‘big’ families, count themselves as nobles and think of Syria as theirs and their families’ inherited estates, and some of whom represent the Syrian Muslims Brotherhood, should be placed on a list of shame and be mentioned only as traitors. As for the honourable Syrian opposition, what is demanded of it now is to unequivocally clarify its position and to reject foreign interference, particularly from the Zionists, and to condemn those who attended the conference and refuse to deal with them.”
Roses and Olive Branches for American Ambassador in Hama
Robert Ford in Hama, 7 July 2011
Victoria Nuland, US State Department Spokesperson (Daily Press Briefing, Washington, DC, 7 July 2011): “All I can tell you is that he [US Ambassador Robert Ford] had at least a dozen encounters with those Syrians of Hama who are dissatisfied and concerned about the government’s action.”
The “Syrian Revolution Coordinators Union” thanks US Ambassador Robert Ford and French Ambassador Éric Chevallier for their interest in Syria; says that the group handed the US and French ambassadors “4 CDs” that it claims contain “pictures of martyrs” (and God knows what else, real or forged or both); and demands that the “international legitimacy of the regime” be destroyed . . . according to the group’s own statement issued on 8 July 2011, which addresses the US and French ambassadors as “representatives of the free world.”
As’ad AbuKhalil (Angry Arab News Service, 9 July 2011): “[T]here is a history of American staging of public spectacles: from Operation Ajax in Iran in 1953, to the most fake staging of a spectacle — the topping of Saddam’s statue in Firdaws Square in Baghdad. . . .”
Syria Comment (8 July 2011): “They lost the plot in Hama it seems. Throwing flowers on the convoy?! Syrians sitting on the sidelines object to this. I was just passing by a huge pro demo in Bab Touma and took this photo. Thousands of people called to move the demo in front of the US embassy. They started car pooling and moving in masses. Anti-Americanism is on the rise in Syria thanks to the ambassador!”
Friday of No Dialogue
Syria Comment (8 July 2011): “This Friday [8 July 2011, ‘Friday of No Dialogue’] was not very satisfying for the demonstration organizers. Most demos were small and almost none reported in Aleppo and Damascus proper. Reports about large demos in cities other than Hama and Homs were largely untrue and some were totally fake.”
See, also, Yazan Badran, “Syria: An Uprising, Not a Revolution” (Syria Comment, 5 July 2011).
var idcomments_acct = ‘c90a61ed51fd7b64001f1361a7a71191’;
var idcomments_post_id;
var idcomments_post_url;