Verzweifelter Versuch, unbequeme Position der "syrischen Opposition" vor Genf 2 Konferenz am 22. Januar 2014 zu verbessern

Israelisch-Saudisches Misslingen, um die Ghuta-Blockade zu durchbrechen

von Pierre Khalaf

VOLTAIRE NETZWERK | BEIRUT (LIBANON) | 2. DEZEMBER 2013 

Der letzte verzweifelte Versuch die Blockade zu durchbrechen, die seit sieben Monaten durch die syrische arabische Armee der östlichen Ghuta, östlich von Damaskus, aufgezwungen wird, ist eine von A bis Z durch Saudis, US-Amerikaner und Israelis ausgeheckte Operation.

Die Offensive startete am Freitag den 22. November. Tausende von syrischen und ausländischen Söldnern kamen größtenteils aus Jordanien. Ihr Ziel war die strategische Stadt Oteiba wieder einzunehmen, die sich 30 km südöstlich von der Hauptstadt befindet, wo das bewaffnete Rebellen Hauptquartier der Provinz von Damaskus untergebracht war.

Nach verschiedenen Informations-Quellen wurde der offensive Plan durch einen in Jordanien installierten gemeinsamen Saudisch-israelisch-amerikanischen Operationsraum vorbereitet, wo die Söldner von CIA-Lehrern ausgebildet und mit saudischen Petrodollar finanziert wurden. Die Kolonne ist dann auf einsamen Straßen dank Satelliten-Fotos in Syrien eingedrungen. Als sie sich der östlichen Ghuta näherte, haben die Israelis eine große Störungs-Operation der Telekommunikation der syrischen arabischen Armee Truppen gestartet, die die Region verteidigen. Armee-Einheiten fanden sich so von ihrem Befehl abgeschnitten und die Kontakte zwischen ihnen waren auch sehr gestört. Da haben die Söldner ihren Angriff gestartet, während gleichzeitig die innerhalb der Ghuta eingeschlossenen Rebellen, einen Ausbruch versuchten.

Alles in allem stürzten einige 5000 Mann auf die Positionen der syrischen arabischen Armee, um zu versuchen, die Blockade der östlichen Ghuta zu brechen. Trotz ihrer Zahl, der von Saudi-arabischen Betreibern bereitgestellten schweren Waffen und der logistischen Unterstützung durch die Israelis konnten die Rebellen nur wenige Positionen und Kontrollpunkte der Armee in fünf oder sechs Dörfern einnehmen, auf Kosten von über 300 Toten, von denen fast ein Drittel nicht syrische Staatsangehörige waren.

Nachdem sie die Frontlinie stabilisiert hatte, startete die syrische reguläre Armee und die Armee der nationalen Verteidigung einen Gegenangriff, um wieder verlorenen Boden zurückzugewinnen und zu verhindern, dass die Söldner ihre Positionen in den Regionen konsolidieren, wo sie eingedrungen sind. Trotz zwei weiteren Offensiven Anfang dieser Woche konnten die Rebellen ihre Situation nicht verbessern.

Experten aller Seiten bestätigen das Scheitern dieser ’Israel-Saudischen-Offensive", deren militärisches Ziel war die Stadt Oteiba wieder einzunehmen. Auf politischer Ebene ist dieser Angriff ein verzweifelter Versuch der Saudis, um die unbequeme Position ihrer Agenten und Mitarbeiter zu verbessern, die die so genannte syrische Opposition an der Genf 2 Konferenz, am 22. Januar 2014 vertreten werden.

Laut gut informierten Quellen haben die Vereinigten Staaten den Saudis eine Frist von zwei Monaten gewährt, damit sie noch einmal versuchten, das Gleichgewicht der Kräfte vor Ort zu ändern. Hysterisch, die Saudis verbergen nicht mehr ihre direkte Teilnahme am Krieg gegen Syrien. Verlässliche Quellen behaupten, dass die extremistischen Saudi-Kämpfer in den Reihen der Rebellen sich auf mehrere Tausend beliefen. Viele sind Al-Qaida-Kämpfer, die in Saudi-Arabien inhaftiert waren, und die unter der Bedingung befreit wurden, dass sie dann in Syrien kämpfen würden, um "das islamische Kalifat zu errichten“. Diese gleichen Quellen schätzen die Anzahl der getöteten Saudis in den Reihen der Rebellen auf 300, während Dutzende andere von der syrischen arabischen Armee gefangen genommen wurden.

Viele Saudis wurden auch diese letzten zwei Wochen in der Qalamun-Region getötet, an der Grenze zum Libanon, wo die syrische arabische Armee die Städte Qara und Deir Attiya eingenommen hat, sowie einen großen Teil der Stadt Nabak. Unter den saudischen Toten war auch der sogenannte Mutlak al-Mutlak, Sohn eines Offiziers der saudischen königlichen Wache.

Pierre Khalaf

Pierre Khalaf

Forscher im Zentrum für Strategische Arabische und Internationale Studien in Beyrouth.

Übersetzung
Horst Frohlich

Quelle
New Orient News

Fritz Edlinger's Speech at Non-Governmental Movement at the UN-Palestine-Solidarity-Meeting, Vienna Dec. 29th 2013

Speech of Mr. Fritz Edlinger, Secretary General of the Society for Austro-Arab Relations as representative of the Non-Governmental Movement at the UN-Palestine-Solidarity-Meeting, Vienna Dec. 29th 2013

Mr. Chairman, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to start with a personal remark: I was indeed very honored and pleased to receive the invitation some time ago to address this important and distinguished meeting again, despite the fact that is my fourth time within the last 10 years and - as somebody who is directly involved in the Middle East in general and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in particular since almost 40 years – I was uncertain what to say.

After so many years, after so many negotiations and so called „peace processes“, I really have the feeling, that everything has been already said. I was and still am hesitant to keep repeating those same phrases, those same accusations over and over again. Indeed the basic problem of the Israeli- Palestinian conflict is not the lack of reasonable and acceptable suggestions for a peaceful, fair and viable solution; the basic problem is that one party - namely Israel - lacks the proper will of implementation.

For 65 years Israel has been aggressively working on the implementation of the Zionist Dream of „Eretz Israel“, regardless of international law and human rights. Although the legal situation is clear, the international community of states, which created the State of Israel by adopting resolution nr. 181, is in fact helpless vis-à-vis this brutal policy of expulsion and dispossession against another nation, the Palestinian.

This unique situation in modern history was and still is possible due to the absolute and unconditional political, military and financial support by the United States of America but also due to the ambivalent and undetermined position of other major players, among them – sorry to say so - Europe.

These are the basic facts and – unfortunately – for many years, for many decades, I haven’t seen any changes to the better.

These were the reasons for my reluctance to address this meeting again.

Nevertheless, in the end I took the decision to come and address you, mainly because of one reason: to take up a clear position and to speak out the truth.

Many things have been already said today, many facts have been mentioned, which I totally agree with. I don’t want to repeat the misery of the Palestinian People living under Israeli control in the Westbank, Gaza and Jerusalem, while being confronted every day with acts of oppression, expropriation and even continuous expulsion by the Israeli occupation forces. Although almost all Palestinians living in Palestine are victims of Israeli violations in equal measure, I would like to mention one special case, which does not only concern Palestinians but all Moslems, even Christians, in the whole world. I mean the situation in Jerusalem/Al Quds. Israel occupied the Eastern part of the city in 1967 and made it – in flagrant violation of international law – the so called United Capital of Israel in 1980. Since 1967 Israel is trying to reduce the number of Palestinian inhabitants by all means. One very brutal and cynical method is the cancellation of the resident-permits, very often for members of families living in Al Quds since centuries. The total number of Palestinians expelled from their homes by seeing their residence-permits cancelled amount to more than 14.000 since 1967, most of them Moslems but also some Christians.

I came back from a visit to Jerusalem a few days ago and I can say that the pressure on Palestinians in Al Quds is extremely strong and Israelis are doing everything in their power in order to make life for Palestinians as complicated and dangerous as possible. Although the legal situation is crystal- clear, many observers and experts, even some Palestinians, tend to believe that the battle on Jerusalem/Al Quds is lost already.

The situation of the people living in Gaza is even more alarming; they are completely isolated and locked-in. It is indeed not exaggerated to call Gaza a prison for its almost 2 million inhabitants. A few days ago I met the UNRWA-field-director for Gaza and he told me, that the UNRWA was forced to stop almost all construction projects due to severe cut of imports from Israel. Moreover, Gaza is seriously affected by the events in Egypt, after the destruction of many tunnels, providing Gaza with all kind of essential materials. I am sure, that all of you are aware of the dramatic energy crisis, which stopped the operation of most of the water and sewerage facilities. It is really shocking and absolutely not acceptable to see toddlers and small children walking through main streets in Gaza, flooded by sewerage. While the Israeli „games“ are very well known to people in Gaza; now, since a couple of months, they are also affected negatively by the internal conflicts in Egypt. This is – at least for people like me – hard to understand and I would like to call upon the Egyptian authorities to reopen the borders to Gaza again. It's neither fair nor correct to let the whole population in Gaza, most of them have been refugees for decades, pay the price for political differences and conflicts.

There is indeed the risk that Palestinians will find themselves among the main victims of the Arab Spring and its aftermath. The events in Palestinian refugee camps in Syria, even in Lebanon, are annoying and alarming. Many people have been killed and injured and I really see the danger that in the end the Palestinian people will find themselves caught between two (or even more) stools. I am not naive and I know about the complicated and controversial political situation in the Middle East, but it is absolutely inacceptable, that conflicts between „brothers“ are carried out at the expense of Palestinian refugees fighting for survival.

Furthermore I see the risk, that the struggle of the Palestinian People for self-determination and independence is losing ground and support and that Palestinians might become one of the main victims of the internal developments of the „Arab Nation“. As somebody, who is representing a worldwide network of civil society organizations doing their utmost to support the Palestinians, I appeal to the Islamic world in general and to the Arabs in particular to close ranks and – together with the many peaceloving nations in the world - to strengthen their support for the Palestinian People in their just struggle against Israeli dispossession and occupation.

Thank you!