Commentary and Newsletters

Anne Bayefsky

Syria and The Obama Administration: On the Wrong Side of History

Sunday, March 27, 2011

First appearing on Pajamas Media, by Anne Bayefsky.

Syria The Obama Administration

State Sponsor of Terrorism, State Department:

Syria, since December 29, 1979

Rewarding Syria:

On January 26, 2011, President Obama appointed Robert Ford as the first US ambassador to Syria since 2005
(The U.S. ambassador had been withdrawn following the murder of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri).

Only Resolution Concerning Syria Adopted March 24, 2011,
UN Human Rights Council

Title: "Human rights in the occupied Syrian Golan"

Only party criticized: Israel

Sponsors: Cuba, North Korea, Venezuela, the Group of Arab States, the Group of African States, the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

Vote: 29 in favor, 1 against (the United States), 16 abstentions

Text says: "The Human Rights Council [is] Deeply concerned at the suffering of the Syrian citizens...due to the systematic and continuous violation of their fundamental and human rights by Israel..."

Praise for the UN Human Rights Council:

U.S. UN Ambassador to Geneva Eileen Donahoe, March 24, 2011, UN Human Rights Council, Geneva:

"We are coming to the end of a session that has marked a significant shift at the Human Rights Council. We believe this session has been important in part because it coincided with an important moment in history, and because the Council has shown itself able to deal with changing circumstances on the ground..."