Translated from Arabic for original go to url: http://syriafreedomforever.wordpress.com/2013/05/05/%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%8A%D9%86-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D9%8A%D8%B4-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%B1-%D9%86%D8%AD%D9%86-%D9%86%D8%B1%D9%81%D8%B6-%D8%A3/
Statements of the Free Syrian Army: We reject any relationship with the Zionist enemy Posted on May 5, 2013 The first statement FSA confirms that called Hassan Alrstnaoa, which appeared on one of the channels Alasraúlah under the name of a media spokesman for the Free Syrian Army is known to the Free Army which does not represent any party belonging to the Free Syrian Army. What mentioned said that the station represents the point of view only and is not linked to the opinion of the leadership of the Free Army categorically The leadership of the army free to consider the Israeli enemy that traditionally was still an enemy and will remain so until the liberation of all occupied Arab of براثنه dirty Long live free Syria father Mehmed director of the Information Office of the Free Syrian Army The second statement Chairman of the Military Council in Aleppo, Colonel Abdul-Jabbar Aqidi In the name of God the Merciful: peace, mercy and blessings of God today apologized for going to attend a symposium held at the Washington Institute for Near East Studies from the date of May 8 to 10 where he has been for me an invitation to attend this symposium and deliver a speech on May 9 in a panel discussion on the conflict in Syria and you have I decided to go after consulting many friends, but I was surprised today that among the audience, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and this is the reason for not attending the symposium --------------------------------------------------------- * * *Lebanon:The Shiite Split* * * *https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/reportsfeatures/the-shiite-split* --------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Aid and Refugees* An investigation by London's Independent on Sunday -- of $1.5 billion pledged by 42 states in January --- indicates that Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain, and organisations have failed to deliver $650 million<http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/exclusive-syrian-aid-in-crisis-as-gulf-states-renege-on-promises-8604125.html> : ** *Saudi Arabia pledged $78m. As of 1 May, the kingdom was recorded as contributing $21.6m. The United Arab Emirates pledged $300m. It has given $18.4m. Qatar, which will spend tens of billions hosting the 2022 football World Cup, pledged $100m to the UN effort. It is recorded as delivering $2.7m. Bahrain, which last month hosted a Formula One grand prix at a recently built $2bn circuit, pledged $20m. There has been no recorded aid given since. Iraq pledged $10m in Kuwait; nothing has yet been recorded in aid delivered.------ ------------------------------------------- * Syria Audio Analysis: The Significance of the Israeli Airstrikes --- Scott Lucas with Monocle 24<http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/2013/5/6/syria-audio-analysis-the-significance-of-the-israeli-airstri.html> inShare Monday, May 6, 2013 at 8:38 | Scott Lucas<http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/author/scott-lucas> in EA Middle East and Turkey<http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/category/ea-middle-east-and-turkey> , Middle East and Iran<http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/category/middle-east-and-iran> I spoke this morning, along with correspondent Daniella Peled, on Monocle 24's The Globalist about the details and consequences of Israel's airstrikes inside Syria this weekend. *Listen from 7:09 mark --- with my contribution from 10:20 --- onThe Globalist's homepage <http://monocle.com/radio/shows/the-globalist/> or in separate pop-out window <http://monocle.dl.groovygecko.com/m24/10600396.mp3>* Take-away points: 1. A lot of the supposed information on the airstrikes --- such as Israel targeting weapons like Iranian-made Fateh 110 missiles or Israel acting without notifying the US --- is misleading or incorrect; 1. "Everyone --- the regime, the insurgency, regime supporters like Iran, opposition supporters like the US, Turkey, and Arab States --- has to re-calculate strategy in light of these attacks"; 3. "But fundamentally, this does not change the calculus: is Assad going to help firm or step down? Are the opposition and insurgency going to be able to unify to help build international support?" 4. "The Israelis are trying to degrade Assad's military capabilities, which just happens to help the insurgents if they decide to make a push on Damascus." I also talk about Sunday's curious report that a United Nations investigator has claimed "suspicions" of insurgent use of the nerve agent sarin. -------------------------------------- http://www.maysaloon.org/ SUNDAY, MAY 05, 2013 Might does not make Right<http://www.maysaloon.org/2013/05/might-does-not-make-right.html> Again and again the Syrian revolution is condemned as some kind of foreign "conspiracy" that is aimed against the self-described bastion of Arab resistance to Israel. Last night's Israeli attack against an Assad regime research facility in Damascus has brought out of the woodwork all sorts of individuals who, silent in the face of the massacre in the coastal city of Banyas for the past three days, have suddenly found their voices. The pictures we saw coming out of Banyas these past few days were truly horrific, and were reminiscent of the images we saw emerge from the Sabra and Chatilla massacres during the Lebanese civil war. Yet these self-styled anti-imperialists did not retweet and angrily condemn these murders. Instead they chose silence and wilful ignorance. Today they are trying to portray last night's Israeli air raids as an attack on Syrian sovereignty, as if that is not what Assad has been doing to Syrians for the past two and a half years. Apart from the evident hypocrisy of this position, there are also two fallacies underlying their argument. Firstly that the Syrian regime represents Syria, and that an attack on it is an attack on the country and its people, and secondly that Israel did this in support of the Syrian revolution. With regards to the second point most Syrians, including those who support the revolution, are missing the fact that Israel hasn't the slightest concern for the Syrian revolution or the Syrians who are dying. It is focused first and foremost on its battle with Iran and Hezbullah, and has consistently stated that it will not let the more advanced weaponry in Syria's arsenal fall into Hezbullah's arms. When it attacks Assad's bases and arsenals, it is doing so with a clear strategy and based on these calculations only. Syrians supporting the revolution should neither cheer nor lament the involvement of Israel's attacks on Assad's arsenal. From a practical point of view it is very much an advantage to the revolution (armed as well as peaceful), as it is far better for the regime's arsenal and advanced divisions to be obliterated than that they be used against Syrian towns and villages. We have seen the piles of bodies in Banyas and countless Syrian villages and cities, and so close to the anniversary of the Houla massacre which was perpetrated by Assad regime thugs. These images will forever be engraved in the collective memory of Syrians and never again must we allow ourselves to be in such a position, that Syrians be slaughtered like sheep in an abattoir. To cheer for Israel's attack on Assad, apart from being misguided, also makes the mistake of siding with one oppressor against another. How different is it, then, that people would side with Iran simply because it claims to be fighting for the Palestinians? This is a fallacy, and more importantly the answer is not to wag the finger at Israel and claim that once we finish with Assad we will drive over and liberate Jerusalem in a Golgotha of blood. We must instead reinvent our narrative. International law, human rights, and morality are with us as they are with the Palestinian people, and it is through this path that we can then achieve true justice for all and make good cause with good people across the world. True Syrian sovereignty begins with us as people and not as a regime. It is when we realise this simple political fact that we can decide how best to champion the cause of oppressed people the world over. We, as Syrians, *and the Syrian transitional government should take note*, have a unique opportunity to right the wrongs of the past, and to be a shining beacon of human rights and democracy not just to the Middle East but to the world. We can and should create a national self-belief that we are a unique mix of people who will never accept might as right. A Syria committed to human rights and the rule of law will protect itself from Israeli missiles and warplanes far better than expensive, and largely ineffective, Russian S-300 air defence systems. When we become the change that we have fought for so fervently, we will become far better champions for the downtrodden than all the divisions of Hezbullah and Iran put together. Email This<http://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=30984739&postID=431224958913955693&target=email> BlogThis!<http://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=30984739&postID=431224958913955693&target=blog>Share to Twitter<http://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=30984739&postID=431224958913955693&target=twitter>Share to Facebook<http://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=30984739&postID=431224958913955693&target=facebook> . <http://www.maysaloon.org/2013/05/might-does-not-make-right.html> POSTED BY MAYSALOON AT 11:15 AM<http://www.maysaloon.org/2013/05/might-does-not-make-right.html> 0 COMMENTS<http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=30984739&postID=431224958913955693&isPopup=true> <http://www.blogger.com/email-post.g?blogID=30984739&postID=431224958913955693> LABELS: SYRIA <http://www.maysaloon.org/search/label/Syria> TUESDAY, APRIL 30, 2013 Syria: Hezbullah's Quagmire?<http://www.maysaloon.org/2013/04/syria-hezbullahs-quagmire.html> <http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ASFiBnaCbLM/RhGhpQB8ocI/AAAAAAAAAHo/Q66pjaLp41E/s1600/nasrallah_265x336.jpg> Nasrallah's speech earlier today was, rhetoric not withstanding, a declaration of war on Syria. Syria, as some people would like us all to forget, is not the Assad regime, it is the Syrian people. And it is the Syrian people that are revolting against Assad, a fact that Nasrallah conveniently ignores in his discourse. His talk today was couched in the same kind of vague language that the Syrian regime uses to refer to the "crisis", with veiled references to "outside actors" without mentioning names, and with promises that details may perhaps be revealed "in future". That is all fluff, and observers will notice that the rhetoric Nasrallah uses to explain Hezbullah's sometimes controversial (to his followers) behaviour is intended to filter down the cult of resistance pyramid - to politicians, journalists, and social media - and shape the discourse. In this way he creates the epistemic grounds for legitimizing what his party does. But that is another blog post for another day. Most interesting to me was Nasrallah's statement regarding Damascus. He promised that Damascus would never fall militarily and I believe he means what he says. It is one thing when all of us feel that a sustained push against the regime in Damascus is long overdue, but another thing when Nasrallah confirms this view because that means that somebody is in a position to try and take the city soon. The statement that the city will "never fall" can mean two things, and neither bode well for the Damascenes and other Syrians who have fled there. The first is that Hezbullah (and Iran) may be heavily invested in the capital and will emerge in full force to support Assad when the campaign begins, and secondly that there will be such a rain of destruction on the city that Aleppo will look like a walk in the park in comparison. Assad's artillery and bases on Mount Qasiyoon, overlooking Damascus, have been raining destruction on the city suburbs for almost a year, and can easily level the old city if it looks like the regime will lose it. But this is not yet the case, and here it looks like Nasrallah's warning is intended to point to an alternative that he desires, negotiations. But these are not the negotiations that most people would understand. I've said previously that when Assad's allies speak of "negotiations", they use a different meaning. Assad will use "negotiations" to refer to discussions with a loyal opposition, whilst his allies really mean negotiations between the United States and Russia on one level, and perhaps an uneasy understanding between the Gulf states and Iran on the other. The elephant in the room is the Syrian opposition in all its flavours, from the Muslim Brotherhood to the Muaz al Khatib current. This is because they are the only party that Assad and his allies cannot allow to operate freely within Syria. To allow any of these currents will mean genuine political plurality and a real challenge to the regime, therefore its downfall. The recent, and controversial, statement addressed to him by Muaz al Khatib appears to have not even registered with Nasrallah. Instead he chose to focus, as an ally of Assad, purely on the narrative that there is an international conspiracy against the Syrian regime and that negotiations should really be with the "foreign backers" of these armed gangs. This is unfortunate and he may come to regret this olive branch later, especially when the fighting reaches Lebanon - and it will at some point. Between Assad negotiating with his loyal opposition, and his foreign allies pushing for the world to abandon Syria's revolution, the real Syrian opposition in all its spectrums, is to be starved to death, and the Syrian people will be returned back to their fifty year induced coma. In summary, Nasrallah has dug in his heels over Assad's regime and declared war on Syria. His party will fight on under the pretence of protecting Lebanese in the country, and on the pretence of protecting the shrine of a woman who is revered by Sunnis as well as Shiites. Hezbullah is now fully embroiled in the Syrian quagmire, and has committed itself to supporting the Assad regime. This is a grave error of judgement for while Hezbullah might be strong in Lebanon, it is not strong in Syria. One need only recall the dreadful blow it received through the assassination of Imad Mughniyeh in Damascus a few years ago, right in the heart of Assad's security district. Furthermore, Hezbullah's soldiers are not familiar with the territory they are fighting in, and they are far from their supply lines and support base. It is clear they have been having an extremely difficult time in the Qusayr, which may be part of the reason why he chose to address his followers about it and also to justify the involvement. Finally, whilst the situation in Lebanon is still not serious enough to concern him, politics in Lebanon can escalate very quickly. By underestimating his domestic opponents and involving himself with a costly fight in Syria, Nasrallah will compound his errors and find himself biting off more than he can chew. Nasrallah told us tonight that it is not important how "you" understand the situation (regarding Shiite interests in Syria), but how other people (his people) see it. But with his fighters trickling back to Lebanon in boxes, Mr Nasrallah seems to be misreading the situation. The only people who's understanding he needs to consider carefully is that of the Syrians, and they have already made their views of his involvement very clear. It was not long ago that Israel slipped away during the night after its failed and costly involvement in Lebanon. Today Hezbullah appear to be making the same mistake. Email This<http://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=30984739&postID=6724513005232186434&target=email> BlogThis!<http://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=30984739&postID=6724513005232186434&target=blog>Share to Twitter<http://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=30984739&postID=6724513005232186434&target=twitter>Share to Facebook<http://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=30984739&postID=6724513005232186434&target=facebook> . <http://www.maysaloon.org/2013/04/syria-hezbullahs-quagmire.html> POSTED BY MAYSALOON AT 8:50 PM<http://www.maysaloon.org/2013/04/syria-hezbullahs-quagmire.html> 0 COMMENTS<http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=30984739&postID=6724513005232186434&isPopup=true> <http://www.blogger.com/email-post.g?blogID=30984739&postID=6724513005232186434> LABELS: HEZBULLAH <http://www.maysaloon.org/search/label/Hezbullah>, SYRIA<http://www.maysaloon.org/search/label/Syria> SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013 Al Azm on "Anti-Imperialists"<http://www.maysaloon.org/2013/04/al-azm-on-anti-imperialists.html> Dr Sadiq Jalal al Azm is somebody I've been wanting to read more of and never had the chance to. I just stumbled upon a recent translation of his interview and I'm impressed by his razor sharp analysis. Of particular interest to me was his classification of the so-called anti-imperialist camp that has made it their mission to obfuscate and confuse the discourse surrounding Syria since the start of the revolution. *Whereas the smaller bloc of the left has hardened its old positions, as if nothing happened after the end of the Cold War, and with time its attitudes and methods became of the same nature as that of the Taliban-Jihadis or dogmatic closed-minded sectarians, or even that of terrorist “Bin Ladenites,” in its blind defiance of the West, global capitalism (a global capitalism that Russia and China are now a part of) and imperialism. This bloc from the left, in the Arab world and internationally, is today the most hostile to the Syrian revolution and the closest to defending the tyrannical military-security-familial regime using several arguments, not least of which is that the entire world plotted, apparently, against this regime that is peace-loving and stable. This type of leftist emphasizes “the game of nations” and “geopolitical analysis,” with stories of collision of interests and plans of the great powers and their dominance in our region, and does not want to view the revolution in Syria through anything other than through this lens, and neglects all that happens inside Syria and to Syria’s revolutionaries today, as well as ignoring all the reasons that led its people to a peaceful revolution, and later to taking up arms in the face of a “nationalist” tyranny that is allied with this kind of leftist. In other words, this leftist has no problem with sacrificing Syria if it leads to a victory being handed to their international camp and “geopolitics” that wants a global victory in the “game of nations.” Their first priority is not Syria or its people in revolt to restore the republic, their freedom, and their dignity, but the game of nations at the global level of analysis and the side that they want to win.* The English translation of the interview is well worth a read here<http://therepublicgs.net/2013/04/27/interview-with-dr-sadiq/> . http://therepublicgs.net/2013/04/27/interview-with-dr-sadiq/ [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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