Syria News Wire

Richard Grenell, a man who calls himself “America’s longest serving spokesman at the UN”, has written a scrappy and misleading article for the Huffington Post, which deserves deconstruction.

Grenell is angry at Obama’s decision to send an ambassador to Syria. His argument is that it rewards Syria at a time when the country needs to be punished for supporting Hezbollah and Hamas. It’s a line we’ve heard time and time again from Israel’s apologists in Washington. But it fundamentally misunderstands the role of diplomacy.

Diplomats are sent around the world to feed information back to the US, and to communicate America’s policy to the host government. Ambassadors don’t exist as a present, to send to a foreign capital as a thank you gift. They act as America’s eyes and ears on the ground – they are needed in hostile countries more than they are in friendly states.

But that’s Grenell’s opinion. Fine. The real trouble with his HuffPo piece is the factual inaccuracies littering his writing. His point is that Syria is a bad country because it killed Rafiq Hariri.

UN investigators and foreign intelligence over the last several years, however, have consistently pointed to senior Syrian and Iranian officials’ involvement.

Well, no. They haven’t. In the Detlev Mehlis years of the UN investigation, Syria was widely blamed (I’m not aware of Iran being accused at all). But Mehlis relied on a number of false witnesses, who have now been thoroughly discredited. Syria seems to be off the hook, as far as the UN investigation is concerned.

The indictments that have been issued at the STL are widely thought to finger Hizbollah, not Syria.

Later, he makes statements that collapse on even a simple reading:

Irrefutable evidence compiled over the last six years proves that top officials in Iran, Syria and Hezbollah conspired to kill Hariri and the 22 others in order to gain greater control over Lebanon’s future.

What irrefutable evidence? From where? Give me quotes.

And really? Was Hariri killed to give “greater control over Lebanon’s future”? Well, if that’s the case, it completely backfired. Syria withdrew all its troops from Lebanon within weeks of the killing.

There’s more:

Although the initial UN probe in 2005 accused four pro-Syrian Lebanese generals of taking orders from neighboring Syria and Iran while working for the Lebanese military, the four were held for roughly four years but, sadly, never charged and eventually released.

Yes! Because there was no evidence to continue holding them.

The Obama team must now justify Syria’s continued support for Hezbollah and Hamas and its hatred for Israel.

I completely agree. It would be incredible if Obama would “justify” Syria’s “hatred” for Israel. He could make a speech telling the world that Syria hates Israel because Israel has been illegally occupying Syrian land for 44 years.

With the U.S. Ambassador already sitting in Damascus, little incentive remains for Syria’s cooperation.

The terms for Syria’s “cooperation” are simple: get Israel back to the negotiating table and start talking about the ongoing illegal occupation and breach of UN resolutions by the Tel Aviv regime. Until that happens, maybe the US should withdraw its ambassador to Tel Aviv, because Israel clearly doesn’t deserve such a “reward”.

The not-so-inevitable has happened with surprising speed. Hizbollah and its March 8 allies have walked out of the so-called unity government in Lebanon.

The ostensible trigger was Prime Minister Hariri’s failure to agree to an emergency meeting on the STL indictments. The real reason is that after months of pressure, Hariri is still refusing to distance himself from the tribunal investigating his father’s 2005 assassination.

Hariri was caught in an incredibly uncomfortable spot. Reject the STL and more of his far-right cabinet colleagues (who already feel isolated by Hariri cuddling up to Syria and Hizbollah) would’ve quit, and finally put the nail in the coffin of his five-year-old political project. Support the STL, and allies of an under-threat Hizbollah could’ve caused trouble on the streets.

This is the best-case scenario for Hariri. He gets to stay on as caretaker Prime Minister (and if the last dispute is anything to go by, he could remain in post for months, if not years), and his unhappy unity government colleagues are no longer at the table, shouting him down.

Dare I say that Hariri could’ve even agreed with Hizbollah that their mutual needs would both be best met by this walkout?

For now, this looks like the end – in any meaningful way – of Hariri’s short-lived and slightly impotent political career. And Lebanon will be none the worse for that.

US President Barack Obama has used a legal loophole to push through his nomination for US Ambassador to Syria.

He named Robert Ford as the man he wanted to send to Damascus shortly after becoming president in 2009. But Republican senators have repeatedly refused to ratify the nomination, claiming it would send the wrong signals to Syria.

But during recess, Obama is allowed to force through the nomination using presidential decree. Ford will remain in post until December 2011 under these rules.

Many Syria watchers questioned the Republican knee-jerk reaction, arguing that sending an ambassador was not a reward, but simply the most basic tool of diplomacy.

Syria has not hosted a US ambassador since 2005. The previous ambassador, Margaret Scobey, was withdrawn by George Bush 48 hours after the Hariri assassination, in retaliation for the killing which America blamed on Syria.

Happy Christmas to everyone who is celebrating.

And even if you’re not, there’s another reason to smile: Lena Chamamyan is performing in Damascus on Christmas Day. Go to Bab Touma Square at 7pm for the free concert.

If you’re not in Damascus, you can watch it live on the Syrian Satellite Channel:

Midday in New York

4pm GMT

5pm London

6pm Paris

7pm Damascus

The final part of this amazing collection of images from Syria over the past 150 years from Camille Alexandre Otrakji.

You can see part 1 here and part 2 here.

This week: the Victoria Bridge over the Barada River in Damascus in the 1870s. This bridge no longer exists, and this section of river is now underneath the Shukri Al-Kuwatli Highway. That’s followed by a section of the Damascus Old City wall in 1872. Then a bus in Damascus from 1920, a Jewish wedding in Aleppo in 1914, and finally, a street scene in Aleppo in 1900.

This is part of Alex’s family collection of historic photographs from the Middle East.

You can see them here: http://www.mideastimage.com

You can search by category of keyword for specific image topics here: http://www.mideastimage.com/search.php

Thanks to Dima for drawing my attention to them.

Jordanian border guards have shot dead three Arabs trying to cross illegally into Syria.

Two Egyptians and their Jordanian guide died immediately. Ten others were arrested.

Did anyone know that Jordan had a shoot-to-kill policy on people leaving the country? What is this? North Korea? Surely the Jordanians would be happy for the Syrians to deal with their illegal immigrants? But then Jordan is one of the world’s favourite experts in torture and extra-judicial killing.

Ahmad Hamsho has made it into the London 2012 Olympics at a qualifying session in the US.

The 18 year old is the youngest rider ever to qualify. He’s already a record-breaker, after he became the youngest rider to complete the World Championship for Endurance in Germany.

Hamsho qualified for the Olympics along with Egyptian rider Kareem Al-Zughbi.

Interesting story from Sarah Birke here. She argues that a boom in demand for Syrian woodwork and traditional crafts is compensating for a decline in local customers.

Demand, according to Moazen and his fellow artisans, comes predominantly from the Gulf, Cyprus, Australia and Germany. A whole room, costing $500 to $20,000, depending on the quality of the pieces, is the usual order. “We supply a lot of bedroom, office and living room furniture to Gulf families,” Moazen says. …

It’s a good thing outside interest is rising because local demand is falling, according to the artisans.

Lower-cost plastic and wooden furnishings –- often imported from China -– are popular, and increasing living costs from economic liberalization have dented the finances of the local population.

Thanks to Umniyya‘s great idea, it would be great if you could send your most iconic photos of Syria to mail at newsfromsyria.com, and we’ll start posting them here. Who knows, if it gets big enough, we could even create a dedicated website.

Umniyya’s going to get the ball rolling, by scanning some family images and emailing them to me.

Of course, you’ll get a full credit on here, plus a link to your blog or website if you want one.

The inspiration for all of this was an email from Dima. She sent me some amazing old images of Syria, which turned out to be from Camille Alexandre Otrakji‘s incredible collection. You can find the whole lot here.

The second part of this collection of images from Syria over the past 150 years from Camille Alexandre Otrakji.

You can see part 1 here. The final part will be posted next Friday.

This week: a band of musicians in Aleppo in 1915, the Aleppo Citadel in 1910, the Nestle building in Aleppo in 1920, a sabeel in Damascus in 1870 and a tree-lined avenue in Damascus from 1913.

This is part of Alex’s family collection of historic photographs from the Middle East.

You can see them here: http://www.mideastimage.com

You can search by category of keyword for specific image topics here: http://www.mideastimage.com/search.php

Thanks to Dima for drawing my attention to them.