Tag: Syria

Why is the media ignoring Israel’s alliance with al-Qaeda?

Summarizing all we have learned so far about Israel’s alliance with al-Qaida in Syria, along with the latest revelations:

In the video, Lieutenant Colonel Dr. Itzik Malka claims of the 1,600 wounded he said have arrived in Israel from Syria, “the majority are women, children and elderly people” (my emphasis). That’s another implicit acknowledgement that Israel is treating wounded militants from Syria (the majority of whom in that area are al-Qaeda). And Ben Yishai himself in the article accompanying the footage states that “wounded Syrians have been arriving almost daily to the security fence, seeking medical help. It is likely that most if not all of these nationals are rebels from the rival jihadist Islamic State and al-Nusra Front groups”.

Read the whole thing over at MEMO.

Saudi Arabia is helping al-Qaeda invade Syria

On recent events in Syria:

A March offensive led to the armed opposition capturing the city of Idlib, a north-western provincial capital. Although only a small city, this victory, and the subsequent occupation of Jisr al-Shughour on Saturday are significant, since they bring al-Qaeda closer to Lataqia, the coastal heartland of support for the regime.

Although supporters of the Syrian opposition have lauded this as a “liberation” of Idlib, it is clear that the assault was spearheaded by Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria. To say the least, this is a group in no way interested in democracy and human rights.

Read the rest over at MEMO.

Israel moves to cover-up its alliance with al-Qaeda in Syria

As totally sceptical as I am about the propaganda system that is the mainstream media, it still surprises me that this story is getting almost zero media attention. Israel has admitted being in active military alliance with a group considered one of the Western world’s greatest terrorist threats. And all purely to make sure Syria bleeds for as long as possible:

Al-Maqet was detained without access to a lawyer for ten days, and the military court eventually ruled that he must use a lawyer with a high-level security clearance (in other words he has to use a former Israeli military officer as a lawyer … as his defender in a military court).

The amount of trouble that Israel’s Deep State is going to in order to shut this man up is deeply emblematic of the state’s fundamentally anti-democractic nature. It also shows that, the more press coverage there is of Israel’s alliance with al-Qaeda in Syria (it has been pretty much ignored by mainstream media to date) the more Israel is sensitive to the facts being exposed.

After all, by aiding al-Qaeda in Syria, Israel is by providing material support to a group that it itself defines as a terrorist organization, as do the US and British governments.

Read the whole column over at MEMO.

Israeli army admits aiding al-Qaeda in Syria

On the Israel/al-Qaida alliance in Syria:

“We don’t ask who they are, we don’t do any screening,” the unnamed Israeli military official told the paper of the hospital treatment of al-Qaeda fighters. “Once the treatment is done, we take them back to the border [sic – ceasefire line] and they go on their way [in Syria],” he said.

An unnamed military official also said there is an “understanding” between Israeli forces and al-Qaeda fighters there and that “there is a familiarity of the [al-Qaeda] forces on the ground”.

Read the full article at MEMO.

Dire state of Libya is a warning against intervention in Syria

On the precedent of Libya for Syria:

Local ceasefires appear to be the only way forward that does not involve a seemingly perpetual civil war.

With the possibility that talks of “intervention” could make a comeback sometime in the next month, it is worth reviewing what such NATO “intervention” has meant for Libya.

Al-Jazeera English‘s programme Fault Lines revisited the country long after most of the western journalists lost interest and left it.

Syria: the revolution that never was

Probably the most controversial thing I have ever written (controversy generated by Israel’s propagandists generally being  falsified). Alternative judgements rendered on Twitter: “Good,” “Brilliant,” “Spot-on” and (my favourite of the insults) “someone throwing up on their keyboard”:

But we can now say with confidence that none of these uprisings has constituted a revolution. Of course, the immense struggles and sacrifices that people have made may yet sow seeds for the future… To say Syria is now a disaster is a massive understatement. This is a sectarian civil war which could continue for a decade if the regime’s enemies, led by the brutal Saudi tyranny, continue to wage their proxy war on the country.

As usual, read the rest of this column over at MEMO.

UPDATE, 26/11: After pressure, MEMO has decided to to withdraw this article because they deemed it “offensive.” It has been deleted from their website and replaced with a note (although a copy was preserved on the Internet Archive).

I totally stand by the article, the full text of which is below. 28/11: Jacobin magazine has also now republished it on their site.

Syria: the revolution that never was

By Asa Winstanley

What has happened in the Arab world since Tunisian icon Muhammed Bouazizi burned himself to death in protest in December 2010?

A series of popular uprisings, each feeding off the next, swept the region. From Morocco to Oman, there were varying degrees of protest against ossified regimes, demanding everything from the downfall of the regime to more simple reforms.

But we can now say with confidence that none of these uprisings has constituted a revolution. Of course, the immense struggles and sacrifices that people have made may yet sow seeds for the future.

Continue reading Syria: the revolution that never was

Inventing a genocide as pretext to bomb Syria

This week’s column over at MEMO. An extract:

Claiming that all the killing in this war is being done by Assad alone, is a way to increase the propaganda beat of the war-drums against Syria. If in fact the vast majority of the 100,000 had been killed by the regime, it would imply a one-way massacre, not the reality of this dirty civil war. Mousab Azzawi, the pro-NATO leader of the SOHR splinter group even claimed to Western media that there is a “genocide” going on in Syria. Freedland seems to be implying the same.

My interview with Russia Today on the Syrian Observatory

UPDATE: The problems I detail below have now been resolved. Fair play to RT, they corrected the page I complained about less than two hours after I posted the item below. To clarify: I have no problem with the edit of the interview itself, it’s well done. It’s also running on the live channel itself every hour on the half hour today, I’m told.

After my story for Al Akhbar English about the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Russia Today asked to do to the above interview with me about the case, released on their website today. The interview itself is fine, however, I take issue with the written summary of the interview RT published on their site. Specifically:

  • I did not say “the sources of such information [on the dead in Syria] are highly questionable”.
  • I did not blame “Syrian activists for speaking on the situation in Syria the way the West wants”.
  • I certainly did not say “human rights activists cannot necessarily be trusted”. I did cast doubt on some of the claims of a certain Mussab Azzawi.

In short, watch the interview rather than trusting the article.

The Syrian Observatory: The Inside Story

Published by Al-Akhbar English and protected by copyright under a Creative Commons license.

By: Asa Winstanley

Published Thursday, January 26, 2012

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has become the most quoted, and most disputed, primary source of casualty figures in Syria. Al-Akhbar investigates the political disputes, personal gain and prejudice, and media role behind a recent row over its ownership.

Continue reading The Syrian Observatory: The Inside Story