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Annapolis Dividend
New York Sun, USA, December 12, 2007
Editorial
No sooner had a
Syrian diplomat returned to Damascus from the Arab-Israeli
"peace conference" at Annapolis than Bashar Assad's regime
launched a new crackdown on internal dissent. A press
release from Freedom House said more than 20 pro-democracy
activists had been arrested in eight Syrian cities. It named
Kamel Abbas, Fawaz Achaxis, Jabr Al-Shoufi, Ghalib Amer,
Osama Ashour, Ismael Hamod, Fawaz Hmadi, Ali Ibrahim
Jahmani, Khalaf Jarbou, Gazi Kadour, Muhammed Masalima,
Radeef Mustafa, Muaffak Nairabia, Samir Nashar, Ismael
Omarm, Biar Rustum, Nasr Said, Yousef Siyasneh, Abdulkahar
Suoud, Najati Tayra, Fawaz Tillo, Ahmed Tuma, and Yousif
Uwid as among the arrested activists.
The American
State Department, to its credit, has issued a forthright
condemnation of the arrests, telling our Eli Lake, "It is
unacceptable that the Syrian government continues with this
pattern of repressing civil society," a spokesman for the
department, David Foley said. "We have consistently called
for an end to this oppression and release of all political
prisoners. The Syrian government must improve its human
rights record and allow for basic freedoms of its citizens."
State
Department officials downplayed any connection between the
invitation to Annapolis and the new crackdown. But it's easy
to imagine how the American embrace would have emboldened
Mr. Assad to consolidate power. If Israel wants to surrender
the Golan Heights for a peace with Syria that is its
business, though we doubt the majority of Israelis would
agree with such a step. At least Israel is a democracy,
which is more than one can say for Syria. If the price of
"peace" is that supporters of freedom in Syria must rot in
Baathist prisons, count us as against it. The real peace we
hope for will come only when Syrians have the right to
publicly criticize their government and vote to change it
the same way that Americans and Israelis do. |
