Questions and answers on the war in Syria and the crisis in Idlib

An Assad regime helicopter in flames over Idlib after being shot by Turkish-backed forces, 11 February 2020. Photo by Ghaith Alsayed, AP.

The Syrian war has lasted nine years, and can be hard for many to understand.

We have written the following guide to help understand the war, and the current escalation in Idlib province. If you find it useful, please share on and on .

If you would like to write to your MP about any of these points, you can email them via writetothem.com.

• Why is there still a war in Syria?
Nine years after the first demonstrations of 2011, the Assad regime continues to pursue a forcible displacement strategy against a population that rejects its rule, deliberately bombing civilians to force them to flee.

• What caused the crisis in Idlib?
The Assad regime and its ally Russia broke a demilitarised zone agreement with Turkey, attacked population centres, and advanced into Idlib province, forcing a million people to flee to the Turkish border.

Two thirds of Idlib’s population are there because they were forcibly displaced from other parts of Syria.

• Why can’t people in Idlib escape into Turkey?
Refugees in Idlib are trapped across the border from Turkey by the border wall, built with EU financial investment to stop refugees from entering Turkey as part of the deal to keep refugees from Europe’s borders. They are unable to find safety from air attacks and are living in hazardous conditions. Some people trying to cross the border have been shot and even killed.

• What can be done about refugees in Greece and Turkey?
The UK is complicit in the crisis facing refugees in Greece and in Turkey due to past failure to protect civilians inside Syria and its role in developing hostile EU refugee policies. The UK should urgently resettle significant numbers of vulnerable refugees from both Turkey and Greece.

• What are Turkish forces doing in Idlib?
Turkish forces have been striking Assad regime military targets to force them to withdraw to a boundary previously agreed under the 2018 Sochi deal, a line delineated by Turkish observation posts.

UPDATE

On 5 March 2020, Turkey’s President Erdogan met Russia’s President Putin, and they agreed a ceasefire. The terms failed to achieve an Assad regime withdrawal to the 2018 Sochi line. As a result, over one million people recently displaced in Idlib will be unable to return home, as it is unsafe for them to return to towns now held by the Assad regime where they would risk abuse, forced conscription, detention, torture, and death.

See map below.



• Would an Assad victory allow refugees to return home?
No, in the case of an Assad victory, most of the six million refugees outside Syria would not feel safe to return, and millions more would try to flee Syria.

Nine out of every ten civilians who have been confirmed killed in the Syrian conflict were killed by the Assad regime and its Russian allies, according to human rights monitors. (See chart below.) As well as civilians killed by bombing and shooting, tens of thousands of civilians have been imprisoned, tortured, raped, and murdered by Assad regime security branches.

• What is the most urgent need for people in Syria?
The most urgent need is for civilian protection, firstly in Idlib, and also across the rest of Syria.

• Is humanitarian aid the best response?
Humanitarian aid is vital, but can’t stop attacks on civilians or stop forced displacement.

• Can the UK and allies stop Assad attacking civilians?
The UK could consider how best to support NATO ally Turkey in order to reduce the threat to civilians from Assad military forces, for example by directly supporting Turkish efforts to impose a no-fly zone against Assad regime bombers.

Turkish forces are currently the only UK ally on the ground in Idlib with the capacity to protect civilians from Assad regime military attacks.

The Assad regime sees the conquest of Idlib and displacement of its population as essential to its own future, and therefore diplomacy without the backing of force will fail. Assad has broken every previous agreement, and no enduring ceasefire can be established without enforcement.

• What about the Turkish government’s human rights abuses?
The Turkish government has one of the worst records on imprisoning journalists. Turkish action in the Afrin region of Syria led to the displacement of thousands of Kurdish residents. Turkish-backed forces in northern Syria have been filmed murdering unarmed prisoners.

However, the UK and its other allies are themselves implicated in human rights abuses that have caused the deaths of thousands of Syrian civilians, including refugees drowned in the Mediterranean due to hostile EU policies, civilians besieged and killed in the Coalition’s Raqqa offensive, and civilians starved in Rukban camp on the Syrian-Jordanian border.

The UK and its allies all need to work constructively to drastically improve the human rights performance of all parties, and to protect civilians inside Syria and protect refugees fleeing Syria.

• What about Russia?
The UK could introduce targeted sanctions against those Russian individuals who have been identified as having command responsibility for targeting hospitals and civilians.

While Assad regime officers and ministers have been sanctioned, and some Russian individuals have been sanctioned in connection with Russian aggression in Ukraine, no sanctions have been imposed on Russian individuals for their role in crimes in Syria.

• Can the UK and allies act when the Security Council is divided?
The Security Council has not authorised action to enforce a ceasefire or end the conflict. However Security Council Resolution 2139 (2014) demanded “that all parties immediately cease all attacks against civilians, as well as the indiscriminate employment of weapons in populated areas, including shelling and aerial bombardment…”

The UK has previously asserted that use of force in a humanitarian intervention is permitted on an exceptional basis even without Security Council endorsement.

• What else can MPs do?
There is a wide lack of understanding of what is happening in Idlib, and the reality of people’s lives there. Fact-finding missions to Idlib by MPs could help bridge the gap in understanding. There have been recent visits to Idlib both by senior UN staff and by senior US representatives.

• What else should the UK Government do?
To aid understanding, the UK Government should publish assessments of the probable consequences of failing to act to protect civilians in Idlib, both immediate humanitarian impacts and the wider political, economic, and military consequences for the region, Europe, and the UK.

• What about the future?
The UK has up to now followed a policy of containment on Syria, but containment has failed in every year of the conflict, in terms of refugee outflows, widening security threats, and widening political and economic impacts beyond Syria. The UK urgently needs a new comprehensive strategy to guide Syria policy.

Beyond the immediate need for civilian protection, lack of accountability is the central cause of the conflict. A peaceful secure future demands that individuals, armed groups, and governments can be held accountable, within Syria as well as internationally. The UK should give much greater support to accountability mechanisms, including inside Syria’s borders where possible.



Chart: Nine out of every ten civilians who have been confirmed killed in the Syrian conflict were killed by the Assad regime and its Russian allies, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights.

UK failure to protect: Barrel bombs are back in Syria

Photo: A vehicle streaked with blood after Syrian regime aircraft targeted civilians fleeing bombing in northwest Syria on 1 May 2019. Two men and a woman were killed.

What can the UK do?

1. The UK can act to protect civilians by striking Assad’s helicopter fleet on the ground.

2. The UK can make a case for targeted EU sanctions in response to Russian attacks on hospitals.

Putin and Assad are escalating bombing of civilians in Syria’s northwest.

Russia has once again been targeting hospitals, and the Assad regime has again started dropping barrel bombs—improvised high-explosive weapons—on residential areas.

Just over a year ago, the UK joined with the US and France to strike Assad regime targets in response to a chemical attack in Douma.

That chemical attack was carried out by a helicopter dropping a chlorine weapon onto a residential building where civilians were sheltering.

The UK part of that April 2018 joint response targeted the Him Sinshar chemical weapons storage site, located some fifteen miles west of Homs.

The UK Government’s legal justification for the 2018 strike was based on the concept of ‘humanitarian protection’. But because the Government’s action only focused on chemical weapons and not on other weapons causing suffering to even greater numbers of people in Syria, the action cannot be judged a true humanitarian intervention. A more comprehensive strategy of civilian protection by the Government is necessary to qualify.

In particular, the joint action by the UK, US, and France failed to act against Assad’s helicopter fleet, used not just to deliver the weapon in the Douma chemical attack, but used in several other chemical attacks in Syria, and used in several more attacks with high explosive bombs against residential areas, and against prohibited civilian targets such as hospitals.

Hospital attacks have been a central feature of the Assad regime campaign against civilians. These have been carried out by Assad regime helicopters and fixed wing aircraft, and by Russian aircraft. There has been no direct action taken by the UK to stop them.

Assad’s use of chemical weapons needs to be understood as part of the Syrian regime’s wider strategy of waging war directly against civilian populations in areas outside regime control, to kill, maim, and starve them, to make them flee or surrender.

Civilian casualties of Assad’s bombing are by design, not by accident. Hospitals ARE a target for the Assad regime. Refugee movements are not a side effect but a deliberate objective of Assad’s campaign to make life unliveable in areas of Syria beyond his rule.

The UK’s minimal response wholly failed to address this strategy of death, destruction, and displacement. The UK has failed to protect civilians.

What can the UK do?

1. The UK can act to protect civilians by striking Assad’s helicopter fleet on the ground.

Nobody likes this option, but it is there. It is just as real an option now as at any other point in these years of mass-murder in Syria.

The legal basis is the same as used by the UK in responding to the 2018 chemical attack, and the case is stronger, as Assad’s helicopter fleet is responsible for many more civilian deaths than his chemical weapons programme.

2. The UK can make a case for targeted EU sanctions in response to Russian attacks on hospitals.

In the past week, four medical facilities were bombed in four days:

• Kaston Primary Health Care Centre, Hama, 1 May.
• Alhbeit Primary Health Care Centre, Idlib, 29 April.
• Al Latamna hospital, Hama, 28 April.
• Al Madiq Hospital, Hama, 28 April.

There are zero—ZERO—sanctions by the EU on Russia for its actions in Syria, despite years of targeting hospitals, targeting rescuers, targeting aid workers.

The UK thinks it can’t get sanctions on Russian entities or individuals passed by other EU states.

The UK has evidence from multiple sources of Russian responsibility for attacks on hospitals, from the Sentry Syria early warning system which is supported by the UK, and from the Coalition air campaign in Syria which monitors Russian and Assad regime aircraft for deconfliction.

The UK should now publicly make the case for EU sanctions on Russian officers with command responsibility for crimes such as hospital attacks. And the UK should back up that case by publishing evidence to whatever level of detail is compatible with security concerns.

See what Assad and Putin are doing with civilians
How to destroy residential neighborhoods
Killing children, women and innocent civilians
The world is watching it
This video from the city of Kafr Nabouda in the northern Hama countryside after being targeted by Syrian helicopters pic.twitter.com/8RoiGII254

— FARED (@FARED60350386) May 1, 2019

We have been here before.

Turn the sound on for the above video and you will hear the distress of the couple looking at the ruins of their home, bombed by an Assad regime helicopter.

We have been here before, through the siege and assault on Baba Amr, on Daraya, on Aleppo, on Madaya, on so many Syrian communities. Routine statements now from UK politicians and officials are worse than meaningless. Only actions count.

Below: Words from a UK official: “Monitoring…” “grave concern…” “must stop…”

Monitoring the situation in Idlib with grave concern as regime and Russian strikes reportedly kill over 50 civilians in 2 weeks. Reported targetting of hospitals, schools and homes, and use of barrel bombs for the first time in 7 months, is horrifying and must stop. #EyesonIdlib

— Martin Longden (@UKSyriaRep) May 3, 2019

Statement on the US airstrike on al Shayrat airfield from UK Syrian groups

PDF version.

Syrian groups welcome this action.

We wouldn’t start from here. The international community’s inaction over the past six years led to a position where Assad felt free to unleash the horrific chemical attack on Khan Sheikhoun. President Trump himself was until now a cheerleader for acquiescence in Assad’s war crimes and cannot evade sharing responsibility for the permission the world has effectively granted to the regime’s murderous actions.

Shocking as the Khan Sheikhoun attack was, it was one more in a relentless and brutal war on the Syrian population that has killed almost half a million people and displaced around eleven million. While the use of chemical weapons induces a special revulsion, most civilians have been killed with conventional bombs and bullets. Following the 2013 chemical weapons deal, Assad escalated the barrel bombing of civilian areas, used with savage effect in the fall of Aleppo.

Nevertheless, Syrian opposition groups in the UK and internationally welcome the air strike as a precise and limited response to the particular horrors of the chemical attack. An action like this is the only way to slow down the killing, protect civilians and to push the Assad regime towards the conference table. Of course, had this happened in 2013, when the regime was at its weakest, it may have saved tens of thousands of lives. But the strike shows it is possible to stop Assad’s helicopters and jets. We now hope that it will be the first step towards a new resolve on the part of the international community to protect civilians and bring peace to Syria.

That should include:

• Insisting the agreed ceasefire is fully adhered to by the Assad regime and Russia;

• Taking all necessary steps, including the possibility of further precision air strikes, to ensure that Assad’s air force is grounded;

• Insisting, backed by a full roster of potential sanctions, the regime and Russia credibly commit to achieving an overall political settlement with the opposition’s High Negotiations Committee.

We share the legitimate concerns that many will have about impulsive, unilateral actions on the part of a US government that has had no coherent policy for the region. We have been openly critical of the disregard for civilian casualties demonstrated by the Coalition’s recent bombing campaign, including air strikes in March against a school in Raqqa which killed at least 33  civilians. But there are very many people across Idlib, other parts of Syria and throughout the Syrian diaspora who have some hope today. We stand with them.


Abdullah Alobwany, Oxford for Syria
Reem Assil, Syrian Platform for Peace
Malcolm Allen, Syria Solidarity UK
Dr Mohammad Isreb, Syrian Association of Yorkshire
Dr Bachar Hakim, Syrian Society of Nottinghamshire
Dr Mohammad Alhadj Ali, Syrian Welsh Society
Dr Abdullah Hanoun, Syrian Community in the South West
Dr Fadel Moghrabi, Peace and Justice for Syria
Dr Peshang Abdulhannan, Kurds House
Dr Haytham Alhamwi, Rethink Rebuild Society

Today’s action at the Russian Embassy, London

Press release:

Peace activists blockade Russian Embassy in London to protest ‘annihilation’ of Aleppo

Campaigners demand action amid fears of major new offensive

London, 3rd November 2016 — A group of 25 peace activists have blockaded the front gate of the Russian Embassy in London in protest at the bombing of civilians in east Aleppo.

At 1400, 25 activists from two campaign groups The Syria Campaign and Syria Solidarity UK placed a structure made from white mannequin ‘limbs’ next to the front gate, while two others locked themselves to the gate itself.

Others scattered over 800 limbs around the gates, to symbolise the horrific impact of Russia’s use of cluster bombs and other banned weapons in the besieged city.

John Dunford from the Syria Campaign is one of those locked on. He said:

“We’re here because innocent children are being killed in their beds, while doctors are being bombed just for trying to save the lives of others. The Russian government and the Assad regime are committing these war crimes in Aleppo and things could be about to get even worse.

“We will not stand by and let this happen. This is a test of our shared humanity, a line we cannot cross. It shouldn’t be up to activists like me to say this – the UK government should be doing far more to protect the innocent and stand up against this barbarity.”

Police are on the scene but no arrests have yet been made.

The campaigners are calling on the Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson to increase the pressure on Russia, including by announcing new sanctions against Russian financial interests in the UK.

According to leaked intelligence briefings, Russia could be about to launch a major new assault on the embattled city as soon as this week. Warships and submarines have been sent to the region over the past few days, while leaflets dropped on residents have warned of ‘annihilation’ if they fail to surrender.

Amr Salahi from Syria Solidarity UK is also at the protest. He said:

“We have to stop the bombs. We have to stop the attacks on schools, on hospitals, on aid workers. We have to act now to stop Russia and the regime wilfully killing children, mothers and fathers, the deliberate starving of the old, the deliberate targeting of doctors and nurses.

“The Russian government claims to be fighting terror, but bombing aid trucks is not fighting terror. They are inflicting terror on Syria and on all of us, and we reject their propaganda.”

“The bombing of Aleppo is not just an attack on Syrians. It is an attack on humanitarian law. The Russian government and Assad are shredding international agreements and laws that exist for the protection of all of us. To save Syria is to save ourselves.”

ENDS

For interviews contact: media@thesyriacampaign.org

A more detailed briefing on the action can be found here
Photos and video:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/fi08j6pcqy5acsz/AACBgek-ssKe7oZXZTtB3DlMa?dl=0

NOTES

827 people have been killed in besieged Aleppo, 140 of them children, since September 20th according to rescue workers from the Syria Civil Defence, or White Helmets.

Last week the UN aid chief Stephen O’Brien described himself as ‘incandescent with rage’ over the current situation in Syria. He cited a leaflet, dropped on the residents of Aleppo by Syrian regime aircraft, which warned that they faced ‘annihilation’ if they refused to surrender.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10/27/russia-and-syria-accused-of-planning-the-annihilation-of-aleppo/

The Times newspaper reported on Monday that the Russian government was planning a major new assault on Aleppo, according to leaked intelligence documents. Since then, the Russian government has issued a new ultimatum to residents of Aleppo suggesting that a major assault could begin as soon as this weekend.

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/putin-set-to-launch-huge-attack-on-aleppo-ktrfqtq5r

UN’s Stephen O’Brien calls on UK and allies to act

On Wednesday the UN’s relief chief Stephen O’Brien called on individual Security Council members with military assets in Syria—a category that includes the UK—to act on civilian protection.

Below is our briefing on his remarks and their implications.

PDF version.

Briefing: UN relief chief calls on individual Security Council members with military assets in Syria—including the UK—to act on civilian protection.

Summary:

• UN relief chief Stephen O’Brien has called on individual Security Council members to take concrete steps to stop aerial bombardment of civilian areas.
• Military action to protect civilians in Syria is legal even without a further UN resolution.
• The British public support action to protect civilians in Syria so long as it doesn’t endanger British military personnel.
• A no-bomb zone would fulfil the practical, legal, and political requirements for action to protect civilians.

Briefing: How can a no-fly zone work?

Leading NGOs and Syrian activists are calling on the UK Government to protect civilians in Syria. We will be joining together outside Downing Street at noon on Saturday 22nd October to call on the UK to take action.

Read about Saturday’s Rally for Aleppo.

Facebook event page: #RallyForAleppo.

Read and sign the letter to Theresa May.



A YouGov poll in the UK has found that 64% of people in the UK support a No-Fly Zone to protect Aleppo’s civilians. France and Germany have similar solid majorities in favour of taking action to protect civilians in Syria.

But there continues to be a deal of confusion in media reports around the meaning of the terms no-fly zone, no-bomb zone, and safe area. Government responses have at times conflated the three, failing to properly address the more low risk options.

The following briefing sets out in simple terms what various options entail and explains why a no bomb zone is our preferred option.

How can a no-fly zone work? Web version.

How can a no-fly zone work? PDF version.

Single sheet PDF guide to a no bomb zone option.

Save Aleppo—How to take action

People around the world are demonstrating for Aleppo, Tweeting for Aleppo, posting on Facebook for Aleppo, or in the case of some politicians ‘expressing deep concern’ for Aleppo.

Worldwide protests for the weekend are listed here:

https://www.facebook.com/events/314393802256887/

In London tomorrow Saturday 1 October, protesters are gathering at Marble Arch at 12:30.

If we want action on Aleppo, we need to send a clear message, and just saying ‘Save Aleppo’ is not enough.

So if you are going on a protest, make a sign with a clear demand. Make your own sign so people can see you’ve thought about it.

If you can’t go on a protest, write to your MP. Writing to politicians sometimes feels hopeless, but a letter with a clear demand can count for a lot more than chanting on the street.

You can email your MP here:

https://www.writetothem.com/

You may feel your MP is not sympathetic. You can also write to the Foreign Secretary, the Rt. Hon. Boris Johnson MP, here:

fcocorrespondence@fco.gov.uk

You can write to Prime Minister Theresa May here:

https://email.number10.gov.uk/

What will you write on your protest sign? What will you say in the letter to your MP, or to the Foreign Secretary or Prime Minister?

Say exactly what you want to happen.

You could call for a No-Bombing Zone:
That means governments forcing an end to bombing by threatening the use of force against Assad’s military if it doesn’t stop. It doesn’t mean risking ground troops or fighting Russia; it means striking back only against Assad’s military, against runways and aircraft on the ground.

You could call for airdrops:
The UN only airdrops aid to Assad regime territory, and the regime won’t give them permission to airdrop aid to other areas. The UK, France, or US could do this. Call on the RAF to drop aid to people in Aleppo and other besieged areas.

You could call for aircraft tracking:
Use radar to track the aircraft bombing civilians, and name those responsible for each hospital bombing and each war crime. UK RAF and Royal Navy radar could do this. The US already tracks aircraft but keeps the data secret. Call on the UK to track aircraft and name and shame war criminals.

You could call for sanctions against Putin’s Russia:
Putin is bombing hospitals and schools. Putin’s bombs have killed more Syrian civilians than ISIS. Russian bombs are driving refugees out of Syria. So call for new sanctions. Call for Russia to be shut out of the SWIFT international bank payments system. The UK can do this with the EU.

You could call for sanctions against Iran:
The Guardian reports that Iran has massed 5,000 sectarian foreign militia fighters in Aleppo. Iran uses its airline companies Iran Air and Mahan Air to transport fighters to Syria. The UK and EU should block these airlines from using UK and EU airports.


For a more detailed look at these policy demands, please read our briefing, Aleppo Bombing: How to respond

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8F_plxTZSOKX3lNbnNQOTVlWEk/view

Five weapons Putin and Assad are using in Aleppo

Photo: Injured being treated in Aleppo, 25 September 2016, via @HadiAlabdallah.

From a call with Aleppo local council yesterday

SyriaUK: How are you?

Aleppo Council: This situation is the worst we have ever seen, a never ending nightmare, shelling is non-stop throughout the night when there’s no electricity or lights, people are unable to sleep. We also get shelled in the day, but less frequently.

The bunker buster missiles used are causing massive shock waves; some buildings are collapsing without being targeted due to the effects of shock waves. These missiles are particularly designed to target underground shelters, so people have nowhere to hide. We woke up yesterday to a building that fell purely because of shock waves, forty people died.

To make matters worse, we are under siege, the markets are empty and we have nothing at all.

How can we help? What would you like us to do?

The whole world knows about what is going on in Aleppo, it is no secret. There was a special UN session about Aleppo today and world leaders kept rehashing the same lines. We know they do not care and will do nothing, but maybe if the general public are aware they would pressure their governments to do something. Make them aware how many types of bombs and missiles are being used against us. We are being shelled with five different types of bombs and missiles: napalm; phosphorous; cluster; barrel bombs; and bunker buster bombs.

How to respond to Monday’s bombing of a Red Crescent aid convoy

SYRIAN GROUPS IN THE UK CALL FOR AIRCRAFT TRACKING, AIRDROPS, AND A NO-BOMBING ZONE

On Monday night an air attack by pro Assad forces destroyed a Red Crescent aid convoy and killed at least 12 people including Omar Barakat, Red Crescent director in Orem al-Kubra, Aleppo province.

The convoy had travelled from regime held territory into opposition territory so was known to the regime. A video released by the Russian Ministry of Defence prior to the attack appears to show that the aid convoy was under Russian drone surveillance at some point before it was hit by an airstrike.

Both Russia and the Assad regime have denied responsibility.

Today, Tuesday, the United Nations suspended all aid convoys across Syria, including to Madaya which has been denied food and medical aid for months, and is suffering an outbreak of meningitis.

Also on Monday, Assad regime 4th Division forces at checkpoints were accused of spoiling food aid for the besieged town of Moadamiyeh.

Monday’s aid delivery to besieged Talbiseh was followed by pro Assad air attacks that killed at least three people and injured fifteen.

The only area to receive UN aid today Tuesday was regime-held Deir Ezzor by World Food Programme airdrop. Deir Ezzor has received regular airdrops for months now (107 WFP airdrops up to 31 August) while no opposition held area has received a single one despite a UK-proposed and ISSG-agreed deadline of 1 June for airdrops and air bridges to several besieged communities.

The events around yesterday’s aid convoy bombing show the need for aircraft tracking, airdrops, and a no-bombing zone in Syria.

ON AIRCRAFT TRACKING, we have recently been briefing Foreign Office and DfID officials on this option. The UK has the ability to track flights from Assad regime and Russian air bases in Syria at a distance of 400 km. Tracking and publicly reporting aircraft responsible for attacks on civilians would begin to bring a measure of accountability for breaches of UN resolutions, and would help identify command responsibility for potential war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The need for this is clearly illustrated by Russian and Assad regime denials over yesterday’s aid convoy bombing.

ON AIRDROPS, the UK has the experience and the capacity to airdrop food and medical aid to besieged communities from its bases in Cyprus. The UK has the military might to deter attacks on its aircraft. Suitable partners on the ground are available through UOSSM, Union of Medical Care and Relief Organisations, and others to coordinate drop zones and aid distribution.

ON A NO-BOMBING ZONE, it is approaching a year now since Jo Cox set out the case in Parliament for ‘deterring the indiscriminate aerial bombardment of civilians in Syria through the willingness to consider the prudent and limited use of force.’

A no-bombing zone does not require boots on the ground; does not require air patrols in Syrian airspace; does not require bombing Syrian air defences; does not require coming into armed conflict with Russia.

A no-bombing zone requires giving the Assad regime an ultimatum to stop air attacks against civilians, and then answering any subsequent air attacks with carefully targeted strikes against Assad regime military assets. It is a measured, proportionate proposal to save countless lives and open the door to peace.

We have heard the ‘no military solution’ mantra repeated about Syria for over five years. We need a political solution, but diplomacy without pressure has failed again and again to deliver a political solution, and all that time the Assad regime backed by Russia has continued military action against Syria’s civilian population, driving people to flee and destroying any hope for an inclusive political settlement.

It is time to learn from over five years of failure and act to end the killing in Syria.

Signatories
Syria Solidarity UK
Rethink Rebuild Society
Syrian Association of Yorkshire
Kurds House


LINKS

UN Aid Convoy Hit By Airstrike, Head Of Syrian Red Crescent Killed; Drone Footage Shows Convoy Before Attack

UN suspends aid convoys in Syria after hit, ICRC warns on impact

Homs: 15 killed, wounded in regime air strikes on Talbiseh

Syrian Arab Republic - 2016 UN Inter-Agency Operations as of 31 August 2016 (PDF)
Showing 107 World Food Programme airdrops to regime held Deir Ezzor and 82 World Food Programme airlifts to Quamishli, and zero airdrops or airlifts to opposition held areas under siege.

House of Commons adjournment debate on civilians in Syria, 12 October 2015


AIRCRAFT TRACKING

The UK has the ability to track flights from Assad regime and Russian air bases in Syria at a distance of 400 km. Tracking and publicly reporting aircraft responsible for attacks on civilians would begin to bring a measure of accountability for breaches of UN resolutions, and would help identify command responsibility for potential war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Read more (PDF)

Third anniversary of the Ghouta chemical massacre: Assad still using chlorine gas to terrorise

Assad is still using chlorine gas to terrorise
By Dr Sharif Kaf Al-Ghazal, Syrian Association of Yorkshire

It has been three years since the Assad regime committed the chemical massacre in Ghouta near Damascus  in which 1,400 people were killed. In three years very little has changed in the grand scheme of things. The use of chemical weapons was meant to be a ‘game changer’ that would convince the West of Assad’s tyranny once weapons of mass destruction were unleashed. And although a ‘red line’ was declared by Obama to prevent using such uncivilised weapons, this did not stop this criminal regime.

The Assad regime has since sunk to the depths of depravity with repeated attacks on civilians using both conventional weapons as well as chemical weapons. In September 2013 a UN sponsored deal was meant to rid the regime of all chemical weapons. This proved to be a farce as the the guilty party was barely disarmed and certainly not made to pay for its crimes. Today Assad and his cronies still use chlorine gas to terrorise their victims, almost 100 years after such weapons were forbidden in war by the Geneva Protocol.

This has placed the intentional community in a deeply humiliating position. While one superpower in particular has been backing Assad to the hilt both militarily and politically—Russia—others are still culpable due to their failure to act, their refusal to provide civilian protection and a No-Fly Zone. The Syrian people have long felt abandoned and view the West’s silence as complicity.

We hope that ultimately the criminal Assad regime will be held accountable for its actions and that these massacres will not be forgotten.


Follow the Syrian Association of Yorkshire on Facebook.

Photo: Bodies of victims of the Sarin chemical weapons attack on Ghouta, Syria on Wednesday 21 August, 2013, via Shaam News Network/AP.

Hisham Ashkar gives the identity of the victims in this photograph in his article, The Chemical Massacre in Eastern Ghouta: The Distance Between the Images and the Victims.

The legacy of Syria

THE EU VOTE AND UK POLITICAL FAILURE ON SYRIA


David Cameron now has little time to right a shared legacy of failure on Syria.

Reasons for the UK’s narrow vote to leave the EU are many. One is Syria: Both the Leave campaign and UKIP connected fears over immigration to the Syrian crisis. Assad’s war against Syria’s population has created the worst refugee crisis since the Second World War.

In or out of the EU, we have a duty to care for refugees. We also need to understand that this refugee crisis is not caused by EU rules on free movement; it’s caused by the failure of world leaders, including Britain’s leaders, to stop Assad.

Inaction has consequences. At every point when world leaders failed to act against Assad, the impact of the Syrian crisis on the world increased. The failure of British Government and Opposition leaders on the EU vote is in part a consequence of their failure on Syria, but this story doesn’t end with today’s result. Without action, Syria’s crisis will continue to impact on us all.

Leaders failed to act in October 2011 when Syrians took to the streets calling for a no-fly zone.

By the end of 2011 there were 8,000 Syrian refugees in the region.

Leaders failed to act in 2012 when journalists Marie Colvin and Remi Ochlik were killed reporting from the horror of besieged Homs.

By the end of 2012, there were nearly half a million Syrian refugees.

Leaders failed to act in 2013 when the Assad regime massacred as many as 1,700 civilians in one morning with chemical weapons. That August, there were 1.8 million registered Syrian refugees.

Also in 2013, the UK failed to act when the Free Syrian Army faced attacks by ISIS forces infiltrating from Iraq. Instead of strengthening the FSA to withstand this new threat, UK MPs denied moderate forces the means to defend themselves.

By the end of 2013, there were 2.3 million registered Syrian refugees.

Leaders failed to act in 2014 as the Assad regime ignored UN resolutions on barrel bombing, on torturing and besieging civilians. Diplomacy without military pressure only emboldened Assad to continue the slaughter.

By the end of 2014, there were 3.7 million Syrian refugees.

Leaders failed to act in 2015 as Russia joined Assad in bombing hospitals, humanitarian aid convoys, and rescue workers, and Syrians were denied any means to defend themselves.

By the end of 2015, there were over 4.5 million Syrian refugees.

Now the UK Government is failing to act as Assad breaks ceasefire agreements and breaks deadlines on letting aid into besieged communities. The UK has failed to deliver on airdrops. The UK has failed to apply serious pressure to stop Assad’s bombs.

There are now 4.8 million Syrian refugees in the region. There are many millions more displaced inside Syria. Just over a million Syrians have applied for asylum in Europe, but that is a fraction of the total who have fled their homes.

The refugee crisis is just one impact of Assad’s war on Syrians. Voting to leave the European Union won’t insulate Britain from further effects of Syria’s man-made disaster. This crisis can’t be contained and must be brought to an end, and it can only end with the end of Assad.

Act now. Break the sieges. Stop the bombs. Stop the torture. Stop Assad.

Welcome support for no-bombing zone from Diane Abbott

We very much welcome Diane Abbott’s recent letter recognising the targeting of populated areas by Syrian Government and Russian forces, and her expression of support for a no-bombing zone with explicitly outlined consequences to protect civilians in Syria.

We are pleased to offer all our support to help Diane Abbott in campaigning for effective action to protect civilians.

Syrians and their friends lost a champion of humanity when Jo Cox was killed. Effective humanitarian action needs now to be championed by MPs across Parliament.

Aleppo is burning: To stand by is to be complicit in the crime

On 30th April, Syrians and their friends protested in London against UK inaction; demonstrated in solidarity with the women of besieged Daraya; and marched in support of the people of Aleppo.

This weekend has seen protests worldwide against the renewed bombing of Aleppo. We call on all in the UK to join us as we continue to campaign for action to protect civilians and end the violence. We will be supporting British and Syrian doctors and medical workers marching in London this coming Saturday.



March With Medics Under Fire.

Saturday 7th May at 2pm, Trafalgar Square, London.

Facebook event page.

Aleppo hospital bombing: Statement by Syrian groups in the UK

PDF version

The bombing of another hospital in Aleppo by Assad’s air force, killing patients and medical workers, is the action of a lawless gangster organisation. Every Security Council resolution on Syria has been brazenly flouted, and every agreement broken.

That Assad’s criminal  air force is still at liberty to fly and bomb is a stain on the reputation of the UN Security Council, a stain on every one of the permanent member governments, a stain on NATO that allows this to continue a few kilometres across its southern border.

These killings, after five years of Assad’s slaughter of civilians, are a stain on every political party in the UK, on every politician in Britain who has failed to stand up for the right of civilians for protection.

The UK needs to take action to enforce UN resolutions and ground Assad’s air force.

The UK needs to answer the call of Syrian doctors for air drops to besieged civilians.

To stand by is to be complicit in the crime.

• Syria Solidarity UK
• Syrian British Medical Society
• Kurds House
• Rethink Rebuild Society
• Peace and Justice for Syria
• Scotland4Syria
• Syrian Association of Yorkshire
• Syrian Platform for Peace
• Syrian Society of Nottinghamshire
• Syrian Welsh Society

March With Medics Under Fire.

Saturday 7th May at 2pm, Trafalgar Square, London.

Facebook event page.




Join Women4Syria in solidarity with women in besieged Daraya.

Saturday 30 April, 12 noon at 10 Downing Street, London.

Facebook event page.

Stop Putin’s bombs targeting hospitals

PROTEST: Stop Putin’s bombs targeting hospitals
Tuesday 23rd February
19:00–20:30
Russia Today UK HQ
Millbank Tower
Westminster

Facebook event page.

Syrian civil society activists from Planet Syria have called for an international day of action against Russia's bombing of Syria on February 23rd. Syria Solidarity UK is calling on all those opposed to the Russian backed and perpetrated slaughter in Syria to join us in demanding an end to Putin's bombing in Syria.

The protest will take place at Russia Today UK's headquarters at Millbank Tower.

Planet Syria is a coalition of Syrian civil society organisations.

LINKS

Anatomy of a Crisis: A Map of Attacks on Health Care in Syria, Physicians for Human Rights.

Syria: Report documents war wounded and war dead in MSF-supported medical facilities in Syria, Médecins Sans Frontières‎/Doctors Without Borders, 17 February 2016.

Refugees are becoming Russia's weapon of choice in Syria, Simon Tisdall, The Guardian, 16 February 2016.

At Least 25 Killed in Attack on MSF-Supported Hospital in Northern Syria, Médecins Sans Frontières‎/Doctors Without Borders, 15 February 2015.

Syria crisis: Strikes on hospitals and schools kill ‘up to 50’, BBC News, 15 February 2016.

Syrian Hospitals Hit as Battlefield Grows More Chaotic, Anne Barnard, The New York Times, 15 February 2016.

Russia killed more Syrian civilians than Assad or ISIS in January: Report, by Damien Sharkov, Newsweek, 15 February 2016.

#ListenToSyrians in Aberdeen and in London

Above, Amer Masri, a survivor of Assad’s prisons, speaking to the Scottish National Party Conference, 17 October 2015, in support of a motion welcoming refugees.

MPs of all parties will have another chance to listen to Syrians at the launch of Rethink Rebuild’s policy document “Syria Between Dictatorship and ISIS: What can the United Kingdom Do?” on Tuesday 27 October at the House of Commons.

Details from Rethink Rebuild Society:

Our policy document "Syria Between Dictatorship and ISIS: What can the United Kingdom Do?" will be launched in Parliament on Tuesday 27 October in Committee Room 9 from 12-2 pm.

This document has been endorsed by Syrian groups across the county. It is presented as a comprehensive plan of action for the UK to help end the conflict in Syria.

We will be joined by a panel who have direct experience of life under Assad, the brutality of ISIS as well as the impact on British nationals who are Syrian.

Details of the event:
Date: Tuesday 27th October 2015
Venue: Committee Room 9, House of Commons
Time: 12pm to 2pm

Panel speakers
Yasmine Nahlawi: Advocacy & Policy Coordinator, Rethink Rebuild Society
Farah Al, former detainee in Assad's prison and UK citizen
Yasser Al Jassem, Syrian refugee
Jeff Smith MP, Chair

Please RSVP to Yasmine Nahlawi at advocacy@rrsoc.org
Please contact Amina Lone at Jeff.Smith.mp@parliament.uk or on 07799 008522 should you have any further questions.

Rethink Rebuild call: Write your MP to support a no-fly-zone over Syria

The following call comes from Rethink Rebuild Society, voice of the Syrian Community of Manchester.

Given that a UK vote on Syria is anticipated to be within a month, we need everyone’s support to amplify the message that SYRIA NEEDS A NO-BOMBING ZONE! Please write to your MP by clicking on the link below and copying and pasting the following text into the relevant area. Then kindly share with all your contacts on social media!

Re: In support of no-bombing zone over Syria

Dear MP,

As your constituent, I would like to ask you to attend the Parliamentary launch of the report “Syria Between Dictatorship and ISIS: What can the United Kingdom Do?” produced by Rethink Rebuild Society, a Manchester-based Syrian advocacy and community organisation.

The report has been endorsed by Syrian groups across the county and is presented as a comprehensive plan of action for the UK to help end the conflict in Syria. It frames the current debate with views on potential UK air strikes in Syria, how to deal with ISIS and Assad as well as the UK refugee policy.

The details of the event are:

Date: Monday 27th October 2015


Venue: Committee Room 9, House of Commons
Time: 12pm to 2pm

Panel speakers:
Jeff Smith MP: Chair

Yasmine Nahlawi: Advocacy & Policy Coordinator, Rethink Rebuild Society

Farah Al: former detainee in Assad’s prison and UK citizen

Yasser Al Jassem: Syrian refugee

Please RSVP to Yasmine Nahlawi at advocacy@rrsoc.org

Please contact Amina Lone at Jeff.Smith.mp@parliament.uk should you have any questions.

In addition to the above, I would also like to ask you to raise a number of critical points on Syria to both the FCO and DFID, in particular to press:

1. The Syrian crisis is the root of two of the most serious global problems right now: the refugee crisis; and the threat posed by ISIS;

2. Anti-ISIS strikes will not tackle the root causes: (a) ISIS is neither the root cause of the Syrian crisis, nor is it the predominant driver of refugee flows; (b) the impact of any UK contribution will be marginal at best; and (c) anti-ISIS strikes in the absence of protection have been a radicalising factor on the ground so—ironically—UK strikes against ISIS might just make things worse;

3. Alleviating those global problems requires tackling them at source. So we need a policy that (a) stems the killing in Syria—the majority of which is a result of the Assad regime’s aerial bombardment; (b) reduces the humanitarian impact, including slowing the exodus; (c) combats extremism; and (d) leads to a political solution;

4. A no-bombing zone is the first step to turning the crisis around. It is the only policy option that (a) saves lives; (b) reduces the exodus; (c) reduces radicalisation; and (d) makes a political solution more likely;

5. By ensuring civilian protection and stopping the aerial bombardments—including those by Russia—the UK would stop the largest source of killing in Syria, namely the Assad regime’s air force. 60% of civilian deaths are caused by the regime's helicopters and planes. In 2015 alone, the regime killed seven times more civilians than ISIS;

6. Implementation of a no-bombing zone would not require pre-emptively striking inside Syria which would risk the lives of British military personnel. Rather, it could be enforced from ships in the Mediterranean which would only execute strictly limited strikes if aircraft violate the prohibited ban on bombing. This sea-based option requires very limited military intervention.

Thank you very much for your time.
Best regards,

Write to your MP using www.writetothem.com

Labouring on Syria: Hilary Benn’s response to Jo Cox

By Clara Connolly

Jo Cox, Labour MP for Batley and Spens (formerly of Oxfam), has ignited Parliamentary debate in the run-up to a vote on Cameron’s proposal to extend the UK’s bombing campaign of ISIS to Syria. Her Observer article last Sunday, co-written with Conservative MP Andrew Mitchell, and her speech in the adjournment debate in the House of Commons on Monday, have put the protection of Syrian civilians at the heart of Parliamentary debate for the first time ever. It is a bold and radical attempt to escape the sterility of Parliamentary and media discussion on the subject of Syria by introducing the voices and real concerns of Syrians. For that, I congratulate her from the bottom of my heart.

It has also provoked, in media-speak terms, the spectre of another revolt of Labour MPs against Jeremy Corbyn—as if the most important thing at stake here was the fate of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership. For that reason, discussion amongst members of the Shadow Cabinet has led to Shadow Foreign Secretary Hilary Benn responding to Jo Cox’s initiative with an article for The Guardian.

That it is a response is illustrated by his opening paragraph which closely echoes that of the Cox/Mitchell article. There are significant differences however: both refer to the historic test facing us in response to the humanitarian disaster in Syria, but Cox’s starting point is the woeful inadequacy of the international community’s response “through the UN,” whereas Benn merely says “no one has taken responsibility.” This difference in phrasing is no accident, since Benn goes on to reiterate the Labour leadership’s position, expressed at Labour Party conference, of reliance on the UN Security Council. Jo Cox recognises, unlike Benn, that this has been a recipe for doing next to nothing.

Cox makes a radical departure from current Parliamentary debate, while Benn remains within the parameters set in the previous parliament. He says that the Government (with Labour support) was right to join the coalition’s air campaign against ISIS in Iraq; without considering the shortcomings of that campaign on the ground, he responds merely to Cameron’s proposal to extend it to Syria. Because he places the same priority on fighting ISIS as the Government, he is constrained by the discourse of the ‘War on Terror’, indiscriminately used by regional and world powers to pursue their own interests. Indeed, he seems to suggest that Russia is an ally in the war against ISIS, in contradiction to his own acknowledgement that Russia’s purpose, well attested by now, is to prop up the failing Assad regime. He refers only in passing to Assad’s barrel bombs, but concentrates mainly on the threat posed by ISIS.

Jo Cox on the other hand—because her starting point is the protection of civilians—states firmly that “it is not ethical to wish away the barrel bombs from the Syrian government when you have the capacity to stop them.” She points out in her Parliamentary speech that Assad kills seven times as many civilians as ISIS, and that a fight against ISIS has to be accompanied by an equal focus on Assad.

The solution she proposes is the creation of “safe havens inside Syria which would eventually offer sanctuary from both the actions of Assad and ISIS.” In an ITV interview, expanding on her article, she explicitly calls for a ‘no-bombing zone’ across Syria, which could be implemented by the UK or other Western powers within their current capacity from the Mediterranean sea.

Hilary Benn’s proposal is “a UN resolution for effective action to end the threat from ISIS.” He does not spell out who is at risk from ISIS—he commits the common mistake that Jo Cox avoids, of eliding a concern for “Syria’s people” with the West’s security concerns.

He moves beyond the War on Terror discourse when he argues for “safe zones in Syria to shelter those who have had to flee their homes,” effectively IDP camps inside Syria. Unlike Cox’s plan, that would not protect civilians in the cities towns and villages of the liberated areas who are suffering relentless bombardment on a daily basis. But it would provide some relief, as well as limiting the numbers of those fleeing beyond Syria’s borders.

But to accomplish it, he relies on a UNSC resolution. There have been several resolutions to constrain Assad’s attacks on his civilian population, and to enforce the provision of aid to besieged areas without the regimes permission, none of which have been enforced. The resolutions with teeth have been vetoed by Russia and China. That is why Jo Cox, despite her express support of the UN, goes beyond a reliance on it to propose unilateral or multilateral action as supported by international law.

Thirdly, Benn calls for “the referral of suspected war crimes to the ICC.” This is a token gesture towards the principle of international justice, without any reference to previous failed UN Security Council resolutions (due to Russia’s veto) or to Syria’s non-membership of ICC which makes a UNSC resolution the only avenue to the ICC. Unlike Cox, he resorts to proposing solutions which have been tried before and have failed. An empty threat will certainly not deter either Assad’s or Putin’s bombing of civilians.

Benn does make one acknowledgment of the limits of his proposals, saying “of course we know that any resolution may be vetoed and in those circumstances we would need to look at the position again.” This is a tentative proposal to go further than his position outlined at the Labour Conference, and is certainly an improvement on Miliband’s, which was simply to do nothing. If it does represent the position of the Shadow Cabinet it is a small but significant, and welcome, shift in Labours position.

But it remains an inadequate response to Jo Cox’s brave attempt to move the debate on Syria in a progressive, humanitarian direction. Her plan, unlike Benn’s, is a genuine challenge to Cameron. I sincerely hope that Labour and other MPs will follow her lead and encourage the Labour leadership to recognise the limitations of their focus on ISIS rather than Assad, and the lethal danger of their reliance on yet another drawn-out UN process while time is running out for Syrians.

LINKS

British forces could help achieve an ethical solution in Syria, by Andrew Mitchell and Jo Cox, The Observer, 11 October 2015.

What Diane Abbott gets wrong about Jo Cox’s proposals on Syria, by Alex Evans, Global Dashboard, 11 October 2015.

We must remember that Syria is not Iraq—and build a plan for action, by Jo Cox, Labour List, 12 October 2015.

“If we only focus on air strikes against ISIS we will fail to understand this conflict”, Jo Cox speaking on ITV News, 12 October 2015.

UK ‘should enforce Syria no-fly zone even if Russia vetoes UN resolution’, report by Patrick Wintour, The Guardian, 12 October 2015.

Speech by Jo Cox, 12 October House of Commons adjournment debate, Protection of civilians in Syria, video and transcript.

An ethical solution to the war in Syria: We support it, by Ashraf, Planet Syria, 12 October 2015.

Corbyn signals Labour could back military action in Syria without UN support, report by Patrick Wintour, The Guardian, 13 October 2015.

If we are to help Syria’s people, we must take action, by Hilary Benn, The Guardian, 13 October 2015.

Assad is not capable of contributing to a united and democratic Syria

Image from Care about refugees? Listen to them: results of a survey of Syrian refugees.

By Mary Rizzo

Labour MP Jo Cox is to be commended for her efforts to build a comprehensive strategy for the Syrian war. For too long the Syrian people’s suffering has been ignored or dealt with in ways that do not lead to long-term resolution of this horrifying humanitarian nightmare.

However, in her three-pronged proposal is a flaw that I believe could be fatal. She has admitted that Assad is one part of the twin horror, and yet her strategy includes bringing him to the negotiating table.

Syrian civil society, which in spite of enormous difficulties and with seemingly the world against it, has maintained its presence on the ground and has established many autonomous governing areas as well as other structures for civil services. It has had to assume a political position since its own government declared war on the Syrian people, and during this time has become a political subject. It also has the enormous advantage of having gained its legitimacy on the ground.

Assad has no legitimacy, either by the popular electoral process, which everyone can plainly see was in no way democratic, or more importantly, by criteria of political legitimacy. Any legitimate authority that some may have been willing to concede to this regime has been completely lost according to the criteria of Max Weber where the use of illegitimate violence against one’s people is motive for the loss of legitimacy. It is furthermore inferred in the Preamble of the UN Declaration of Human Rights that rebellion against tyranny is legitimate.

It is clear that continuing to include the party responsible for the system of oppression that brought about the protests of the Syrian civilian population in the first place, responsible for the nearly five years of bloodshed that have followed, and responsible for the abysmal failure of every peace effort, is not the way to succeed.

Assad is not capable of contributing to a united and democratic Syria. He has invited other countries to fight on his behalf because he is under the impression that his power is destined to continue in some degree even if the war never ends. He has brought a global war to his country and has shown no ability to protect his country’s assets or population. To continue with the belief that he has to be negotiated with is only going to prolong the war.

There quite simply is no viable political solution that includes the existence of the current regime in Syria to dictate terms or to take part in a solution. Such existence would not allow the masses, who have been mobilised for years now to bring about a free and democratic Syria based on social justice, to reach their objective. Any proposal aimed at a long-term solution should realise that a post-Assad period is a certainty. Placing any kind of trust in the regime and granting it negotiation powers, when it has never shown any interest in a compromise or shared solution, is a mistake. The natural interlocutors are the representatives of civil society who are willing, and indeed able, to come to assume the task of leading the diplomatic programme crucial to resolution on a long-term basis.

It would be merely prolonging the suffering and desperation of the Syrian people to continue to insist that someone already defined as one of their horrors is considered as a valid negotiating partner. To appear to consider this person and his regime as legitimate could also mean difficulty in post-Assad relations.

Please do not lose a historic occasion to truly end the war, stop the bloodshed, and contribute to a more prosperous Levant that sees the West as its ally, not an accomplice in its destruction and enslavement.

LINKS

Five Reasons Why Including Assad in a ‘Managed Transition’ Will Fail, by Dr Neil Quilliam, Middle East and North Africa Programme, Chatham House.

Care about refugees? Listen to them: The Syria Campaign on an opinion survey amongst Syrian refugees in Germany, 9 October 2015.

This survey interviewed 889 Syrians living in Germany between 24 September 2015 and 2 October 2015 using a standardised questionnaire. Interviews were held in 12 centres housing arriving refugees, other refugee accommodation and refugee registration points in Berlin, Hanover, Bremen, Leipzig and Eisenhüttenstadt. Researchers from the Berlin Social Science Center were involved in the conception, implementation and evaluation of the survey.

British forces could help achieve an ethical solution in Syria, by Andrew Mitchell and Jo Cox, The Observer, 11 October 2015.

What Diane Abbott gets wrong about Jo Cox’s proposals on Syria, by Alex Evans, Global Dashboard, 11 October 2015.

We must remember that Syria is not Iraq—and build a plan for action, by Jo Cox, Labour List, 12 October 2015.

“If we only focus on air strikes against ISIS we will fail to understand this conflict”, Jo Cox speaking on ITV News, 12 October 2015.

UK ‘should enforce Syria no-fly zone even if Russia vetoes UN resolution’, report by Patrick Wintour, The Guardian, 12 October 2015.

Speech by Jo Cox, 12 October House of Commons adjournment debate, Protection of civilians in Syria, video and transcript.

An ethical solution to the war in Syria: We support it, by Ashraf, Planet Syria, 12 October 2015.

#ListenToSyrians on a No-Fly Zone

Tomorrow the Birmingham branch of the Stop The War Coalition are holding a meeting titled ‘Don’t Attack Syria’.

The Birmingham branch “are committed to providing a platform for comrades who support the democratic and progressive opposition to the Assad regime,” and so invited Abdulaziz Almashi, a Syrian and a founder member of Syria Solidarity Movement UK, to speak. However, early this morning Syria Solidarity were told that the invitation was being withdrawn as the Birmingham branch had been informed that Syria Solidarity supported an “imperialist imposed” no-fly zone.

Below is an excerpt from our response:

Syria Solidarity’s view is led primarily by our solidarity with Syrians rather than by a domestic UK political view. In our internal discussions on the possibility of direct UK military intervention, we arrived at the following principles:

• Where Syrian doctors, Syrian civil defence, civil society activists call for international action to protect civilians by enforcing a no-fly zone to stop Assad’s air attacks, we support them.
• Where Syrian revolution forces call for international support in fighting ISIS, we support them.
• We are against any actions which fail to defend civilians, or which act against the Syrian revolution.
• We are against actions which aim to realise the objectives of the intervening power at the expense of the aspirations of the Syrian people.

It is important to recognise where the call for a no-fly zone is coming from: not the White House, which has blocked even a partial no-fly zone proposed by Turkey; not the Pentagon which has argued against a no-fly zone by vastly exaggerating the difficulties involved; not the UK government which is primarily concerned with mirroring US policy. Where there has been recent talk of a no-fly zone from the UK government it has been secondary to the anti-ISIS campaign, and is certainly driven more by the xenophobic politics around refugees than by a purely moral view of the crisis.

Syrians have no illusions about Western motives, and any they might have held have been destroyed by over four years of callous disregard by Western governments who have paid lip service to civilian protection while doing nothing to act. But Syrians have an immediate crisis to deal with: the bombs falling on Syria now. Material means are required to stop the bombs, not unenforced UN resolutions, not empty words of Western politicians, and not empty words of Western peace campaigners.

The challenge for the peace movement is to find a way of standing in solidarity with Syrians being bombed today, and avoiding echoing US and UK government excuses for inaction. The way to do that is to listen to Syrians, and for that reason I urge you to urgently reconsider and welcome the offer by Abdulaziz Almashi to speak.

On whether there were alternative means of enforcing a no-fly zone “other than the air forces of the imperialist states either the US, UK or France,” we replied with the following:

… the alternative to enforcement by US, UK, France would be enforcement by supplying Syrian revolution forces with effective anti aircraft weapons. This I believe is the position favoured by Abdulaziz Almashi.

As an organisation we would support a no-fly zone enforced by any party that effectively protected civilians. We would not give blanket support to other actions by such parties in connection with this, as the principles outlined earlier should make clear.

We have been told it is too late for the Birmingham branch to meet and reconsider before tomorrow’s event. We believe it is absolutely necessary that the anti-war movement and peace campaigners listen to Syrians, even if they disagree with them. We hope that they do find time to reconsider and re-invite Abdulaziz Almashi to the meeting.

Read more on these issues at The No-Fly Zone Debate.