Russia, Iran are as involved in crimes in Syria as US is in Israel’s crimes in Gaza, says Marwan Bishara
Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst, discussed the potential recategorisation of HTS by the United States and United Kingdom, reflecting their long-term engagement in Syria.
Bishara explained Israel’s use of mercenaries in southern Syria and the recent expansion in the Golan Heights. He highlighted NATO’s accusation of Russia’s and Iran’s complicity in Assad’s crimes while criticising the hypocrisy of Western nations involved in similar atrocities.
Bishara emphasised that the US, the UK, Russia, Iran, and Israel have all been complicit in crimes in Syria and Palestine.
‘One of the big potential losers here is going to be the Kurds’
At least three civilians were killed during protests in northern Syria, as people there took to the streets to demand the expulsion of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.
Colin Clarke, a director of research at The Soufan Center, a global security consultancy, told Al Jazeera the developments were “inevitable”.
“When we start trying to divide up who the winner and who the losers are from the overthrow of the al-Assad regime, one of the big potential losers here is going to be the Kurds and one of the big potential winners is going to be Turkiye. As we know, the Kurds and the Turks have historic animosity, and Erdogan is likely to use the current impasse to push for more leverage to go after the Kurds.”
The Kurds have long been backed by the United States, leading to a situation in which “you have two NATO allies backing different proxy groups in what’s going to be a very complex situation going forward”, Clarke added.
“A lot of analysts want to focus on the joy that Syrians are experiencing with freedom for the first time in five decades, and that’s absolutely heartwarming, but the hard part now begins, which is putting together a cohesive entity to govern the country.”
