Statement on Syria

No to US-led intervention in Syria
April 21, 2013 – Canada Palestine Association-Vancouver is alarmed by the escalating violence in Syria and the huge toll on the Syrian civilian population and we feel compelled to speak out. The increasing threat of foreign military intervention will only exacerbate this suffering and could well begin a wider war. We believe that the Syrian people are the only party to decide who should lead them, and outside intervention should be condemned.
The objective of Western governments has always been to control Arab natural resources, especially the oil, and to impose Arab dictatorships that serve their interests. The West has never cared for the well being or dignity of the Arab people; we need only to look at their history for the past sixty-five years, including their role in the dismemberment of Palestine and its people. Recently, there are clear signs that the US government and its allies, including Canada and various Arab puppet regimes, are increasing their intervention in Syria – from the rapprochement between Turkey and Israel under the auspices of US president Obama, the sharp increase of military aid from Arab governments and Turkey (with the help of the C.I.A.) to the Syrian opposition (including more than 160 military cargo flights by Jordanian, Saudi and Qatari military-style cargo planes, as reported by the NY Times Mar.25/13), to the unwarranted Arab League recognition of the Syrian opposition and the statement by Adm. James Stavridis, NATO’s top military commander, “We are looking at a wide range of operations and we are prepared if called upon to be engaged as we were in Libya.”
We call for a peaceful solution through dialogue and negotiations and the implementation of long-overdue reforms in Syria. There are many sincere elements that care about the future of Syria and are pushing for urgently-needed change, but any alliance with Israeli and U.S. hegemonic designs is and will be disastrous for the Syrian and Arab peoples. The UNITY of Syria is at stake, the future of the region is at stake. History will judge all those who collaborated with Israel and the U.S. empire (and this includes the Palestinian Authority).
Accordingly, Canada Palestine Association-Vancouver strongly denounces any Western and US-led intervention in Syria, and we call on our supporters to oppose any such intervention, especially from the Canadian Government. We will not allow John Baird and Stephen Harper to practice their hypocritical policies – supporting Israeli annexation over all of Jerusalem while pretending to care about the suffering of any of the Arab peoples.