http://en.daam.org.il/?p=414#more-414
The Israeli attacks on Syria serve Assads criminal regime Posted on 06/05/2013 <http://en.daam.org.il/?p=414> by Da'am Workers Party<http://en.daam.org.il/?author=1> A political statement by Daam Workers Party on the recent Israeli air strikes in Syria Daam Workers Party condemns the Israeli bombings of targets in Syria, especially in the heart of Damascus. This is blatant interference in the process that is underway in Syria, and it harms the revolution of the Syrian people: the struggle to topple the Assad regime and to live in dignity. Israel which has been occupying the West Bank and the Golan Heights for decades, and which conducts an inhumane siege on Gaza has no right to carry out an aggression which could lead to a regional war. The Israeli adventure plays into the hands of the Assad regime, which conducts a barbaric attack on the Syrian people with support from Iran, Russia, and Hezbollah. The bombardment lends a sheen of credibility to Assads false claim that the revolution is an Israeli-American initiative. In recent days the regime, together with Hezbollah, has perpetrated a horrible massacre in the cities of Banias and Kassir; this is part of a program of ethnic cleansing, meant to terrorize the population and quell the revolution. The Israeli attacks distract attention from these crimes, putting the limelight instead on Israels long conflict with the Arab world. This is gratuitous service to the Assad regime. The Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, which represents the Syrian people, demands international action in order to defend the civilian population and stop the massacres. The international communitys ongoing refusal to fulfill this demand has cost more than 70,000 lives, while the number of wounded and imprisoned is in the hundreds of thousands and the number of refugees in the millions. The worlds silence is destroying Syria. In the midst of it, Israel attacks without getting international or Arab support for its actions. Israels purpose is to show its strategic dominance over the region. It has nothing to do with the interests or the aspirations of the Syrian people which Israel never respected. The toppling of the Syrian or Iranian regime does not interest Israel. The struggle belongs to the Syrian and Iranian peoples, which pit themselves against Fascist dictatorial regimes. The future of Hezbollah in Lebanon is likewise the interest of the Lebanese people, which has been hostage to Hezbollahs sectarian ambitions. Daam calls on public opinion in Israel and the world to take an unequivocal stand against the right-wing Israeli government and to call for an end to aggression, an end to the policy of occupation and settlements, and an end to the attitude of refusal that prevents a peace agreement. We bend our heads before the Syrian revolution and its victims! ------------------------------------ *Massacre in Baniyas.* Though it was lost in the news of a massive Israeli airstrike in the capital, and lots of buzz about chemical weapons, this weekend there was a disturbing development on the coast of Syria, in Baniyas. The area is primarily populated by Alawites, however several some villages have a primarily Sunni population, and it appears that it is the Sunni villages that have been attacked. Perhaps more than 100 people have been killed in several villages. An activist has posted this summary<http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1rk5dui>, excerpted below, which has links to four graphic videos, though EA has not yet been able to verify the report: * The campaign of shelling and massacres in Banias and its villages stopped today; however, the fear of massacres still continues among the people. Security forces opened the road today to the neighborhood of Ras Al-Naba' and Batraya. The smell of the corpses of the martyrs has spread throughout the city. The Red Crescent accompanied some of the people to remove the bodies, which led to the discovery of more bodies of martyrs, who were field-executed and slaughtered with knives (especially children). There is a huge number of martyrs who have not yet been documented. Regime forces dug up a large hole on the outskirts of the city as a mass grave for the martyrs of Ras Al-Naba'. The neighborhood of Ras Al-Naba'a and the village of Bayda are declared a disaster-zone and not suitable for further life whatsoever, after witnessing a campaign of ethnic cleansing of the Sunnis on the coast by Assad forces. Bayda Village shows absolutely no traces of human life. All the homes were burned by security forces and the Syrian Army buried the bodies in mass graves. Activists, however, continue to discover many new bodies unburied in the jungles of the village. * The Syrian regime has recruited Alawite militias to maintain security over Baniyas and much of the countryside on the coast. One man who has been hired to lead this effort is Turkish, Mihraç Ural, the chief of the Alawite Syrian Resistance. A video, apparently leaked by his own supporters onto Youtube, shows him bragging about conducting ethnic cleansing<https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/nownews/pro-regime-militant-speaks-of-cleansing-banias> in the area of these massacres, according to *Now Lebanon*: * Banias must be soon besieged, liberated and cleansed, Ural said in a video posted on YouTube on Sunday. The Syrian-Turkish militant also stressed that if required we will participate in the battles in Banias and fulfill our national duty. The pro-regime militant leader explained that Banias is the only pathway for those traitors to the sea, in reference to rebel Free Syrian Army fighters. Our job is to cleanse and liberate towns for [regime] troops, Ural added. * This video has English subtitles, though EA cannot vouch for its authenticity, except to say that this looks and sounds like other videos of Ural that we have seen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=CGZnXTDdfeg 2002 GMT: *Syrian Electronic Hacks Comedy Account.* *The Onion, the most informative website in the world (ok, so it's a parody of a newspaper), has had one of their twitter accounts hacked - by the pro-Assad Syrian Electronic Army<http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/05/06/the_onion_hacked_syrian_electronic_army_takes_over_twitter_feed_apparently.html>. Having now reestablished control by changing their Twitter password<http://www.theonion.com/articles/onion-twitter-password-changed-to-onionman77,32323/>, they report to have interviewed members of the hacker group, who say that they were just having fun before their impending deaths<http://www.theonion.com/articles/syrian-electronic-army-has-a-little-fun-before-ine,32324/> :* * DAMASCUS, SYRIAAfter hacking into The Onions Twitter account earlier today, members of the Syrian Electronic Army confirmed that the organization simply wanted to have a little fun before soon dying at the hands of rebel forces. We figured that before they bust in here and execute every single one of us, we might as well have a good time and post some silly tweets about Israel from a major media outlets feed... * A lot of media organizations have been hacked recently by the Syrian Electronic Army. When the AP account was hacked, it briefly crashed the economy<http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/apr/23/ap-tweet-hack-wall-street-freefall>. But really, who hacks a comedy Twitter account? : *Rockets Hit the Golan Heights.* Israeli territorial sovereignty has been compromised by both rebel fighters and Syrian forces multiple times since the crisis began. Israel has fired back on several occasions, striking the offenders, as well as the airstrikes that Israel says are Hezbollah related. Two rockets have reportedly landed in the Golan Heights<http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/167779#.UYgAErWIh8E> today, according to the IDF, though they did not say whether rebels or the regime was ultimately responsible for their launch: * Two rockets fired from Syrian territory exploded on the Golan Heights on Monday, without causing casualties or damage, an IDF spokesperson said. The rockets exploded in a field near the ceasefire line in the southern Golan, the spokesperson added. The rocket fire was "apparently connected to the situation inside Syria," she added, suggesting Israel was not targeted but that it was a spillover of fighting between the Syrian regime and rebels. "The Israeli army combed the sector the rockets fell in and informed the UN forces deployed in the Golan," the spokesperson said. * These skirmishes and incidents on Israel's border are likely helping to shape Israel's thinking about its response to the Syrian crisis. Historically, Israel has been more comfortable with a predictable threat than an unstable one. Stories like today's were once rare, but are becoming commonplace. Any analysis of Israeli actions needs to keep in mind the eroding security situation on Israel's border. *Backtracking on Chemical Weapons.* Following the suggestion of an Italian UN arms inspector that rebels may have used chemical weapons (see update 0530 GMT<http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/2013/5/6/syria-today-damascus-warns-israel-of-all-possibilities.html#0530>) the commission tasked with investigating these claims has released a statement<http://www.scribd.com/doc/139720604/Press-Release-Un-Coi-Syria-on-Use-of-Chemical-Weapons-in-Syria> distancing itself from this suggestion. * The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic wishes to clarify that it has not reached conclusive findingsas to the use of chemical weapons in Syria by any parties to the conflict. As a result,the Commission is not in a position to further comment on the allegations at this time. The Chair of the Commission of Inquiry, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, reminds all parties tothe conflict that the use of chemical weapons is prohibited in all circumstances undercustomary international humanitarian law * Meanwhile, Turkish doctors who have treated victims of a suspected chemical attack in Saraqib last week say that they have not found evidence that sarin was used<http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/middle-east/syria/130505/syria-chemical-weapons-obama-red-line-turkey-idlib-aleppo-sarin-israel#2> at all. This matches our own assessment that a potent-but-unidentified weapon may have been used<http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/2013/4/30/syria-today-a-chemical-weapons-attack-in-idlib-province.html#1413>. We are continuing to follow those leads, and may be closer to a breakthrough, which we will publish when we have new confirmed *Israeli Airstrike.* We're still analyzing the raw data that sheds light into the scale and scope of the Israeli airstrikes. However, the evidence shows that Israel has conducted a series of coordinated attacks over the course of 4 days. First, on Thursday night, Israel reportedly conducted airstrikes against a site that reportedly housed Iranian-made rockets headed to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Then there were massive airstrikes on early Sunday morning, which we've assessed in a separate feature: *See also Syria Snap Analysis: What Did Israel Bomb, and Why?<http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/2013/5/5/syria-snap-analysis-what-did-israel-bomb-and-why.html> * What we did not know is that there was a third airstrike, near the Damascus International Airport<http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/06/world/middleeast/after-strikes-in-syria-concerns-about-an-escalation-of-fighting.html?_r=0>, according to US officials who spoke to the *New York Times*: * An American official said a more limited strike early Friday at Damascus International Airport was also meant to destroy weapons being sent from Iran to Hezbollah. * In our assessment we cast doubt on the claims that Iranian rockets were the target of Sunday's massive airstrikes against the heart of Assad's fortress in Damascus<http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/2013/5/5/syria-snap-analysis-what-did-israel-bomb-and-why.html>. However, this new piece of information also casts doubt against the theory that Iranian-made rockets are the only target here. Iran has used many airports and airbases across the country to supply Assad and his soldiers with arms, ammunition, money, food, and other supplies. However, the Damascus International Airport (DAM) is near the front lines of Assad's fight for the capital. It is occasionally under siege by advancing rebels. It is not the closest or safest way for Iran or the Syrian regime to transport anything to Lebanon. While arms headed towards Lebanon may have been the focus of other airstrikes, this airstrike, and Sunday's, appear to have targeted much more sensitive targets, resources that Assad was using to counter a revolution, not to smuggle to Hezbollah. Why would Israel do this? One reason is clear - to send a message that if Assad is going to partner with Hezbollah, the price will be extremely high and will threaten the very survival of the regime. There are other reasons as well, and we'll have a separate analysis up soon. http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/2013/5/6/syria-today-damascus-warns-israel-of-all-possibilities.html [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:la...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! 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