Syria Support Movement solidarity with the Syrian people
Nov 18, 2013, The Daily Nebraskan
Mainstream media has depicted the crisis in Syria as a black and white cinema.
At a talk in downtown Lincoln Monday morning, Mother Agnes-Mariam of the Cross said that isn’t the case. Mother Agnes is Mother Superior of the monastery of St. James the Mutilated, the oldest monastery in the Qalamoun area of Syria. She spoke about her work toward peace in Syria at the Courtyard Lincoln by Marriott.
Mother Agnes said she and her partners at the Institute for Peace, Justice, and Human Rights in Syria have witnessed very different events in Syria than what news media portray. As an example of this incongruity, Mother Agnes said while she was on a trip to Homs, Syria with reporters, she witnessed unidentified death squads killing innocent civilians – in some cases using beheading as a form of murder. The media, she said, has ignored these incidents.
“Manipulation of the press and of information has become a war tool, and it endangers the lives of innocents,” Mother Agnes said. “It is easy to show fake videos to boost approval of the public opinion of the international community.”
She said these fake videos are prevalent and obscure real events. The victims in the videos are fake, she said, and in the meantime, real atrocities are being overlooked. She said this is justification of the real violence occurring.
Mother Agnes said mainstream media is essentially using propaganda tactics to show positive pictures of the events taking place. For example, she said the rebel fighters are depicted as fighters for freedom.
“In reality, the majority of the Syrian population is under terrible threat of extermination by hordes of foreign fighters that pretend – and have declared – to fight for freedom.”
She said many of these fighters are Islamic extremists who are only adding to the violence and not helping Syrian civilians.
“When these people come to Syria, they destroy the structure and municipalities,” she said. “They have burned schools, universities, hospitals, factories, shrines, mosques, churches, all what can define a civilization and the cultural memory of a people.”
Mother Agnes is not originally from Syria. She is Lebanese and her father is Palestinian, and she has been working in Syria since 1994 to restore a sixth-century monastery, where she is now Mother Superior. The goals of the monastery are to provide unity among the sons of Abraham, including Jews, Christians and Muslims, she said. Additionally, Mother Agnes is one of the main organizers of Mussalaha – or reconciliation – a popular movement that mediates disputes and organizes ceasefires between opposing forces.
Since the crisis in Syria began three years ago, Mother Agnes has been using her position to work toward peace in the country. She is a critic of both the Syrian government and the rebels. Mother Agnes said spreading her message has not been easy.
“I have received threats to shut up and I have received bribes to shut up,” she said. “As a Christian I cannot stand by with the truth. My testimony is not biased with politics.”
Johnathan Peterson, a graduate student in political science, said Mother Agnes’ critiques of the media are merited.
“There is a general pattern in the U.S. where our media tends not to show gruesome images that would be more common in international media outlets,” Peterson said. “Not seeing these gruesome images perhaps does not bring the Syria situation home for us.”
Mother Agnes said she believes in the people and leadership of the U.S. and hopes Americans will stand with her to find a peaceful resolution to the Syrian crisis. When asked by an audience member what America can do next, she said Syria needs a diplomatic solution.
“We don’t need an invader, we need a friend,” she said.
The presentation by Mother Agnes was sponsored by Nebraskans for Peace, the oldest statewide peace and justice organization in the U.S.
The United Nations and the international community as a whole needs to stop supplying rebels with weapons and stop sending in extremist groups, Mother Agnes said. Peace and diplomacy is the only way to stop violence.
“I hope the international community will react,” she said. “What has happened to our country can happen to yours.”
