Earlier this week, in The Daily Telegraph, HJS Communications Director Michael Weiss investigated a Syrian government document which provides the most compelling evidence that the regime of Bashar al-Assad incited the Golan Heights Nakba day protests on 15th May 2011.
Dated 14th May 2011, the memorandum, which appears to have been leaked by the Governor of Al-Qunaitara, details an'urgent meeting' between Major General Asef Shawkat, the Deputy Chief of Staff for the Armed Forces, and the chiefs of security and military intelligence branches in the province in Al-Qunaitera.
Haaretz immediately described the document as 'new evidence...that the Syrian regime purposefully orchestrated last month's Nakba Day protests on the border with Israel'. In particular, the article recounts the intricate and premeditated planning which occurred on 14th May, which is also minuted in the document.
Yesterday evening in The Washington Times Ben Birnbaum reported that 'the leaked Syrian government document shows that the regime orchestrated last month's border clashes with Israel' .Weiss described his source to The Times as 'a very well-informed Syrian in a position to authenticate government documents'.
The investigation into the evidence of Syrian government collusion in the incitement 'Nakba Day' protests was also featured prominently in The Jerusalem Post. It's staff argue compellingly that 'the document explains that the apparently state-sponsored demonstrators were given a specified path to traverse the Golan in order to avoid the mine fields that cover the area'.
Yitzhak Benhorin at Ynet news also noted that 'if the document is indeed [genuine], then it clearly points to the riots being orchestrated by the Assad regime, in the hopes of diverting international attention from its own brutal crackdown on Anti-Assad protesters'.
A range of HJS staff are able to offer their expertise on Syria and the Middle East particularly on the areas of the Syrian uprising, the Syrian opposition and the Arab Spring including:
Michael Weiss Director of Communications and Public Relations A widely published journalist, Weiss has expertise in the Israel-Palestine conflict and human rights in the Middle East. He recently co-authored the HJS Strategic Briefing "The Syrian Opposition: Political analysis with original testimony from key figures" with Hannah Stuart. He wrote HJS's Media Briefing: "Fatah-Hamas Reconciliation: A Preliminary Assessment". Weiss has been published in Slate, The Wall Street Journal, The Weekly Standard, The Daily Telegraph, The New Criterion, The Guardian, Foreign Policy, Prospect, Standpoint, Democratiya and The New Republic. He keeps a regular blog on foreign policy and the Middle East for the Daily Telegraph and one on culture for The New Criterion. | 
1 comment:
Well, so far The Guardian keeps shtum on this one. I wonder why ;-)
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