Eye On The World: Williams & Manning On Syria/Lebanon/Israel

Glenn Williams hosts Eye On The World, a weekly look at foreign affairs with Scoop's Selwyn Manning. This week: Tensions Inside Syria Spill Into Israel and Lebanon.

Run-Sheet (May 17 2011):

Uprisings in the Middle East have again flared in Egypt, Bahrain, and Tunisia. In Libya rebel-led forces continue to edge westward, in their sights are forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi who are determined to hold onto stronghold areas near Tripoli. In the Palestinian Territories people in Gaza were shot at by Israel troops.

And violence is intensifying inside Syria and border clashes have occurred on the Syria/Lebanon border and also Nakba protesters crossed the Syrian border into the Golan Heights - an area occupied by Israel and guarded by the Israel Defense Force or IDF.

For weeks, Anti-Government protesters have been rising up against the authoritarian Syrian state.

And in recent days protesters have been hunted down, thousands heading to border regions.

People have been fleeing from Syrian state forces with hundreds crossing the border into Lebanon. Syrian forces have been shelling villages and towns that they suspect of providing refuge for the protesters.

(See Al Jazeera 0:03 to 0:55: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZPWr7XJP5o )

Syrian troops have been targeting homes in border areas like Tall Tekalakh, shooting at residents who have been fleeing to Lebanon. As of last night – officially eight residents were dead and five wounded.

In reality, the death-toll is expected to be much higher.

(See Al Jazeera 1:16 to 1:35: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZPWr7XJP5o )

Lebanese military forces have increased their numbers on the border as they seek to protect the Lebanese border from Syrian troops and to protect those who have made it into Lebanon.

To date, around 500 people have successfully made it from Syria into Lebanon.

It is complex. Politically, Lebanon has parties that are pro-Syrian, and other parties that oppose the Syrian establishment.

Lebanese people would well remember how sectarian violence in the wider region spilled into their country in the 1970s/80s and 1990s. The situation is understandably anxious.

And unrest in the region also causes Israel to get jittery.

Yesterday Israel forces shot dead four Syrian protesters as they fled from Syrian forces.

(See Al Jazeera 0:14 to 0:45 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oIkDzrwZLM )

A border clash occurred around the Golan Heights border area, that is land Israel has held for decades since its war with Syria, land that the United Nations insists ought to be returned to Syria.

(See Al Jazeera 0:55 to 1:44 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oIkDzrwZLM )

Syrian protesters, gathered to oppose Israel's illegal possession of the Golan Heights, can be seen throwing rocks at Syrian state forces. Perhaps realising that with Israel forces close by – just meters away across the barbed wire border, Syrian troops will be reluctant to fire on them.

But the protesters were caught between a rock and a very difficult hard place.

It was a scene of pandemonium, chaos, as protesters advance toward Syrian troops, stamping over a minefield as they do so. But it all got too much for the Israeli soldiers, they shot at the protesters as they swarmed through the border gate and fences.

As mentioned above, four protesters were shot dead.

The Syria refugees that have made it to Lebanon are not just protesters, they include women, children, the aged...

(0:03 – 0:36 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xdkhb0NDt4U )

They speak of atrocities that are occurring inside the Syria border, of how state forces have been shooting at will protesters and hunting them down in towns and villages near the Lebanese border.

From a moral point of view, the international community cannot allow protesters to be killed by the Syrian state.

From a geo-political point of view, if the international community moved on Syria it would open a can of worms.

The consequence would likely see further destabilisation in the region, in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, the Palestinian Territories.

The big players in the region, Israel and Iran would probably be drawn into a fight that no one would wish for. And that, would be dire for the Middle East and the world.

Eye On The World broadcasts on KiwiFM and Radio Wammo at 7:40am on Tuesdays. Video on demand episodes also webcast on Scoop.co.nz.

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