After Israel's reported air strike on Damascus, intervention is no longer a theoretical concept. The question now is whether international military action should move from containment to humanitarian intervention? Last week, Larry Derfner made an argument against international intervention in Syria. This was before news broke of the recent attack (video above), and things are different now. Here are a few of my thoughts: Israel has reportedly struck targets inside Syria twice in four days. This time, the targets were in the Damascus area and unlike the previous strike, the Syrian regime publicly blamed Israel for the latest attack. So…

The United Nation agency for Palestinian refugees is reporting that three separate incidents in Syria claimed last week the lives of five children. One of the children died in Dera'a and four others in Damascus. According to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East UNRWA, Mohammad Al-Khateeb (aged 14) was killed on March 15 by a bullet as he was returning home on foot after buying bread from a bakery in his neighborhood in Dera'a. On March 19, Hisham Mahmoud (aged 10) and Farhat Mubarak (aged 11), were killed at the crossroad of Yazour and Safad Streets in Yarmouk, Damascus. They were…

By Yacov Ben Efrat In seeking the “truth” about Syria, I came across a book by Lebanese reporter Ghadi Francis, "My pen and pain: One hundred days in Syria" (Beirut: Saqi Books 2012), in Arabic. I did not find the “truth” but I did find many things which explain the outbreak of revolution in Syria, and especially its cruelty compared with the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia. Francis identifies with the Syrian Social Nationalist Party. She is in favor of a “Greater Syria” and her point of departure is not at all hostile to the Baath regime. On the other hand, as a young journalist she surveyed Syria from top to…

While it is increasingly evident something must be done to stop the violence in Syria, the history of intervention in internal conflicts has shown there are no quick fixes. Western powers must realize that in order to liberate Syria all they can do is help the Syrians help themselves.  By Yoni Eshpar | From Hebrew: Dimi Reider The situation in Syria is getting worse, and the focus of the debate has shifted from "to condemn or not to condemn" to "military intervention: yes or no." Hardly a day passes without a new article, usually from the left side of the map, calling for military intervention in Syria. All are…