Syria
Calls Libyan a
Traitor,
Alleges Zintan
Camp, Of PKK
&
Censorship
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
June 25 --
Syria took
center stage
in the UN
Security
Council's
debate on
Protection of
Civilians on
Monday
afternoon.
Israel's
Permanent
Representative
Ron Prosor
kicked it off
denouncing
Syria's arming
of Hezbollah
in Lebanon.
Syria's
Bashar
Ja'afari ended
things after 6
pm by saying
that his
country's
crisis has
only been for
a year and a
half, but
Israel has
abused
Palestine much
longer.
A
reader chimed
in that even
"in that short
time, Assad
has
already
surpassed the
entire
Israel-Palestinian
casualty
count."
But neither
compares with
Sri Lanka,
which killed
40,000
civilians in
May 2009.
When
Turkey's
Permanent
Representative
Apakan came to
the Security
Council
to speak, Inner
City Press
gently asked
him about "the
jet."
He genially
declined to
speak about
it.
In
his speech,
Apakan urged
that UN not to
include in its
reports
"positive
references to
NGOs" which
are tools of
"terrorist
organizations."
Inner City
Press'
diagnosis of
"Kurds"
was sloppy,
corrected to
"PKK."
Morocco
spoke
at the end,
opposing a
reference in
the morning
linking
Western
Sahara to the
Arab Spring.
Armenia's
Permanent
Representative
spoke
next to last,
citing the
Obama - Putin
- Hollande
statement from
the
G-20 in Los
Cabos.
Surprisingly,
Azerbaijan did
not invoke its
right
of reply.
Venezuela
spoke of US
drones;
Philippines of
its workers
overseas,
which have led
it to abstain
from Syria
votes.
The
three way race
for two "WEOG"
seat on the
Security
Council
was in full
swing, with
Finland
speaking for
the Nordic
countries
(and about to
host a
conference on
mediation),
Australia
buzzing
around, and
Luxembourg
making the
point that the
pull out from
Syria
of the Arab
League mission
only made
things worse.
Syria's
Ja'afari
accused
Libya's
Ambassador
Dabbashi of
hating his own
country, which
he said is
hosting a camp
in Zintan,
funded by
Qatar
and Saudi
Arabia, to
overthrow
Assad.
Dabbashi
left
without
replying,
stopping to
reminisce with
Inner City
Press
about
prediction at
last year's US
Mission
Independence
Day barbeque,
most of which
came true.
Will this
year's?
Greece
and Jordan,
among others,
spoke about
the letting
journalists do
their jobs.
Ironically, a
number of
diplomats
stopped to ask
Inner
City Press,
alone at the
stakeout --
"you're still
here?" --
about the
campaign by
the UN
Correspondents
Association
Executive
Committee,
President and
Treasurer,
Margaret
Besheer of
Voice of
America, to
eject
Inner City
Press.
Even
as a
new article
came out,
more pressure
was brought to
bear on Inner
City Press
simply for
what it has
written. After
several other
parties, they
prepared to
celebrate.
We'll have
more on this.
, 
