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Syria Impression – The Look of It Online

12 Friday Jul 2013

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The look of Syria online is a mess, of course, with the stickiest part becoming the internecine war between rebel forces, one part Islamic moderates, so intimated in coverage, intent on deposing President Bashir al-Assad with help from Saudi Arabia in complex alignment with the west, the other part Jihadists of, roughly, the “Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant” determined to make Syria but a stepping stone in the establishment of a global caliphate.

Throughout the Islamic Small Wars, the collapse of physical fronts, literally physical boundaries, margins, and fixed front lines keep the encounters and road blocks moving around the landscape, which today, so damaged, in places so depopulated, in others so ad hoc and weirdly organized, I would call painted with the fragments of a new frontier.

Still, Assad’s state remains where it has so far managed to remain.

From Al-Akhbar English:

Visitors to Damascus will find that they are not the only ones rediscovering the city. The capital’s own residents are reacquainting themselves with its neighborhoods and geography, trying to keep up morale in the face of a deepening crisis.

Zaraket, Maha.  “Damascus: The Military Geography of Normalcy.”  Al-Akhbar English, July 12, 2013.

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Who knows what to think as regards Syria’s fate somewhere between its brutal and disingenuous dictatorship, its seemingly well intended base of rebels willing to support a secular civil democracy, and its AQ-type rovers far gone on their own trip but also powerful in their agility, arms, and ruthlessness in the field?

As I type, I do wonder about “news aggregation” — so here is the snapshot of what I drifted through in information this morning — and I also wonder how long before those of us scanning war reportage from our computers start hooking into live feeds.

Twitter’s coming close, but what I read, of course, is what you read coming off AP, BBC, CNN, Reuters, and other feeds.

The Jihad videos from the field that show up with “0” views are a little different: those could be flying on to the web by phone or laptop at close to real time, but how to vet them without getting further into those labyrinths?

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Live Leak.  “Deranged dictator assad orders more of Syria’s capital destroyed: (July 12th, ’13).  Videos.

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The Free Syrian Army commander, stocky, bearded, dressed in camouflage, oozed menace and seethed with righteous anger.

We were speaking about the biggest jihadi group in Syria, the Nusra Front, who had kidnapped his brother.

BBC.  “Syrian rebel fighters’ civil war within a civil war.”  July 12, 2013.

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“We will not let them get away with it because they want to target us,” a senior FSA commander said on condition of anonymity after members of the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant killed Kamal Hamami on Thursday.

“We are going to wipe the floor with them,” he said.

Reuters.  “New Front Opens in Syria as Rebels Say Al-Qaida Attack Means War.”  VOA, July 12, 2013.

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“One has to concentrate on their strongholds and on their dwellings and their infrastructure. If (Alawites) continue living as they’re doing in peace and safety while wedded to the regime they will not be affected. They will not think of abandoning Assad,” said Islamist Sheikh Anas Ayrout.

Oweis, Khaled Yacoub.  “Syrian rebel sheikh calls for war on Assad’s Alawite heartland.”  Al Arabiya, July 10, 2013.

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Published June 7, 2013:

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Since then I’ve spent – I don’t know, many, many times, always undercover, clandestinely, always alone [in Syria]. I don’t keep count, but I was basically spending a week of every month in my home base, Beirut, and the rest of the time I was on the road, in Syria and Turkey.

I don’t use fixers, I don’t use translators. I don’t have anybody giving me tips. It’s just me.

Leigh, Karen.  “One on One: Rania Abouzeid, Journalist.”  Syria Deeply, July 12, 2013.

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In north-eastern Syria, al-Nusra finds itself in command of massive silos of wheat, factories, oil and gas fields, fleets of looted government cars and a huge weapons arsenal.

Abdul-Ahad, Ghaith.  “Syria’s al-Nusra Front – ruthless, organised, and taking control.”  The Guardian, July 10, 2013.

I referenced the above a day or two ago.  Basically, the greater the chaos introduced to the field, the greater the potential for the armed and ruthless to impose their will in patches, a condition not much different than that familiar to Somalis since Said Barre’s step-down and the ensuing anarchy and conflict latent in the motivations of powers left on the land.

Additional Reference

Free Syria Media Hub

Syria – Of Refugees and Bloody Optimists

09 Tuesday Jul 2013

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Described by some foreign relief officials as a ‘”five-star camp”, the Emirati-funded operation is a study in contrasts with Zaatari, the chaotic, sprawling UN-run camp that is home to 120,000 and is described as Jordan’s fifth-largest city.

Reed, John.  “‘Five-star’ refugee camp illustrates Gulf’s growing role in Syria.”  Financial Times, July 1, 2013.

**

Jordanian soldiers in riot gear try to keep order in a crowd desperate to get back to Syria. More than 9,000 headed home in June, according to the official Jordanian count.

Amos, Deborah.  “Reversing Direction, Some Syrian Refugees Now Head Home.”  Parallels, NPR, July 8, 2013.

Deborah Amos reports Jordan as hosting today 500,000 Syrian refugees.

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The UN says nearly 90,000 Syrians have registered with the High Commissioner for Refugees in Egypt.

But the actual number of Syrians who have sought refuge in Egypt is believed to be much higher, in part because the country did not require Syrians to have visas until this week.

AFP.    “Syrian refugees to Egypt facing restrictions following unrest.”  thejournal.ie., July 9, 2013.

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For Lebanon, UNHCR reports 503,724 registered refugees and an additional 84,071 awaiting registration (“Syria Regional Refugee Response: Lebanon”, viewed today).

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According to figures obtained by Kirisci from government sources, Turkey is currently hosting close to half a million Syrian refugees. As of mid-June, over 200,000 reside in one refugee camp, while nearly 290,000 live outside these camps. Around 100,000 internally placed Syrians are reported to be awaiting entry into Turkey.

Idiz, Semih.  “Turkey’s Syria Refugee Crisis.”  Turkey Pulse, Al Monitor, July 2, 2013.

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Also Monday, the newly elected head of the opposition Syrian National Coalition, Ahmad Jarba, told Reuters news agency he expects advanced weapons supplied by Saudi Arabia to reach rebel fighters soon, strengthening their military position.

VOA News.  “Syrian Fighting Intensifies, Rebels Expect Weapons.”  July 8, 2013.

The fall last week of President Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt prompted a defiant Assad to proclaim the defeat of political Islam. The Brotherhood’s Syrian branch, already under pressure from more radical opposition groups, was dealt a psychological blow that comes on top of delays to promised supplies of weapons from Washington.

Reuters.  “Analysis: Confident Assad sees Syria tide turning.”  The Jerusalem Post, July 9, 2013.

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Now there’s a picture.

Qatar and Company, heavily backing the Syrian Revolt (so far — Assad’s still in Damascus and his army is still fighting), have also plunged some money into producing a somewhat comfy, modern, and well administered model refugee camp for families (single men have to drift with the riffraff elsewhere) while remaining confident that some adjustment in the arms mix will hasten the end of the Reign of Assad.

Assad himself seems to remain a believer.

I have much, much less confidence in those confident that they will win . . . something.

Within Islam as al-Nusra and others may have it, “winning” will not lead to freedom but rather the imposition of their own sanguine tyranny.

For most involved in developing and sustaining the abysmal crisis in Syria, their history will not be written by “the winners” but rather by dowdy old historians poring over casualty figures, displacements, communique, rhetoric, bank transfers, arms shipments, manufacturer’s labels, newspaper clippings — or online ones like this one — and weighing within their independent souls the various causes and effects.

Some may stumble upon the role language has played in the nightmare, for Syria, perhaps more than in any corresponding contemporary conflict, points out a failing in language and mind by way of the beliefs and rhetoric driving toward so much suffering: that “content of mind” has had little to do with anyone’s day to day experience in living and the many challenges encountered, from making some money to attending to the happiness and security of children.

Instead, black and white thinking, extraordinary greed, unbridled egotism, and magical thinking all look away from the horror created by their possession or diminish the same — more than 90,000 dead, upwards of four million internally displaced or refugee — by way of language attending deflection of responsibility and the denial of the depth of the misery and depravity involved.

Is the good cause Alewite, Shiite, or Sunni?

Is it about cash in the till for a family and everyone else depending on that family be damned?

Is it about nobility?

What matter the purity of the white robes where the soles of the sandals remain  always wet with blood?

The civil war, noble cause, revolt, and revolution — all deeply anachronistic, anarchic, confused, disorganized, and disorganizing — will go on.

“Geneva in these circumstances is not possible. If we are going to go to Geneva we have to be strong on the ground, unlike the situation now, which is weak,” al-Jarba said July 7 after returning from the northern Syrian province of Idlib, where he met commanders of rebel brigades.

Huriyet Daily News.  “Saudi arms will arrive soon: Syria rebel chief.”  July 9, 2013.

Additional Reference

Reuters.  “Syrian opposition head expects advanced weapons to reach rebels.”  Al Arabiya, July 8, 2013.

O’Connor, Sean.  “Strategic SAM Deployment in Syria.”  Air Power Australia, January 2010; updated April 2012.

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Egypt’s Messy Mess — So Many Moving Parts

08 Monday Jul 2013

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As the death toll rises in clashes between Egypt’s army and pro-Morsi protesters, Muslim Brotherhood-linked Gaza terrorists are infiltrating the Sinai to attack Egyptian army outposts.

Ya’ar, Chana.  “Gaza Terrorists Stream into Sinai.”  Arutz Sheva, July 8, 2013.

Mahmoud added that the management used to instruct each staff member to favour the Muslim Brotherhood.

Sharaf, Ayman.  “Al Jazeera staff resign after ‘biased coverage’.”  Gulf News, July 8, 2013.

We know the big story of the day (“Army Kills 51, Deepening Crisis in Egypt” – NYT blog by David C. Kirkpatrick and Kareem Fahim, July 8) overshadows all, but Egypt’s twisting narrative includes sideshows not to be overlooked.

The Mubasher Misr staff resignations, 22 of them, may have a recent back story in the arrest of station chief Ayman Gaballah (“Head of Al-Jazeera Mubasher Misr released on bail,” Ahram Online, July 5, 2013) as well as something to do with being kicked out of military press conference this morning (RT. “Al-Jazeera journalists kicked outof Egyptian military press-conference.”  July 8, 2013).

Egypt’s stock exchange would seem about as upset as the state itself.  On July 5, headlines screamed of a 7 percent rise (BBC, “Egypt analysts optimistic for post-Morsi economy”) and today: “Shares plunge after Egypt violence,” The National, July 9, 2013).

Egyptian airport officials said the new measures followed reports that a large number of Syrians in Egypt were backing the Muslim Brotherhood and took part in violence after the ousting of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi.

AP.  “Egypt begins imposing travel restrictions on Syrians as civil war continues.”  The Washington Post, July 8, 2013.

Additional Reference

AP.  “Egypt Interim President Sets Election Timetable.”  Time, July 8, 2013.

Black, Ian.  “Reconciliation hopes fade in Egypt after Cairo killings.”  The Guardian, July 8, 2013.

Marcus, Jonathan.  “Egypt’s political unrest causes regional concern.”  BBC, July 8, 2013.

Perry, Tom.  “Insight: From power to protest, Egypt’s Brotherhood fights for life.”  Reuters, July 8, 2013.

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Egypt – Riot Control – They Just Don’t Get It – Neither Do We

08 Monday Jul 2013

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But most importantly, the deaths are going to galvanize the Muslim Brotherhood and their supporters. Rather than help calm the situation, the incident will almost certainly result in many thousands of Egyptians challenging the military’s authority.

Moran, Rick.  “At least 43 dead as Egyptian army fires at protestors.”  American Thinker, July 8, 2013.

But the military said it was forced to fire when an “armed terrorist group” tried to raid the headquarters. An Interior Ministry statement said two security force members — a lieutenant and a recruit — were shot and killed.

Penhaul, Karl and Ed Payne.  “Dozens killed as Egyptian military clashes with pro-Morsy protesters.”  CNN, July 8, 2013.

While Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood seeks to restrict the conversation, perhaps to the point where the only voices it hears are the echoes of its own, and the military with its provisional governments seeks to expand the same, so that but a few and manageable voices may come from many, the fight on the street will start to draw in greater energies.

For one thing, we media focus on it.

I could be writing about Egyptian basic services, tourism, history, and food, but benign and charming as those may be, they’re not quite as stimulating: with conflict, we don’t want to see its development, but we do want to watch.

The other question is how to let something go.

A slight is a slight, and one can shrug that off; a light injury may increase the insight but also provide for bragging rights — ask the 1960s kids around here about that; but a death in combat, Republican Guard vs. Pro-Morsi Protesters, may not be seen that way.

*****

“Before they had used any kind of teargas they resorted to live fire.”

Palmer, Alun.  “BBC reporter Jeremy Bowen shot in Egypt as demonstrations end in bloodshed.”  Mirror News, July 5, 2013.

Three days ago, BBC reporter Jeremy Bowen seems to have caught a few pellets of “bird shot” as a crowd got rowdy toward the end of a day of demonstrating.

Where were those Republican Guard tear gas canisters, rubber bullets, and water canons and such so familiar to other policing forces and spoilers and rioters worldwide?

The answer is that through all the Mubarak years involving the suppression of the Muslim Brotherhood, the state appears not to have prepared for violent dissent on its streets by the constituents it claimed to represent.

“If a given state lacks the means, the doctrines, and the training for homeland defence and internal security missions, that government is more likely to use lethal means that are disproportionate,” said Steven Adragna of US defence consultancy Arcanum.

AFP.  “Experts urge Arab nations to train forces in crowd control.”  February 22, 2013.

“A group of soldiers are preparing for their deployment to Egypt with riot training on post.”

KCEN.  “Riot Control Training.”  Video included.  June 20, 2013.

Glad we go that cleared up.

*****

Actually, we didn’t clear up anything: how was it possible that so common a policing concern as “riot control” should not have been of concern in this middle east state?

The attenuation of violence or control of a “violence spectrum” may become of interest when a state balances its want of defense against the well being of its internal challengets, i.e., when it doesn’t want to kill those expressing their opposition but rather prefers to stall them in their tracks and channel  the same for arrest on the spot or dispersal altogether.

Crowd and riot control would seem arts, specialties, perhaps, within the “art of war”, which in the Islamic Small Wars becomes also the art of managing, for the most part, popular protests and myriad bands of deadly fighters.

This next comes from the earlier anti-Morsi rally days (remember those?):

Near daily, the demonstrations have turned into clashes with police, resulting in the killing of around 70 protesters. Each death has increased public anger against the security forces.

Some protests have turned into stone-throwing attacks on security agency buildings, and many protesters accuse Morsi of giving a green light to police to use excessive force. Their outrage has been further stoked by reports of torture and abduction of some activists by security agents.

AP.  “Frustrated Egyptian police protest riot-control duties.”  Azstarnet, March 9, 2013.

Of course, those 70 deaths were attributed to Morsi-backed police!

The devil’s probably grinning.

For sure, I am.

If “deadly force” — a catch-all term for a suite of military technology and lethal methods — is what one has at hand, “dead” are what will be found “down range”.

With riot controlling technologies widely distributed elsewhere around the world, the absence of the same on the roiled Egyptian street may point to a distinct lack of concern for others.

Where was the love when precinct quartermasters were drawing up budgets and wish lists to protect their troops and their public and control the level of violence that might take place — and now has — on the streets around them?

When a phalanx of Ohio National Guardsmen marched shoulder to shoulder up Blanket Hill 40 years ago to break up an antiwar rally at Kent State University, they carried basic battlefield gear and a military mindset.

Their World War II-era M1 rifles were tipped with bayonets and loaded with .30-caliber bullets that could fly nearly two miles.

Mangels, John.  “Police crowd-control tactics have changed dramatically since Kent State protests.”  The Plain Dealer / Cleveland.com, May 2, 2010.

Compassion leads to “Kevlar vests and plastic shield . . . bean bags and canisters of stinging pepper gas.”

In those attempting an assault on an Egyptian Republican Guard property and those repelling the same with “live fire”, this concern for others — whatever mix of affection, compassion, empathy, and imagination might comprise and express that virtue — would seem to have been missing, and “barbarism”, which is always a conclusion, obscures the story of the evolution or stalling within the language culture and behavior leading up to it.

Additional Reference

Hauslohner, Abigail and Michael Birnbaum.  “Egyptian troops open fire on protesters, killing at least 40; negotiations stalled.”  The Washington Post, July 8, 2013.

Perry, Tom and Alexander Dzjadosz.  “At least 51 killed in Egypt, Islamists call for uprising.”  Reuters, July 8, 2013.

YouTube Search String – Egypt Alexandria Today

28 Friday Jun 2013

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The sole comment on the page: “First!”

I’m slowly advancing from compiling “Fast News Share” items that are about a day old to ones that seem to have had less than half a day on the web and even some that were posted within the hour.

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Probably, this evening, I will shut down the desktop for a day but how long, I wonder, before I can relay events in real time, the only lag involved becoming the time it takes to acquire the location of a recording and push it through the blog.

***

Egypt, I expect, will fracture between the modern, secular drift with interest in practical matters, especially the restoration of the economy and good relationships with the world at large — that’s good for the tourism sector, for sure — and the Muslim Brotherhood and the kind of political narcissism that seldom does much beyond bragging about its own greatness while stiff-arming its constituents for compliance, loyalty, and obedience.

Whether for or against the autocrat, the criticism of a regime is there in the violence it has inspired on its own streets.

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Syria At the Moment

27 Thursday Jun 2013

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Hezbollah sources told the paper that Nasrallah requested full financial and military backing for the fighting in Syria in a meeting with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Solomon, Ariel Ben.  “Report: Nasrallah secretly visited Iran to discuss Syria war.”  Jerusalem Post, June 27, 2013.

The above may be news recently released, but given the pace of the combat in Syria and the spillover into Lebanon, it’s old news predating the battle for al-Qusayr.

However, one may take as signal Russia’s decision implemented today to retrieve its military from the naval base at Tartus.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia has withdrawn all military personnel from its naval base in Syria and replaced them with civilian workers, the Defense Ministry said Thursday.

The ministry did not say when the switch at the base at Tartus took place or how many personnel were deployed there. The minor facility is Russia’s only naval outpost outside the former Soviet Union. It consists of several barracks and depots used to service Russian navy ships in the Mediterranean.

AP.  “Russia replaces military with civilians at Syrian base.”  USA Today, June 27, 2013.

Ah hah!

“We have neither servicemen nor civilians in Syria anymore. Or Russian military instructors assigned to units of the Syrian regular Army, for that matter,” a Russian defense ministry spokesperson is quoted as telling the Moscow business daily Vedomosti yesterday.”

Weir, Fred.  “Why Russia evacuated its naval base in Syria.”  The Christian Science Monitor, June 27, 2013.

Fred Weir points to Cyprus as an alternative achieving similar ends for Russian naval power and regional influence.

Put that together with this Euronews video from January this year (tipped by a CSM article):

While according to RT, “Russia’s Defense Ministry . . . blasted media reports about total evacuation as “extremely incorrect,” it’s difficult accepting the statement while looking at today’s breaking news and January apparent exodus of civilians by jet (RT, “Russian Defense Ministry refutes reports of Syria evacuation,” June 27, 2013).  In fact, RT goes on to actually emphasize aspects of the surface or top story.

Putin’s interests, whether defined financially for the long term or in terms of impact on his reputation in history, which I think more important to him than casually acknowledged, are not with “Islamists” — not in Chechnya with the rebels of the Kavkaz Center variety, not with Iran with Ayatollah Khamenei and his nuclear ambitions that would be used to threaten Russia every bit as much — more — as NATO.

For Putin, the restoration of Russian grandeur and strength, plus strength in national  and heroic self-concept, may involve navigating the balance between “bad boy” bravado and action with, actually (gasp!) even greater laudable strategy.

Whatever Putin does, he will be regarded as the bridge between the conniving, defunct, invasive police state that by the merit of the Russian People themselves had come to define the Soviet Union and this New Russian Federation that’s not about to take orders from Washington but might succeed in doing great right things on its own authority.

Most certainly, modern Russians will not want to be remembered for — or long associated with either — with the ravages of Maher al-Assad’s military, and while “the west” can take no pride in backing the kind of warrior that would cut out the liver out of his enemy and eat it, the Russian position, which appears to be decoupling from Syria, sails clear of the taint of that barbarism, albeit later than sooner with regard to the casualties and refugees of the war to date.

The problem with Syria, at the moment, and one of many problems within the Islamic Ummah, is that along the sectarian axis, neither side knows how to stop and both continue to walk toward a fire built on and sustained by their own unrestrained and unreasoning energies.

Additional Reference

Connolly, Kevin.  “Syria war exerts strain on Lebanon tinderbox.”  BBC, June 27, 2013.

Deutsch, Anthony and Parisa Hafezi.  “U.N. chemical weapons team in Turkey to investigate Syria claims.”  Reuters, June 27, 2013.

Fisk, Robert.  “Iran to send 4,000 troops to aid President Assad forces in Syria.”  The Independent, June 16, 2013.

Nebehay, Stephanie.  “Syria war likely to drag on, Red Cross president says.”  Reuters, June 27, 2013.

ROAvideos.  “Defining the Threat: Iranian Strategy in Syria.”  Video (1:38:23).  June 27, 2013.

Syria – The Dismal Killing Machine

26 Wednesday Jun 2013

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LONDON — An opposition monitoring group that has tracked Syria’s widening civil war said on Wednesday that more than 100,000 people had died in the 27-month-old conflict, with pro-government forces taking far more casualties than rebels seeking the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad, while civilians accounted for more than one-third of the overall fatalities, the biggest single category.

Cowell, Alan.  “Syrian Group Says War Deaths Top 100,000.”  The New York Times, June 26, 2013.

Perhaps the old days were better after all: assemble the armies on an open plain, send the warriors into it, and leave the noncombatants of both sides for the spoils of the winner.

Just kidding.

*****

“As always, numbers like these gloss over the many people who have been so grievously wounded, physically or psychologically, that they will never again live productive lives. What the latter figure amounts to in Syria is anyone’s guess. What’s certain is that it’s even larger than the death toll.”

Menon, Rajan.  “Hope for Peace in Syria, But Don’t Expect It.”  Blog.  Huffington Post, June 26, 2013.

Rajan Menon’s report on the suffering goes on to note 1.7 million refugees on top of 4 million Internally Displaced Persons, or 5.7 million displaced souls altogether, about 25 percent of Syria’s total population before the onset of serious hostilities (but I’m not sure I’m getting consistent numbers from any source published within the past two years).

*****

“In one trailer we meet 13-year-old Najwa. She curls back in the corner next to her husband, 19-year-old Khaled, and her mother, hardly saying a word.

Najwa is the youngest of three, her two older sisters in their late teens are also recently married.”

Damon, Arwa.  “No sanctuary for Syria’s female refugees.”  CNN, June 26, 2013.

Evidently, grim statistics don’t tell a whole story, or not much of whatever is to be told at all.

*****

“The head of the International Terrorism Observatory think tank, Roland Jacquard, told Reuters Television the group appeared to be sending fighters abroad, likely to Syria.”

Pennetier, Marine and Alexandria Sage.  “French police arrest cell with possible Syria links.” Reuters, June 25, 2013.

A cousin of a story.

Reuters.  “Spain arrests suspected al-Qaeda Syria network.”  Video.  June 22, 2013.

“Special informed sources from London revealed to the Palestinian al-Manar newspaper that the British security forces arrested early June a group of 11 terrorists in London who had come back from Syria where they were involved in the fighting there.”

Syrian Arab News Agency.  “British authorities arrest terrorists who fought in Syria.”  June 19, 2013.

Wars draw volunteers.  It’s a shame the one in Syria draws teenage ones.  Belgium dealt with this issue back in April of this year:

*****

Thanks to Ken Hanley at Digital Journal for playing this thematically related clip last week in his op-ed, “Many Foreign fighters involved in Syria on both sides” (Digital Journal, June 19, 2013).

*****

While Israel’s cardinal military defense rule seems to remain, “Do not intervene; do not interfere” (DM Yaalon), Israel’s first virtue would seem to remain compassion to the extent that it may provide that.

“The two boys, 9 and 15 years old, were transferred to Ziv Hospital in Safed for treatment. The 9-year-old suffered moderate injuries from shrapnel wounds across his body and lost his right eye, according to a report by Maariv. The 15-year-old was listed in serious condition, according to the report.”

Times of Israel.  “Minors wounded in Syrian fighting brought to Israel.”  June 26, 2013.

Every wounded Syrian is guarded by either an IDF soldier or by a civilian security guard in an attempt to isolate them from speaking with anyone unauthorized to do so who might photograph them or pass on their information to Syria, potentially harming them or their families upon their eventual return to Syria.

As stated, more than a 100 wounded Syrians have crossed the border in recent months. Some 70 of them have been taken to Israeli hospitals, and two have passed away as a result of their injuries.

Zitun, Yoav.  “More than 100 wounded Syrians receive care in Israel.”  YNet News, June 26, 2013.

After 2,000 years or so, Hillel’s negatively stated dictum seems to hold.  “That which is distasteful to thee, do not do to another” — and certainly, the choice between enabling or denying access to hospital services related well to that.

*****

“The request came in a letter handed to Prime Minister’s Office Director-General Harel Locker at a meeting with Druze leaders on the Golan Heights Thursday. The letter included an unprecedented request for Israel to take in Druze students who had left the Golan and settled in Syria, Maariv reported.”

Gur, Haviv Rettig.  “Druze leaders ask Israel to take in Syrian brethren.”  Times of Israel, June 23, 2013.

What would Hillel do?

Druze along the Golan have served both in the IDF and in Syria’s defense forces according to their decisions about citizenship and location, and with the fighting as I’ve described — “Two mad wasps in a bell jar” — Israeli Druze are seeking sanctuary for their relatives.

God knows God would seem to give Jews the toughest ethical and survival challenges.

Both.

At the same time.

Providing infirmary to wounded to be turned back into the field — and who want to be returned to their land — is one thing.

Affording sanctuary to those endangered by this war that only loosely respects boundaries and seems absent of compassion and conscience both in relation to innocents, noncombatants, neutral parties, and so on makes for a more difficult decision.

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FNS – Lebanon – Tanks Move in the Streets

24 Monday Jun 2013

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From AFP:

From Al Jazeera:

NOW.  “Live Coverage: Sidon fighting sparks tension.”  June 24, 2013.

Is comment necessary?

As mentioned yesterday, the natural drift of Syria’s bitching sectarian and factional conflict into the Lebanese sphere has both clarified and amplified the same tensions in Lebanon and those may not be quelled in a day or two.  In fact, the resentments and rivalries and perceived stakes have been building for years, and the passions surfacing into a hail of bullets do so distinctly absent of reason.

It’s the programming that fights.

Additional Reference

AFP Videos – English (YouTube)

Al Jazeera.  “Deadly fighting rages in Lebanon.”  June 24, 2013.

El Deeb, Sarah.  “Lebanon Clashes Leave At Least 16 Soldiers Dead at Sidon Mosque.”  Huffington Post, June 24, 2013:

The maverick cleric was little known until few years ago and his growing following was a symptom of the deep frustration among Sunnis who resent the Hezbollah-led Shiite ascendancy to power in Lebanon. Hezbollah and its allies dominate Lebanon’s government.

Siryoti, Daniel and David Baron.  “”Lebanon on the brink of war as sectarian violence enters second day.”  Israel Hayom, June 24, 2013.