By the way, here’s a good article by James Bloodworth on this issue saying she is 'the equivalent of one of Hitler’s brown priests' and that though she has now pulled out, she would have fitted in so very well…
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News recently broke that Stop the War Coalition (StWC) invited Mother Superior Agnès Mariam de la Croix to speak at its November 30 International Anti-War Conference. Fellow guests included MPs Diane Abbott and Jeremy Corbyn and journalists Owen Jones and Jeremy Scahill.
Responding to a firestorm of protest, Jones and Scahill vowed to boycott the event if the Syrian-based nun spoke alongside them. Eventually she decided to “withdraw” from the conference and StWC issued a statement without explanation. Nor did it divulge why anyone would object to a Syrian cleric’s participation in an ostensibly pro-peace event.
Here are some reasons why we consider Mother Agnès-Mariam’s inclusion in an anti-war event to be a “red line” for opponents of conflict. Despite contrary claims, she is a partisan to—rather than a neutral observer of—the war in Syria.
Mother Agnès claimed that the Syrian opposition faked films of Bashar al-Assad’s 21 August 2013 sarin-gas attack on Ghouta in the suburbs of Damascus. In her 50-page dossier on the horrible events of that fateful morning, she wrote that the dead, gassed children documented in those videos “seem mostly sleeping” and “under anaesthesia.”
According to Father Paolo Dall’Oglio, a Jesuit priest exiled by the Assad regime for speaking out against its suppression of peaceful protests and currently a prisoner of al-Qa’ida’s Syrian affiliate, ISIS, Mother Agnes 'has been consistent in assuming and spreading the lies of the regime, and promoting it through the power of her religious persona. She knows how to cover up the brutality of the regime.'
Moreover, Syrian Christians for Peace have denounced Mother Agnès for claiming there had never been a single peaceful demonstration in Syria. The also accused her of failing to disburse any of the money she raised in the name of their beleaguered community. They have asked 'that she be excommunicated and prevented from speaking in the name of the Order of Carmelites.'
Having a massacre denier and apologist for war criminals like Mother Agnès speak alongside respected journalists such as Jeremy Scahill and Owen Jones is not only an insult to them and their principles. It is also, more insidiously, a means of exploiting their credibility and moral authority to bolster hers, both of which are non-existent. No journalist should be sharing a platform with Agnès when she stands accused of being complicit in the death of French journalist Gilles Jacquier by his widow and a colleague who accompanied him into Homs during the trip arranged by Mother Agnès in January 2012.
Given that her UK speaking tour is still scheduled to last from the 21st to 30th November we, the undersigned, feel compelled to express our profound and principled objections to those who give a platform to a woman condemned by Syrian pro-peace Christians for greasing the skids of the regime’s war machine.
Signatories:
Prof. Gilbert Achcar, SOAS
Assaad al-Achi, Local Coordination Committees in Syria
Rime Allaf, Syrian writer
Omar al-Assil, Syrian Non-Violence Movement
Hussam Ayloush, Chairman, Syrian American Council
Noor Barotchi, Bradford Syria Solidarity
Mark Boothroyd, International Socialist Network
Kat Burdon-Manley, International Socialist Network
Clara Connolly, Human Rights lawyer
Paul Conroy, photojournalist
Donnacha DeLong, National Union of Journalists
Hannah Elsisi, Egyptian Revolutionary Socialist
Raed Fares, Head of Kafranabel Media Centre
Naomi Foyle, writer and co-ordinator of British Writers in Support of Palestine
Razan Ghazzawi, Syrian blogger and activist
Christine Gilmore, Leeds Friends of Syria
Golan Haji, poet and translator
Marcus Halaby, staff writer, Workers Power
Sam Charles Hamad, activist
Nebal Istanbouly, Office Manager of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces (SOC) in the UK
Tehmina Kazi, human rights activist
Ghalia Kabbani, Syrian journalist and writer
Khaled Khalifa, Syrian writer
Malik Little, blogger
Amer Scott Masri, Scotland4Syria
Margaret McAdam, Unite Casa Branch NW567 (pc)
Yassir Munif, sociologist and activist
Tom Mycock, Unite shop steward (pc)
Maryam Namazie, Spokesperson, Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain and Fitnah – Movement for Women’s Liberation
Tim Nelson, Unison Shop Steward (pc)
Louis Proyect, Counterpunch contributor
Martin Ralph, VP Liverpool TUC (pc)
Ruth Riegler, co-founder of Radio Free Syria, Syrian International Media Alliance
Mary Rizzo, activist, translator and blogger
Christopher Roche and Dima Albadra, Bath Solidarity
Walid Saffour, Representative of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces (SOC) in the UK
Gita Sahgal, Centre for Secular Space
David St Vincent, contributing writer and editor, National Geographic Books
Reem Salahi, civil rights lawyer
Salim Salamah, Palestinian blogger
Yassin al-Haj Saleh, Syrian writer
Richard Seymour, author
Bina Shah, author and contributor to the International New York Times
Leila Shrooms, founding member of Tahrir-ICN
Luke Staunton, International Socialist Network
KD Tait, National Secretary, Workers Power
Peter Tatchell, human rights campaigner
Paris Thompson, International Socialist Network
Hassan Walid, Anas el-Khani and Abdulwahab Sayyed Omar, British Solidarity for Syria
Robin Yassin-Kassab, author and co-editor of Critical Muslim
Qusai Zakariya, activist from Moadamiyeh, Syria
Nisreen al-Zaraee and Wisam al-Hamoui. Freedom Days
Tasneem al-Zeer, activist
Razan Zeitouneh, human rights lawyer
Ziauddin Sardar, writer, journalist and editor of the Critical Muslim
Surprised to see such an attack on Mother Agnes-Mariam carried on here. Totally unbalanced. What this woman has to say is grounded in fact, the chemical attack was an MI6/CIA staged black operation to facilitate direct British and American entry into Syria. Also as Agnes- Mariam states the British and the Yankee's have been destabilising Syria ever since they achieved their objectives in Libya - the tearing apart of that state and its society. Never underestimate the role of these two countries in causing the situation that exists in Syria today
ReplyDeleteAnthony the conflict in Syria has degenerated even further since the failed attempt at direct intervention. The scheme has changed from overthrowing Assad, which is no longer considered likely, to disposing of this terrorist trash they brought into Syria - the dregs of over 100 countries or regions from as far away as Chechnya. The last thing they want is such militarised thugs landing home to their original societies to wreak havoc. And so they have been rounded up by their MI6, CIA and Mossad handlers to be killed off in the hills and villages round Qualamon on the Lebanese border. British and US Military Intelligence has been in the area for months setting this up, with the Mossad playing its part also of course. You think I'm crazy? Watch as it unfolds.
ReplyDeleteAgnes-Mariam has regularly travelled into the bowels of the conflict, often into terrorist-held territories, to negotiate safe passage and protection for fleeing civilians - no mean feat considering twelve nuns were abducted and presumably murdered, as is their usual way, by the US-UK backed Al Qaeda affiliated in the ancient Christian village of Ma'aloula just yesterday. Every day she spends in the war zone away from the safety of her convent she puts her life at serious risk, I think she deserves credit rather than the scorn poured on her by both the articles hosted. This reminds me of how anything good here is attacked by political Unionism as unduly sympathetic when it gets in the way of their narrative.
"I have no political statement to declare, I am not a politician; I am a mediator for Reconciliation. I cannot take any side. I am not a politician, I am a cleric. I work for humanitarian needs and stand with the civilians. I am with the Syrian people. “It is so difficult to be in the middle. You are accused by all parties.” I denounce al kinds of genocide and killing from any party. I cannot accept the killing of any human being. Killing should stop and foreign fighters should leave Syria back to their country and supply of weapons should stop. The Media mainly outside of Syria is against me. They accuse me of many things that I did not do or say. They pick some words from here and there and fabricate things. They put my humanitarian work in danger because the fighters read these words and become angry for things I did not say and positions I did not take"- Mother Agnes
Sean,
ReplyDeletewhat is surprising about this site carrying articles that others don't like or find unbalanced? Most unionists and Sinn Fein people probably find the whole lot unbalanced, not to mention religious types.
We don't look for balance. We look for opinion. And as always you have a right to respond and be as balanced or unbalanced as you like in your reply.
I see Paul Conroy's name on that list - down as a 'photojournalist'
ReplyDelete