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استفاده اسرائیل از گازهای سمی اعصاب به روایت قربانیان+تصاویر

92/07/07 - 08:32
شماره: 13920706000581

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قربانیان استفاده اسرائیل از گازهای سمی اعصاب از عوارض این سلاح‌های ممنوعه می‌گویند.

خبرگزاری فارس: استفاده اسرائیل از گازهای سمی اعصاب به روایت قربانیان+تصاویر

به گزارش خبرگزاری فارس، هیاهوها و جنجال‌های این روزهای کشورهای غربی در قبال سلاح‌های شیمیایی سوریه و سکوت مطلق دیرپای این کشورها در قبال مجموعه رنگارنگ تسلیحات کشتار جمعی رژیم صهیونیستی تناقضی بوده که کمتر ذهن پرسش‌گری به راحتی توانسته از کنار آن عبور کند.

استفاده اسرائیل از سلاح‌های کشتار جمعی به جنگ سال 1948 برمی‌گردد. گروه‌های صهیونیستی به رهبری »دیوید بن گوریون» که اولین نخست‌وزیر اسرائیل بود ایجاد رعب و وحشت در بین فلسطینی‌های بومی را در دستور کار قرار داده بودند تا آنها را وادار به ترک سرزمینشان کنند.

چنانکه کمیته بین‌المللی صلیب سرخ گزارش داده گروه‌های صهیونیست در ماه مه سال 1948 آب آشامیدنی شهر «عکا»  در فلسطین را به باکتری بیماری حصبه آلوده کردند که بسیاری از ساکنان این شهر را به این بیماری مبتلا کرد.

گزارش زیر نگاهی است به شرح  توسل اسرائیل به گازهای ممنوع سمی از زبان برخی از قربانیان این سلاح‌ها. شرح مختصری درباره هر کدام از موارد استفاده از این گازها هم فراهم آورده شده است.

• استفاده از 8 گاز سمی اعصاب در سال 2001

در سال 2001، دست‌کم هشت مورد استفاده از گازهای سمی اعصاب علیه مردم فلسطین ثبت شده است. استفاده از این گازها از تاریخ 12 فوریه سال 2001 از منطقه غزه (خان یونس و منطقه‌ای در مجاور آن به نام «اردوگاه قربی») آغاز شده و تا پایان مارس سال 2001 ادامه داشته است.

گزارش‌هایی که منابع مستند فراهم آورده‌اند نشان می‌دهد افرادی که در معرض این گازها قرار گرفته‌اند ویژگیهای بالینی زیادی مانند تشنج نشان می‌دهند. دکتر «سالاخ شامی» از جمله پزشکان بیمارستانی در غزه است که دست‌کم با 130 نفر از افرادی که از استنشاق این گازها مسموم شده بودند سر و کار داشته است.

وی درباره نشانه‌های مسمومیت با این گاز چنین می‌گوید: «هیچوقت چنین چیزی ندیده بودم. قربانی‌ها بالا و پایین می‌پریدند و به چپ و راست غلت می‌خوردند. تشنج داشتند. نوعی هیستری بود. می‌لرزیدند. قربانی‌ها بی‌هوش می‌شدند و بعد که به هوش می‌آمدند، تشنج داشتند، استفراغ می‌کردند، احساس گم‌گشتگی و درد داشتند.» (منبع: مصاحبه‌های انتخاب شده از فیلم نوار غزه، ساخت جیمز لانگلی، فیلم‌ساز آمریکایی). 

محمد سلطان که در آن زمان 18 سال داشت، از جمله قربانیان این حمله شیمیایی بود. او 6 هفته پس از استنشاق این گازهای سمی درباره حالتهایش اینطور توضیح می‌دهد: «مثل مورچه من را می‌خورد و من سعی می‌کنم آن را بخارانم. آنها همه نوع دارویی به من تزریق کردند و هیچ فایده‌ای نداشت. من بدنم را می‌خارانم و می‌خارانم اما دردهایم تمام نمی‌شوند. مثل این است که چیزی داخل بدنم مثل مورچه راه می‌رود... از همه چیز بدتر سردرد است. اگر فقط چند لحظه داخل آفتاب بنشینم سردرد می‌گیرم... احساس ضعف و خستگی می‌کنم و استخوان‌هایم در می‌کند. هر چه سعی می‌کنم فراموش کنم بی ‌فایده است. این سردردها باز هم می‌آیند.»

 

جیمز لانگلی در فیلم نوار غزه با مادری مصاحبه می‌کند که کودکی را با چهره پر از لک به آغوش گرفته است. از مادر پرسیده می‌شود: «آیا لکه‌های روی صورت کودک شما اثر گاز است؟» که او در پاسخ می‌گوید: «همه آنها اثر گاز است. قبلاً هیچ چیزی روی صورتش نداشت. وقتی که نفس می‌کشد خس خس می‌کند. سینه اش هم درد می‌کند. قبلاً سینه‌اش مشکلی نداشت.»

 

دکتر سایر شیخ علی که پزشک بیمارستان النصر در غزه است در 14 فوریه سال 2001 می‌گوید: «اسرائیل از نوع قدرتمندی از گاز علیه فلسطینی‌ها استفاده کرده که باعث تشنج و اسپاسم‌های عضلانی می‌شود. بیش از 80 نفر از فلسطینی‌هایی که به بیمارستان نصر در خان یونس می‌آیند گزارش دادند که سربازان اسرائیلی از گازی با دود سفید استفاده کرده اما اسرائیل انجام این کار را انکار کرده است.» (منبع: مرکز حقوق بشر فلسطین)

 

در فیلم نوار غزه، ساخته فیلمساز آمریکایی، فردی که خود را راننده آمبولانس بیمارستان نصر معرفی می‌کند و مسئول انتقال قربانی‌های حمله شیمیایی اسرائیل بوده چنین می‌گوید: «گاز خیلی خطرناکی است. نوعی از گاز که قبلاً آن را ندیده بودم... دود سیاهی داشت، بو و هیچ چیز دیگر نداشت. شباهتی به گاز اشک‌آورهای معمولی نداشت. من سه روز افرادی که با این گاز مسموم شده بودند را انتقال می‌دادم.»

 

کانیستر شلیک گازهای سمی توسط اسرائیل

نیروهای اسرائیلی در 18 فوریه سال 2001 بار دیگر از گازهای سمی استفاده کردند. بسیاری از زنان و کودکان بر اثر استنشاق این گازها به خفگی، گرفتگی‌های عضلانی و تشنج مبتلا شدند.

238 شهروند فلسطینی از استنشاق این گازها مسموم شدند. وزارت بهداشت فلسطین گزارش داد 55 کودک فلسطینی در معرف این گازهای سمی قرار گرفتند.

در دوم مارس سال 2001 باز هم از این گازها، این بار در روستای «البیره» در نوار غزه استفاده کرد. در این حمله نیز شمار زیادی مجروح شدند.

یک زن 23 ساله که در معرض این گازهای سمی قرار گرفته می‌گوید: «یک دود سیاه دیدم... آن لحظه چیزی را حس نکردم... بعد از 15 دقیقه بالا آوردم. به بیمارستانی در خیابان سیزدهم رفتم و آنجا منتظر ماندم. اگر بلند می‌شدم زمین می‌خوردئم. حتی الان هم در سینه‌ام احساس سنگینی می‌کنم و سرفه می‌کنم.»

 

استفاده از گازهای سمی در سال 2003

در اکتبر سال 2003 گزارش شد نیروهای اسرائیلی در شهر «رفح» در نوار غزه نارنجک‌های گازی شلیک کرده‌اند. مقامات پزشکی از مردم خواستند به هر قیمتی شده از این حمله‌های گازی فرار کنند، چرا که این گازها علاوه بر ایجاد مشکلات تنفسی دستگاه عصبی را نیز دچار مشکل می‌کند.

حمله‌های شیمیایی سال 2004

در 10 ژوئن سال 2004 ارتش اسرائیل از نوعی گاز در شهر الزاویه در شمال کرانه باختری اعصاب استفاده کرد که به روایت یکی از فعالان فلسطینی به نام «گاش شالوم» نوع جدید و ناشناخته‌ای از گاز اعصاب بود.

به گفته وی، شلیک این نارنجک‌ها با دودو سیاهی همراه بود و قربانیانی که آن را استنشاق کرده بودند با عوارضی مانند از دست دادن هشیاری، تب زیاد، گرفتگی شدید عضلانی مواجه می‌شد.

این روایت‌های اولیه باعث شد واحدهای پزشکی شهر الزاویه که بیش از صد نفر از قربانیان این گازها را درمان می‌کردند اعلام کردند گازهای استفاده شده به هیچ عنوان گاز اشک‌آور نبوده و نوعی گاز اعصاب بوده است.

عوارض کسانی که این گازها را استنشاق کرده بودند مواردی چون از دست دادن هشیاری، بی‌خوابی، از دست رفتن موقت حافظه و گرفتگی عضلات را شامل می‌شد.

طبق آنچه در فیلم نوار غزه ساخته جیمز لانگلی آمده شاهدان عینی گفته‌اند سربازان اسرائیلی اصرار داشته‌اند محفظه‌های حاوی این گازها را جمع‌آوری کنند.

در همین سال شبکه خبری الجزیره گزارش داد یک استاد شیمی به نام عاونی خطیب از دانشگاه هبرون گفته است که برخی از عوارض شیمیایی یافت شده در برخی از ساکنان شهر الزاویه ممکن است به خاطر استفاده از یک ماده شیمیایی باشد که ویژگیهایی بین گاز اشک‌آور طبیعی و سلاح شیمیایی دارند.

در قسمت بعدی این گزارش استفاده اسرائیل از سایر انواع گازهای سمی علیه شهروندان را پی می‌گیریم.

ادامه دارد...

 

انتهای پیام/ص


Retired Army Officer: US Supplied Chemical, Biological Weapons t

Fri Sep 13, 2013 7:0
Retired Army Officer: US Supplied Chemical, Biological Weapons to Iraq
TEHRAN (FNA)- Retired US Military Officer Karen Kwiantowski disclosed that the US supplied former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein with chemical and biological weapons during the 1980-1988 Iraqi imposed war on Iran.

Speaking in an interview with the Voice of Russia, Kwiantowski said, "We"ve done it. We did provide chemical and biological weapons to Saddam Hussein as he was fighting in that long war with Iran."

Late last month, the Foreign Policy revealed in a report that the US knew Hussein was launching some of the worst chemical attacks in history -- and still gave him a hand.

The US government may be considering military action in response to chemical strikes near Damascus, while there is no clue to throw the responsibility for the attack on anyone"s shoulder, except for the common sense which says rebels should be blamed. But a generation ago, America"s military and intelligence communities knew about and did nothing to stop a series of nerve gas attacks far more devastating than anything Syria has seen, Foreign Policy said in a report on August 26.

In 1988, during the waning days of Iraq"s war with Iran, the United States learned through satellite imagery that Iran was about to gain a major strategic advantage by exploiting a hole in Iraqi defenses. US intelligence officials conveyed the location of the Iranian troops to Iraq, fully aware that Hussein"s military would attack with chemical weapons, including sarin, a lethal nerve agent.

The intelligence included imagery and maps about Iranian troop movements, as well as the locations of Iranian logistics facilities and details about Iranian air defenses. The Iraqis used mustard gas and sarin prior to four major offensives in early 1988 that relied on US satellite imagery, maps, and other intelligence. These attacks helped to tilt the war in Iraq"s favor and bring Iran to the negotiating table, and they ensured that the Reagan administration"s long-standing policy of securing an Iraqi victory would succeed. But they were also the last in a series of chemical strikes stretching back several years that the Reagan administration knew about and didn"t disclose.

US officials have long denied acquiescing to Iraqi chemical attacks, insisting that Hussein"s government never announced he was going to use the weapons. But retired Air Force Col. Rick Francona, who was a military attaché in Baghdad during the 1988 strikes, paints a different picture.

"The Iraqis never told us that they intended to use nerve gas. They didn"t have to. We already knew," he told Foreign Policy.

According to recently declassified CIA documents and interviews with former intelligence officials like Francona, the US had firm evidence of Iraqi chemical attacks beginning in 1983. At the time, Iran was publicly alleging that illegal chemical attacks were carried out on its forces, and was building a case to present to the United Nations. But it lacked the evidence implicating Iraq, much of which was contained in top secret reports and memoranda sent to the most senior intelligence officials in the US government. The CIA declined to comment for this story.

In contrast to today"s wrenching debate over whether the United States should intervene to stop what the western states allege it to be chemical weapons attacks by the Syrian government, (although many others suspect as a rebel attack) the United States applied a cold calculus three decades ago to Hussein"s widespread use of chemical weapons against his enemies and his own people. The Reagan administration decided that it was better to let the attacks continue if they might turn the tide of the war. And even if they were discovered, the CIA wagered that international outrage and condemnation would be muted.

In the documents, the CIA said that Iran might not discover persuasive evidence of the weapons" use -- even though the agency possessed it. Also, the agency noted that the Soviet Union had previously used chemical agents in Afghanistan and suffered few repercussions.

It has been previously reported that the United States provided tactical intelligence to Iraq at the same time that officials suspected Hussein would use chemical weapons. But the CIA documents, which sat almost entirely unnoticed in a trove of declassified material at the National Archives in College Park, Md., combined with exclusive interviews with former intelligence officials, reveal new details about the depth of the United States" knowledge of how and when Iraq employed the deadly agents. They show that senior US officials were being regularly informed about the scale of the nerve gas attacks. They are tantamount to an official American admission of complicity in some of the most gruesome chemical weapons attacks ever launched.

Top CIA officials, including the Director of Central Intelligence William J. Casey, a close friend of President Ronald Reagan, were told about the location of Iraqi chemical weapons assembly plants, that Iraq was desperately trying to make enough mustard agent to keep up with frontline demand from its forces, that Iraq was about to buy equipment from Italy to help speed up production of chemical-packed artillery rounds and bombs, and that Iraq could also use nerve agents on Iranian troops and possibly civilians.

Officials were also warned that Iran might launch retaliatory attacks against US interests in the Middle East, if it believed the United States was complicit in Iraq"s chemical warfare campaign.

"As Iraqi attacks continue and intensify the chances increase that Iranian forces will acquire a shell containing mustard agent with Iraqi markings," the CIA reported in a top secret document in November 1983. "Tehran would take such evidence to the UN and charge US complicity in violating international law."

At the time, the military attaché"s office was following Iraqi preparations for the offensive using satellite reconnaissance imagery, Francona told Foreign Policy. According to a former CIA official, the images showed Iraqi movements of chemical materials to artillery batteries opposite Iranian positions prior to each offensive.

Francona, an experienced Middle East hand and Arabic linguist who served in the National Security Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency, said he first became aware of Iraq"s use of chemical weapons against Iran in 1984, while serving as air attaché in Amman, Jordan. The information he saw clearly showed that the Iraqis had used Tabun nerve agent (also known as "GA") against Iranian forces in southern Iraq.

The declassified CIA documents show that Casey and other top officials were repeatedly informed about Iraq"s chemical attacks and its plans for launching more. "If the Iraqis produce or acquire large new supplies of mustard agent, they almost certainly would use it against Iranian troops and towns near the border," the CIA said in a top secret document.

But it was the express policy of Reagan to ensure an Iraqi victory in the war, whatever the cost.

The CIA noted in one document that the use of nerve agent "could have a significant impact on Iran"s human wave tactics, forcing Iran to give up that strategy." Those tactics, which involved Iranian forces swarming against conventionally armed Iraqi positions, had proved decisive in some battles. In March 1984, the CIA reported that Iraq had "begun using nerve agents on the Al Basrah front and likely will be able to employ it in militarily significant quantities by late this fall."

The use of chemical weapons in war is banned under the Geneva Protocol of 1925, which states that parties "will exert every effort to induce other States to accede to the" agreement. Iraq never ratified the protocol; the United States did in 1975. The Chemical Weapons Convention, which bans the production and use of such arms, wasn"t passed until 1997, years after the incidents in question.

The initial wave of Iraqi attacks, in 1983, used mustard agent. While generally not fatal, mustard causes severe blistering of the skin and mucus membranes, which can lead to potentially fatal infections, and can cause blindness and upper respiratory disease, while increasing the risk of cancer. The United States wasn"t yet providing battlefield intelligence to Iraq when mustard was used. But it also did nothing to assist Iran in its attempts to bring proof of illegal Iraqi chemical attacks to light. Nor did the administration inform the United Nations. The CIA determined that Iran had the capability to bomb the weapons assembly facilities, if only it could find them. The CIA believed it knew the locations.

Hard evidence of the Iraqi chemical attacks came to light in 1984. But that did little to deter Hussein from using the lethal agents, including in strikes against his own people. For as much as the CIA knew about Hussein"s use of chemical weapons, officials resisted providing Iraq with intelligence throughout much of the war. The Defense Department had proposed an intelligence-sharing program with the Iraqis in 1986. But according to Francona, it was nixed because the CIA and the State Department viewed Saddam Hussein as "anathema" and his officials as "thugs."

The situation changed in 1987. CIA reconnaissance satellites picked up clear indications that the Iranians were concentrating large numbers of troops and equipment east of the city of Basrah, according to Francona, who was then serving with the Defense Intelligence Agency. What concerned DIA analysts the most was that the satellite imagery showed that the Iranians had discovered a gaping hole in the Iraqi lines southeast of Basrah. The seam had opened up at the junction between the Iraqi III Corps, deployed east of the city, and the Iraqi VII Corps, which was deployed to the southeast of the city in and around the hotly contested Fao Peninsula.

The satellites detected Iranian engineering and bridging units being secretly moved to deployment areas opposite the gap in the Iraqi lines, indicating that this was going to be where the main force of the annual Iranian spring offensive was going to fall, Francona said.

In late 1987, the DIA analysts in Francona"s shop in Washington wrote a Top Secret Codeword report partially entitled "At The Gates of Basrah," warning that the Iranian 1988 spring offensive was going to be bigger than all previous spring offensives, and this offensive stood a very good chance of breaking through the Iraqi lines and capturing Basrah. The report warned that if Basrah fell, the Iraqi military would collapse and Iran would win the war.

President Reagan read the report and, according to Francona, wrote a note in the margin addressed to Secretary of Defense Frank C. Carlucci: "An Iranian victory is unacceptable."

Subsequently, a decision was made at the top level of the US government (almost certainly requiring the approval of the National Security Council and the CIA). The DIA was authorized to give the Iraqi intelligence services as much detailed information as was available about the deployments and movements of all Iranian combat units. That included satellite imagery and perhaps some sanitized electronic intelligence. There was a particular focus on the area east of the city of Basrah where the DIA was convinced the next big Iranian offensive would come. The agency also provided data on the locations of key Iranian logistics facilities, and the strength and capabilities of the Iranian air force and air defense system. Francona described much of the information as "targeting packages" suitable for use by the Iraqi air force to destroy these targets.

The sarin attacks then followed.

The nerve agent causes dizziness, respiratory distress, and muscle convulsions, and can lead to death. CIA analysts could not precisely determine the Iranian casualty figures because they lacked access to Iranian officials and documents. But the agency gauged the number of dead as somewhere between "hundreds" and "thousands" in each of the four cases where chemical weapons were used prior to a military offensive. According to the CIA, two-thirds of all chemical weapons ever used by Iraq during its war with Iran were fired or dropped in the last 18 months of the war.

By 1988, US intelligence was flowing freely to Hussein"s military. That March, Iraq launched a nerve gas attack on the Kurdish village of Halabja in northern Iraq.

A month later, the Iraqis used aerial bombs and artillery shells filled with sarin against Iranian troop concentrations on the Fao Peninsula southeast of Basrah, helping the Iraqi forces win a major victory and recapture the entire peninsula. The success of the Fao Peninsula offensive also prevented the Iranians from launching their much-anticipated offensive to capture Basrah. According to Francona, Washington was very pleased with the result because the Iranians never got a chance to launch their offensive.

The level of insight into Iraq"s chemical weapons program stands in marked contrast to the flawed assessments, provided by the CIA and other intelligence agencies about Iraq"s program prior to the United States" invasion in 2003. Back then, American intelligence had better access to the region and could send officials out to assess the damage.

Francona visited the Fao Peninsula shortly after it had been captured by the Iraqis. He found the battlefield littered with hundreds of used injectors once filled with atropine, the drug commonly used to treat sarin"s lethal effects. Francona scooped up a few of the injectors and brought them back to Baghdad -- proof that the Iraqis had used sarin on the Fao Peninsula.

In the ensuing months, Francona reported, the Iraqis used sarin in massive quantities three more times in conjunction with massed artillery fire and smoke to disguise the use of nerve agents. Each offensive was hugely successful, in large part because of the increasingly sophisticated use of mass quantities of nerve agents. The last of these attacks, called the Blessed Ramadan Offensive, was launched by the Iraqis in April 1988 and involved the largest use of sarin nerve agent employed by the Iraqis to date. For a quarter-century, no chemical attack came close to the scale of Saddam"s unconventional assaults. Until, perhaps, the strikes last week outside of Damascus.

Iran has always stressed the urgent need to the dismantlement of the Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), including chemical weapons, as it has been a victim of such weapons.

Tens of thousands of Iranians were killed and wounded by chemical weapons during the 1980-1988 Iraqi imposed war on Iran. Around 100,000 Iranians are still living with the effects, which include long-term respiratory problems, eye and skin problems as well as immune system disorders, psychological disorders, genetic disorders, and probably cancers.

Sardasht is a city in Northwestern Iran. According to the 2006 census, its population was 37,000. It lies in the West Azarbaijan province. It was the first city in which civilians where attacked with chemical weapons by former Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein during the imposed Iraqi war on Iran.

The population of Sardasht is Kurdish. Sardasht is also known for the many villages around it and their reliability on the city"s market.

On June 28, 1987, Iraqi aircraft dropped what Iranian authorities believed to be mustard gas bombs on Sardasht, in two separate bombing runs on four residential areas.

Sardasht was the first town in the world to be gassed. Out of a population of 20,000, 25% are still suffering severe illnesses from the attacks.


Lancy Correa: Crushing Response Waiting for Any Possible US Stri

Thu Sep 12, 2013 7:32
Lancy Correa: Crushing Response Waiting for Any Possible US Strike on Syria
TEHRAN (FNA)- Shanghai Daily editor Lancy Correa believes that US President Barack Obama was isolated and in the corner both at home and abroad when he was pushing for war on Syria last week and the Russian initiative has gifted him a way out, otherwise his strike order would be met with a crushing response from the side of Syria.

“It’s stupid to think that Syria will sit idly by if it is attacked. President Assad has pledged retaliation and insisted that it will not back down if it is assailed militarily,” Correa said during an interview with FNA.

Correa is a foreign expert and editor at Shanghai Daily. He has also been a news editor at The Nation in Bangkok, and chief sub-editor at Indian Express.

What follows is his interview with FNA on the US war on Syria, specially after the Russian proposal for international control over Syria’s chemical weapons in return for the annulment of the US war plan on the crisis-hit country.

1. What do the American and the world public think of a military intervention in Syria? And why?

It’s pretty obvious from all the polls that the American public and world opinion is NOT in favor of any kind of military (mis)adventure in Syria. The reasons, too, are obvious. People around the world, in general, and the American public in particular are tired of wars being raged around the world, especially in the Middle East and Asia, in their name. Amid an economic crisis that has sapped confidence the public has no appetite for any military intervention anywhere.

2. What will be the final decision of the US Congress on intervention in Syria? What do congressional and constituency offices tell us about any upcoming voting in the Senate or the House?

The Congress seems to be deeply divided over the issue and most constituents of congressmen and senators apparently have been calling them and urging them not to vote for any resolution that allows for military intervention in Syria.

3. What were the reasons that Obama devolved the decision on military attack to the Congress?

President Obama had pushed himself into a corner by suggesting a red line in case chemical weapons are used in the Syria conflict. Now that it has been “confirmed” chemical arms were used in a so-called attack last month, even though there is no absolute proof that it was President Assad who ordered it, the mere fact of its use has propelled the US to look and act tough.

4. What consequences can a military strike against Syria have in the country and the region? What will happen if the rebels take control in Syria? Will it be safer?

It’s hard to say what will happen in case of military strikes in Syria since the region itself, even without any conflict, is pretty volatile with its layers of ethnic and religious sensibilities. If the rebels take control of Syria, it is likely that the country will go the way of Iraq and Libya, it will unravel and the timorous peace that has held its different people, the Alawites, Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, Christians etc will undoubtedly be shattered. Look no further than the non-states that Iraq and Libya have become since they were invaded and the regime-change imposed on them.

5. There’s a perception in the West that if Syria is attacked, Damascus and its allies will not react or respond it. Do you think that Syria and its allies naming Russia and Iran will certainly not react to this?

It’s stupid to think that Syria will sit idly by if it is attacked. President Assad has pledged retaliation and insisted that it will not back down if it is assailed militarily. Its allies Russia and Iran may not join in the conflict militarily but will use their influence elsewhere to rally the world, which at least Russia has been doing very well, and consistently, since the Syrian conflict began.

6. Russia has proposed to keep Syrian chemical weapons under international control, provided that the threat of military attack against Syria is removed. Damascus welcomed this initiative. What is your take on this? Will it decrease the possibility of any attack against Syria? Or the West will find another pretext to attack the country?

Apparently, the US also seems to like the idea though President Obama has been a bit skeptical. He has, however, agreed to consider it thoroughly. So it seems there is a broad agreement over the control of Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal. Whether it will lead to a long-term, political solution is still to be seen, since the Syrian opposition seems to be out for blood, and I can’t see them agreeing to anything short of President Assad’s ouster.

 


ADL orders YouTube to disable Press TV account: Emadi

Monday Aug 19, 201305:16 PM GMT
Video-sharing site YouTube deactivated Press TV"s official page without explanation after the Israeli-American Anti-Defamation League (ADL) ordered it to terminate the Iranian channel"s live broadcast.



"We have not been able to upload new videos on our official YouTube page since July 25. Both YouTube and (its parent company) Google have declined to comment," said Press TV Newsroom Director Hamid Reza Emadi.

He added that YouTube was "in fact responding to an ADL order to stop us from revealing Israeli crimes to the world."

An article on ADL"s official website has accused Press TV of bypassing the West"s sanctions by broadcasting live via YouTube and other internet and mobile platforms.

"ADL has contacted YouTube regarding concerns about Press TV," reads the article, further noting that the station"s "broadcast on YouTube comes at a time when the United States, the European Union and others in the international community are seeking to isolate Iran."

Since January 2012, Press TV has come under mounting pressure from European governments and satellite companies, which have taken the alternative channel off the air across the European Union.

In a statement published on the official website of the American Jewish Committee (AJC), the pro-Israeli lobby has lauded Spain"s efforts to ban Press TV, saying Madrid has pulled the plug on the Iranian channel following months of negotiations with the AJC.

"In recent years has emerged a channel that not only challenges the Zionists" long-time media dominance, but also has it questioned the West"s silence on their (the Zionists") crimes against humanity. That"s Press TV and they"re determined to silence it," Emadi added.


He said Press TV had to create an alternative YouTube account to upload its videos.

"Viewers can now watch our videos at www.youtube.com/user/PresstvNewsCast," he said.

SF/KA/SS


Israel uses talks with Palestinian Authority for expansionism

Monday Aug 19, 201305:02 PM GMT


Palestinian leaders are warning that Israel is using the US-led talks with the Palestinian Authority as a political cover for expanding its illegal settlements, Press TV reports.



“The PLO Executive Committee considers the unprecedented settler decisions which were announced by the occupation government as conclusive proof that Israel’s first and last option remains expansionism, Judaization and theft of Palestinian land, and not ending occupation and implementing the two-state solution on the basis of the 1967 borders,” Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) said in a Monday statement.

The PLO Executive Committee issued the statement during a meeting headed by acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

They committee said it sees poor prospects for the negotiations as Israel unveils plans to build new settlers units in the occupied Palestinian territories.

More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 illegal settlements built since Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem) in 1967.

Palestinians are seeking to create an independent state on the territories of the West Bank, East al-Quds, and the Gaza Strip and are demanding Israel to withdraw from the occupied Palestinian territories.

Tel Aviv, however, has refused to return to the 1967 borders and is unwilling to discuss the issue of al-Quds.

Much of the international community regards the Israeli settlements illegal because the territories were captured by the Tel Aviv regime in a war in 1967, and are hence subject to the Geneva Conventions, which forbid construction on occupied lands.

PG/SS