“Truth is not only violated by falsehood; it may be outraged by silence.”
– HENRI FREDERIC AMIEL (1821-1881) Swiss philosopher
Razan al-Najjar
alestinian paramedic Razan al-Najjar was 21-years old on June 1 when she was struck and killed by Israeli sniper fire in Gaza. She was giving emergency medical assistance/treatment to fellow Palestinian victims of Israeli gunfire at the moment of her death. Close to 120 Palestinians have lost their lives while 10,000 have suffered injuries, nearly all as the result of Israeli military snipers’ bullets.
Her murder sparked worldwide outrage and condemnation, adding to intensifying criticism of the Israeli government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as the Donald Trump administration in the United States for its disappointing failure to respond in an appropriate moral manner.
The Israeli defense authorities added insult to the fatal injury inflicted on Razan al-Najjar by quickly producing and publishing a video which took an interview given by Ms. al-Najjar and edited it, taking and displaying her words out of proper context, for the objectionable purpose of manipulating public opinion in apartheid Israel’s favor.
From a philosophical or spiritual perspective, one might rightly assert that Israeli defense authorities murdered Razan al-Najjar twice – once while living on Earth in Gaza and again after she passed away and left this physical world.
It is very difficult to imagine what drives the minds of those who would intentionally lower their moral standards to such an extreme, grotesque extent, and equally difficult to discern what allows others – namely those men and women serving under U.S. President Donald Trump – to stand by, turn away and remain silent in the face of Israel’s profoundly disturbing, immoral, propagandistic actions.
Whether one is atheistic, agnostic or believer in a variantly conceptualized higher spiritual power, the circumstances surrounding the brutal murder of benevolent Palestinian soul Razan al-Najjar – and Israel’s despicable, intentional attempt to achieve a covertly engineered propaganda “victory” afterward – meet any generally recognized human definitions of sin.
St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra – Palmyra, Syria 2016
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n these times of uncertainty and concern over unsettled international relations on Earth, particularly relations between East and West, greater understanding between the people is vital to establish peace. Increased awareness and understanding of views from all sides of major debated issues is important, in that more beneficial actions and resulting outcomes become possible.
American editor and writer Norman Cousins (1912-1990), in his 1953 book titled “Who Speaks For Man?”, wrote: “War is an invention of the human mind. The human mind can invent peace.” May the high spirit and power of Norman Cousins’ wise words now flood the Earth.
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(Thank you to Russia Insight at YouTube, Inessa S for English translation)
Editor’s note: The video documentary originally published at Russia Insight and here was taken down at YouTube, for reasons we have not determined.
(Transcript)
“If we look at the trends for development in the world, then it’s best to have Russia as your ally. We’re a great power. Nobody likes competition. Competitors are kept at bay – but I think in the long run, we will win. Few expected that we would act so quickly, decisively, boldly. I have some very good anchors – those anchors are the interests of the Russian Federation and its people.”
“World Order – 2018”
amburg, Tehran, Beijing, Paris, Moscow; difficult, sometimes very difficult negotiations … Press conferences, flights – our crew have filmed the President on business trips for over a year … Working with various kinds of people; allies and opponents, politicians and diplomats; the interests of Russia, the interests of the world; principles and contradictions. Everything is as usual – handshakes, photos; 1-on-1 meetings, or in teams … Speaking with journalists.
What happens behind closed doors? What does it take to achieve each new step toward mutual understanding? When he has a chance, Putin answers our questions, explains the logic behind his decisions. Everything that has taken place over the past few years – the difficult search for agreement between different peoples, leaders, states.
“Vladimir Vladimirovich: Who makes Russian foreign policy? Is it you, or is there a team of people?Are there dominant figures, or are they inclined toward various forms of dialogue? How does it happen in the context of daily changing situations?
“You want me to reveal all the secrets?
“That would be very interesting!
“I think it would be wrong. It’s a sacred thing. But you described it as it is – there are different points of view in our teams; different approaches, different proposals. Shall we do it like this or like that? There are times when we are in full agreement – for example during the events in Crimea. But it happens differently more often – discussions, exchange of opinion, but in the end I have to make a final decision. It can’t be any other way…
“The burden of power!
“Well, burden or not, it’s a responsibility. Once a decision is taken, then everyone works to make it happen.”
***
Bashar al-Assad, President of Syria. [Sochi, 2017] He faced the fate of Hussein and Gaddafi; that of his country – Iraq or Libya. “From the people of Syria – I would like to express my gratitude for what you have done. We will not forget it.”
Since the television was invented, few broadcast media events have reached the level of becoming remembered as of historic importance for humanity. The full interview of President Vladimir Putin of Russia by American journalist Megyn Kelly is truly historic.
Humanity looks forward to President Donald Trump of the United States being interviewed in equally historic manner by a popular woman journalist from Russia.
Vladimir Putin interviewed by NBC anchor Megyn Kelly. The interview was recorded in the Kremlin on March 1, 2018, and in Kaliningrad on March 2, 2018. NBC showed an edited version only. The following transcript is courtesy of the Kremlin office of the President of Russia.
Transcript
Part 1. The Kremlin, Moscow, March 1, 2018
Megyn Kelly:So, thank you very much for doing this, Mr President. I thought that we’d start with some of the news you made today at your State of the Nation Address, then we will move into some facts about you in preparation for our long piece that we are putting together, and then tomorrow when we will have a longer time together, we will talk about more substantive issues together, if that is ok with you.
Vladimir Putin: Fine.
Megyn Kelly:You announced today that Russia has developed new nuclear-capable weapons systems, including an intercontinental ballistic missile that you say renders defence systems useless…
yria’s Ambassador Dr. Bashar Ja’afari addressed the United Nations Security Council on February 14, 2018.
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(Transcript – United Nations website)
Mr. Ja’afari (Syrian Arab Republic):
“Article 2, paragraphs 1, 4 and 7, of the Charter of the United Nations provide for respect for the principle of the sovereign equality of all its Members and that all Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State. Moreover, no provision of the Charter authorizes the United Nations to intervene in matters that are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any State.”
“Likewise, all 29 resolutions on Syria adopted in the Security Council stress the strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic, as well as to the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter. It is our right today, as it is the right of all peoples of the world who still believe in the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, to wonder what the Council is doing to ensure respect for those purposes and principles wisely established by the founders, with a view to maintaining peace, security and prosperity following the wars and tragedies that they experienced.”
“We in Syria know that our country is not the first victim of violations of Charter provisions and international law by certain members of the Council. However, what Syria has been enduring is the consequence of silence over the course of decades in the face of such violations. What did the Council do when certain Member States undermined the provisions of the Charter and prevented the Palestinian people from exercising their right to creating an independent State, with Jerusalem as its capital? What did the Council do when those Member States themselves violated the provisions of the Charter by invading Iraq? What did the Council do when those same States violated the provisions of the Charter and destroyed Libya?”
“What did the Council do when the same States violated Charter provisions by fuelling terrorism worldwide and called it the jihadi movement? What did the Council do when the same States violated the provisions of the Charter and flagrantly interfered in the internal affairs of Member States and looted their resources, as is the case with several African States? The animosity of certain countries towards Syria derives from the principle of arrogance of power, rather than the rule of law. It reflects disrespect to the purposes and principles of the Charter and a total lack of serious accountability on the part of those who avail themselves of the law of the jungle.”
“I would like to explain the unprecedented global terrorist war that my country has been subjected to over seven years, amid the silence of some, the complicity of some, the indifference of some, overlooking of some and conspiring of others. Certain influential countries on the Council — I mean the United States, the United Kingdom and France — have done all they can to destroy Syria, its people and its political standing, in order to settle scores with my country by manipulating the provisions of the Charter and violating its provisions so as to achieve their special agendas related to interference at the expense of the blood and the fate of the Syrian people.”
“They have exploited the media, and unfortunately some United Nations employees distort reality about what is happening in Syria and to lie to international public opinion regarding the human suffering of Syrian civilians. With regard to the suffering of Syrian civilians, it has been inflicted on them by armed terrorist groups for seven years.”
“Such groups use civilians as human shields, target hospitals and schools and use them as military posts, camps and detention centres for the people they abduct. In the past 20 days, the city of Damascus has been subjected to 1,000 missile and mortar attacks. Some Council members have manipulated the principles of the United Nations Charter and violated its provisions by giving orders to their regional partners to invest all they can in media and materials to support armed terrorist groups, by issuing Wahabi fatwas for the shedding of Syrian blood, by opening their borders to facilitate the entry into Syria of tens of thousands of mercenary terrorists from more than 100 Member States of this Organization, by setting up training camps in neighbouring States and by calling these terrorists moderate Syrian opposition.”
“Today those mercenary terrorists who come from more than 100 states are simply called Syrian opposition. It seems that their DNA has been altered, and now they are just the Syrian moderate opposition. It is no secret that this support to the terrorists has cost those States $137 billion, as confirmed by the former Prime Minister of Qatar. It is also no secret that the former United States Ambassador to Syria confirmed that his country had spent $12 billion over the four years from 2014 to 2017 in order to change the regime in Syria, as officials in Washington, D.C., want to do in Baghdad, Libya, Syria, Venezuela and Iran.”
“WikiLeaks documents have revealed the policies of successive American Administrations and shown that the United States Government has been opposed to my country since the American and British invasion of Iraq. Those countries have manipulated the principles of the Charter and violated its provisions by giving armed terrorist groups toxic chemicals to use against innocent civilians, subsequently manipulating the locales of such incidents and providing the investigation mechanism with concocting false information and fake testimony to accuse the Syrian Government in order to find an excuse to attack it.”
“There are 136 letters in the dossier I hold here, sent to the Member States by the Syrian Government and containing very important information on the acquisition of chemical substances outside Syria by terrorists for their use in Syria. Those chemicals were indeed used in Syria and, as I just said, 136 letters were written about them. The Council has the letters, but only a few of its members were interested in reading them. One of the most important political magazines, the American Newsweek, published an article on 8 February written by Ian Wilkie entitled “Now Mattis Admits There Was No Evidence Assad Used Poison Gas on His People”. The United States Secretary of Defence admits in that article that there is no proof of the use of toxic gas by the Syrian Government against it people, neither in Khan Shaykhun nor in Al-Ghouta in 2013.”
“The French Minister of Defence, Florence Parly, also said yesterday, like her American counterpart, that there is no documented proof of the use of chlorine gas by the Syrian Government. Yet the words of the French Minister did not prevent her President from threatening to stage an aggression against my country, Syria, as the former United States Administration did.”
“These countries have manipulated the principles of the Charter and breached its provisions when they tried to legitimize the recurring attacks perpetrated by the forces of what is called the International Coalition, led by the United States, the most recent of which was this illegitimate coalition’s attack on 8 February on northeastern Deir ez-Zor, against Syrian popular forces fighting terrorist Da’esh. This region, which is 30 kilometres wide and 65 kilometres long, and which was attacked by the Syrian popular forces against Da’esh, is under United States protection. Da’esh, which we defeated in Deir ez-Zor and Albuqmal, left these two cities under American protection and entrenched its presence in the region along the Syrian-Iraqi borders.”
“When the Syrian popular forces attacked Da’esh there, they were shelled by the United States Air Force. This is clearly yet another example of the Coalition’s real mission and the role played by Washington, D.C. in supporting the terrorist organization Da’esh, as it has done in the past, when the United States targeted Syrian Arab Army sites in Jabal Al-Thardah, near Deir ez-Zor, on 17 September 2016, enabling Da’esh to advance and occupy areas in Jabal Al-Thardah. The Coalition has deliberately destroyed 90 per cent of the Syrian city of Raqqa and has failed to uphold its commitment to defusing tens of thousands of mines left behind by Da’esh before abandoning the city and perpetrating terrorist acts under its two umbrellas — the United States, east of the Euphrates, and Turkey, north of Afrin.”
“It is unfortunate that in his statement, to which I listened carefully, the Special Envoy made no mention of the occupation of various areas in my country by the United States and Turkey. He did say that there was a cross-border dispute in Afrin, but did not mention the illegitimate Turkish presence in my country and the attack on the Syrian city of Afrin. These States have manipulated the principles of the Charter and violated its provisions when they stayed silent, along with the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, with regard to the repeated attacks by Israel’s occupation forces on areas of the Syrian Arab Republic, the most recent being their act of aggression on 10 February, which my United States colleague has attempted to justify by claiming that it was a response to an Iranian drone’s flight over occupied Palestinian territory.”
“That is not true; it is false and misleading. It is not the first time that we have witnessed Israeli acts of aggression against the sovereignty of my country. Every member of the Council is aware that Israel continued to violate my country’s sovereignty until one of its military planes was brought down by a Syrian rocket over occupied Palestine. Israel has consistently violated my country’s sovereignty — and I would like to remind the Council and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations of that.”
“The Council has been prevented from issuing statements condemning terrorist attacks by military organizations and their launching of more than 1,000 missiles and mortars, most recently targeting residential streets and suburbs, diplomatic missions, infrastructure and churches in Damascus and other cities. Those acts of aggression have resulted in dozens of civilian deaths and hundreds wounded, most of them women and children. These States have manipulated the principles of the Charter and violated its provisions when they talk about what they call besieged areas in eastern Ghouta and the Damascus countryside.”
“They have forgotten that the residents of eastern Ghouta have been besieged from within by armed terrorist groups that are operating from there, using civilians as human shields and attempting to divert humanitarian convoys for the benefit of their supporters or to sell their supplies to desperate people at exorbitant prices, as happened in eastern Aleppo.”
“At the time when the United States first decided unilaterally and illegitimately to intervene militarily in my country, Washington stated that its goal was fighting Da’esh. After that, it changed its mind, saying that it was in Syria to establish permanent military bases for safeguarding the strategic security of the United States and its allies. It later changed its mind once again, saying that the purpose of its presence in Syria was to establish armed militias in opposition to the Syrian Government and to enable them to exploit oil, gas, water and hydrocarbons and other resources in Syria — in other words, they wanted to establish a mini-State.”
“Subsequently, it changed its thinking once more, stating that it would remain in Syria even if Da’esh was defeated. It said the same thing about Iraq, in order to justify the presence of their forces there. It has continued to change its mind, saying that it would leave Syria only if a political settlement was reached and the security of its allies was assured. Most recently, it has stated that it is in Syria to fight Iran, Hizbullah and Russia. It has shifted its nuclear strategy and is considering the possibility of using nuclear weapons. Tomorrow, perhaps, it will tell us that it is in Syria to fight Martians from the Milky Way.”
“The Syrian Government commends the Russian Federation’s efforts, and specifically President Vladimir Putin’s initiative in hosting the Syrian National Dialogue Conference in Sochi, which was yet another demonstration of the fact that the only way to achieve the aims of the political process in Syria is with Syrian oversight and with no foreign interference of any kind. The conference participants represented every sector of Syrian society — political, social, cultural, economic, and more. Two documents were adopted by an overwhelming majority, a final statement and a document calling for the establishment of a constitutional committee.”
“I very much hope that the results that Sochi has produced will not be misinterpreted. The final statement, voted on and amended by the Syrian participants, was adopted unanimously by a broad majority through a democratic vote, based on the procedures established for the conference. It represents the basic pillar of the political process that will produce future dialogue and discussion, rooted in a solution that, assuming no foreign interference, will be entirely Syrian-led. The final statement represents a legitimate foundation for any political process, especially considering that it reflects national principles that have unanimous support in Syria and cannot be questioned — respect for Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and the Syrian people’s right to choose their own political and economic system and to maintain the Syrian Arab Army and armed forces.”
“Given the principle that the Syrian people themselves must determine their future and their Constitution, participants in the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Sochi adopted a resolution to establish a constitutional committee. Consequently, the committee should be established according to the resolution voted on by the Syrians. The resolution identified the tasks of the committee, and the participants in the Congress did not grant the Special Envoy to Syria any tutelage, delegation or authority to establish the constitutional committee. We in Syria are committed to the decision taken by the participants of the Congress. We are not concerned with any committee set up by foreign stakeholders, and will not deal with the results of its discussions or with anything related to it.”
“The constitutional issue is a sovereign one. The Government of the Syrian Arab Republic remains committed to any political course that would end the bloodshed of the Syrian people, preserve my country’s unity and independence, ensure its sovereignty and uphold the principle of the Syrian people to determine their own future through Syrian dialogue. This firm principle has been underscored by all relevant Security Council resolutions on the Syrian crisis.”
“In conclusion, I would like to respond to my colleague of the United States, who called for peace in Syria and the implementation of resolution 2254 (2015), which was approved by her country. The resolution underscores the need to maintain the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of my country, Syria.”
“Given that the resolution, which was approved by Washington, D.C., underscores the need to maintain the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of my country, Syria, then why does the United States have forces in parts of my country? Has the United States of America not violated the very resolution that its delegation voted in favour of in the Council, where it was unanimously adopted?”
“Thank you for your attention.”
***
(Thank you to The Syrian Mission to the United Nations at YouTube)
Palestinians are at the heart of the conflict in the M.E Palestinians uprooted by force of arms.. Yet faced immense difficulties have survived, kept alive their history and culture, passed keys of family homes in occupied Palestine from one generation to the next.
This blog is devoted to legal, historical and human rights matters, in which issues of general concern are addressed freely and spontaneously. It is intended to further an informal exchange of views in the democratic spirit of freedom of opinion and respect for the opinions of others, in an effort to understand rather than condemn, to propose constructive solutions rather than grandstand. The perspective is both from inside and outside the box and the added value lies more in the questions than in the answers.
alestinian paramedic Razan al-Najjar was 21-years old on June 1 when she was struck and killed by Israeli sniper fire in Gaza. She was giving emergency medical assistance/treatment to fellow Palestinian victims of Israeli gunfire at the moment of her death. Close to 120 Palestinians have lost their lives while 10,000 have suffered injuries, nearly all as the result of Israeli military snipers’ bullets.
n these times of uncertainty and concern over unsettled international relations on Earth, particularly relations between East and West, greater understanding between the people is vital to establish peace. Increased awareness and understanding of views from all sides of major debated issues is important, in that more beneficial actions and resulting outcomes become possible.
amburg, Tehran, Beijing, Paris, Moscow; difficult, sometimes very difficult negotiations … Press conferences, flights – our crew have filmed the President on business trips for over a year … Working with various kinds of people; allies and opponents, politicians and diplomats; the interests of Russia, the interests of the world; principles and contradictions. Everything is as usual – handshakes, photos; 1-on-1 meetings, or in teams … Speaking with journalists.
yria’s Ambassador Dr. Bashar Ja’afari addressed the United Nations Security Council on February 14, 2018.