La Organización Socialista Camino de la Libertad condena la continua agresión respaldada por los Estados Unidos contra Siria. El presidente Bashar al-Assad fue obligado a huir del país y ahora se encuentra exiliado en Moscú. Lo que está claro es que el gobierno sirio ha colapsado. Este ataque flagrante contra la soberanía siria es parte de un esfuerzo más amplio – por parte de los imperialistas occidentales, Israel y las fuerzas reaccionarias en la región – para derrotar al Eje de Resistencia, que lucha por la liberación de Palestina y para poner fin al control estadounidense en la región.

Siria ha sido un aliado firme de los pueblos del Líbano y Palestina, brindando apoyo político y militar. La pérdida de Siria como un estado soberano e independiente no solo afecta al pueblo sirio, sino que también debilita las fuerzas de resistencia contra Israel en esta región.

La desestabilización de Siria es otro paso hacia la expansión de la guerra en el Medio Oriente. Israel y los halcones en la administración entrante de Trump tienen claro que planean intensificar la hostilidad hacia Irán.

La historia muestra que la intervención de Estados Unidos hace más para retroceder a las naciones soberanas en el tiempo que para hacerlas avanzar. Estados Unidos llevó a cabo décadas de agresión contra el gobierno sirio, supuestamente en apoyo de la “democracia”, pero esto es una mentira, y una que ya se ha utilizado antes. En Libia, que en su día ostentaba el nivel de vida más alto de África, la intervención de los Estados Unidos/OTAN redujo el país al caos, deshaciendo décadas de desarrollo y progreso. Estas acciones sirven como sombríos recordatorios de lo que realmente implica la intervención imperialista.

Al mismo tiempo, Israel, que ya ocupaba Siria en la región de los Altos del Golán, continúa con sus intentos de anexar más de Siria, mientras expande asentamientos ilegales y arrebata tierras palestinas. Recientemente, Israel traspasó las fronteras de Siria por primera vez en 50 años. Este es un acto de agresión que deja en claro las ambiciones de Israel de expandirse y su papel como herramienta del imperialismo estadounidense en la región. Estas incursiones forman parte de una estrategia más amplia para debilitar y desestabilizar a Siria, mientras profundizan aún más la ocupación sionista.

Durante los últimos diez años, Estados Unidos ha bombardeado Siria en múltiples ocasiones y ha tenido tropas allí durante la mayor parte de este período. La agresión contra Siria ha adoptado otras formas – desde sanciones opresivas que perjudican a los sirios comunes hasta el suministro de armas y financiación a grupos antigubernamentales que consistentemente han sido revelados como proxies de los intereses de Estados Unidos y sus aliados. Los llamados “luchadores por la libertad” no traerán la liberación a Siria, sino más bien armas estadounidenses, masacres y devastación económica.

Rechazamos todo el apoyo de Estados Unidos a estas políticas expansionistas y condenamos los intentos continuos de Israel por arrebatar más tierras. El respaldo de Estados Unidos al apartheid israelí y a los asentamientos ilegales no solo viola el derecho internacional, sino que también perpetúa el sufrimiento de los palestinos, sirios y de la región en su conjunto. Las tropas estadounidenses y las fuerzas respaldadas por Estados Unidos no tienen ningún papel legítimo en Siria.

Exigimos la retirada inmediata de todas las tropas estadounidenses de Siria y el fin del apoyo de Estados Unidos a las fuerzas antigubernamentales.

Exigimos el fin de las sanciones contra Siria, que devastan a la gente común mientras avanzan los objetivos imperialistas de Estados Unidos.

Exigimos el fin de la ayuda militar estadounidense a Israel y condenamos sus asentamientos y anexiones ilegales, y su ocupación genocida de Palestina.

Condenamos a los responsables de la desestabilización del gobierno sirio y reafirmamos nuestra solidaridad con la resistencia palestina y sus aliados – Líbano, Irán, Yemen e Irak.

#International #Syria #AntiWarMovement

The Freedom Road Socialist Organization condemns the ongoing U.S.-backed aggression against Syria. President Bashar Al-Assad has been forced to flee the country, and now sits in exile in Moscow. What is clear is that the Syrian government has collapsed. This blatant assault on Syrian sovereignty is part of a larger effort – by Western imperialists, Israel and reactionary forces in the region – to defeat the Axis of Resistance, which is fighting for the liberation of Palestine and to end U.S. control in the region.

Syria stood as a staunch ally to the peoples of Lebanon and Palestine, providing political and military support. The loss of Syria as a sovereign, independent state not only hurts the Syrian people, but also weakens the resistance forces against Israel in this region.

The destabilization of Syria is another step towards widening the war in the Middle East. Israel and the hawks in the incoming Trump administration are clear that they plan to ramp up hostility towards Iran.

History shows that U.S. involvement does more to set sovereign nations back in time than forward. The U.S. carried out decades of aggression against the Syrian government, supposedly in support of “democracy,” but this is a lie, and one that’s been used before. In Libya, which once boasted the highest standard of living in Africa, U.S./NATO intervention reduced the country to chaos, undoing decades of development and progress. These actions serve as grim reminders of what imperialist intervention truly entails.

At the same time, Israel, which already occupied Syria in the Golan Heights region, continues its attempts to annex more of Syria, while expanding illegal settlements and seizing Palestinian land. Just recently, Israel breached Syria’s borders for the first time in 50 years. This is an act of aggression that makes plain Israel’s ambitions to expand and its role as a tool of U.S. imperialism in the region. These incursions are part of a broader strategy to weaken and destabilize Syria while further entrenching the Zionist occupation.

For the last ten years the U.S. has bombed Syria many times and has had troops there for most of this period. The aggression against Syria has taken other forms – from oppressive sanctions that harm ordinary Syrians to the arming and financing of anti-government groups that have consistently been revealed to be proxies for U.S. and allied interests. The so-called “freedom fighters” will not bring liberation to Syria, but rather U.S. weapons, massacres and economic devastation.

We reject all U.S. support for these expansionist policies and condemn Israel’s ongoing attempts to seize more land. The U.S.’s backing of Israeli apartheid and illegal settlements not only violates international law but also perpetuates the suffering of Palestinians, Syrians and the region as a whole. U.S. troops and U.S.-backed forces have no legitimate role in Syria.

We call for the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Syria and an end to U.S. support of anti-government forces.

We demand an end to the sanctions on Syria, which devastate ordinary people while advancing U.S. imperialist goals.

We demand an end to U.S. military aid to Israel and condemn its illegal settlements and annexations, and genocidal occupation of Palestine.

We condemn those responsible for the destabilization of the Syrian government and we reaffirm our solidarity with the Palestinian resistance and its allies – Lebanon, Iran, Yemen and Iraq.

#International #Syria #AntiWarMovement #FRSO #Statement #Palestine

The government of Syria led by President Bashar al-Assad has collapsed. This upheaval has major implications for the struggle against U.S. imperialism and Israeli aggression in the region. Regardless of who leads Syria, the Anti-War Committee remains opposed to interference in Syria by the United States, Israel, and their imperialist allies.

Israel has occupied and illegally settled Syria’s Golan Heights since 1967, and is already using Syria’s instability to expand its so-called “buffer zone,” while continuing its bombing raids in Syria. Israel seeks to pressure Syria into accepting the theft of the Golan Heights and normalizing relations. It also may have its eye on expanding its occupation in Syria for future Zionist settlement.

As part of its support for Israel, the United States has been working to weaken and destabilize Syria for years. The U.S. has openly backed certain factions in Syria since at least 2012, with the now-declassified “Timber Sycamore” weapons smuggling operation led by the CIA, and the “Syrian Train and Equip” program led by the Pentagon. The U.S. has economically sanctioned Syria since 1979 when it first labeled the country as a “state sponsor of terrorism.” In 2020, brutal new U.S. sanctions devastated Syria’s financial, energy and construction sectors, severely limiting access to electricity and basic humanitarian goods for millions of Syrians, while harming reconstruction efforts. And since 2015, the U.S. military has directly had boots on the ground in Syria, notably occupying Syria’s oil fields.

Some are celebrating what they see as the fall of a repressive tyrant. Others are mourning the collapse of a bulwark of resistance to Israel, with Syria providing a crucial supply line for resistance groups in neighboring Lebanon as well as Gaza. In any case, we know Israel sees Assad’s downfall as a victory, and is already eagerly taking advantage of the situation with an unchecked onslaught of attacks on Syria.

Ultimately, it’s not yet clear what political forces will shape the new Syria. From our perspective of international solidarity against Israel’s expanding genocide in the Levant, we hope any new government that emerges is able to resist U.S./Israeli attacks, and continues Syria’s support for the resistance in Lebanon and Palestine.

We encourage our followers to remain committed to the principles of anti-imperialism, sovereignty and independence for all nations, and steadfast, united opposition to the U.S.-backed Zionist project.

#International #Syria #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #MNAWC

Tucson, AZ – On Monday April 1, 15 Palestine solidarity activists braved the cold spring rain in response to Israel’s latest deadly airstrikes into Syria and Lebanon. The Tucson Anti War Committee (TAWC) organized the protest at the Davis Monthan Air Force Base to condemn the U.S. escalation of its war in the Middle East and the recent decision to send 2500 more bombs and 25 more fighter jets to Israel.

Just this past week, Israel conducted several airstrikes, killing over 40 people in Syria and several more in Lebanon.

With presence at all four traffic corners, protesters held signs that read: “Hands off Syria! U.S. out of the Middle East” and “End U.S. aid to Israel.” As the rain intensified, one protester suggested a timely chant, “Rain or shine, we stand with Palestine!”

Organizers noted the positive shift from previous TAWC actions at Davis Monthan AFB, as many more vehicles honked in favor of a free Palestine.

As the Zionist genocide enters its sixth month, Israel and the U.S. are escalating the regional war as the united resistance continues its support for a liberated Palestine. This week, airstrikes targeted leaders in the resistance movements, including an Iranian adviser located in Syria. With Israel’s inability to destroy the Palestinian resistance, it seeks to threaten its regional allies with cowardly airstrikes that violate national sovereignty.

#TucsonAZ #AntiWarMovement #International #MiddleEast #Syria #Lebanon #Palestine #TAWC

Freedom Road Socialist Organization condemns the massive airstrikes unleashed by the U.S. on Syria and Iraq. The Biden administration say this bombing campaign is just getting started. It should be opposed by everyone who wants peace with justice.

The Biden administration justifies its criminal attacks as some sort of legitimate “retaliation.” Nothing could be further from the truth. The reality is that the U.S. has military bases in Iraq that Iraqi people want gone. The U.S. is also illegally occupying portions of Syria. The Syrian government has told the U.S. to leave its soil on many occasions. An unwelcome invader of the other people’s homes, the warmakers of Washington, D.C. play the aggrieved party when resistance forces try to end these occupations. The hypocrisy of empire is unbelievable.

The United States is trying to maintain its domination of the Mideast, and it is the facilitator of the genocide taking place in Gaza. Currently the Pentagon is rushing munitions of all kinds to maintain the Israeli occupation of Palestine. The aim of the bombing campaign is to improve the strategic position of Israel and weaken the axis of resistance: Syria, Iran, Yemen, the Palestinian liberation movement, and the patriotic forces in Lebanon and Iraq. This is a case of lifting a rock to drop it on one’s own feet.

The Palestinian resistance has proved to be remarkably powerful and resilient. In Gaza and the West Bank, the resistance has successfully stood up to the occupation, so the Zionists have resorted to the mass murder of Palestinian moms, children and old folks. Their tactics range from bombs and air strikes to the blockade of goods and deliberate mass starvation.

The U.S. has long used Israel like a policemen’s club to beat the peoples of the Middle East when they step out of line and stand up for liberation and national independence. Now that it seems possible that the Palestinian people along with their allies might take that club away from the U.S. and end the occupation, the Biden administration is widening the war.

It’s critical that we stand with Palestine and embrace resistance. Each and every escalation by the U.S. should be met with opposition. A national week of action is set for February 5 – 11 to stop U.S./Israeli genocide in Gaza. These protests should be supported. It is the right thing to do.

End all U.S aid to Israel!

U.S. stop bombing the Middle East!

From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!

#Statement #FRSO #AntiWarMovement #International #Palestine #Iraq #Syria #Feature

On Monday morning 6th of February, a massive earthquake reaching 7.8 degrees on the Richter scale struck the region of southern Turkey – north Syria, followed by tens of aftershocks and a second major earthquake reaching 7.5 degrees.

At the time the shocked humanity is still counting the victims in both Turkey and Syria, as the death toll reached 15 thousand, tens of thousands are injured, and hundreds of thousands are homeless seeking shelter in severe weather conditions. WFTU can’t stay silent about the fact that imperialist forces have imposed sanctions on Syria.

The sanctions on Syria have been affecting the Syrian people for years now, resulting in a lack of fuel, electricity, medical supplies, and industrial machines that are essential to every country and nation for their daily life. The Syrian people had already suffered enough from the war, and they deserve a chance to live freely and with dignity.

Today in light of this catastrophe, these sanctions must be lifted immediately, as they are affecting the search and rescue operation after the disastrous earthquake. The sanctions against Syria are prohibiting heavy machinery and medical supplies even food supplies from entering Syria and now, more than ever, they are necessary for the survival of tens of thousands, and for rescue operations of people that are still stuck under the debris of their own homes.

The WFTU demands the immediate withdrawal of the imperialist sanctions against Syria, to put an end to the barbaric and inhumane policies of blockades and embargos. These policies are killing people that are stuck under the debris, killing the injured with a lack of medical supplies, leaving tens of thousands in streets to face harsh weather conditions, and leaving hundreds of thousands without any usable infrastructure.

We stand beside the General Federation of Trade Unions of Syria and the International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions and we support their struggle for the release of affected people. We once again call the Trade Unions and the workers all over the globe to express their practical solidarity and practical support through the launched campaigns to make less painful this huge disaster.

The Secretariat

#Syria #WorldFederationOfTradeUnionsWFTU #WFTU

Adapted from a presentation given at a Solidarity Committee of the Americas event in Minneapolis, Minnesota on February 11.

I’m not a scholarly expert; I’m a maintenance worker in Minneapolis who volunteers with a local activist group called the Anti-War Committee. In May of 2021, I traveled with a peace delegation to Syria. The delegation spent one week in the country, in and around the capital Damascus, to witness elections that were taking place, and to investigate conditions on the ground with the hope of building solidarity and raising awareness about the effects that U.S. foreign policy has on life in Syria.

That said, this week in particular is one when everyone, expert or not, whether you’ve been there or not, should be talking about Syria. Last weekend’s earthquake heavily impacted northern Syria, near the border with Turkiye. The current estimate of the number of people who died in this tragedy stands at over 30,000 – around 4000 or so in Syria. Many of those who died in Turkiye were likely also Syrians – around 3.5 million Syrian refugees currently reside in Turkiye. Everyone can feel confident in demanding an end to U.S. sanctions on Syria in the aftermath of this tragedy.

This week, the Biden administration announced it would temporarily ease some sanctions on humanitarian aid to Syria. A few things about that: First of all, this is a stunning admission, because the U.S. previously had claimed that the sanctions on Syria don’t affect humanitarian supplies. Now they are admitting that sanctions needed to be lifted for aid to get in. To be clear, it’s good that the administration is doing something, if for no other reason than that it shows they are feeling some political pressure, and people are paying attention to the issue of sanctions. But it’s not nearly enough.

The massive tragedy comes on top of another massive tragedy, the war in Syria, which has killed at least half a million Syrians since 2012, and has been fueled by U.S. policy in a variety of ways.

U.S. officials, first during the Trump administration and now under Biden, have openly declared that the objective of U.S. sanctions on Syria is to prevent “reconstruction” – unless the Syrian government agrees to a new, U.S.-approved political system and geopolitical orientation for the country, effectively overriding its sovereign rights under international law. Specifically, the long-standing U.S. demand for Syria has been to normalize its relations with Israel and officially give up the Golan Heights region, which Israel has illegally occupied since 1967. Until Syria capitulates to these demands, the U.S. government’s policy boils down to collectively punishing all Syrians, civilians included, and forcing them to live in literally ruinous conditions.

You might say that under its current policies toward Syria, the U.S. is on the earthquake’s side. An earthquake means more ruined buildings that won’t get rebuilt, and more misery, poverty and death for Syrians, which effectively has been the U.S. policy for over a decade.

One of my most immediate impressions when we traveled to Syria was that in many areas, the shooting war is over. In the Damascus region where we visited, the government has restored control entirely, and while there were occasional checkpoints, to my surprise we were able to move about relatively freely. But the scars of the war were still everywhere. In some neighborhoods, there were just a few bullet holes here and there. In others, the destruction was total: ruined husks of apartment buildings and colossal mounds of concrete rubble stretched as far as we could see.

Despite the scenes of destruction, at the time of our trip (about a year and a half ago), people we spoke with were hopeful. Reconstruction was happening, although slowly. Here and there, renovated apartments stood out amid the ruins, sometimes in a jarring way, where shiny new balconies appeared next to uninhabitable ones within the same building. People we spoke with complained about a slow pace of reconstruction due to difficulties in sourcing building materials and equipment due to the sanctions. But they also repeatedly told us: things are getting better, the war is ending, tell Syrians living abroad that they can start returning home!

Unfortunately, by now that progress has been halted. U.S. sanctions, especially the Caesar Act, passed in 2019, have really begun to bite. Last year the Syrian currency collapsed, which was connected to a similar economic collapse in neighboring Lebanon (which in turn was exacerbated by U.S. sanctions on that country).

Meanwhile, the U.S. military continues to occupy Syria’s oilfields in the east of the country, illegally under international law, with not even the usual flimsy legalistic justification, just might-is-right conquest. “Keep the oil” was what Trump called the policy, and Biden has stayed the course. Most Syrians reportedly now only get two or three hours of electricity per day if they're lucky. Gasoline is so scarce that people can’t get to work. The government has even shifted to a four-day work week due to logistical difficulties as basic as transportation. Bakeries are closing. Cooking and heating oil are so scarce that according to reports, some Syrians must burn trash to heat their homes.

Syria has been sanctioned and labeled a “state sponsor of terrorism” by the U.S. since the late 1970s. This current horrific humanitarian situation is the result – not just as a consequence of the sanctions themselves, but also in how Syria has been portrayed to the American public. U.S. policies toward Syria have dehumanized Syrian people in the eyes of many, portraying the country as a zone of permanent destruction, as though this is somehow the natural state of things there.

Many Syrians we spoke with were adamant that it’s in fact the United States that is the real state sponsor of terrorism, especially inside Syria. They’re not wrong – the U.S. along with its regional allies bankrolled the war in Syria for many years, arming and paying the salaries of a patchwork of contra gangs that supposedly comprised the Free Syrian Army. I say “supposedly,” because there was never any unified organization of these groups – in reality they were no more than a disunified hodgepodge of militias, some local and others foreign, coming from places as far flung as Uzbekistan, China, France and the UK.

A significant number of these U.S.-armed and paid mercenaries would eventually take their weapons and defect to even more extreme reactionary groups like Al-Qaeda and ISIS. At the same time, the U.S. supported the self-declared “Syrian National Council” – based outside of Syria – as a potential replacement for President Bashar al-Assad’s government, despite the fact that none of the U.S.-armed contras fighting on the ground even supported it. The unavoidable conclusion is that the U.S. never really intended for the armed groups to overthrow the Syrian government themselves – they only backed them up to a certain point, as a way to terrorize and coerce the Syrian people.

So with that I’ll conclude by saying that we all need to demand not only the end to U.S. sanctions, but for a broad change in U.S. policy toward Syria: let Syria rebuild; let Syrians recover from the earthquake and the war; end the occupation of Syria’s oil fields; end decades of dehumanization and destabilizing plots to coerce the Syrian people. Let Syrians determine their own future.

Wyatt Miller is an activist with the Minneapolis-based Anti-War Committee. In May 2021, he traveled with an international peace delegation to Syria, at the invitation of the Syria Support Movement and Arab Americans 4 Syria.

#MinneapolisMN #Syria #MiddleEast

The report states that, during a Friday meeting in Havana with the Syrian Ambassador Ghassan Obaid, Guevara stated, “The terrorist war targeted the Syrian people and distorted their civilization and ancient history, since Syria is a country that resists and rejects all forms of compromise and normalization.”

The report continued, “She noted the heroism of the Syrian Arab Army and reaffirmed her support for the Syrian people in their struggle against the Israeli occupation to liberate the occupied Syrian Arab Golan and her support for the liberation of all occupied Arab territories and the right of return for the Palestinian people and the establishment of their independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.”

The Syrian ambassador recalled that Che Guevara had visited Syria in 1959.

#Cuba #Syria #CheGuevara #MiddleEast

St. Paul, MN – Around 30 people lined the busy Lake Street-Marshall Avenue bridge over the Mississippi River between Minneapolis and Saint Paul, June 30, to protest the latest U.S. airstrikes in Iraq and Syria. The action was called by Women Against Military Madness and supported by the Anti-War Committee, the Minnesota Peace Action Coalition and other local groups. Peace vigils have been held at the bridge every Wednesday for over 20 years, regardless of weather.

This latest vigil followed the Biden administration’s June 27 announcement that U.S. warplanes had dropped bombs on both sides of the Iraq-Syria border. Several people were reportedly killed in the attack. The targets were militias with Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Force (PMF), which formed in 2014 to stop the reactionary Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group’s rapid advances.

In 2018, the PMF was incorporated into the official security forces of the Iraqi state. The Biden administration said the airstrikes were in response to attacks on U.S. troops by the PMF, which it characterized as “Iran-backed.”

Militant resistance to the U.S. occupation of Iraq intensified after the January 2020 assassinations of top PMF commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and Iranian general Qasem Soleimani. The assassinations prompted Iraq’s parliament to call for an immediate U.S. withdrawal, which the U.S. rebuffed. After the June 27 airstrikes, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi condemned the airstrikes as a violation of Iraq’s sovereignty.

At the bridge vigil in Minnesota, Iraqi-American activist Sami Rasouli agreed. “When the military of Iraq was dissolved, Iraq became a wide open arena,” he said. “When ISIS in 2014 invaded Iraq, the Iraqi army that was dissolved came back again, and now is still growing, to defend not only Iraq but Syria too, and Iran.”

Wyatt Miller of the Anti-War Committee added, “These kinds of airstrikes always run the risk of triggering a major regional war. We need to oppose the sanctions, too, and oppose the U.S. military occupation not only of Iraq but of the oilfields in eastern Syria, all of which are contributing to Syria’s inability to rebuild after the war.” In May, Miller travelled with a peace delegation to observe conditions in Syria firsthand.

Syria, which allows the Iraqi PMF to operate on its territory, also condemned the airstrikes, reporting that U.S. bombs had struck a residential building and killed a child while injuring several more civilians. Hours after the airstrikes, U.S. forces occupying Syria’s al-Omar oil field came under rocket attack by resistance forces in the area.

#Minnesota #AntiwarMovement #AntiWarCommittee #Iraq #Syria #Airstrikes

Fight Back!: Who did you travel to Syria with?

Kobi Guillory: We were a part of an international delegation with members from the U.S., South Africa, Palestine, France and Canada. It was organized by the Syria Solidarity Movement and contained journalists, writers and anti-imperialist activists from a range of organizations. The list of delegates can be found on this statement we released.

Fight Back!: What impacts did you witness of U.S. intervention in Syria?

Wyatt Miller: We saw terrible damage in areas that had to be liberated from contra militias who were paid, armed and politically whitewashed by the United States. We saw reconstruction efforts in the aftermath, but with the knowledge that there would be a lot more of it if not for U.S. economic sanctions. The sanctions also were visible in the form of high prices for all kinds of basic goods. Fuel prices are particularly high because U.S. troops are still illegally occupying Syria’s eastern oil fields.

Guillory: Entire towns and whole suburbs of Damascus were destroyed by the war. These were people's homes, workplaces, community centers, and more. Half a million people were killed and millions were displaced. Every Syrian family has suffered kidnappings, executions or bombings by the U.S.-backed militias. Now as the people are trying to rebuild, U.S. sanctions and ongoing occupation of Syrian land are making it difficult to buy basic necessities like food and oil.

Fight Back!: While you were there, Syria conducted an election. What did you observe?

Guillory: We witnessed tens of thousands of people celebrating in the streets. In Damascus, we saw sporadic rallies led by unions and youth organizations. We saw two polling places in and around Douma where crowds gathered to voice their support of Bashar al Assad. We were able to observe the voting process. Voters showed their Syrian IDs to the election officials, who gave them a ballot with the names of the three candidates. Residents had the option to vote openly or in a closed booth before depositing their ballot in a sealed box to be counted later. After voting, residents dipped their fingers in ink to ensure they could not vote a second time. Workers from the campaigns of each opposition candidate were also present to observe the process.

Miller: In general, people were really excited about the election and it definitely meant more than just picking a leader. With the war winding down and refugees starting to come home, there was a palpable sense that Syria had turned a corner despite the long road of reconstruction ahead. Assad’s campaign slogan, “Hope through work,” seemed to cater to that sentiment.

Fight Back!: What do you say to folks in the anti-war movement who say that Assad is a dictator and that the movement shouldn’t show solidarity?

Miller: Syria is a republic, where people vote for their president in democratic elections, as defined in their constitution. President Assad is clearly very popular but what’s at stake for Syrians goes beyond any one individual. Syrians told us they were fighting to retain their country’s independence against foreign domination. If the anti-war movement doesn’t have solidarity with that, we’re not really addressing the root causes of war. People will always resist imperialism.

Guillory: I would encourage everyone to examine where their information is coming from and think about who benefits from the portrayal of Assad as a dictator. This narrative also portrays the Syrian people as docile and ignorant when in reality they're very well informed about what imperialism has done to their country. These people have faced a decade of ruthless attacks by foreign-backed jihadist militias and are now being hit with U.S. sanctions that make it nearly impossible to rebuild their homes. The government led by Assad defeated most of the militias and is now leading efforts to rebuild. It shouldn't surprise anyone that the vast majority of Syrians made the informed choice to vote for the incumbent.

More important than the reasons why Syrians voted for Assad is their right to self-determination. As anti-imperialists in the U.S., our responsibility is not to decide how Syria should be governed, but to relentlessly oppose our own government's intervention so the Syrian people can govern themselves.

Fight Back!: What did you observe of Israeli intervention in Syria?

Miller: I was struck by how close Damascus is to occupied territory. You can literally see it – the snow-capped peak of Mount Hermon, known in Arabic as Jabal al-Shaykh, is visible to the west. The upper slopes of the mountain are Syrian land but have been occupied and colonized by Israel since 1967 as part of the Golan Heights. The settlers have built a ski resort there.

We had another reminder of the Israeli presence the night the election results were announced, when anti-aircraft tracer rounds were fired into the sky alongside fireworks in a spectacular display. That occasion was a celebration, but there’s a reason why those guns are there. Israeli jets have routinely bombed Syria throughout the war.

#UnitedStates #PeoplesStruggles #Syria #MiddleEast

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from election observers who traveled to Syria.

This independent delegation was assembled to witness the May 26, 2021 presidential election in Syria and to investigate on-the-ground conditions of Syrian life in the current period. Activists and journalists from Palestine, Syria, South Africa, France, Canada, and the United States joined this delegation on the invitation of the Syria Solidarity Movement and Arab Americans 4 Syria. This joint statement summarizes our findings on the election and what it means for Syrians.

On election day, our delegation traveled to neighborhoods that had been outside of government control when the last presidential elections took place in 2014. Notably, we visited polling places in the towns of Arbeen and Douma, in the hard-hit Eastern Ghouta region southeast of Damascus where residents are returning and beginning to rebuild their homes, some after years of seeking refuge elsewhere. We witnessed Syrians cast secret ballots in polling places where monitors from opposition parties were present alongside election officials, in accordance with the Constitution of the Syrian Arab Republic. We saw nothing to indicate unfairness or coercion in the casting of ballots.

We also conducted extensive interviews with members of the Syrian general public. We were not inhibited in any way from conducting these interviews and could freely do so outside the presence of government officials.

We overwhelmingly found that Syrian people place tremendous significance on this election. During and after the election we observed huge enthusiasm. It appeared genuine and widespread. For many Syrians, the election represents the imminent ending of the war, the defeat of foreign plots, and hope for the future. For young people, it encapsulates the first period of relative stability they have experienced in their living memory. Many expressed that they were not simply casting votes for their preferred candidate, but for a sovereign, unified Syria, free from imperialist interference. For them, the presidential election was a referendum on the right of the Syrian people to determine their own future.

It is the unanimous conclusion of the undersigned representatives of the International Delegation to the 2021 Syrian Presidential Election that the re-election of President Bashar al-Assad, of the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party and the National Progressive Front, is the legitimate, democratic expression of the Syrian people.

Ted Kelly

International Action Center

Co-Editor, Tear Down the Walls!

Wyatt Miller

MN Anti-War Committee, USA

Kobi Guillory

Co-chair, Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression

Amal Wahdan

Coordinator, One Democratic State Assembly

Steering Committee, Syria Solidarity Movement

Ramallah, Palestine

Mpho Masemola

Secretary General, Ex Political Prisoner's Veterans Association of South Africa (EPPA)

Member, Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), African National Congress military wing

Johnny Achi, E.E.

Co-founder, Arab Americans for Syria

Daniel Kovalik

Adjunct Professor of International Human Rights, University of Pittsburgh School of Law

Alain Corvez

Adviser in international strategy, France

Rick Sterling

Journalist, USA

Paul Larudee

Retired Academic and Unretired NGO Administrator & Piano Technician

#Syria #MiddleEast #PeoplesStruggles #Assad #2021SyrianPresidentialElection

Damascus, Syria – Enormous piles of rubble and trash line the streets of the Yarmouk refugee camp in south-central Damascus in late May, 2021. Most structures bear reminders of the war: bullet holes, sandbags, the fading graffiti of various factions. Some buildings have collapsed entirely. Stray cats and dogs roam the eerie, quiet streets.

Just off of the main Yarmouk Street, however, signs of life begin to appear. Behind a destroyed pharmacy, plastic chairs are arranged outside the home of Abeer Ali Naif and her family. A small fluorescent light illuminates the entryway. Clothes hang out to dry from the restored balcony, adorned with decorative wrought iron. Potted plants climb the patched stucco walls from a section of narrow street that stands out for its lack of debris.

Naif has returned to Yarmouk, but she is from Palestine. Her family was ethnically cleansed by Zionists during the Nakba of 1948, after which they found their way to the Yarmouk refugee camp in Syria.

Calling it a “camp” is a bit of a misnomer. Soon after it was established in 1948, modern apartment blocks, schools, hospitals, businesses and banks were established. Yarmouk quickly grew into a thriving neighborhood of Damascus, home to over 160,000 Palestinians and at least that many Syrians – many themselves displaced after the Zionist takeover of Syria’s Golan Heights in 1967.

“The conditions in Palestinian refugee camps in Syria were much better than in other countries,” explains Amal Wahdan, a Ramallah-based activist with the One Democratic State In Palestine campaign who accompanied Fight Back! to visit Yarmouk. Wahdan spent time in Yarmouk herself, after being deported from the West Bank in 1990 during the First Intifada. She later was allowed to reenter, though not to her family’s original home.

“Palestinians in Syria are considered equal to Syrians,” she says. “They get free education and free healthcare, can work at any job based on their qualifications, and own their own businesses and homes.” Contrast that to neighboring Lebanon, where Palestinians are only allowed to work in certain jobs, and only for companies owned by Lebanese nationals.

“Yarmouk was called the capital of the Palestinian diaspora, politically and economically,” she says.

Outside her home, Naif agrees. “We were living in peace,” she says. “Until the Saudis, the U.S., Turkey and Qatar sent terrorists.”

The fall of Yarmouk

The destruction of Yarmouk unfolded gradually. As the war broke out across Syria, most Palestinian factions in the camp pledged their neutrality. But in mid-2012, a wave of assassinations targeted the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command group, which was seen as close to the Syrian government. Even then, the Syrian army stayed out of the situation, out of respect for the camp’s traditional Palestinian autonomy.

When the infighting caused the camp’s security to deteriorate, however, outside groups with the al-Qaeda-aligned Jabhat al-Nusra and the U.S.-backed so-called ‘Free Syrian Army’ flooded into the camp to take advantage of its proximity to their real target: state institutions in central Damascus. By late 2012, the groups were firing mortars into the city center and using the camp’s dense apartment buildings as a staging ground for further incursions.

The government had little choice but to send the army to the camp’s entrances to contain the armed groups, while supporting the Palestinian factions that fought back. The worsening violence necessitated the evacuation of Yarmouk’s civilians.

In December 2012, the vast majority of Palestinian and Syrian residents left Yarmouk. These hundreds of thousands of civilians became refugees from a refugee camp, heading for other areas of Syria, neighboring countries and further abroad.

“For the Palestinians, what happened in Yarmouk is considered a second Nakba, to be forced to leave their livelihoods and property, and move somewhere else,” says Wahdan. “This was a total catastrophe.”

Siege and starvation

For a variety of reasons, about 20,000 civilians chose to remain in the camp. The government and its Palestinian allies faced the gut-wrenching dilemma of how to liberate the camp without hurting the civilian population.

Thus began the infamous siege of Yarmouk. At times it was unimaginably ugly. While the Syrian government worked with the Palestine Liberation Organization and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency to get supplies to civilians, they didn’t always arrive. In some cases, the anti-government militias took the supplies for themselves; in others, foreign terrorists were seen shooting at civilians who tried to flee. The West accused the Syrian government of trying to starve the entire camp into surrender.

Palestinian factions on both sides agreed the situation was a humanitarian disaster. Throughout 2013 and 2014, negotiations were underway to evacuate all armed groups from the camp and move the conflict elsewhere so residents could safely return. At times, these efforts were on the verge of success. But an extremist minority, still holding out for total victory in its effort to topple the Syria government, succeeded at sabotaging a deal to spare Yarmouk.

It seemed like the situation couldn’t get any worse. But in April 2015, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Daesh, popularly known in English as ISIS) infiltrated the camp. Fighting grew even more intense in a three-way fight between pro-government Palestinians, the foreign-backed militants who had originally infiltrated the camp, and the ruthless Daesh. As section after section of the camp fell to the latest intruders, most of the remaining civilians fell under the brutal tyranny of Daesh.

It wasn’t until three years later that Palestinian forces backed by the Syrian army made progress at liberating Yarmouk. Facing a concerted offensive, the armed groups in the camp – including Daesh – finally agreed to be evacuated to the countryside on government buses.

The right of return

Unlike the original Nakba when Zionists drove the Palestinians from their national homeland, Yarmouk residents have the right of return after their second Nakba in Yarmouk. But years of siege and violence left most of the camp in utter disrepair. It took another two years after its liberation before authorities deemed the camp safe enough from unexploded ordinances to begin reconstruction. Residents told Fight Back! that around 700 families have returned so far.

“The government is calling all Palestinians to return to Yarmouk,” says Wahdan. “They are ready to help them with the infrastructure, the roads, the electricity, the water.”

The return of a thriving Yarmouk will be slow. Engineers have to go building-by-building to determine which can be rehabilitated and which must be condemned. Tough planning debates lie ahead for Palestinian and Syrian residents alike in areas where the street grid needs to be redrawn from scratch. Meanwhile, U.S. economic sanctions target construction materials in an effort to discourage the return of refugees.

And of course, for Palestinians, the struggle doesn’t stop there.

“The camp is liberated from terrorists but we also want to get rid of the Zionist apartheid state so we can go back home,” says Naif.

Wahdan explains that the Palestinian issue was central to why the war in Syria broke out in the first place, citing a 2003 visit to Syria by then-U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, who demanded that Syria close the offices of Palestinian resistance groups based in the country and make peace with Israel.

“After the government refused, the U.S. went to Plan B, which was inflicting this terrorist war,” she says.

“They want to liquidate the Palestinian issue. Dispersing the Palestinians from Syria, from Jordan, from Lebanon, means one thing for them: ending the Palestinian cause,” Wahdan continues. “But every action has a reaction. The Palestinians will never give up their pride to return to their homeland.”

Outside her home in Yarmouk camp, Naif agrees. “Palestine is Palestine. There is no nation called Israel. Jerusalem is our capital,” she says. “Peace will prevail in all parts of the world.”

#DamascusSyria #Damascus #PeoplesStruggles #Syria #MiddleEast

Damascus, Syria – On Wednesday, May 26, election day in Syria, crowds flocked to polling places to cast their votes. A delegation of observers from the U.S., South Africa, France and Palestine visited polling locations east of Damascus in the war-torn Ghouta region to witness the voting and celebrations taking place. Occupied by U.S. and Saudi-backed contras for over six years, civilians there were unable to vote in the last presidential election, and many more have only recently returned to finally rebuild their homes. Within Ghouta, the delegation observed voting in the town of Arbin and the city of Douma.

The morning of election day, an antique store owner in Damascus told Fight Back! “I am going to vote as soon as I close the store. It's my right and there are polling places everywhere.” He pointed to the place he planned to vote, a few blocks away from the souq (market) in which his store is located.

Election officials reported that Douma, a city with 70,000 residents, had 20 polling sites. The election boasted a total of 12,000 voting stations around the country and in Syrian embassies that are still open.

In spite of the abundance of voting stations, officials had trouble with the sheer number of voters. The polls were originally set to be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., but the large crowds forced officials to keep the polls open until midnight. An observer in Douma from the office of opposition candidate Abdullah Abdullah said more than 1500 people had voted at that site by 2 p.m. This location was also where incumbent president Bashar al Assad had cast his vote that morning.

Hundreds of Syrians, including many young people, rallied outside every polling site. Crowds waved Syrian flags and raised pictures of Assad while chanting “Allah! Souriya! Bashar ou bas!” (God! Syria! Bashar! Nothing else!) among other chants in favor of the incumbent. A man celebrating outside a Douma voting station said in English, “We want Dr. Bashar because there are no more terrorists!”

The man continued in Arabic, “It was miserable during the occupation. There was no food, water or electricity. People were killed for smoking. Women were killed for not covering up.” His town was occupied by Saudi-backed terrorist organization Jaish al Islam from 2012 until 2018, when it was liberated by the Syrian Arab Army.

Young people showed off the ink on their fingers, the mark used to indicate that they had already voted, preventing people from voting more than once. An 18-year-old casting his vote for the first time said of himself and his friends, “We want to be doctors and engineers so we can help rebuild Syria.”

Yara Saleh, a Syrian reporter who was kidnapped by terrorists for six days in 2012, stressed the importance of this election for the youth. “The young people grew up during the war,” she said, adding that the youth deserve safety and stability that they were denied for so long. “Every Syrian family has a story like mine,” Saleh added.

The following night, tens of thousands of people gathered in and around Umayyad Square in central Damascus to await and celebrate the results. 19-year-old Aya Jamal Abbas danced with her friends in the crowd, a Syrian flag painted on her face.

“I'm very happy that we're all together. We voted for Bashar and we're waiting for the results,” Abbas said. “This is our victory. We won this war.”

Her sentiment was echoed by people of all ages and diverse backgrounds. Abeer Ali Naif, a Palestinian woman who Fight Back! spoke to outside her home in the war-torn Yarmouk refugee camp, invited the delegation to celebrate the results in her home with her family the morning after the election. “Bashar is a great man,” Naif added.

Many people in Umayyad Square described their feelings of joy. “Damascus deserves joy for all the people who are no longer with us today,” said Aasma Rahme, 27, a lawyer.

“There is joy in Syria,” said Ahmed al Ali, 42. “Everyone around is happy. It's infectious. Congratulate the Syrian people for this joy.”

Deafening cheers erupted throughout the square when the results were announced. Fireworks lit up the sky and celebratory gunshots went off all over Damascus.

Mpho Masemola, member of the delegation and secretary general of the South African Ex Political Prisoners Association, likened the celebrations to those that happened during the 1994 election of Nelson Mandela.

President Assad was re-elected with an overwhelming 95.1% of the vote. Reportedly, 14.2 million people voted out of 18.1 million eligible citizens in Syria and internationally.

The 78.6% voter turnout might have been higher if all Syrians were able to vote where they live. Some areas of Syria are still under occupation by U.S. and Turkish troops and various mercenaries they support. Many Syrians living internationally could not vote due to the Syrian embassies in their countries of residence being closed.

One such Syrian is Johnny Achi, who has lived in the United States for over 30 years. Achi voted in Douma, where he said, “As long as the Syrian embassy in the U.S. is closed, I will travel here to exercise my right and duty as a Syrian citizen.”

Tamer al Jadoua, 33, told Fight Back! in Umayyad Square that he traveled from Kuwait to cast his vote. Al Jadoua and al Ali were celebrating together and responded to questions about the claims in U.S. and allied media that the election was fake and celebrators were forced.

“We are the ones who voted for Bashar because we like him,” al-Ali said. “No one forced all these people to be here. Many came from very far away.”

“When you see all the people come here voluntarily, you see the people of Syria say, 'Bashar is our choice,’” Husam Ayazra said in English. “We don't need anyone to impose anything on us. We want just Bashar. No one else.”

A group of men initially refused to be interviewed by this U.S. based Fight Back! reporter. “You will go back and tell lies about us,” one man said. After some discussion, the man said, “All these people are not being forced to be here. They're here because they support Bashar with their blood and soul.”

The man used phrasing from the ubiquitous chant: “Bi ruh, bi dam, nafiq ya Bashar!” (With blood, with the soul, we are with you Bashar!) The man continued, “These are not just words to us. You have to say them with your soul.”

Accusations of a faked election are another in a long list of slander against Syria in the U.S., UK, Israeli, Qatari and other imperialist-aligned media. Earlier in the day, Naif cited those same governments as being responsible for the destruction of her home in Yarmouk, as well as the ongoing occupation of the land from which her family was forcefully removed in 1948.

When asked what message she has for America, Naif replied, “Leave us alone.”

In response to the same question, Ayazra implored Americans and other people of the world to watch out for misinformation in the media. “I want every journalist to be honest,” Ayazra said. “Ask yourself if you want another country to destroy your country. Why do they do that to us? There is democracy in Syria. They want to destroy it with lies.”

One of the men, who did not want to be named, told Fight Back!, “Tell the truth about what you saw here. And make Joe Biden lift the sanctions.”

The man was referring to the sanctions imposed by the U.S. on Syria through the Caesar Civilian Protection Act of 2019. The Caesar Act put a chokehold on the Syrian economy, causing a currency collapse that inflated the price of basic goods and restricting access to medicine and the construction materials needed to rebuild Syria after the war, among other vital resources.

The man added that it is the responsibility of the American people to fight against their government when it attacks other countries.

The election marks a victory of the Syrian people against imperialism, but imperialism is still detrimental to their lives and the lives of people around the world. The system of imperialism will stay alive until the people living under imperialism rise up and kill it.

#DamascusSyria #Damascus #MiddleEast #PeoplesStruggles #Syria #Assad #HandsOffSyria

Douma, Syria – On Tuesday, May 25, one day before the Syrian election, an international delegation, which includes a number of observers from the U.S., visited the war-torn cities of Douma and Jobar just outside Damascus. The observers viewed tunnel networks used by terrorists during the six-year occupation of the city and spoke to residents who had returned after the city was liberated in 2018 by the Syrian Arab Army.

Soldiers guided the delegation through the city riddled with rubble and bullet holes as far as the eye can see. The area had been occupied by the Saudi-backed Jaish al Islam from 2012 until 2018. During this time it saw vicious battles between the terrorists and the Syrian army. The delegation walked into several entrances to the tunnels Jaish al Islam used to travel efficiently underground in the area to the northeast of Damascus.

The tunnels’ steel beam framework, dug into the bedrock, and miles-long construction are a testament to how well-funded and prepared the reactionary insurgents were. All evidence suggests that construction of the tunnel network began well before the outbreak of war in 2011. Soldiers told the delegation that the funding came from the U.S. and Saudi governments.

One resident of Douma, a man named Hassan, described life under Jaish al Islam as “worse than the worst.” He explained through a translator that the insurgents executed people every week for reasons such as being LGBTQ or working with the government.

The delegation also entered the hospital where some of the purported “chemical weapons attack” footage of April 7, 2018 was taken. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has found no evidence of chemical weapons attacks, they said in a report that was suppressed until a recent leak. The White Helmets, an organization funded by the U.S., British, Saudi and other allied governments, has been accused by international journalists of staging the footage.

Amidst all the destruction was the beginning of a reconstruction effort. Hundreds of residents have begun moving back into buildings that did not sustain too much damage during the battles. Electrical lines, water pipes, satellite TV dishes, and various shops stood in certain blocks as the first signs towards rebuilding a community. A fully repaired waterpark and arcade is set to reopen the day after the election as a place for the many children in the city to play. The reconstruction has been slowed by U.S.-imposed sanctions, which make it nearly impossible to import vital building materials.

When asked if he was voting in the upcoming elections, Hassan told Fight Back!, “Of course! The price of bread has gone from 2000 pounds to 100 pounds after the occupation. Me, my wife and my children are all voting tomorrow.”

A group of small children, although ineligible to vote due to their age, voiced their support for the incumbent president by chanting “Bi ruh, bi dam, nafiq ya Bashar,” which roughly translates to “With the soul, with the blood, we are with you Bashar.”

A member of a film crew in Douma working on a documentary about the war was asked for his opinion on the claims from the U.S. and its allies that the election was fake. He responded in English that “they can say what they want. The Syrian people will decide who is the president. America and Europe don't decide. Only we decide. The Americans and Europeans don't know what we went through with the terrorists. Only we know.”

Ten years since the beginning of the war, the Syrian people are collectively working on a stable and peaceful future. In spite of the devastation caused by years of war and sanctions on top of the COVID-19 pandemic, the mood in all areas visited by the delegation has been hopeful.

#DoumaSyria #AntiwarMovement #OppressedNationalities #MiddleEast #PeoplesStruggles #Syria #internationalObservers

Damascus, Syria – On May 23, an international solidarity delegation arrived in Syria to observe elections set to take place on Wednesday, May 26, when voters will decide the next president of the Syrian Arab Republic.

Syria has been under attack since 2011 when a mix of reactionary militias and foreign mercenaries, some armed and funded by the U.S. and its regional allies, violently seized control of parts of the country with the aim of toppling the anti-imperialist government. Lacking internal unity or coherent popular legitimacy, by 2018 these groups were largely defeated by Syrian forces. Portions of the country’s east and north, however, remain under occupation by U.S. and Turkish troops and their respective allied forces. Likewise, in Syria’s southwest, the Golan Heights region has been under Zionist occupation since 1967. The entire country suffers acute shortages of basic goods due to extreme U.S. economic sanctions.

The delegation consists of representatives from a variety of international solidarity groups, including the U.S.-based International Action Center (founded by the late former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark), the Anti-War Committee, and the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, as well as the South Africa-based Ex-Political Prisoners Association. They are joined by journalists, writers and activists from the U.S., Palestine, Canada and France.

Syrian voters will choose between three presidential candidates: the incumbent President Bashar Al-Assad, opposition lawyer Mahmoud Ahmad Marei, and former cabinet minister Abdallah Saloum Abdallah. Each candidate was put forth by competing political blocs, as outlined in Syria’s pluralist 2012 constitution. The delegation reports campaign billboards of the three candidates decorate the streets of Damascus.

Syrian expatriates – including many war refugees – are also casting votes at Syrian embassies around the world. Early voter turnout in neighboring Lebanon reportedly is already very high, with long voter lines even becoming target of xenophobic attacks. Syrian refugees in Germany, however, have been completely barred from voting at their embassies. Areas inside Syria still occupied by the U.S., Turkey, and armed groups they support will not hold elections.

The observer delegation met on Sunday with Syrian Minister of Information Imad Abdullah Sara, who emphasized that holding the election would help bring stability to all of Syria. He said that the U.S. could help democracy in Syria by ceasing its support for armed groups in breakaway regions, noting that the George Floyd uprisings and the January 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol showed that it was in fact U.S. democracy that is “barely functioning.”

The U.S. and its allies have preemptively declared Syria’s elections to be illegitimate.

The minister urged people outside Syria to think critically about how corporate U.S. media reports on Syria. He cited multiple examples of outlets using mislabeled footage that local Syrians could easily identify as not originating from the locations that reporters claimed. Nonetheless, he said those outlets were still always invited into Syria to document the situation objectively.

Fight Back! will be reporting from Syria with the delegation throughout the week.

#DamascusSyria #Damascus #MiddleEast #PeoplesStruggles #Syria

Minneapolis, MN – Well over 50 people attended an emergency protest in Minneapolis on Saturday, February 27, to speak out against the Biden administration bombing of targets in Syria two days earlier.

The Minnesota Peace Action Coalition initiated the call for the protest, which was endorsed by other organizations including the Anti-War Committee, Climate Justice Committee, Veterans for Peace and Women Against Military Madness.

Participants lined Cedar Avenue on the West Bank in Minneapolis with anti-war signs and banners. Most passersby showed support for the anti-war message.

At a closing rally Meredith Aby of the Anti-War Committee said, “We are here to oppose the Biden administration's bombing strike on Syria. This is a blatant violation of Syrian sovereignty. It is an escalation against Iran – which is in direct violation of the campaign promises that he made. With this airstrike, Biden is continuing Trump's aggressive foreign policy against Syria and Iran, now cloaked in tones of supposed ‘reasonability.’”

Kristin Dooley, director of Women Against Military Madness said, “For Biden, war trumps human needs. The people need funds to fight COVID, for jobs and housing, not more wars.”

Minneapolis area peace groups will be continuing to call actions against the endless series of U.S. wars.

One member of MPAC, the group that initiated the protest said, “Biden has already indicated that the U.S. will not fully withdraw from Afghanistan by the deadline set in the agreement signed last year. Now the escalation of bombing targets in Syria and the endless wars are the wars of empire, not specific political figures. The process to end these wars will take a massive outpouring of anti-war sentiment.”

#Minneapolis #AntiwarMovement #AntiWarCommittee #Syria #MinnesotaPeaceActionCoalition #Biden

Freedom Road Socialist Organization condemns in the strongest possible terms the February 25 attack launched by the Biden administration on Syria. There is nothing that can justify this cowardly move and it will be opposed by all who stand for peace with justice.

President Biden has been telling the world “America is back.” We can now see exactly what he means. The empire of the dollar wants to control the land, labor and resources of others, and is more than willing to use military means to do so.

The cold reality is that the U.S. is the aggressor in the Middle East, and Washington is trampling on the right of the people of the region to determine their own destiny. Iran, Syria, the Palestinian resistance and the progressive forces of Yemen, Iraq and Lebanon have built a powerful camp of resistance to imperialism and its Israeli allies. This move by the Biden administration indicates a sharpening of the contradictions and more conflict in the not so distant future.

The people and government of Syria have a proud history of standing up against imperialism and Zionism. Western imperialism, with the help of the Israelis, did everything in their power to destroy the country. Syria beat them, and it seems that the Biden administration has a problem with that.

In the months ahead progressive and anti-war forces have our work cut out for us. The U.S. needs to get all troops out of the Middle East. Every last one of them. Sanctions on Iran and Syria should be dropped. The U.S. needs to stop calling those who fight for freedom in Palestine, Iraq, Yemen and other countries ‘terrorists.’

End the attacks on Syria! U.S. out of the Middle East! End the sanctions on Iran and Syria!

#UnitedStates #AntiwarMovement #MiddleEast #PeoplesStruggles #Syria #JoeBiden

The SANA report added “three soldiers were martyred in the aggression, and a soldier was injured, in addition to causing material damages.”

With U.S. backing, Israel regularly launches air assaults on Syria and is illegally occupying the Golan Heights.

#Syria #PeoplesStruggles #SyrianArabNewsAgency #MiddleEast

“This is the first-ever attack on one of the 12 military facilities, created by the United States since 2015 in Syria’s provinces of al-Hasakah, Raqqa and Deir Ezzur. U.S. forces, together with Kurdish groups, control oil-rich areas on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River, including the oil fields of Al-Omar, Tanak, Al-Jafra and Conoco, which accounted for 80% of all oil produced in Syria before the war broke out,” continues the report.

The U.S. is currently carrying out an illegal occupation of Syrian territory and is engaged in the systematic theft of the country’s resources.

#Syria #MiddleEast #PeoplesStruggles

Caracas, Venezuela – Members of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) delegation Sarah Martin and Jim Byrne, with Syrian Ambassador to Venezuela Khalil Bitar, attending World Anti-Imperialist Congress in Caracas.

#CaracasVenezuela #Caracas #AntiwarMovement #OppressedNationalities #Venezuela #MiddleEast #Americas #PeoplesStruggles #Syria #FreedomRoadSocialistOrganizationFRSO #WorldAntiImperialistCongress