Military Strikes Not the Answer in Syria

On Aug. 28, 2013, AFSC and 24 other diverse groups sent a letter to President Obama, urging him to reject military action in Syria and instead intensify diplomacy to stop the bloodshed.

Dear President Obama,

We, the undersigned organizations, are writing to express our grave concerns with your reported plans to intervene militarily in Syria. While we unequivocally condemn any use of chemical weapons along with continued indiscriminate killing of civilians and other violations of international humanitarian law, military strikes are not the answer. Rather than bringing an end to the violence that has already cost more than 100,000 lives, they threaten to widen the vicious civil war in Syria and undermine prospects to de-escalate the conflict and eventually reach a negotiated settlement.

In the course of more than 2 years of war, much of Syria has been destroyed and nearly 2 million people—half of them children—have been forced to flee to neighboring countries. We thank you for the generous humanitarian assistance the U.S. has provided to support the nearly 1 in 3 Syrians—8 million people—in need of aid. But such assistance is not enough.

As the U.S. government itself has recognized, there is no solution to the crisis other than a political one. Instead of pursuing military strikes and arming parties to the conflict, we urge your administration to intensify diplomatic efforts to stop the bloodshed, before Syria is destroyed and the region further destabilized.

Sincerely,

American Friends Service Committee
Church of the Brethren
Code Pink
CREDO Action
Democrats.com
Fellowship of Reconciliation
Friends Committee on National Legislation
Global Ministries of the United Church of Christ and Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Historians Against the War
Just Foreign Policy
New Internationalism Project, Institute for Policy Studies
Oxfam America
Peace Action
Peace Education Fund
Physicians for Social Responsibility
Presbyterian Church, USA
Progressive Democrats of America
RootsAction.org
Shomer Shalom Network for Jewish Nonviolence
United Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society
USAction
Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity
Veterans for Peace
Voices for Creative Nonviolence
Women’s Action for New Directions

Arab Spring, From Atlanta to the Middle East.

Over the past ten months the whole world has watched many in the Arab world revolt against the tight grip of social and economic injustices.

Images that have come to the rest of the world through social networking sights and mainstream media have been inspiring, iconic, and sometimes even horrifying.

While many have a strong sense of optimism it's clear that the dust has far from settled in the Middle East.

Over the course of the last ten months we've seen dozens of solidarity demonstrations right here in Atlanta. Arab American communities have organized solidarity actions for revolutionary activities in Egypt, Syria, and Libya.

It's been exciting to see these communities coming together and uniting their voices for the common cause of freedom for their brothers, sisters, parents, and children. Many in these communities don't consider themselves immigrants, but rather refugees who were left little choice in fleeing the country they once called home.

During the dozens of solidarity demonstrations in Atlanta one could really feel the excitement, and at times despair, from those who had loved ones in the Middle East. Many times as demonstrations were winding down, and folks were packing stuff up, a few organizers of the demonstrations would stick around and talk about how things went and whether or not another demonstration should be set up. One question was asked week after week, "Where do we go from here?", or, "can we do more than just set up solidarity demonstrations"?

It was out of this spirit that about a dozen or so leaders from several Arab American communities in Atlanta gathered at the American Friends Service Committee office several months ago to contemplate answering the question of, "where do we go from here".

I had the honor of being invited to that meeting, and the series of meetings that followed. Folks with ties to the Egyptian, Tunisian, Syrian, Libyan, and Palestinian community came to consensus on the need for a larger community event with a few simple goals which included:

1.Creating space where Arab American Communities that had not worked together in the past could come together and build community.

2. Discuss the current state of Arab Spring in the Middle East.

3. Have discussion about what role Arab Americans in Atlanta can play.

The event, entitled, “Arab Spring from Atlanta to the Middle East”, just went down this past Saturday and it was a big success. Over seventy people showed up. The event took place during AFSC's acclaimed, "Windows and Mirrors" exhibit, which lended a powerful back drop to the community event.

After a viewing of the short film, created by Sherif Morad, attendees heard reports from several special guests including Shahir Raslan, Amir Ahmed, and Abdullah Bourgeba, all who shared reports.

The last part of the day's program was a brief town hall style meeting where folks brainstormed answers to the question, "where do we go from here?". While there was a diversity of ideas, everyone agreed that there are many exciting opportunities to build a local Arab American voice in Atlanta, a much need voice of political advocacy. Everyone agreed that there are very local issues that a united Arab American community would be able to take on.

When folks that attended where asked to take on specific tasks to further the formation of an Arab American political advocacy group almost everyone in the room raised their hand for one task of another.

It was a day where the relevance of actions taken thousands of miles away was thick in the air.

Check out Sherif Morad's short film that he put together just for the event below:




Tim Franzen
American Friends Service Committee

Free Free Syria!

Today 50-60 folks from the Syrian community, along with some allies, gathered at the CNN center to express solidarity with the people of Syria and to condemn the brutality displayed by the Syrian Government.

Yesterday alone an estimated 200 peaceful protesters were gunned down in Syria. Their crime was demanding basic civil rights, constitutional reform, and the implementation of concrete measures to fight government corruption.


The demands from the Atlanta Syrian community were simple, and are basically echoing what Syrians in Syria are demanding.

· Stop the use of live ammunition against peaceful protesters and children

· Hold accountable the perpetrators of the killing of peaceful demonstrators and bring them to justice

· Allow free media and international human rights organizations to cover the situation

· Restructure the security agencies to protect peaceful protesters

· Release all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience

· Recognize political parties and allow for genuine freedom of expression

· Amend the Syrian constitution to limit the presidential term of office and implement free elections

· Introduce clear measures to fight corruption

The push for broad reforms in Syria should be seen as part of the broader movement in the Middle East, "Arab Spring" as some are calling it. Here at American Friends Service Committee we have been in talks with several different Arab communities we've worked with over the past three years about the possibility of bringing everyone together for a panel on the Arab Spring. It could be an opportunity to explore the global implications, as well what it means for folks who have migrated here from the region.

Tim Franzen
American Friends Service Committee