Eretz Israel is our unforgettable historic homeland...The Jews who will it shall achieve their State...And whatever we attempt there for our own benefit will redound mightily and beneficially to the good of all mankind. (Theodor Herzl, DerJudenstaat, 1896)

We offer peace and amity to all the neighbouring states and their peoples, and invite them to cooperate with the independent Jewish nation for the common good of all. The State of Israel is ready to contribute its full share to the peaceful progress and development of the Middle East.
(From Proclamation of the State of Israel, 5 Iyar 5708; 14 May 1948)

With a liberal democratic political system operating under the rule of law, a flourishing market economy producing technological innovation to the benefit of the wider world, and a population as educated and cultured as anywhere in Europe or North America, Israel is a normal Western country with a right to be treated as such in the community of nations.... For the global jihad, Israel may be the first objective. But it will not be the last. (Friends of Israel Initiative)

Sunday 21 February 2016

David Singer: Syria – End The Diplomatic Doublespeak Start Getting Serious

Here's  the latest article by Sydney lawyer and international affairs analyst David Singer.

He writes:

The deadline for a ceasefire in Syria by 19 February has passed with no indication that it will be achieved at any time in the foreseeable future. Hopes for that ceasefire were high after the UN Security Council had unanimously passed Resolution 2254 on 18 December 2015 requesting:
“the Secretary-General to lead the effort, through the office of his Special Envoy and in consultation with relevant parties, to determine the modalities and requirements of a ceasefire as well as continue planning for the support of ceasefire implementation, and urges Member States, in particular members of the ISSG, to support and accelerate all efforts to achieve a ceasefire, including through pressing all relevant parties to agree and adhere to such a ceasefire”
The ISSG mentioned in the Resolution is the International Syria Support Group – comprising the Arab League, China, Egypt, the EU, France, Germany, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United Nations, and the United States.

ISSG has proved totally ineffective in ending the five year conflict in Syria that has seen more than 300000 deaths and seven million Syrians internally displaced or fleeing to neighbouring States and swamping Europe to escape the horrific carnage unleashed in Syria during that time.

Islamic State was spawned in Syria and Iraq in July 2014 and now occupies more land than the area of Great Britain. Together with Al Nusra Front – a Syria-based Sunni extremist group that adheres to the global jihadist ideology of al-Qa'ida – both have been declared terrorist organisations by the UN Security Council. Meeting in Munich on 12 and 13 February the ISSG members agreed that:
“The UN shall serve as the secretariat of the ceasefire task force. The cessation of hostilities will commence in one week, after confirmation by the Syrian government and opposition, following appropriate consultations in Syria.”
During that week, the ISSG task force will develop modalities for the cessation of hostilities. The ISSG task force will, among other responsibilities continue to:
a) delineate the territory held by Daesh [Islamic State], ANF [Al Nusra Front] and other groups designated as terrorist organisations by the United Nations Security Council;
 b) ensure effective communications among all parties to promote compliance and rapidly de-escalate tensions;
c) resolve allegations of non-compliance; and
 d) refer persistent non-compliant behaviour by any of the parties to ISSG Ministers, or those designated by the Ministers, to determine appropriate action, including the exclusion of such parties from the arrangements for the cessation of hostilities and the protection it affords them.”
Meaningless gobbledygook.

The ISSG task force failed to meet once during that critical seven day period. Whilst the UN and the ISSG task force mumbles, fumbles and stumbles, the carnage continues – as the ISSG members remain divided between those supporting Syria’s President Assad retaining power and those seeking his removal.

The ISSG is hopelessly conflicted and needs to adopt a different approach to begin ending the suffering of the Syrian people.

All ISSG members unanimously agree that Islamic State and Al Nusra Front represent a grave threat to world peace and security.

Russia, America, China, France and the United Kingdom – the five permanent members of the Security Council and all ISSG members – need to combine their diplomatic power to procure the passing of an unequivocal and unambiguous Security Council Resolution establishing a UN military force to confront and defeat Islamic State and Al Nusra Front.

Until these enemies are comprehensibly defeated, all else is diplomatic doublespeak and a complete waste of time in ending the conflict in Syria.

7 comments:

  1. If they want to blame everything on the Jews while ignoring the other 99.998% of violence and mayhem, then fine. The upside is that every single day every single time they do that it's a few more of their precious Muslims put in the ground. In the time it took to read this sentence more Syrians were raped killed and eaten by other Syrians than the sum total of all Arabs shot by police in Israel during the commission of an attempted murder of a Jew. And I'm ok with that.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Empress

    You shouldn't be ok with the murder of innocent civilians anywhere in the world.

    What you should not find OK is the failure to take action against their murderers or those like Ban Ki-moon who try to justify such murders or condemn as "disproportionate" attempts to eliminate these murderers.

    Since my article was published another 140 civilians were reportedly murdered in Homs and Damascus.
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35624654

    That might be ok for you. It is not for me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I do not have the luxury nor the inclination to pull people out of a flaming wreck so that they can murder me later on.

      Delete
    2. Empress
      With an attitude like that you are guaranteeing that those who survive the flaming wreck will have even greater motivation to want to murder you.

      Delete
    3. They will anyway. No point in letting them pick out the hill I'm to die on.

      Delete
    4. Hopefully your anonymity will protect you from being targeted.

      Delete
  3. By Raymond Ibrahim:
    http://www.meforum.org/5837/isis-latest-phase-of-jihad

    ReplyDelete

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