I don’t mind admitting it when I am wrong–even when I write something facetiously. You will recall that I wrote that Syrian protesters have been accusing Assad of being in league with Israel in that he is using his soldiers against them instead of using them against Israel in the Golan. I then wrote humorously that the next announcement in Syria would be that the Assad government would accuse Mossad of fomenting the rampant unrest in southern Syria.
Well guess what? In an interview yesterday, Bouthaina Shaaban, the political and information adviser to President Bashar Assad, blamed Palestinians for the turmoil in the Syrian port city of Latakai (alternately spelled ‘Latakia’–remember where the Iranian ships docked and offloaded the weapons for Gaza). She specifically accused Palestinians from the Al-Ramel refugee camp of attacking stores in Latakia in an effort to ignite a civil war. Interestingly, she went on to say that Lebanese elements in Homs (should we read Hezbollah?) have been inciting Syrians to protest.
I was right about one thing though–there will be no U.S. intervention in Syria. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told an interviewer yesterday that the U.S. was not going to send military forces into Syria, noting that while “we deplore the violence in Syria . . . the situation can not be equated to that of Libya.” You can say that again. Syria doesn’t have anything that the United States or the West wants or needs.
A student from Malawi, who had worked with an Israeli health volunteer in his country battling AIDS, came up to us as we walked down the street in the UC-Davis Picnic Day Parade and wanted to carry the Israeli flag.