We leave Syria and indeed the Arab world, with wonderful memories. Syria has been a great experience. It is a wonderfully unaffected country. People have been unfailingly kind and helpful, in ways that I do not think we would be in Scotland or the UK. The children have received numerous small gifts from complete strangers, and even though we speak very little Arabic, shopkeepers, waiters, almost everyone we have met has bent over backwards to make us welcome and to ensure our stay has been the happiest we could want. One simple example was in a kebab shop in Aleppo. The owner spoke no English, but he invited the children behind the counter, showed them how to prepare kebab, and then asked them what they wanted on their own kebabs to ensure that each of them had exactly what they wanted. And he refused to accept a tip.
The single biggest state supporter of terrorism in the region is not Syria or Lebanon, it is Israel. Israel's continued denial of the basic right of self determination to the Palestinians, and its ongoing illegal occupation and settlement of the West Bank, fully supported, armed and funded by the US, and in contravention of international law and UN resolutions, is the ongoing source of the problems in the region. Until this is addressed, there will be no peace.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment