This is a better piece than most appearing in the U.S. on Syria. The writer is a bright NYTimes reporter who works hard to present a fair picture of Syria. He has had access to Bashar and 'Asma al-Asad, well as several Syrian dissidents. The piece is strongest in terms of presenting a purposive movement toward gradual political and economic reform. It is less strong on Syria's relationship with Lebanon, which Bennet almost presents in passing.
In all, the piece justifies a careful reading.
The Enigma of Damascus - New York Times
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The Israeli Occupation of Syria: What the US Media Hides
by Wendy Campbell
July 20, 2005
The inspiration for this article came to me after reading an article about Syria that was forwarded to me by a well-meaning, but somewhat naïve, fellow pro-Palestinian peace activist. He thought it was “interesting”. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to decipher the actual meaning and thrust behind the article. Unfortunately, this is the case with most Americans.
I read the article earnestly hoping for some insight, as it was titled “The Enigma of Damascus”, a city in Syria to which I have journeyed in 2004. I also produced a documentary entitled “Syria: Land of Friendly People and Hidden Treasure” based on my trip which I market on my website www.marwenmedia.com.
I had no idea as to the writer’s background, so I read it with an open mind.
As I read it, I started to become vaguely annoyed. By the time I was finished, I was in an acute state of annoyance.
Hence, I am moved to write yet another article exposing what passes for journalism in the US media, but what is actually war-mongoring Neo-Conservative propaganda written with the express purpose of preparing the US public opinion to go along with its aggressive agenda of forcing regime-change on any country that they deem is an enemy of Israel.
The article “The Enigmas of Damascus” was written by a certain James Bennet. He is obviously a Neo-Conservative and most likely a Zionist Jewish one at that. It turns out that this article was first published by the New York Times.
You can find this article at http://www.natashatynes.org/newwire/2005/07/the_enigma_of_d.html#more
“REGIME-CHANGE” IS NEO-CON CODE WORD FOR ALL-OUT WAR
I will now dissect and interpret Bennet’s article for those who are not aware of the Zionist Jewish modus operendi: use of code words, their deliberate omissions of pertinent facts, while at the same time cherry-picking talking heads whom they want to push into the limelight since they support the Zionist agenda: Zionist domination of the Middle East and perhaps more than that, generally using American resources to do so, as in an endless costly and deadly “war on terror”, that is not necessary to the security or best interests of most Americans.
He puts “the Bush administration, many European leaders and many reform-minded Syrians” all in one basket for instance. AS IF any reform-minded Syrians (except for the few Zionist neoconservative Jewish Syrians there) would ever want the kind of “regime-change” that Bush has in mind for Syria, such as the “regime-change” that is taking place in Iraq. By the way, in case you haven’t figured it out by now, the phrase “regime-change” is a Zionist/Neo-Conservative codeword for WAR. BLOODY WAR.
Reform-minded = Regime-change = WAR. Paid for with US tax dollars for Israel’s “security” and imperialistic ambitions.
MAJORITY OF SYRIANS APPROVE OF THEIR LEADER
As I wrote in another article about Syria (“Let’s Get Clear About Syria”, www.marwenmedia.com), the group leader for our tour of Syria, an American Christian Scientist, told me that if there were to be a democratic election in Syria, that Bashar Assad, the current leader of Syria, would probably win by about 70% of the vote. Our Syrian Greek Orthodox guide agreed. In fact, everywhere we went in Syria, from city apartments and informal business luncheons to Bedouin and Kurdish adobe homes in the countryside, the people we spoke to seemed genuinely positive, even glowing, in their praise of Bashar Assad. These were not cherry-picked people either, since sometimes we stopped by the side of the road at some village and got ourselves invited in for tea with people spontaneously.
I even asked our Syrian guide if it was mandatory that everyone have a portrait of Bashar Assad in their homes, and he said no. He reminded me of how he didn’t have one in his home, where we had previously had some tea with his family.
So Mr. Bennet’s observation that Mr. and Mrs. Bashar Assad “seemed the essence of secular Western-Arab fusion” is accurate, not a “mirage” as he asserted.
Bennet claims that Assad’s “empty promises, nasty oratory and bloody tactics has turned them (the Bush administration, meaning the Neo-conservatives) against the Syrian regime.”
Talk about the height of hypocrisy and obfuscation of the truth of the matter!
The Neo-conservatives represent Zionist Israel, which has long been known for empty promises, nasty and very racist oratory against Palestinians and the entire Arab and Muslim world, and bloody tactics!
Israel has always been aggressive and belligerent against the indigenous non-Jewish Palestinians there as well as all its neighboring countries of Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and beyond since day one of its creation in 1948.
Bennet rightly asserts that “Since Saddam Hussein’s rule ended in Iraq, no other Arab government has come in for as much pressure and disdain from the Bush administration” however Bennet never makes a clear case for why that is. I’ll tell you why that is: it’s because Syria refuses to let itself be run over by Zionist Israel and its puppet benefactor the Zionized USA. And why should it? Would any self-respecting people or country?
ISRAEL STILL OCCUPIES SYRIA’S GOLAN HEIGHTS, SINCE 1967
A very important fact that Bennet only vaguely referred to is that Israel has been occupying part of Syria, specifically the Golan Heights since 1967! And believe me, the Syrians have been boiling about that ever since. Yet somehow the US media, including Bennet in this very New York Times article, treats this as basically a complete non-issue! It is rarely mentioned in the US media, and when it is, it is not clarified or emphasized for the average American to grasp the meaning of it.
Contrast that non-coverage of the Isareli occupation of Syria with the whole lotta coverage that the US media and US government spotlighted on the Syrian troops that were stationed in Lebanon! And by the way, the Syrian troops in Lebanon had many supporters! It is generally believed by those in the peace movement (the sincere, anti-Zionists especially) that CIA and Mossad agents actively stirred up trouble in Lebanon with regards to the Syrian troops there, and therefore we witnessed the spectacle fully covered in embedded-with-the-US-government US media of the massive dueling rallies, of which many were pro-Syrian troops in Lebanon.
The US government pressured the Syrian government to remove their troops there, and the Syrian government did so, in a timely manner, unlike Israel which the US never seems to exert any real pressure on to conform with international laws. Israel has defied over 70 UN Resolutions, and in comparison, Iraq had defied 17 before the US war on Iraq. It goes to show the complete bias that the Zionized US demonstrates towards Israel.
The Syrian government has clearly demonstrated that it is willing to cooperate with the US on many issues, but what exactly does the US want from Syria? It seems as if they want Syria to fall in step with whatever Israel wants, and that is tantamount to allowing Israel to continue to continue to steal Syrian land for a “Greater Israel”, a stated goal of many Zionist Jews.
If Israel really wanted to be on friendly terms with Syria, Israel should take the first step and withdraw from Syria’s Golan Heights. That is truly what is needed. Otherwise, why should Syria cooperate? Syria is thus placed in a catch-22 situation. Damned if they do and damned if they don’t. This is the unfair way in which Israel and the Zionized USA behaves, and the world is taking notice. No wonder the US and Israel rank as the number one threat to peace in the world according to international polls.
Getting back to the Israeli occupation of Syrian land, Israel finally has had to relinquish what it captured in 1967 back to Lebanon, and also it had to give back the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt.
When is the US going to pressure Israel to give Syria back its Golan Heights? It’s obviously a non-issue to the Neo-conservatives who are in charge of the Bush Administration, and it’s obviously a non-issue to the New York Times and all the rest of the Zionized US media.
Just to show you how much of a non-issue Bennet prefers to keep it, I’ll quote his ONE SENTENCE referring to this VERY IMPORTANT ISSUE to the Syrians:
“He (Bashar Assad) came into power after talks collapsed in 2000 over the return to Syria of the Golan Heights, which Israel occupied in 1967, in the Six-Day War.”
That’s IT! Look at how he does not provide any details about the history of the Six-Day War in 1967. Look at even his misleading use of language to describe the situation: “Israel occupied”, as in past tense, instead of what he should have written, that “Israel has been occupying” to indicate that this is STILL AN ON-GOING ISSUE.
Look at how Bennet did not bother to put the current events in any frame of reference or context to enable the average American reader to understand the current situation Syria finds itself in. This is not by accident either. The Zionized US media has been covering for Israel for decades, to keep anything that could be construed as negative press about Israel away from non-Jewish American eyes and minds.
You can bet your bottom dollar that Jews, especially politicized Zionist Jews, know about all of this, at least from the Zionist point of view. Because it’s the history of Israel, which is their primary concern with regards to politics. You can learn a lot by reading Jewish newspapers and websites. They cover many issues that they prefer non-Jewish Americans to remain ignorant about. This is why, as the saying goes: “Knowledge is power.” This is also why they have an advantage over non-Jewish Americans. How can non-Jewish Americans take a stand on issues when they don’t even know anything about them except for the smooth propaganda they read in the Zionized US media?
THE TRUTH ABOUT ISRAEL’S AGGRESSION IN THE 1967 SIX-DAY WAR
For example, how many Americans know about the 1967 Six-Day War?
This is when Israel, armed to the teeth (after all, it has the 4th largest army in the world even though the country is about the size of New Jersey!) preemptively waged war on all of its neighboring countries including Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.
In fact, it was such a secretive, preemptive attack that Israeli jets and naval boats relentlessly attacked the hapless USS Liberty, even though it was clearly marked as an American vessel and informed the Israeli jet pilots of such. Israel simply did not want anyone interfering or witnessing its illegal aggression against its neighbors.
Israel’s air force completely obliterated Egypt’s entire fleet of military jets while they were parked unmanned!
This was all completely illegal according to International Law.
The sad tale of the USS Liberty, a lightly armed reconnaissance naval vessel that was innocently in the wrong place at the wrong time, has been willfully hushed up for years by our government as well as our media, indicating that Israel’s interests rank even higher than American interests. Israel has never been brought to justice for its crimes against humanity, which are many, including this bloody incident. This shocking betrayal is movingly revealed by the survivors of the USS Liberty in “The USS Liberty Survivors: Our Story” available at www.marwenmedia.com. According to these American eye witnesses, Israeli jet fighters and boats relentlessly attacked the USS Liberty for 75 minutes, killing 34 American men and wounding 172 more. The Israelis were hoping to sink it and then blame it on Egyptian Arabs. Today the Israelis claim it was a “tragic accident” although all evidence points to the contrary.
In that illegal war, the Israelis stole even more Palestinian land (which they are still continuing to steal up to this very moment in time), as well as the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt (has been returned to Egypt), the Golan Heights from Syria (still under Israeli occupation) and southern parts of Lebanon (has been returned to Lebanon).
It is called the Six-Day War because that’s about how long it lasted. Since it was a preemptive war, the Arab countries were completely caught off-guard.
THEN THERE WAS THE YOM KIPPOR WAR IN 1973
In 1973, Egypt retaliated with a preemptive war against Israel in a bid to reclaim the Sinai Peninsula back from Israel. Egypt was getting very close to winning this war, but at the last hour, Jewish Israeli-Americans Henry Kissinger and Golda Meir, who was the Israeli prime minister at the time, persuaded the US government to intervene and save Israel from defeat.
In retaliation against US intervention and to show solidarity with Egypt, the Arab countries of OPEC tightened the oil spigots and therefore Americans were forced to endure long lines at the gas stations. In fact, one could only get gas every other day depending on whether the last number on your license plate was even or odd. So gas was actually rationed at that time! Obviously that caused a lot of stress to a lot of Americans as I well recall. The Israeli connection to this politically induced “oil crisis” is something the US mainstream media has consistently hid for decades up to this moment in time. The reason for this is that the Zionized US media always hides any negative impact that US support for Israel has on the American people.
The US media wants to make sure that Americans continue to blindly support our government’s unconditional support for Israel.
Which brings me back to the inspiration for this article: the mainstream US media’s cover-up of Israel’s continuous, belligerent occupation of Syria’s Golan Heights since 1967.
NOW THERE IS ENDLESS WAR
In case you haven’t noticed, Israel’s “war on terror” has somehow become America’s war on terror.
This is what happens when the truth is not confronted, when human rights are being trampled on, and when some countries are allowed to play by their own rules rather than by international law.
It’s now time for Americans to demand that our government learns to just say NO to Israel.
No more double standards. No more free money. Israel receives over $4 billion dollars every year of our tax dollars in “loan guarantees” which means Israel never has to and never does pay them back. Israel often asks for and receives many billions of dollars on top of the yearly $4 billion. And that doesn’t even include the over $200 billion that we’ve paid so far for the unjust and unnecessary war on Iraq. No more diplomatic cover. No more Zionism (Jewish supremacism). No more nada.
In fact, I do believe it’s time to place sanctions on Israel unless Israel obeys international laws and transforms into a true secular society with completely equal rights for all, including the right to return of all the Palestinian refugees.
In the meantime, our best strategy to end this endless war is to continue to educate ourselves from reliable resources (NOT the New York Times or any US mainstream media, but rather from anti-war websites) and to spread the word.
Wendy Campbell is a California-based documentary film-maker and writer. For more information, her websites are www.marwenmedia.com and www.exposingisraeliapartheid.com.
She also recommends www.antiwar.com, www.rense.com, www.aljazeerah.info, www.cactus48.com , www.israelshamir.net, www.gilad.co.uk and www.whatreallyhappened.com.
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