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Reposted by Joel Veldkamp

Christian Solidarity International @csihumanrights.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

CSI is calling on British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to declare his support for Armenians from #NagornoKarabakh/#Artsakh to “be allowed home,” just as he has declared his support for Palestinians from #Gaza to be allowed to return and rebuild. www.csi-int.org/news/starmer...

Dear Prime Minister,

We commend the moral sentiments of your statement on Gaza – that the displaced population “must be allowed home, they must be allowed to rebuild, and we shall be with them in that rebuild, on the way to a two-state solution.” CSI shares the view that victims of violence must not be forced from their homes. Ethnic and religious communities should be free to live in peace, dignity, security and with fundamental human rights fully respected, regardless of race or religion.

We remain deeply disturbed by the previous UK Government’s refusal to honor these principles uniformly. They tacitly accepted Azerbaijan’s ethnic-religious cleansing of Nagorno Karabakh. An estimated 120,000 Armenian Christian inhabitants were forced to flee their homeland in September 2023. Your predecessors failed to stand in solidarity with these victims of conflict.

This failure has not only negatively impacted the forcibly displaced, many of whom remain stateless and in dire poverty. It has also contributed to the catastrophe that has now enveloped the people of Gaza. It has given de facto legitimisation to the idea that “might makes right." If the international human rights instruments are only applied selectively, this catastrophe will not end in Gaza. The world is being drawn deeper into a violent vortex of lawlessness from which the United Kingdom itself will not escape.

I therefore urge you to reverse this dangerous trajectory. An appropriate place to start would be for you to do what your predecessors failed to do. That is to declare: “The forcibly displaced Armenian Christians of Nagorno Karabakh must be allowed home, they must be allowed to rebuild, and we shall be with them in that rebuild – on the way to a two-state solution.” This act would mark a fitting beginning to principled British resistance to the dangers posed by the “might is right” principle of international affairs.

Yours faithfully,
Dr. John Eibner
President
CSI - United Kingdom

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Brian Finucane @bcfinucane.bsky.social · 11/12/2024

In all seriousness, not clear that Trump knows US troops remain in Syria. Prior to the election he claimed to have pulled them out during his first term. Syria policy in Trump 2.0 may depend in part on whether he finds out they’re still there. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/10/u...

nytimes.com

Trump Offers Confusing Clues on Syria

The president-elect faces hard choices about the country’s post-Assad future. His vows not to get involved might be hard to keep.

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Sam Heller | سام هيلر @abujamajem.com · 09/12/2024

Lulz at President Biden (www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-roo...) and Brett McGurk (www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-roo...) taking credit for the fall of Assad as some policy win, as if that was an outcome the administration actually wanted.

whitehouse.gov

Remarks by President Biden on the Latest Developments in Syria | The White House

Roosevelt Room 1:39 P.M. EST THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon. A lot happening in the Middle East. After 13 years of civil war in Syria and more

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Sam Heller | سام هيلر @abujamajem.com · 09/12/2024

Many of the sanctions-related challenges now facing Syria are the same ones that faced the country two weeks ago: Humanitarian exemptions are not sufficient – aid alone cannot feed and sustain Syria's people. They need a functioning economy and public institutions. Need sanctions relief ASAP.

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Delaney Simon @delaneysimon.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

After the fall of a brutal dictatorship, the West needs a plan for sanctions relief. #Syria is one of the most heavily sanctioned countries in the world. Leaving severe #sanctions in place will be like pulling the rug out from under Syria just as it tries to stand. 🧵1/

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Aron Lund @aronlund.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

In a statement on the situation in Syria, Biden claims credit for ousting "Bashir al-Assad." www.c-span.org/video/?54046...

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Joel Veldkamp @joelveldkamp.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

In lieu of having something intelligent to say, let me once again make this recommendation: If you want to learn Syrian Arabic (and really, why wouldn’t you???) Real Syrian Arabic is an outstanding program, produced by an outstanding young Syrian medical student. sites.google.com/view/realsyr...

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Aron Lund @aronlund.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

54 years of Assad family rule, 61 years of Baath Party rule. And now it's over.

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Christian Solidarity International @csihumanrights.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

#SYRIA: Friday, the jihadist group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham ( #HTS) conquered Syria's second biggest city, #Aleppo. Today, they conquered its fourth biggest city - #Hama. Read our backgrounder on HTS' history with #Christians and religious minorities. www.csi-int.org/news/syria-w...

csi-int.org

Syria: What will happen to religious minorities under HTS? - Christian Solidarity International

While Christians, Druzes, and Alawites have been safe so far, HTS' record suggests that deadly risks for religious minorities wait ahead.

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Contemporary Levant @contemplevant.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

In the 7th, "‘So that we can safeguard your lives’: the Jews of Aleppo between colonialism, nationalism, and Zionism, 1918–1946", @joelveldkamp.bsky.social traces how ordinary Syrian Jews negotiated the complex politics of the mandatory period: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

tandfonline.com

‘So that we can safeguard your lives’: the Jews of Aleppo between colonialism, nationalism, and Zionism, 1918–1946

In the Middle East, as elsewhere, the protracted transition from empire to nation-state was accompanied by a brutal tide of ethnoreligious homogenisation. One of the more dramatic examples was the ...

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Christian Solidarity International @csihumanrights.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

SYRIA: CSI continues to receive daily updates from our contacts in #Aleppo. The situation in the city is calm. Few Russian or government airstrikes have been observed, and there are no credible reports of jihadists harming Christians, other religious minorities, or civilians. #ChristiansinAleppo

A view of Aleppo from the steps of its citadel.

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Christian Solidarity International @csihumanrights.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

UPDATE: Overnight, #Aleppo was totally occupied by jihadist forces backed by Turkey. CSI's contacts in the city tell us that they are sheltering indoors. It is not possible for civilians to leave the city, as the main highway is blocked by fighting. They ask for prayers. #ChristiansinAleppo

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Christian Solidarity International @csihumanrights.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

SYRIA: Turkish-backed jihadists linked to al Qaeda have launched a major offensive on #Aleppo. Our contacts in Aleppo tell us that today, four university students were killed when bombs launched by the rebels hit the university dorm. For two days, the sound of bombing has been heard continuously.

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Aron Lund @aronlund.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

Which is more baffling: • That an exile guy in UK has super-secret sources who always give him—and only him, in the world—inexplicably detailed info on everything everywhere in Syria? or • That global news agencies (here, AFP) have cited his press releases without asking questions for 13 years?

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