An open letter to Alan
Duncan, Stella Creasy, Mark Oaten, Fraser Nelson and Victoria Coren,
regarding last night's (31st May 2012) Question Time on
BBC Television.
At 24 minutes into the
programme, a Mr Simon MacCausland asked “Would the UK be justified
in banning Syrian delegation members with connections to the Assad
regime, from the London 2012 Olympics?”
The uprising in Syria has
been on going for over a year and during that time, there have been
numerous atrocities carried out across the country but, regardless of
who carried out this latest atrocity in Houla, be it “armed gangs”
as claimed by the Assad regime, or Assad's forces and militia as
claimed by the opposition, this event in itself should be recognised
as a crime against humanity and those responsible should be held to
account. The debate and comments during the next 11 minutes was
predominately centred on the barbarity of the Assad regime and what,
if anything, could be done by the international community to change
the situation. It is clear to me that the problems in Syria are
intensely complex and achieving a solution will be difficult if not
impossible, given the current attitude of at least two of the UN
security council members.
The debate among the panel
touched on many options ranging from military intervention to more
sanctions with Fraser Nelson at on stage saying that “We tend to
shape the world rather than be shaped by it. We are the country that
helps people who are being oppressed on the other side of the world.”
It was at this point that
I became acutely aware of a glaring omission in the exchanges. The
killing of civilians, particularly children in systematic attacks by
government forces is an odious and unforgivable event. It is no more
or less odious in Syria as it is in Gaza or Hebron or any of the
other of the towns and villages of the occupied territories and the
West Bank. To debate for over 10 minutes, the atrocity of Houla,
without one single mention of the daily atrocities in Palestine, is
by any standards insensitive. It seems to be yet another example of
the media generally and sadly many people, ignoring a situation which
has been deteriorating rapidly over recent years because presumably,
it does not “fit in” with the accepted perceptions, or
Palestinians do not really matter, or Israel is involved so we had
better remain silent.
This seems to be the
general level of today's debate where the subject of Palestine is
concerned.
Ladies and gentlemen of
the panel, it was an interesting exchange and I would have preferred
to be in the audience to make these points. However, should you be in
similar circumstances in the future, please bear in mind that there
are places other than Syria where civilians are being terrorised.
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