Monday, March 12, 2012

Charter for Iranian Unity, Neda for a Free Iran (in Persian)


منشور فراگیر آزادیخواهان و فعالین جنبش مدنی در ایران


بنیاد "ندا برای یک ایران آزاد"میدان آزادی


کلیدی‌ترین درخواستها در جنبش ِنافرمانی های مدنی در ایران همانا برقراری حکومت قانون و تحقق عدالت می باشد. عدالتخواهی یکی از محوری‌ترین درخواستها ست که از "فقدان حکومت قانون" و از نبود ِیک سیستم ِتأمین اجتماعی در کشور نشئت می‌گیرد.
تامین آزادی‌های سیاسی، اجتماعی و فرهنگی؛ یعنی استقرار دموکراسی و نظم اجتماعی مدرن، بدون حکومت قانون میسر نمی شود. نظام مبتنی بر "حکومت قانون"، با موجودیت ِساختار های سیاسی- حقوقی در یک جامعه مردم-سالار ارتباط تنگاتنگ دارد. بدیگر سخن، رابطه‌ شهروندان با دستگاه سیاسی مستلزم تعریف در چارچوب یک قرارداد اجتماعی و مبتنی بر اعلامیه جهانی حقوق بشر است. نظامی که تن به حکومت قانون ندهد و حقوق شهروندان را در کنترل قدرت نپذیرد؛ لاجرم به تشدید ِروابط خشونت‌ در جامعه کمک می کند. البته حکومت قانون بدون برپائی یک دستگاه قضایی مدرن و عادلانه هرگز پایدار و مؤثر نخواهد ماند. 
پس از سه دهه نقد نظريه‌ی توطئه و آسیب شناسی ِ"سندرم" ِبيگانه هراسی و بيگانه ستيزی، هنوز ترهات بیت رهبری و روزنامه کیهان در ادبيات مارکسيستی و در گرایشات ایدئولوژیکی سازمان مجاهدین خلق  بازتاب دارد. در ادبيات دو-قطبی نگر ِچپ سنتی؛ اعم از مارکسیستی و اسلامی؛ دگر-اندیشان "ستون پنجم" معرفی می شوند و هماوا با خامنه‌ای از "دشمن" موهومی داد سخن می دهند و با توسل به نظريه‌هايی مثل "شبيخون فرهنگی" و "ناتوی فرهنگی" ناسزا پردازی و رجز-خوانی می کنند. روشنفکران و فعالان چپ ايرانی اعم از مذهبی و مارکسيست، نگرشی منفی نسبت به ايالات متحده و برخی کشورهای اروپای غربی در کوله بار خویش یدک می کشند و در کلی نگری هایشان تفاوتی ميان دولت فدرال و دولت‌های ايالتی و محلی قائل نمی شوند. آنها از اين حيث تفاوت چندانی با اسلامگرايانی که حامی جمهوری اسلامی هستند ندارند. روشنفکران چپ ايرانی بر اساس معيارهای دلبخواهی به نقد سياست خارجی کشورهای غربی می پردازند. آنها نتواسته‌اند هنوز جهت تشخیص دخالتهای بشر دوستانه از دخالتهای کشور گشايانه، سنجش های روشنی ارائه دهند.
البته باید خاطر نشان شد که کشورهای سکولار و دموکراتیک غربی از لحاظ حقوقی، بی عیب و نقص نیستند. منتهی در این جوامع؛ مطبوعات و رسانه‌ها بمثابه رکن چهارم دموکراسی؛ نقش مهمی در حفظ سلامت اجتماع ایفا می کنند. استقلال قوّه‌ی قضایه و وجود دادگستری‌ مستقل برای سلامت جامعه‌ی مدنی و برای حفظ دموکراسی امری حیاتی می باشد. همینطور وجود فضای سیاسی‌ چند صدایی؛ یعنی وجود احزاب و گروههای فشار ِمختلف برای برقراری و پایداری یک سیستم دمکراتیک واجد اهمیت بسیار است. لائیسیته از یکطرف یعنی پذیرش اصل جدائی دولت و سیستم سیاسی از دیانت و از طرف دیگر یعنی متکی کردن تصمیمات کشوری بر پایه قانونمداری و بر بنیان ِخرد ِآزاد بشری. لائیسیته در یک کلام یعنی اینکه دستگاه قانون گذار ناشی و برآمده از انتخاب آزاد مردم باشد.
در یک جامعه‌ی سالم و مبتنی بر آزادیهای مدنی، افشاگری و پیگیری‌ قانونی، امری الزامی تلقی شده و نظام دمکراتیک بر انتخاب و اراده آزاد شهروندان متکی می باشد. در جامعه‌ دموکراتیک و در فضای سالم، هیچ چیز «مقدس» و نقدناپذیر نیست. مسئله‌ اصلی‌ جوامع باز و آزاد این نیست که دمکراسی سیستمی است خالی از بحران و فاقد نقص. مسئله اینجاست که یک سیستم مردم-سالار، هر آینه توان حل بحران و ارتقا به مدارج توسعه یافته تر ِفرهنگی را در درونش نهفته دارد.
در راستای تحقق دمکراسی در ایران، واکاوی رویدادهای ۳۳ ساله‌ گذشته و شروع مقدمات برای محاکمه عاملان و آمران جنایت‌ و متجاوزان در ایران امری ضروری است. در این راستا، می‌توان به تلاشگران و وکلای حقوق بشری اشاره کرد که مراحل نخستین جمع آوری اسناد را جهت ایجاد کمیسیون های "حقیقت-یاب و آشتی ملّی" فراهم آورده و پی‌گیرانه موارد نقض حقوق بشر در ایران را دنبال می‌کنند. 
بمنظور احتراز از تکرار خشونت هائی که بعد از جابجائی قدرت در انقلاب ۱۳۵۷ صورت گرفت؛ کنشگران مدنی و مدافعین حقوق بشر در ایران ‌برآنند تا با تشکیل کمیته‌های حقیقت‌یاب و دادگاه‌های ذیصلاح ِبین‌المللی؛ از هم اکنون شرایط محاکمه‌ قانونی ِهمه‌ عاملان و آمران جنایات را برای ایران آزاد فردا مهیا کنند. همانگونه که هانا آرنت درباره‌ دادرسی نورنبرگ می‌گوید: اهمیت "عفو و بخشش" در درجه اوّل منوط به معلوم کردن دقیق نام متولیان و موارد نقض حقوق بشر است. یک سیستم‌ قضایی مدرن، "بخشش" را طبعاً وقع می نهد؛ در حالیکه نبود حکومت قانون؛ جامعه‌ را بتدریج به سمت لجام گسیختگی اخلاقی و هرج و مرج پیش می برد. چرا که فقدان حکومت قانون، به تبلور آشکار خشونت می انجامد. 
بیش از ۱۰۰ سال است که درخواست حکومت قانون در تاریخ ایران مطرح است. از صدر انقلاب مشروطیت، کلیدی‌ترین مطالبات مردم، همانا تشکیل عدالتخانه و برپائی مردم-سالاری بوده است. درخواست‌های جنبش ِمشروطیت، هنوز مبان شرط‌های شکل‌گیری یک جامعه‌ مدنی در ایران را تشکیل می دهد. بدون حکومت قانون و بدون تحت کنترل درآوردن نظام ِقدرت، جامعه‌ مدنی وجود خارجی نخواهد یافت.
برخورد یک‌بُعدی در ضدیت با دیکتاتوری و امپریالیسم و بدون رویکرد ِحقوق بشری، همانا بیراه ای بود که با انقلاب آناکرونیستی ایران در سال 1357 پایان یافت. اینکه مبارزه علیه امپریالیسم توأمان و در کنار مبارزه علیه دیکتاتوری باید به پیش برده شود؛ یک نوع موضع‌گیری‌ مغلوط به‌معنای اخص کلمه ست که خاطره اش را به بایگانی تاریخ باید سپرد. 
امروز، رفتارهای هنجار-ستیز در جامعه دین-مدار ایران میتواند پیآمدهای سیاسی ناگواری در پی داشته باشد. دو-آلیسم ِ"خودی و ناخودی" که روحانییت برای اِعمال هژمونی دینی خود بر ارکان دولت و نیز بر بدنه جامعه مدنی از آن استفاده می کند؛ دیگر هر گونه وجاهت ِاندیشگانی را فاقد شده است. متأسفانه سکولار های اقتدارگرا بصورت تقلیل گرایانه و در رویاروئی های دو-قطبی-نگر، هراس خود را از بنیادگرایی دینی؛ به اصلاح طلبان دینی نیز بسط می دهند. سکولار هائی که اقتدارطلبانه، نقش لیبرالهای دینی را در برقراری یک سیستم دموکراتیک برای ایران فردا انکار می کنند، در واقع خود موجب تقویت و ایجاد بنیادگرائی می شوند. چرا که به ازای تولید هر هژمونی ِغیر دمکراتیک، بنیادگرائی نفس تازه کرده؛ بر شدت اِعمال فشار می افزاید. نباید فراموش کرد که در ایران امروز، بنیادگرائی و جلوه های گوناگونش(از قبیل سلطنت-طلبی، پان-ایرانیسم و سکولارهای اقتدارگرا) در برابر بنیادگرایی اسلامی، مارکسیسم بنیادگرا و فمینیسم رادیکال همانا اشکال جدیدتری از ایدئولوژی های نارسیسسیستیک محسوب می شوند.
باری، تجربه های سازش با رژیم جمهوری نشان داده است که هیچگونه اصلاح و تعدیلی از درون همانا زهی خیال باطل است. رژیم تمامیت-خواه و فاسد موجود نه تنها در صحنه بین المللی؛ بلکه در روابط درونی و با اپوزیسیون خودی نیز خشونت-ستیزانه برخورد می کند. همه اینها گویای آنست که نظریه استحاله دیگر واجد کارکردی در مورد رژیم جمهوری اسلامی نمی باشد. در این راستا، ضرورت ایجاد یک ائتلاف بزرگ با روشنفکران دینی به منزله ارائه آگاهی کاذب یا صرفاً به معنای ایدئولوژی پردازی نیست. روشنفکران دینی با تاکید بر نقش تاریخی و ناسازگاری‌های سنت با زندگی متجدد، به انتخاب در سنت دست می‌زنند. بنابراین آنان ممانعت ایدئولوژیکی در جهت شناخت سنّت یا در جهت ِتکوین اندیشه تاریخی ایجاد نکرده و پرده بر واقعیت تاریخی نمی‌کشند. روشنفکر دینی سنّت را مؤید تجّدد وصف نمی کند و نیز به تحمیل تجدّد به سنّت نمی‌پردازد، بلکه به بررسی ضرورت و لوازم تجدّد در سنّت می پردازد. روشنفکر دینی با دعوت مخاطب به شناسایی دین بعنوان امر تاریخی، از او می‌خواهد با خرد انتقادی به غور در سنت بپردازد تا ابزار و شرایط توسعه متوازن فراهم آید. 
جنبش خرداد ۸۸ آغازگر راهبُِردی بر اساس ِدمکراسی، تکثر و برابریهای حقوقی شد. منتهی شرایط همچنان مستلزم پیشبرد گذار خشونت-گریز بمنظور برپائی یک نظام دموکراتیک و مبتنی بر آزادی و حقوق بشر است. ارگانهای مدنی بنیادگرا-ستیز، رسالت شان تقویت ِمسیر ِگذار ِمسالمت آمیز از سنت به مدرنیته می باشد. جامعهء سیاسی ایران برای تقویت اندیشه مدرن بیش از پیش؛ نیازمند احزاب دمکراتیک و مرتبط با پایگاه های اجتماعی است. خوشبختانه مبارزین مدنی اکنون از هر گونه کاربُرد خشونت اعم از: "ترور و مبارزه مسلحانه" و نیز از هر نوع توجیح ِضرورت ِتقاص و انتقام-گیری تبَری جسته اند. آنها برای برپائی ِنظامی مردم-سالار و در راستای جدایی دین و دولت؛ خواستار اتحادی بزرگ میان همه گروههای آزاد-اندیش اعم از: مجاهدین خلق، سوسیالیستهای دمکرات، مشروطه-خواهان ِدمکرات و ملّی-مذهبی های دمکرات هستند. در واقع، حکومت قانون جزء لایتجزای مبارزات خشونت‌پرهیز و از مصادیق مبارزات دموکراسی‌خواهی مردم ایران محسوب می شود. 
این درست که امروز مجاهدین خلق سازمانی بزرگ و حامیانی شوریده و آرمان-خواه دارد و نیز این درست که آنان خواستار نظامی مردم-سالار و مبتنی بر اعلامیه جهانی حقوق بشر هستند؛ آری اینها همه و همه قبول؛ منتهی مسأله اساسی اینست که مجاهدین آیا همکاری با گروههای دگر-اندیش را برمی تابند یا اینکه همچنان دُن کیشوت وار بر طبل هَل مَن حَریف می کوبند و از ضرورت اتحادی بزرگ و رویکردی خشونت-گریز تن می زنند. تبارشناسی شعارها و درخواستها در ایران، همچنان برقراری ِآزادیهای شهروندی و مردم-سالاری ست که همانا آرزوی دیرینه جنبش مشروطیت می باشد. ایجاد جبهه‌ای سرتاسری در ایران قابلیت آنرا دارد که اکثریتی از مشروطه-خواهان ِدمکرات تا روشنفکران لیبرال و از ملی-گرایان سکولار تا سازمان های چپ دمکرات و گروه های سوسیال دموکرات را حول یک برنامه حداقل در کنار هم گرد آورد.
ضعف خیره کننده جنبش مردمی در ایران ناشی از عدم وحدت میان نیروهای همسو است. گریز از تشکیل جبهه واحد ِضد ِولایت فقیه، همانا چشم اسفندیار جنبش در ایران محسوب می شود. اینک گرفتار در چنبر ِگریزناپذیر ِگذار، جامعه‌ ما هر آینه آبستن دگردیسگی و بحرانهای ساختار-شکن است. در معبر ِگذار از سنت به تجدد و از استبداد به مردمسالاری و نیز در سیتزی نابرابر، همانا کشتی-نشستگانیم؛ گرفتار در تندباد ِحوادث‌. 
ما همه مردم آزادیخواه و همه فعالین جنبش های اعتراضی علیه جمهوری اسلامی را به پیوستن به یک اتحاد ملّی و سرتاسری فرامیخوانیم. مفاد و اهداف یک منشور عمومی باید تضمين کننده این اتحاد بزرگ و نیز دربرگیرنده آزادیها، رفاه و برابرى در ایران باشد. مفاد مندرج در اعلامیه جهانی حقوق بشر بعلاوه کنوانسیون های الحاقی می تواند پایه و اساس تدوین قانون اساسی جدید در ایران قرار گیرد. علاوه بر برابری های مدنی، مبانی عدالت اجتماعی نیز ضرورت دارد که در قانون اساسی نوین لحاظ شود. ما در بنیاد "ندا"، اصول و موارد زیر را بعنوان فصل مشترک همه گروهها و سازمانهای سیاسی مدافع حقوق بشر در ایران پیشنهاد می کنیم:

١- خلع ید از رژیم ولایت فقیه ٢- بازداشت، رسیدگی و محاکمه عادلانه و علنی مسئولین و سران متجاوزگر علیه مبانی حقوق بشر و نیز در رابطه با دستبرد به خزانه کشور-بدون هر گونه گرایش به انتقام گیری ٣- انحلال فوری وزارت اطلاعات و همه نهادهای امنیتی و سرکوبگر ِفراقانونی مانند بسیج ٤- انحلال دولت، مجلس و قوه قضائیه ٥- الغای قانون اساسی موجود و اعلام برپائی مجلس موقت مؤسسان برای تنظیم و ارائه قانون اساسی جدید.
افزون بر موارد بالا، احکام زیر بلافاصله به مورد اجرا گذاشته خواهند شد: ١- آزادی فوری و بی قید و شرط کلیه زندانیان سیاسی و عقیدتی ٢- لغو مجازات اعدام ٣- لغو حجاب اجباری و جداسازی جنسیتی و نیز الغای همه قوانین تبعیض آمیز علیه زن و زنانگی ٤- آزادی کامل عقاید ومذاهب و نیز استیفای حقوق برابر برای دگرباشان جنسیتی ٥- اعلام آزادیهای مدنی اعم از آزادی عقیده، بیان، اجتماعات، مطبوعات، تظاهرات، اعتصاب، تشکل و تحزب ٦- برسمیت شناسی حقوق مساوی برای همه شهروندان کشور مستقل از مذهب، زبان، قومیت، جنسیت، ملیت و تابعیت ٧- آزادی فرهنگی و برقراری یک سیستم خود-گردانی برای همه اقوام ایرانی در چارچوب حفظ ِوحدت کشور  ٨- افزایش حقوق کارمندان و کارگران متناسب با سطح هزینه ها، آزادی اتحادیه های صنفی و حمایت در برابر بیکاری 9- ایجاد سیستم تأمین اجتماعی، رسیدگی های رایگان پزشگی و نیز برپائی سیستم آموزش و پرورش مجانی تا سطح دیپلم.
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Syrian Christians Rise, Unite to Oust Assad - Bridget Johnson, feat Syrian Christians for Democracy


Pajamas Media: By Bridget Johnson, March 8, 2012

Summary: "Syrian Christians for Democracy was launched in December, nine months after the Syrian revolution began in earnest. In addition to uniting Christians on the ground in opposition to Assad, the organization wanted Christians inside and outside Syria — who have offered lots of support to the group — to know that they have someone to speak for them. 'You will have a voice outside this country,' [George] Stifo said. 'You will have a voice in the future as well. We don’t want you to feel isolated and alone in this fight. Those of you who are fighting, you have an ally, and those of you who are not fighting, if you decide to, we are here to help.'" 8,500 people have been massacred in Syria. "'It’s a really bad situation over there right now,' Francis said. 'People need food, they need medicine, they have no clothes, they have no blankets to cover themselves.' .. 'Nobody helps — real help — just the Syrian community outside,' he added."



More Information: 

Syrian Christians for Democracy
Local Coordination Committees of Syria
All4Syria Bulletin





But international help is not on the revolutionaries' side: "For us, the inaction of this administration is as bad as the actions of the Russians," one said.

Pajamas Media: By Bridget Johnson, March 8, 2012

On a rainy Friday in Washington, I gathered with passionate members of a Syrian opposition group representing a minority whose voices must be heard in the revolution and in the new Syria.

What, I asked the Syrian Christians for Democracy assembled around tables pushed together in the lounge of the Hotel George, is the one thing that Americans need to know about Bashar al-Assad?

“He’s killing kids,” Maroneh native and Boston diaspora leader Essam Francis answered succinctly.

As Christians, as Syrians, these activists were brought together by the bloodshed sown by the brutal regime that has slain about 8,500, according to the latest United Nations estimates, including the massacre of entire families this week in Homs — 16 members of the Tahhan family, 20 of the Rifaei family, and more, according to the chilling reports of the Local Coordination Committees of Syria.

“Each member of the organization was against the regime on his own,” said Roy Tohme, secretary for the group. “Most of our members are veterans against Assad.”

That includes Jries Altalli, who spent nine years as a political prisoner and whose daughter is a member of the Syrian National Council; Walid Phares, who is advising the fledgling organization; and George Stifo, communications director for the group, president of the Assyrian Democratic Organization, and a member of the SNC (which is about 8-10 percent Christian).

“Many of the Christians in the Middle East were terrified of the results, seeing what happened in countries such as Iraq and Libya and Egypt,” Stifo said. “It began to scare them of what could happen also in Syria. So we saw a lot of the Christians staying out of this completely.”

He said that it’s not true that the majority of Christians in Syria back the regime, but remained a “silent majority” out of uncertainty about the present and future.

“Our organization looked at this and said, well, it’s taking so long for Christians to make a move,” Stifo said. “We are with the revolution, and the regime was using this claim that Christians were backing them, that the minorities are all with the regime, and using this as leverage for them to stay in power.”

“So we decided to show that, no, the majority of Christians are not with the regime.”

The SCD was launched in December, nine months after the Syrian revolution began in earnest. In addition to uniting Christians on the ground in opposition to Assad, the organization wanted Christians inside and outside Syria — who have offered lots of support to the group — to know that they have someone to speak for them.

“You will have a voice outside this country,” Stifo said. “You will have a voice in the future as well. We don’t want you to feel isolated and alone in this fight. Those of you who are fighting, you have an ally, and those of you who are not fighting, if you decide to, we are here to help.”

The new constitution put forth by Assad last month, which the regime claims was overwhelmingly approved, “treats Christians as second- or third-class citizens,” he added. “It has pushed the Christians to look past this regime.”

The members said that Muslims in the revolution have been supportive of the group’s founding.

“Muslims are also very helpful, very receptive, understanding,” Stifo said, even “joyful to see a group of non-Muslims saying openly, we are against this regime in support of the revolution. It gave them hope that, OK, the regime is saying that minorities are with them; it’s not true.”

“It’s a mutually beneficial relationship,” Tohme said, adding that they might not be best friends and will probably have to democratically duke it out in the new Syria. “We may have our diverging views of what the future Syria looks like.”

Francis noted that the support publicly shown for the opposition by al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri actually looks like a ploy to aid Assad.

“The Syrian regime helped al-Qaeda kill Americans in Iraq,” he said. “For al-Zawahiri to say something against the Syrian regime is not right. He did a favor for the regime to do that. He gave them reason to kill a lot more people.”

Executive director Ayman Abdel Nour said that the regime met several months into the uprising, when it found itself under fire for killing innocent, unarmed civilians, and decided to lay government weapons at the doorsteps of some of the country’s citizens along with some nasty rumors.

“They tell the minorities that the Muslim Sunnis are coming to kill you in order to change the civil unarmed demonstrations in the streets into clash with rebels,” Abdel Nour said of Assad’s plan “to make them all fractions against each other and forget about it.”

“It is invented by the regime and it will die with the regime,” he said.

The regime quickly latched onto the new Christian organization that brings together the 11 sects living in the country, attacking the SCD as Zionist, American, CIA, you name it.

One anonymous member of the SCD board is a Local Coordination Committees member inside of Syria. “We’re their shopping list,” Tohme said. As the LCC feeds information about what’s happening within Syria, groups such as the SCD coordinate the acquisition and smuggling of medical and communication supplies.

“It’s a really bad situation over there right now,” Francis said. “People need food, they need medicine, they have no clothes, they have no blankets to cover themselves.”

“Nobody helps — real help — just the Syrian community outside,” he added.

The board used the Washington trip to meet with the State Department and launch fundraisers within the Syrian diaspora in cities around the country.

In fact, Abdel Nour, also editor-in-chief of the All4Syria Bulletin, dashed late into the gathering fresh from securing a promise of medicine and physicians from an NGO, including psychological help for Syrians who have suffered torture or witness their families killed.

“That’s one of the reasons why we exist,” he said.

But the frustration shared by Syrian activists, Muslim and Christian alike, is the real hesitancy of the international community to act or fully acknowledge the wholesale slaughter that is going on inside their country.

“The frustration grows because the Syrian people have to fight the entire world,” Tohme said. “We have to fight the Russian veto, the Chinese veto, the Iranian weaponry — so many things stacked against you and so many people trying to make you fail.”

“The frustration comes from seeing now on a daily basis these videos of tens of children dying,” Stifo said. “People being killed and tortured, it brings even more frustration. Why isn’t anybody doing anything? It’s really painful when you know that some of your countrymen who might be relatives even are dying. It brings this feeling of people don’t care and that even hurts more.”

Tohme stressed that the more this frustration brews, “the more radicalized this is going to become.”

“Then you become a totally different kind of revolution that we don’t feel we can win on our own terms,” he said. “We want to win on our own terms as Christians and as Syrians. That’s why we’re trying to put this to bed before we get to the point where people are so frustrated they’re not even going to care how they’re going to do it, even if it means embracing jihadism.”

“We are frustrated but we continue fighting because this is our war,” Abdel Nour said, “not the international community’s. We will continue this with the support of our people and our belief in Syria.”

A common refrain among Syrians, members of the group noted, is how much quicker countries would be to come to their aid if their blood was oil.

“It’s like one Libyan is worth 10 Syrians,” Tohme said.

With one victory this week on Capitol Hill — the unanimous passage of a bill in the House Foreign Affairs Committee strengthening sanctions against the Syrian regime and imposing new measures against the energy and financial sectors  — Syrians got yet another kick in the teeth from the United Nations today after UNESCO refused to throw Damascus off its human-rights committee.

Waiting for help from the White House is also an uphill battle for the opposition.

Ahed Al Hendi, who was imprisoned and tortured by the regime as a student dissident and fled Syria four years ago, blames the election year “for this stagnation, this lack of decision from this administration.”

“There are a lot of good senators and congressmen who want to take U.S. aid to the Syrian revolution to the next level,” he said. “I like a lot about President Obama, but in foreign affairs issues he is not good.”

Al Hendi noted that U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford was welcomed with flowers when he visited Hama, a very conservative city, a few months into the protests. Now, he opined, Ford probably wouldn’t get the same reception from the suffering Syrians.

“Now people are looking at the U.S. like they’re looking at Russia,” he said. “Even worse. Why? The reason is, Russia is doing what they are saying: We are with Assad, period. The U.S. is only talking. We know there are a lot of efforts done by the U.S. But so far it’s only talking. People are still being killed on a daily basis.”

“We need a president who is as faithful to his friends as Putin is to his own friends, or else don’t pretend that we should be friends,” Tohme said. “We know this administration still has a lot of cards it can play; they’re still holding on to them and we don’t know why.

“For us, the inaction of this administration is as bad as the actions of the Russians.”

Bassam Bitar, director of SCD’s board of trustees, is a co-founder of the Syrian American Network for Activists and Dissidents and a board member of the Syrian Expatriates Foundation for Democracy.

“We are not asking for anything but our dignity, our freedom, our democracy,” Bitar said, “and I don’t see the American administration offer anything concrete.”

It’s been almost a year since the start of the revolution, he noted, and how much more time is the White House willing to let go by?

“Just because it is election time in the United States… I feel we are like second-class citizens, like nobody exists,” Bitar said. “It would be better at this time for Obama or any presidential candidate to talk about Syria, to do something.”

“Assad is not just the enemy of the Syrian people, he’s is the enemy of the American people,” Al Hendi said. “He’s caused a lot of damage to America as well. Think of what he’s done in Iraq, the terrorist groups that were sent to Iraq and had their headquarters in Syria.”

“It’s not only a humanitarian thing, it’s also more for the interests of the U.S.,” he said of intervention. “I think the Congress should be more serious about that.”

Tohme said what the revolution needs is the establishment of just one safe haven or safe zones, preferably along the Turkish border, where civilians can shelter and organize.

“And the Syrian people can take it from there,” he said.

Abdel Nour advocates three things to move the revolution forward. First, “at least least balance Russian, Chinese, Iranian support” for Damascus with opposition support in Washington.

“There should be a balance between the people who are supporting Assad and the people who are supporting the freedom, the values, the human rights,” he said.

Second, leave the campaign season out of it. “This should be nonpartisan,” Abdel Nour said. “There should be a joint declaration from the Democrats and Republicans that this will not be used against each other in the election campaign.”

And finally, make sure that the next government in Syria guarantees the rights of minorities to stem the fear that the fall of Assad means the end of Syrian diversity.

The Muslim Brotherhood, which is currently a member of the SNC, couldn’t get more than 50 percent in a new parliament, Abdel Nour predicted.

“So we are not afraid of this,” he said. “Syria is a totally different society than Egypt and any other countries. … We believe all Syrians believe in diversity; they have lived together for thousands of years and they’re not going to change this because of Assad.”

“As Christians, we are members of the society,” Abdel Nour added. “We give martyrs in this revolution.”

Tohme said one of the biggest misconceptions Americans have about the revolution is “that the Syrian people are not ready to rule themselves after Assad.”

“I’ve never heard that people around the world need to take a maturity test before winning a revolution,” he said. “That’s not how things happen. You depose whatever is killing you now.”

As a revolutionary group united by faith and representing a religious minority in the land where Aramaic, the language of Jesus, is still spoken, Stifo said they cannot sit by and watch Assad’s massacres.

“Christianity teaches us to always be with the helpless, to help them against those who are killing them,” he said. “We cannot see how any Christian would not back or not support those who are in need right now, those who are suffering, those who are starving, those who are being killed.”

“We’re human beings,” Francis said. “Assyrian, Muslim, Druze, whatever, we need somebody to protect us from Syrian regime.”


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Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Kahlili on Obama, Iran's nukes, negotiation, Syria and Hezbollah


Please see recent articles by Reza Kahlili concerning Obama, Iran's nuclear program, negotiation, Syria and Hezbollah


Iranian expert: Fully operational Fordow nuke facility Iran's trump card
Daily Caller: By Reza Kahlili, March 5, 2012


Iran, Syria, Hezbollah threaten military attack
WND: By Reza Kahlili, March 5, 2012


Iranian analysis confirms intent to attack America
Daily Caller: By Reza Kahlili, March 1, 2012


Defense minister warns about Iran's 'secret weapons'
WND: By Reza Kahlili, February 29


Obama, Iran in secret nuclear deal
Daily Caller: By Reza Kahlili, February 27


More articles by Reza Kahlili: www.ATimeToBetray.com

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Honigman: A Purim Wish...Longing For Achashverosh


By Gerald Honigman, Virtual Jerusalem 
It's early March, and that means that the Jewish holiday of Purim is fast approaching. Non-Jews may know it by way of the Hebrew Bible's ("OldTestament") Book of Esther, the story of how a young Jewess helped to save her people from those who would have destroyed them in ancient Iran some twenty-five centuries ago. 

Unfortunately, besides Purim, there are additional holidays which also commemorate the Jews' near misses or actual calamities at the hands of others as well. Tisha B'Av (the 9th of the month of Av--the date of the destruction of the two Temples), Chanukah, and Passover come to mind.

To be more specific, as I begin to write this, today is March 5, 2012, and Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu recently appeared on television along with President Obama discussing the Jews' modern Iranian threat. Iran's current, would-be nuclear rulers refer to Israel as being, among other things, a "one bomb" country. I don't believe I have to explain that any further, do I ?

So, in some ways, some things change while others do not. Instead of an Iranian emperor's wicked prime minister (Haman) plotting their demise some twenty-five centuries ago, Jews now face attack and extermination by Arabized Iranian Islamists.

The situation is sad for many reasons.

Firstly, prior to the Arab conquest and spread of the Dar ul-Islam into the country, and despite the earlier episode involving Purim, Iran actually had a fairly positive balance sheet in its relations with both Jews and the latter's own state. Iran was an ally of Judea in its fight for freedom against Rome--for whatever its reasons. And, some six centuries later, ancient, non-Jewish sources recorded an army of tens of thousands of Jews from the Galilee and adjacent areas who joined Iranian armies to fight the hated Byzantines. This happened just on the eve of the Arabs' own extensive imperial Caliphal conquests of the entire region in the 7th century C.E.

Secondly, the Arabs and Arabized (like Iran) are correct when they joke about how Jews cherish life...To save one soul is to save an entire universe. And no seventy-two virgins await the Jew who blows up Arab or Iranian babies or decapitates them with knives as the former promote to their own shahids. Israel's late Prime Minister, Golda Meir, summed this up nicely when she stated back in 1972... We can forgive the Arabs (or anyone) for killing our children. We cannot forgive them for forcing us to kill their children.

And, unlike the genocidal Arab, Iranian, and other enemies they face, Jews don't deliberately use anyone's children as human shields.

Thus, there is no doubt that Israel faces a situation today that it never wanted--one in which it will truly be damned if it does and damned if it doesn't act.

But a nation made up of a people, many of whose families were already subjected to one Holocaust (not to mention what happened before in history as well), cannot afford to take the genocidal threats of a nation like Iran--which promises to wage yet another Holocaust against them--in any other way except at face value.

The 12'er Shi'a Islamist leaders calling the shots today--both figuratively and literally--do not share that love for human life which they mock the Jews about.

The mullahs used their own children to clear mine fields in their 1980s war with Iraq, have slaughtered countless thousands of those who oppose them, hang Kurds and others who just seek human rights ( let alone political ones) almost daily, and deliberately seek world turmoil and chaos (a la nuclear conflagration?) to bring about the return of their "Hidden Imam," the Mahdi. They have supplied scores of thousands of sophisticated missiles and other armaments to their stooges who surround Israel and support even further their butcher buddies in Syria. Furthermore, they don't care how many of their own people die in their direct and proxy wars to slaughter Jews.

Now, given this stark reality, pretend for one moment that you, dear reader, are Israel's Netanyahu. And with each day that goes by due to others twisting your arm, the chance for success at stopping the ultimate catastrophe diminishes since more and more of your prime targets get buried deeper and deeper underground away from your air force and such.

The economic sanctions President Obama now finally talks about are good ones--but needed to have been applied at least three years ago. At that time, there was still some breathing space in terms of Iran's approaching its zone of immunity due to the fast pace it's now actually on to develop nukes and have them adequately protected. And there is no evidence, even now after tougher economic sanctions have been applied, that progress on Iran's nuclear militarization path has slowed. Indeed, reports show that the contrary is true. Recent talk of Iran being willing to negotiate fools no one but the fools...

Simply put, we don't have the same breathing space today as we had years ago when Israel first warned the world and was ignored--regardless of the false analogy some will make regarding Iraq. See this article if you need further elaboration on that last point. It also became a chapter in  my book.

Unlike a geographically much larger Iran, with a population approaching 90 million, Israel is a nation which--as I like to point out--requires a magnifying glass to find on a world globe.

Furthermore, some 85% of its six million Jews (why am I nervous about that number?) live in that narrow 9 to 15-mile wide waistband in the middle of the country (courtesy of the '49 armistice lines)--concentrated, easy bulls-eyes for retaliatory strikes coming at them from almost all directions.

With this heavy on my mind, I think once again of Purim--just a few days away.

Jews have lived in Iran at least since the days when Cyrus the Great liberated many of them from Babylonian captivity (in what's now Iraq) and allowed those who wanted to return to Judah, the surviving kingdom of the Jews after the spit with the northern tribes of Israel upon the death of King Solomon about three thousand years ago, the chance to do so.

Many chose, however, to stay behind and formed prominent Jewish communities as they spread eastwards.

Judah became a thankful vassal state to the vast Iranian empire, with Jewish warriors serving as part of the Iranian military, and so forth.

Judean garrisons served in places such as Elephantine, Egypt, near today's Aswan.  Ancient papyri have been discovered which give additional testimony to this vibrant community which pre-dated the Iranian conquests and, among other things, had its own temple.

Besides the account of Cyrus the Great's liberation in the Jews' own scriptures (Ezra 1:1-8, Hebrew Bible), we have historical corroboration of this in ancient Iranian records as well. Below are excerpts from the Kurash Prism, the decree of Cyrus the Great for the return of the Jews to the current nation of Israel in 539 BCE. This version is found in the website of the Circle Of Ancient Iranian Studies: I am Kurash, King of the World, Great King,...King of Babilani, King of Kiengir and Akkade, King of the four rims of the earth, Son of Kanbujiya...to the region from as far as Assura and Susa, Akkade, Eshnunna, the towns Zamban, Me-turnu, Der as well as the region of the Gutians, I returned to these sacred cities on the other side of the Tigris the sanctuaries of which have been ruins for a long time, the images which used to live therein and established for them permanent sanctuaries. I also gathered all their former inhabitants and returned them to their habitations. Furthermore, I resettled upon the command of Marduk, the great lord, all the gods of Kiengir and Akkade whom Nabonidus had brought into Babilani to the anger of the lord of the gods, unharmed, in their former temples, the places which make them happy. 

Within a half century of Cyrus's decree, the events which led to the story of Esther (the Iranian name for Hebrew Jewess, Hadassah) unfolded. The new Iranian ruler was Xerxes, and he began his rule in 486 B.C.E. His English name, Ahasueurus, was evidently derived from a Latinized form of the Hebrew, Achashverosh, which in turn was a rendering of the  Babylonian Achshiyarshu.

Now, as the above source points out, it's important to also note that the Hebrew rendering may have actually been a title that the king was also known by--not his actual name. Keep this in mind for what comes next.

My friend and Kurdish freedom fighter (peshmerga), Hamma Mirwaisi, is--among other things-- an expert on the various related languages of the Airyanem Vaejah nations. He came to America around the same time that Secretary of State Kissinger pulled the rug out from under the Kurds' feet during their revolt (at America's instigation) against Saddam in Iraq in the '70s.Yes--Saddam Hussein was around that long.

When the Shah of Iran made his peace with Saddam, America then betrayed the Kurds. It would not be the last time that Washington would do this either. The late great New York Times columnist, William Safire, wrote a series of articles about this disgraceful sellout. The lucky ones got to flee for their lives, and some were allowed into America.

While we have our disagreements over some facts and interpretations of history, Hamma's own first book, Return of the Medes (ancestors of the Kurds), has many interesting revelations in it. And some of these have to do with Purim.

Here are some of Hamma's notes on the Iranian ruler, "Ahasveros": the word means "it is a revolt now." "Aha" means "now." "Sveros" means "revolution" or "revolt." It is a call to revolt.

Emperor Cyaxares--Xerxes--was nicknamed (or "titled," as seen above) Ahashverosh or Ahasuerus because he called the Medes' enemies, the Scythians, to a feast and, on signal, had his supporters revolt and slaughter the drunken Scythians. The Book of Esther also tells of feasts that Achashverosh liked to have at his palace.

In the broader picture and as a footnote to all of this, I have been involved with the struggle of one of the Middle East's truly stateless peoples, the Kurds, for over four decades now. And, unlike the Arabs' quest for a 22nd state via the destruction of the sole, minuscule, resurrected state of the Jews, some 35 million Kurds have yet to see the birth of their first.

Thanks to Hamma, I will never read nor hear The Megillah (The Book Of Esther ) being recited again on Purim without thinking about my Kurdish friends.

Remember King Achashverosh in the Book of Esther?

Follow these excerpts from Hamma's Story #10,"Emperor Cyaxares I Plan To Liberate the Medians from the Scythia: Cyaxares invited Madius (the Scythian ruler and subjugator of Medes) and a large number of his warriors to a festival...many laid down their arms and became drunk, but no Median warriors did so...When Cyaxares called out "Ahashverosh," the code word, the Medes attacked...Most Scythians were killed, some seized and arrested.

Cyaxares became known as the liberator of the Median people and was reinstated as the King of Kings of the Median Empire. He was nicknamed Ahashverosh, or Ahasuerus, for his attack on the Scythians. Aha means "now" and shverosh means "revolution" or "revolt."
Subsequent chapters of Hamma's book discuss Cyrus, Queen Vashti, Assyria, Babylonia, Esther, and so forth--all important to the history of the Jews as well.

As I get ready to celebrate my people's ancient story of Mordechai and his niece Esther once again, I long for the days when at least two ancient and great peoples, those of all of the Airyanem Vaejah nations and my own, may once again live together in peace. And extra icing on the cake would be improved relations between the Persian people and their Kurdish cousins as well.

While this may all sound like mere pipe dreams, just consider what is now transpiring in the land of the mullahs' best friend.

If the Assads fall in Syria (by no means a certainty, given the support they are receiving from some key powers such as Russia, China, and Iran itself), and the more tolerant, inclusive elements in the opposition (such as the Syria Democratic Coalition--SDC) get the crucial support that they need (instead of the Islamists getting it and gaining ascendancy, as they've done elsewhere), then similar forces may muster the courage to take on their own oppressors in Iran yet again. They surfaced in 2009 during the stolen election, but were brutally suppressed--the world watching and doing nothing. The latter was too worried about such things as Israel building a security barrier to protect its kids from being disemboweled by the mullah's Arab jihadi counterparts to deal with such issues.

The big question, however, involves what the outside world would actually do now to support this.

While the powers that be later supported the overthrow of folks like Libya's Qaddafi and Egypt's Mubarak, the Obama Administration, the American State Department, the European Union, the United Nations, and others simply stood by and did nothing as Iranian opponents of the Islamist theocracy were slaughtered in the streets just a few years earlier. Unfortunately, given this lack of international resolve and Islamist policies and theology, I see no bright future for freedom in Iran.

Perhaps it will take the rise of a powerful--but altruistic--ruler to set Iran on a new course that will benefit not only its own diverse peoples but others as well. Such a leader could truly prepare Iran for the same democracy that its giant neighbor to the east, India, has shown is indeed possible.

The trick will be in finding such a courageous, rare gem--neither megalomanical shah nor murderous mullah--a leader who truly loves his people and wants what is best for them not only in Paradise but in the here and now of the real world in which we all live. Admittedly, it is not only in Iran where such leaders are hard to find.

But, what is needed as we approach Purim 2012 is the rise of a new and improved Achashverosh--a ruler who, as my Kurdish friend, Hamma, translated and explained it above, will live up to that title and lead Iran in a revolt for the good of the entire nation and the world at large.

http://www.virtualjerusalem.com/blogs.php?Itemid=6326

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Saturday, March 3, 2012

Event: The Syrian Tinderbox: A psychological profile of Assad and best bets for putting out the fire


NATIONAL PRESS CLUB MEDIA ALERT

A psychological profile of Assad and best bets for putting out the fire
WHAT: Release of psychological profile of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and panel discussion
WHERE: National Press Club, Zenger Room, 529 14th St. NW, Washington

WHEN: Wednesday, March 8, 2012, 12:30 p.m.
WHO:

· Walid Phares, PhD, advisor to the US House Anti-Terrorism Caucus; Author, “The Coming Revolution: Struggle for Freedom in the Middle East”; Washington

· Ekaterina Egorova, PhD, Political Psychologist & Consultant, Personal political consultant to President Boris Yeltsin; Consultant to corporations and political campaigns; Washington and Moscow.

· Magistrate Wolfgang Sobotka, Deputy Governor of the State of Lower Austria

· Michael Granger, Founder & Chairman, Capital Access Forum; Board Member, e-Lynxx Corp.; Serves on a White-House panel of industry leaders convened by the President’s Chief Economic Advisors; Chicago and Washington.

· Ken Feltman (Moderator), Publisher, Radnor Reports; contributor to Politico; past president, American League of Lobbyists and International Association of Political Consultants; Washington.


TOPICS TO BE EXPLORED:

· Will Assad bend or break?

· Is Syria providing a smokescreen to Iran’s ambitions?

· Which opposition parties offer the best bet for regional stability and protecting Western interests?

· Could Syria trigger a slide into global recession?

· Will the Muslim Brotherhood seize political control, as it has in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya?

· How is the Syrian opposition currying favor in Europe?

· With the killing of journalists in Syria and the levying of criminal charges against and departure of US NGO employees in Egypt, is any hope of transparency, human rights, and liberty slipping away?


CONTACTS: 
Elizabeth Kelley Grace, 561-702-7471, elizabeth@thebuzzagency.net
Ellen Yui, 301-270-8571, ellenyui@yuico.com


BACKGROUND: 

Not groomed as heir and ascending to the Syrian presidency only after the early death of his elder brother, Bashar al-Assad had difficulty reproducing his father’s model of hard leadership. After an early attempt to modernize the political system, he found many citizens unwilling to live in the Assads’ empire and drew a conclusion typical of politicians with low self-esteem: deadly enemies pose a threat to everything that is dear to him, including the cause of his father, his clan and the party. Steeped in paranoia, a high need for power, a strong sense of danger and no fear of rejection, Bashar al Assad’s psychological profile mirrors those of some of history’s most brutal dictators.

Bashar al-Assad’s regime has massacred more than 5,400 Syrian citizens since March 2011, and the estimated number of political prisoners is reaching 40,000. In her Jan. 31 statement at the United Nations, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the world faces a choice: stand with the people of Syria or be complicit in the Assad regime’s brutal violence. On Jan. 24, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Sen. Charles Schumer introduced a bill imposing sanctions on Syria titled The Syrian Human Rights Accountability Act. Sen. John McCain has recently called to start supporting the Syrian opposition against Assad. “We all know that change is coming to Syria,” Clinton told the UN Security Council. “The question is how many more innocent civilians will die before Assad bows to the inevitable, and how unstable a country he will leave behind.” 

Hosted by Radnor Reports. For more information, visit radnorreports.com.

http://radnorreports.com/2012/03/01/the-syrian-tinderbox/

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