U.S. HANDS OFF SYRIA
An Urgent Message for Peace on the Eve of Wider
War
We raise our voices against the violence of war and the enormous pressure
of war propaganda, lies and hidden agendas that are used to justify this war
and every past U.S. war.
We, the undersigned organizations and individuals, endorse the following Points
of Unity and will work together as an Ad
Hoc Coalition to help put an end to the regime change intervention by
the United States, NATO and their regional allies and the killing of innocent
people in Syria:
1. The continuation of
the war in Syria is the result of a U.S.-orchestrated intervention by the
United States, NATO, their regional allies and reactionary forces, the goal of
which is regime change in Syria.
2. This policy of
regime change in Syria is illegal and in clear violation of the United Nations Charter,
the letter and spirit of international law and the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights.
3. This policy of
forced regime change is threatening the security of the region and the world
and has increased the danger of direct confrontation between the United States
and Russia, with the potential of a nuclear catastrophe for the whole world.
4. War and U.S. and EU sanctions have destabilized every
sector of Syria’s economy, transforming a once self-sufficient country into an
aid-dependent nation. Half the Syrian population is now displaced. A UN ESCWA
report reveals these U.S. sanctions on Syria are crippling aid work during one
of the largest humanitarian emergency since World War II. The one third of
Syrians refugees in surrounding Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey have been hit hard
by U.S. cuts to UNICEF. This forces desperate refugees to struggle to reach
Europe.
5. No foreign entity,
be it a foreign government or an armed group, has the right to violate the
fundamental rights of the Syrian people to independence, national sovereignty
and self-determination. This includes the right of the Syrian government to
request and accept military assistance from other countries, as even the U.S.
government has admitted.
6. Only the people of
Syria have the inalienable right to choose their leaders and determine the
character of their government, free from foreign intervention. This right
cannot be properly exercised under the conditions of U.S.-orchestrated foreign
intervention against the Syrian people.
7. Our opposition is
to forced regime change in Syria by U.S.-backed foreign powers and their
mercenaries. It is not our business to support or oppose President Assad or the
Syrian government. Only the Syrian people have the right to decide the
legitimacy of their government.
8. The most urgent
issue at present is peace and putting
an end to the violence of foreign intervention that has resulted
in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people and the displacement of
millions of Syrians both internally or as refugees abroad.
Based on these Points of Unity, we, as individuals and organizations—in an Ad Hoc Coalition—agree on the following demands and commit
ourselves to working together to help achieve them:
1. An immediate end to
the U.S. policy of forced regime change in Syria and full recognition and
compliance by the U.S., NATO and their allies with principles of international
law and the U.N. Charter, including respect for the independence and
territorial integrity of Syria.
2. An immediate end to all foreign aggression against Syria,
and serious efforts toward a political resolution to the war.
3. An immediate end to
all military, financial, logistical and intelligence support by the U.S., NATO
and their regional allies to all foreign mercenaries and extremists in the
Middle East region.
4. An immediate end to
economic sanctions against Syria. Massive
international aid for displaced people within Syria and Syrian refugees abroad.
Only in a peaceful and independent Syria, free of foreign aggression, can
the people of Syria freely exercise their sovereign rights, express their free
will and make free choices about their government and their country’s
leadership.
We invite all supporters of peace and peoples’ right to self-determination
around the world to join hands of cooperation in this effort to achieve these most humanitarian demands.
We need jobs, healthcare, education and an end to racist police violence
here at home, not U.S. wars abroad!!
Organizational Signers (in alphabetical order):
- Alliance for Global Justice
- al-Awda, Palestine Right to Return Coalition
- Antiwar Committee — Tucson, Tampa, Utah, Minneapolis
- Arab Americans for Syria
- Arab Women Progressive League
- BAYAN – Philippine Coalition
- Coalition of Arab Canadian Professionals and Community Associations
- Dallas Left Alliance
- Ecumenical Peace Institute Clergy and Laity Concerned
- Hamilton Coalition to Stop the War (Hamilton, Ontario, Canada)
- International Action Center
- International League of Peoples Struggle – U.S.
- Michigan Emergency Committee Against War & Injustice
- Movement Against War & Occupation — Canada
- One State Assembly
- Peoples Organization for Progress
- Popular Committee in Defense of Syria
- Peoples Opposition to War, Imperialism & Racism — POWIR (Florida)
- Return Now Coalition
- Southern Human Rights Organizers’ Conference – SHROC
- Students for Democratic Society — SDS
- Syrian American Will Association – SAWA
- Syrian Social Club Community in the UK (Dr. Issa Chaer, co-founder)
- Syria Solidarity Movement
- The Expatriates Association of Syrians in Canada
- United National Antiwar Coalition — UNAC
- Upstate New York Drone Action
- U.S. Peace Council
- Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality
- Women Against Military Madness — WAMM
Individual Signers (in alphabetical order):
- Abayomi Azikiwe, Pan Africa News Wire
- Ramsey Clark, Former U.S. Attorney General & Human Rights Attorney
- Gerry Condon, National Board Vice President, Veterans For Peace*
- Margaret Flowers, MD, Green Party Candidate for Senate; Co-Director, It’s Our Economy*
- Bruce Gagnon, Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space*
- Abbas Hamideh, al-Awda Steering Committee*
- Jaribu Hill, Human Rights Defender
- Margaret Kimberly, Editor and Senior Columnist, Black Agenda Report
- John Kiriakou, former CIA counterterrorism officer and former senior investigator, Senate Foreign Relations Committee
- Ray Laforest, Haiti Support Network
- George Martin, Liberty Tree
- Ray McGovern, former CIA analyst and Presidential briefer
- Nick Mottern, Knowdrones.com
- Elizabeth Murray, Deputy National Intelligence Officer for the Near East, National Intelligence Council (ret.)
- Coleen Rowley, retired FBI agent and former Minneapolis Division Legal Counsel
- Cindy Sheehan, Anti-War Gold Star Mother
- Amal Wahda, Arab Women's Progressive League
- Kevin Zeese, Co-Director, Popular Resistance*
____________________________
* For identification purposes only.
