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Anaheim, home to a large middle eastern community known as Little Arabia, last week introduced a resolution on the crisis of the Syrian refugees. We present here the evaluation of the crisis by Amnesty International, a testimony from inside Syria and the view of a Syrian-American activist.
“We are witnessing the worst refugee crisis of our era, with millions of women, men and children struggling to survive amidst brutal wars, networks of people traffickers and governments who pursue selfish political interests instead of showing basic human compassion,” said Salil Shetty, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.
“Enough death and siege. Enough blood and misery” Testimony by Doctors Without Frontiers.
A medical practitioner that MSF supports in one of the besieged areas in the East Ghouta area near Damascus explains the horror of August’s bombings. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has supported him over the past two years to adapt to the situation. He is now director of a makeshift hospital, human resources manager for the hospital, surgeon and senior doctor. For his security, he has requested to remain anonymous.
Where the world failed, a sandstorm has temporarily halted the violence
“Everyone should know the humanitarian situation in the East Ghouta besieged areas now. In my community, we’ve been under siege for two years. Prices are increasing. Virtually no goods or medicine are coming in. Health services are deteriorating. In this past month of August we’ve been seeing an increase of violence. Increased terrifying air strikes, massacres after massacres. Every three days it feels like a massacre has happened. We’ve only had a moment’s respite thanks to a recent sandstorm. Imagine, the world hasn’t stopped the violence here, but a sand storm did…”
“What’s been happening is a lot of air strikes, and a lot of ‘double-tapping’, where there is a strike, a moment’s pause, and then another strike in the same place. This has killed our ambulance drivers, people trying to save the injured, and has killed those who were injured in the first strike…
If you’re not injured or dead, you’re one of the lucky ones
“There is much fear and depression in our community. You see it everywhere. Whenever there is a shelling or the sound of a plane, everyone desperately rushes home or to a shelter. The sound of a plane in the sky is terrifying. It is hard to explain how the situation is on the ground. You have to see it with your own eyes to understand, and even then it is unbelievable. We have seen huge numbers of injured over the past month; in these circumstances anyone who isn’t injured or dead can count themselves lucky…”
Enough death and siege – enough
Everyone should know what is happening here. Enough death and siege. Enough blood and misery in East Ghouta and the rest of Syria. Too many people are dying every day, and it seems the world is becoming immune to our suffering. Enough.
Organizations are requesting that the US increases the number of refugees :
“With the refugee crisis in Europe worsening dramatically, the Obama administration announced on Thursday that it would accept at least 10,000 Syrian refugees in the next year. That’s a significant step: Over the past four years, as millions of Syrians have been displaced by a brutal civil war, the United States has admitted only about 1,500 Syrian refugees. But humanitarian advocates say President Barack Obama’s move doesn’t go nearly far enough.
The US offer “is cold comfort to the victims of the Syrian conflict,” said International Rescue Committee president David Miliband in a press release Friday. “With 4 million living in limbo and tens of thousands making desperate choices to reach safety, the US has a moral responsibility to lead and is fully equipped to respond in a far more robust way.” Part of the solution, experts argue, is for the United States to help organize a program to send refugees to developed countries around the world. After all, they point out, we’ve done it before.
“This is not science fiction,” said Francois Crepeau, the United Nations’s special rapporteur for the human rights of migrants. “We resettled almost 2 million Indochinese 40 years ago. We can do it again.”
Last week the City of Anaheim presented this resolution:
According to this Syrian-American activist : “It’s impossible to not see that linkage between what many would see as the war crimes of the Bush era, and the unraveling of Iraq, and what is happening today in Syria. The direct link is ISIS, even in the name. [ISIS is the acronym for Islamic State of Iraq and Syria].”
This is your Weekend Open Thread. Talk about that, or whatever else you’d like, within reasonable bounds of discretion and decorum.
*The Europeans only need to vet the Sunni’s(terrorists) from the Shia. Only the Sunni’s are going to bomb your local grocery store or bakery. The Germans have been great at separating the bad guys from the good guys. Back in the 1960’s when the Red Army Faction was kicking it up……many supporters were coming in from Italy along with all the other Italianisch Gastarbiters. The Germans were able to pick the fly poop out of the pepper and find every one of them. The same today will be true and why they suddenly started closing the borders. The Sunni terror cells, financially supported by the Saudi Cabal…which includes Qator, Oman, Abu Dabi, Libya, Eqypt and Somalia…….were infiltrating the mass immigration process. You may have seen some of the bearded young guys throwing water and food back at various check points .These are the bad guys….all Sunni’s or paid off Shia by the Saudi’s!
The Anaheim resolution, according to the link below, was requested by Brandman and Murray. It is interesting that both have been concerned on issues that have an urgency on humanitarian terms: first the homelessness, and now, the refugees. There is a disconnect between what they’ve done in terms of the far-reaching issues of the city, and these humanitarian issues.
Regarding resettlement, if it was possible for the Vietnamese, a similar program could help the Syrian refugees.
http://local.anaheim.net/docs_agend/questys_pub/6575/6605/6606/6900/6903/Staff%20Report%20Syrian%20Refugees6903.pdf
If they do for the refugee issue what they did for the homelessness issue, it would involve knocking down all of Little Arabia and relocating it to Anna Drive, then taking credit for creating a new Little Arabia.
What they did for the homelessness issue is still up for judgment. The lack of transparency with what happened with the Karcher site puts Brandman on the very negative spotlight of being responsible for dismissing the much better location for a shelter. Murray on the other hand has been the leader of the shelter. It has been politically a safe risk for her, as the city seems to have no say in the outcome. Whether the shelter will work as planned or not, 200 homeless persons will benefit.
Taking on these two humanitarian challenges, although controversial, is a safe stance for them once again, as the fundamental issue for the future of the city has already been settled: Disney is reaping the benefits of their votes for years to come.
A motion of Jordan’s. As he runs for Congress, tries to get Little Arabia votes, and tries to convince other Democrats that he’s indeed a caring liberal guy.
The kind of national issue that’s pointless and divisive for a city council to have to debate and vote on.
Reminds me of when Mayor Bao brought up a resolution to support Obama’s executive order to not deport Dream Kids, on the same meeting that we were (for the second time) debating Poseidon, an actual local issue.
Just realized – he must have already known he was gonna be running for Congress at that time.
We have plenty of local divisive issues, and a national one may or may be not pointless depending on the relevancy and urgency of the problem, and on the interest of the residents. Whether the city resolutions have a practical impact or not, like many cities resolutions requesting to overturn Citizens United, would be a case by case situation. The Sanctuary cities had a practical impact.
It wouldn’t be a bad idea for Garden Grove to have a resolution on the Syrian refugees.
Has anyone tasted Syrian food? Apparently food with flavor is the major reason the Germans are accepting so many refugees, what with the potatoes and the sausage, so boring. The OC has a higher standard, maybe the Syrians should be resettled in a food desert. Wisconsin?