Protesting an Assad apologist

Mother Superior Agnès Mariam de la Croix NEWS RECENTLY broke that Stop the War Coalition (StWC) invited Mother Superior Agnès Mariam de la Croix to speak at its November 30 International Anti-War Conference. Fellow guests included MPs Diane Abbott and Jeremy Corbyn, and journalists Owen Jones and Jeremy Scahill. Responding to a firestorm of protest, Jones and Scahill vowed to boycott the event if the Syrian-based nun spoke alongside them. Eventually she decided to "withdraw" from the conference, and StWC issued a statement without explanation. Nor did it divulge why anyone would object to a Syrian cleric's participation in an ostensibly pro-peace event. Here are some reasons why we consider Mother Agnès-Mariam's inclusion in an antiwar event to be a "red line" for opponents of conflict. Despite contrary claims, she is a partisan to--rather than a neutral observer of--the war in Syria. Mother Agnès claimed that the Syrian opposition faked films of Bashar al-Assad's August 21, 2013, sarin gas attack on Ghouta in the suburbs of Damascus. In her 50-page dossier on the horrible events of that fateful morning, she wrote that the dead, gassed children documented in those videos "seem mostly sleeping" and "under anaesthesia." According to Father Paolo Dall'Oglio, a Jesuit priest exiled by the Assad regime for speaking out against its suppression of peaceful protests and currently a prisoner of al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, ISIS, Mother Agnes "has been consistent in assuming and spreading the lies of the regime, and promoting it through the power of her religious persona. She knows how to cover up the brutality of the regime." Moreover, Syrian Christians for Peace have denounced Mother Agnès for claiming there had never been a single peaceful demonstration in Syria. They also accused her of failing to disburse any of the money she raised in the name of their beleaguered community. They have asked "that she be excommunicated and prevented from speaking in the name of the Order of Carmelites." Having a massacre denier and apologist for war criminals like Mother Agnès speak alongside respected journalists such as Jeremy Scahill and Owen Jones is not only an insult to them and their principles. It is also, more insidiously, a means of exploiting their credibility and moral authority to bolster hers, both of which are nonexistent. No journalist should be sharing a platform with Agnès when she stands accused of being complicit in the death of French journalist Gilles Jacquier by his widow and a colleague who accompanied him into Homs during the trip arranged by Mother Agnès in January 2012. Given that her UK speaking tour is still scheduled to last from the November 21-30, we feel compelled to express our profound and principled objections to those who give a platform to a woman condemned by Syrian pro-peace Christians for greasing the skids of the regime's war machine. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Signatories Prof. Gilbert Achcar, SOAS Assaad al-Achi, Local Coordination Committees in Syria Rime Allaf, Syrian writer Abdulaziz Almachi, Media Committee of the Syrian Community in the UK Omar al-Assil, Syrian Non-Violence Movement Hussam Ayloush, Chairman, Syrian American Council Noor Barotchi, Bradford Syria Solidarity James Bloodworth, journalist Mark Boothroyd, International Socialist Network Kat Burdon-Manley, International Socialist Network Clara Connolly, human rights lawyer Paul Conroy, photojournalist Donnacha DeLong, National Union of Journalists Hannah Elsisi, Egyptian revolutionary socialist Raed Fares, Head of Kafranabel Media Centre Naomi Foyle, writer and coordinator of British Writers in Support of Palestine Razan Ghazzawi, Syrian blogger and activist Christine Gilmore, Leeds Friends of Syria Cort Greene Golan Haji, poet and translator Marcus Halaby, staff writer, Workers Power Sam Charles Hamad, activist Nebal Istanbouly, Office Manager of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces (SOC) in the UK Tehmina Kazi, human rights activist Ghalia Kabbani, Syrian journalist and writer Michael Karadjis, teacher, University of Western Sydney, writer and blogger Khaled Khalifa, Syrian writer Alia Al Khattab, Syrian activist and volunteer at Hand in Hand for Syria Danielle Laurent, human rights activist Mark A. Lause, Professor, Department of History, University of Cincinnati Malik Little, blogger Alan Maass, editor, SocialistWorker.org Amer Scott Masri, Scotland4Syria Margaret McAdam, Unite Casa Branch NW567 (pc) Middle East North Africa Solidarity Network-U.S. Yassir Munif, sociologist and activist Tom Mycock, shop steward, Unite EM/LE23 branch (pc) Mariam Namazie, spokesperson, Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain and Fitnah - Movement for Women's Liberation Tim Nelson, Unison Shop Steward (pc) Andrew Pollack, Middle East North Africa Solidarity Network-U.S. Louis Proyect, Counterpunch contributor Martin Ralph, VP Liverpool TUC (pc) Matthew Richardson, League for the Revolutionary Party Ruth Riegler, co-founder of Radio Free Syria, Syrian International Media Alliance Mary Rizzo, activist, translator and blogger Christopher Roche and Dima Albadra, Bath Solidarity Eric Ruder, antiwar activist and contributor to SocialistWorker.org Walid Saffour, Representative of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces (SOC) in the UK Gita Sahgal, Centre for Secular Space David St. Vincent, contributing writer and editor, National Geographic Books Reem Salahi, civil rights lawyer Salim Salamah, Palestinian blogger Yassin al-Haj Saleh, Syrian writer Ziauddin Sardar, writer, journalist, editor of the Critical Muslim Richard Seymour, author Bina Shah, author and contributor to the International New York Times Stephen R. Shalom, New Politics Leila Shrooms, founding member of Tahrir-ICN Luke Staunton, International Socialist Network K.D. Tait, National Secretary, Workers Power Peter Tatchell, human rights campaigner Paris Thompson, International Socialist Network Hassan Walid, Anas el-Khani and Abdulwahab Sayyed Omar, British Solidarity for Syria Sherry Wolf, Middle East North Africa Solidarity Network-U.S. Robin Yassin-Kassab, author and co-editor of Critical Muslim Qusai Zakariya, activist from Moadamiyeh, Syria Nisreen al-Zaraee and Wisam al-Hamoui, Freedom Days Tasneem al-Zeer, activist Razan Zeitouneh, human rights lawyer source: http://socialistworker.org/2013/11/25/protesting-an-assad-apologist