One is … That while the United States would like to divide the Syrians up , by religion or within a religion — by the different beliefs within that religion . There wasn ’ t a Syrian we talked to who would accept that . US Peace Council ( USPC ):
• H . E . Bashar Ja ’ afari
Permanent Representative of the Syrian Arab Republic
• Alfred Marder
President of the US Peace Council
• Mary Compton
Member of the Executive Board of the US Peace Council
• Henry Lowendorf
Member of the Executive Board of the US Peace Council , Head of the Syria Delegation
• Joe Jamison
Member of the Executive Board of the US Peace Council , Member of the Syria Delegation
• Madelyn Hoffman
Executive Director of New Jersey Peace Action , Member of the Syria Delegation
• Donna Nassor
Professor and Lawyer also part of US Peace Council
Henry Lowendorf , Member of the Executive Board of the US Peace Council , at the 12:30 mark :
“ We saw villages , that are basically Christian villages , that have been besieged by the terrorists , but have now been liberated . And the damage done to a shrine in the village called Maaloula , which is a village where they still speak Aramaic , the language of Jesus . And the attacks on the Christian population .”
“ Their two things I want to mention , finally , that we feel are really important …
We spoke to the Grand Mufti , and he said , ‘ People ask me how many Muslims there are in Syria ?’ and his response is always 23 million . That ’ s is the population of Syria .
And when we talk to the bishop of one of the Orthodox Churches , he answered the same thing , the number of Christians is 23 million .
We will not allow ourselves to be divided up the way the United States has divided up the people of Iraq , or Libya , or Afghanistan , or so many other countries . We won ’ t allow that .
And that unity , I believe , has lead to the ability of the Syrians to withstand an invasion by the most powerful country in the world , and its most powerful allies in Europe , its most powerful allies in the Middle East , with what is a vicious attack on the Syrian people .
The second is the sanctions . I have to admit that I did not know ( before I went ) that the United States has imposed sanctions on Syria in a way that ’ s similar to the sanctions that the United States imposed on Iraq in the 1990s , in order to weaken that country and that government , that the United States admits killed 500,000 children in Iraq , during the 1990s sanctions .”
The Duran reported in a post entitled , “ Why the Syrian conflict is not a civil war ”…
Alfred Marder who , is the President of the USPC firstly acknowledged that the US peace and anti-war movement has been in a state of confusion about Syria and that this has caused division within the movement .
TheSovereignVoice . Org