AN OPEN LETTER TO CONGRESSMAN ADAM SCHIFF
Conflict in Syria has severely impacted the Christian community there,
among them the Armenian community
Editor's Note: Last week Asbarez published an op-ed by Rep. Adam
Schiff, who urged intensification of efforts by the international
community to assist the Christian community in Syria. Zaven Khanjian,
the chairman of the Syrian Armenian Relief Fund, has submitted an
open letter to Rep. Schiff, which we publish today. We would like to
stress again that opinions expressed by individuals do not necessarily
reflect the policies of Asbarez and any organization, on which the
publication reports, nor do we necessarily share the views expressed
toward Rep. Schiff or any other public official.
Congressman Schiff,
With utmost pain and bewilderment, I read your article about "The
Plight of Syria's Christians" on the December 4 issue of Asbarez Post.
Finally and after nearly three years of uninterrupted and vicious
covert action for a regime change in Syria, enthusiastically supported
by you and your misguided colleagues on Capitol Hill, you come to
plainly and accurately describe the open graveyard that my birthplace,
Syria, has turned into.
Accounts of witnesses and conditions on the ground testify to the
fact that
death, destruction, displacement and despair in recent wars past,
fade away compared to what the perpetrators of this calamity succeeded
in achieving in Syria.
And you Congressman, supported those who were intent on destroying
Syria.
You supported the sanctions imposed on Syria in which the Syrian
Christians were equally victimized.
You supported the funding, arming and invasion of Syria by gangs of
extremist fanatics whose imported symbols of freedom and democracy were
depicted in kidnapping bishops and nuns, slashing throats of Christian
priests and the desecration of Christian & other houses of worship.
Through your silence and lack of condemnation you supported the
repeated violations of Syrian sovereignty by Israel and its destructive
air raids on targets where Syria's Christians, proudly serving the
Syrian army were naturally among the targets.
And at the threshold of the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide,
do I remember a condemnation of Turkey's role in opening the gates
of HELL on "good neighbor and friendly" Syria, allowing the funding,
training, arming and access of the world's jihadists through it's long
joint border? Did I hear you condemn Turkey's role in the destruction
of the Genocide survivors' safe haven, the heroic city of Aleppo,
and the attack on the Armenian Genocide monument in Der El Zor?
You were one of the first to hail the Obama Administration's 'bright"
decision to compound the pain and suffering of the Syrians, including
Syria's Christians, by remotely bombing Syria for an ugly crime ( a
last desperate effort of the foreign criminal gangs in Syria trying
in vain, to secure a foreign intervention? ) . And you only changed
your mind, Mr. Schiff, after witnessing the tsunami of opposition
from the American people against any kind of attack on Syria.
And when did this love of Syria's Christians wake up in you, Mr.
Schiff? And what's so special about Syria's Christians?
Your enthusiastic support of George Bush's war on and occupation of
Iraq resulted in the demise of hundreds, the displacement of thousands
and the exodus of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Christians from
their ancestral lands.
Your blank-check support of Israel's discriminative policies,
perpetual occupation, land seizure, settlement expansion, violence
against the indigenous population in occupied Palestine have long
ended the "continued vitality" of the two thousand year old Christian
communities, including the exodus of tens of thousands of Armenians,
who once called Bethlehem, Jerusalem and Palestine, the cradle of
Christianity, their home.
Shall I continue with Egypt, Sudan or Lebanon?
Enough said about your care and compassion for Christians in the
Middle East.
Congressman, spare us the insult of shedding crocodile tears over
the Christian communities in Syria and the Middle East.
For a century indeed and the last 40 years in particular, The
Christian communities in Syria lived in peace, security, prosperity
and an atmosphere of cultural & religious freedom, until the allies
you supported, introduced "freedom" and "democracy" to the region.
Congressman, when it comes to Syria, silence, and a hands-off policy,
will be the best demonstration of respect towards the Plight of
Syria's Christians.
Respectfully, Zaven Khanjian
http://asbarez.com/117264/an-open-letter-to-congressman-adam-schiff/
From: A. Papazian
Conflict in Syria has severely impacted the Christian community there,
among them the Armenian community
Editor's Note: Last week Asbarez published an op-ed by Rep. Adam
Schiff, who urged intensification of efforts by the international
community to assist the Christian community in Syria. Zaven Khanjian,
the chairman of the Syrian Armenian Relief Fund, has submitted an
open letter to Rep. Schiff, which we publish today. We would like to
stress again that opinions expressed by individuals do not necessarily
reflect the policies of Asbarez and any organization, on which the
publication reports, nor do we necessarily share the views expressed
toward Rep. Schiff or any other public official.
Congressman Schiff,
With utmost pain and bewilderment, I read your article about "The
Plight of Syria's Christians" on the December 4 issue of Asbarez Post.
Finally and after nearly three years of uninterrupted and vicious
covert action for a regime change in Syria, enthusiastically supported
by you and your misguided colleagues on Capitol Hill, you come to
plainly and accurately describe the open graveyard that my birthplace,
Syria, has turned into.
Accounts of witnesses and conditions on the ground testify to the
fact that
death, destruction, displacement and despair in recent wars past,
fade away compared to what the perpetrators of this calamity succeeded
in achieving in Syria.
And you Congressman, supported those who were intent on destroying
Syria.
You supported the sanctions imposed on Syria in which the Syrian
Christians were equally victimized.
You supported the funding, arming and invasion of Syria by gangs of
extremist fanatics whose imported symbols of freedom and democracy were
depicted in kidnapping bishops and nuns, slashing throats of Christian
priests and the desecration of Christian & other houses of worship.
Through your silence and lack of condemnation you supported the
repeated violations of Syrian sovereignty by Israel and its destructive
air raids on targets where Syria's Christians, proudly serving the
Syrian army were naturally among the targets.
And at the threshold of the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide,
do I remember a condemnation of Turkey's role in opening the gates
of HELL on "good neighbor and friendly" Syria, allowing the funding,
training, arming and access of the world's jihadists through it's long
joint border? Did I hear you condemn Turkey's role in the destruction
of the Genocide survivors' safe haven, the heroic city of Aleppo,
and the attack on the Armenian Genocide monument in Der El Zor?
You were one of the first to hail the Obama Administration's 'bright"
decision to compound the pain and suffering of the Syrians, including
Syria's Christians, by remotely bombing Syria for an ugly crime ( a
last desperate effort of the foreign criminal gangs in Syria trying
in vain, to secure a foreign intervention? ) . And you only changed
your mind, Mr. Schiff, after witnessing the tsunami of opposition
from the American people against any kind of attack on Syria.
And when did this love of Syria's Christians wake up in you, Mr.
Schiff? And what's so special about Syria's Christians?
Your enthusiastic support of George Bush's war on and occupation of
Iraq resulted in the demise of hundreds, the displacement of thousands
and the exodus of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Christians from
their ancestral lands.
Your blank-check support of Israel's discriminative policies,
perpetual occupation, land seizure, settlement expansion, violence
against the indigenous population in occupied Palestine have long
ended the "continued vitality" of the two thousand year old Christian
communities, including the exodus of tens of thousands of Armenians,
who once called Bethlehem, Jerusalem and Palestine, the cradle of
Christianity, their home.
Shall I continue with Egypt, Sudan or Lebanon?
Enough said about your care and compassion for Christians in the
Middle East.
Congressman, spare us the insult of shedding crocodile tears over
the Christian communities in Syria and the Middle East.
For a century indeed and the last 40 years in particular, The
Christian communities in Syria lived in peace, security, prosperity
and an atmosphere of cultural & religious freedom, until the allies
you supported, introduced "freedom" and "democracy" to the region.
Congressman, when it comes to Syria, silence, and a hands-off policy,
will be the best demonstration of respect towards the Plight of
Syria's Christians.
Respectfully, Zaven Khanjian
http://asbarez.com/117264/an-open-letter-to-congressman-adam-schiff/
From: A. Papazian