By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, March
22 -- While
Qatar
sponsored an event at
the UN in New
York on March
21 featuring
the Syrian Coalition
headed by Ahmad
al Jarba, a
group calling
its the Syrian
Grassroots
Movement held
protests
seeking to
oust Jarba.
By March 22,
the group
stated that
some 40,000
people in 58
cities inside
Syria had
participated
in demonstrations
to get Jarba
out of his
post, saying
"it is time to
put an end to
political
corruption."
Back in
September
2013, France
sponsored an
event in the
UN and called
Jarba the sole
legitimate
representative
of the Syrian
people. French
Ambassador
Gerard Araud
was the first
questioning at
Qatar's March
21 Syrian Coalition
event. What is
France's
position now?
Who chooses
the leaders?
Likewise, back in
July 2013
and earlier
this month,
the Jarba-led
Syrian Coalition
held faux
"UN" events in
the clubhouse
Ban Ki-moon's
Secretariat
gives to the
largely Gulf
and Western UN
Correspondents
Association.
How does that
now appear, in
light of the
anti-Jarba
protests?
Qatar's March
21 event was
not listed in
the UN Journal
nor in the UN
Media Alert.
It was not on
the UN's
publicly
available webcast.
Select media
outlets were
there, when
Inner City
Press came in
at the end to
ask a
question: Al
Jazeera on the
podium in Qatar's
event, Al Arabiya
like a Saudi
diplomat --
not the
Permanent
Representative
-- in the
audience along
with Al Hayat,
even Al Hurra,
on whose
Broadcasting
Board of Governors
US Secretary
of State John
Kerry serves.
The new Free
UN Coalition
for Access
is against
faux UN
events, in the
clubhouse the
Secretariat
gives to
what's become
its UN
Censorship
Alliance or
elsewhere.
On
March 21 Inner
City Press put
these
questions,
also on behalf
of the Free
UN Coalition
for Access,
to the UN's
top two
spokespeople:
"there
is an event in
Conference
Room 4 right
now, sponsored
by Qatar,
which is no
listed in
today's UN
Journal, nor
is it on UN
Webcast
http://webtv.un.org/
but it appears
to be being
filmed. Please
explain the
legal status
of this
meeting, if
there are any
sponsored
beyond Qatar,
how it was
publicized and
if any request
to have it
webcast was
made. Thanks,
on deadline."
But no
answer was
provided.
Inner City
Press ran to
the event and
from the back
of a three
quarters empty
Conference
Room 4 asked
why the event
was so
stealth: not
in the UN
Journal, not
webcast.
The
Permanent
Representative
of Qatar
answered,
saying it was
a "special
event" to
which Qatar
had invited
(some) member
states and
groups, and
(some) media.
There is a UN
Media Alert,
but this event
was not put in
it.
Perhaps
it
was publicized
by the Gulf
& Western
United Nations
Correspondents
Association,
which has twice
hosted faux
"UN" events
by the Syrian
National
Coalition or
Syrian
Coalition. (In
both cases,
the Free
UN Coalition
for Access
suggested
that the SNC
hold its
events in the
UN briefing
room,
accessible to
all
journalists.)
Since
French
Ambassador
Gerard Araud,
the first
questioner
flanked by
representatives
of Saudi
Arabia and of
Turkey which
earlier in the
day banned
Twitter, has
spoken about
"fakes" and
others about
accountability,
Inner City
Press asked if
the groups Al
Nusra and
ISIS, and
those who fund
them such as
private
individuals in
Qatar alluded
to at the US
State
Department
briefing
earlier in the
day, could or
would be held
accountable.
The
SNC
representative
emphasized
what he called
links between
the Assad
regime and
ISIS, saying
it was too
easy to blame
the Gulf
countries.
Here's
from the March
21 US State
Department
briefing
transcript:
Question:
you
have concerns
about the
withdrawal of
the
ambassadors.
Do you also
have concerns
about the
reasons that
these
countries said
that they
withdrew their
ambassadors
from Qatar? In
other words,
do you – if
you have
concerns about
the withdrawal
of the
ambassadors,
do you also
have concerns
about Qatar’s
behavior,
which –
alleged
behavior,
let’s say –
which led to
these
countries
withdrawing
their
ambassadors?
MS.
PSAKI: Well, I
know one of
the issues
that has been
mentioned is
the issue of
private
donations to
extremists –
and that’s
something that
some have
mentioned –
operating in
Syria and
elsewhere. It
remains an
important
priority in
our high-level
discussions,
and one that
we also
certainly
raise with all
states in the
region,
including
Qatar,
including the
Government of
Kuwait,
wherever we
have concerns.
After
Inner City
Press asked
about the
sponsorship of
the event, a
one-page
"Joint
Statement by
the
Co-Organizers"
was passed
out, listing
among the
co-organizers
France, the
UK, US,
Belgium, the
Netherlands,
Saudi Arabia
and Turkey.
Inner City
Press tweeted
it.
Even 24 hours
later, the
UN's top two
spokespeople
had not
answered the
simple
questions put
to them,
above. Watch
this site.
, 
