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Syrian war turns toxic

09 Apr 2017 - Preaching the News for the Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord, Cycle A

As his disciples rushed to defend him from arrest in Palm Sunday’s gospel of the Passion of the Lord, Jesus warns them that, “All who take the sword will perish by the sword.” History has borne out the truth of the statement, and Syria’s agonizing civil war is no exception. In another dark turn, a suspected chemical attack in a town in Syria’s rebel-held northern Idlib province killed dozens of people on Tuesday. Observers described the attack as among the worst in the country’s six-year civil war. Hours after the chemical attack, a small field hospital in the region that was treating its victims was struck and destroyed, according to press reports and a civil defense worker in the area: “The entrance of the building was hit, bringing down rubble on top of medics who had earlier been seen dousing a steady stream of arrivals to wash away chemical residue.” By Wednesday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group put the death toll from the gas attack at 72, saying there were many children among the dead. There was no comment from the government in Damascus in the immediate aftermath of the attack, which activists said was the worst since the 2013 toxic gas attack on the Damascus suburb of Ghouta that killed hundreds of civilians. That attack, which a U.N. report said was an attack by toxic sarin gas, was the worst in Syria’s civil war. In the wake of the 2013 attack, President Bashar Assad agreed to a Russia-sponsored deal to destroy his chemical arsenal and joined the Chemical Weapons Convention. Those weapons have been destroyed, but member states of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons have repeatedly questioned whether Assad declared everything in 2013. The widely available chemical chlorine was not covered in the 2013 declaration and activists say they have documented dozens of cases of chlorine gas attacks since then. The Syrian government has consistently denied using chemical weapons and chlorine gas, accusing the rebels of deploying it in the war instead. The New York-based Human Rights Watch has accused the Syrian government of conducting at least eight chemical attacks using chlorine gas on opposition-controlled residential areas during the final months in the battle for Aleppo last year that killed at least nine civilians and injured 200. A joint investigation by the United Nations and the international chemical weapons watchdog determined the Syrian government was behind at least three attacks in 2014 and 2015 involving chlorine gas and that the Islamic State group was responsible for at least one, involving mustard gas. France's foreign minister called on Tuesday for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council after what he said was a “disgusting” gas attack on Syria's rebel-held Idlib province. “A new and particularly serious chemical attack took place this morning in Idlib province. The first information suggests a large number of victims, including children. I condemn this disgusting act,” Jean-Marc Ayrault said in a statement. “In the face of such serious actions that threaten international security, I ask for everyone not to shirk their responsibilities. With this in mind, I ask for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council,” he added. France, Britain, and the United States in February put forward a resolution to impose sanctions targeting Syrian government officials over accusations of chemical weapon attacks during the six-year conflict. Russia, backed by China, cast its seventh veto to protect the Syrian authorities and Russian President Vladimir Putin described the draft resolution as “totally inappropriate.” Lessons drawn from the readings The prophet in the Book of Isaiah does not resist abuse in staying faithful to his prophetic mission: “I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard; my face I did not shield from buffets and spitting.” Though few of us would be willing to pay that steep a price as part of our own faithful witness, we surely can add our voice to the call for peace and reconciliation. That call is urgently needed now. Final thought in light of the news Britain's U.N. Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said the attack Tuesday has all the hallmarks of a regime attack because the Syrian government is the only party to the conflict equipped to deliver deadly chemicals. Rycroft called the attack “clearly a war crime” and indirectly criticized Russia and China for protecting Syria by vetoing previous council resolutions. The ambassador said he hoped for a different approach from the "Security Council members who have previously used their vetoes to defend the indefensible.” Rycroft said an emergency council meeting would “shine a spotlight on the heinous use of chemical weapons yet again” in Syria, rally support for action in the council, and put pressure on Russia and China “to hold to account those who used chemical weapons. We all must call for a different approach, on Syria and with other national and regional conflicts that seem to have morphed into proxy wars for world powers. We citizens of powerful nations have a responsibility to keep our leaders faithful to ideals that rise above geopolitical gain. Let’s turn to the example this Sunday of Jesus and the faithful prophets in speaking our truth to power as we say to the world, “No more war!”

syrian civil war chemical weapons chemical weapons convention bashar al-assad chemical attacks chlorine gas war crimes

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Word of the Week

17 November 2024

Presider’s Chair

\'pri-sīd-ərs 'cher\

Also known as the presidential chair, the seat in a parish church from which the celebrant leads the assembly during Mass. Its meaning derives from the chair, or cathedra in Latin, from which the diocesan bishop presides (from Latin meaning “to protect” or literally “to sit before”). The chair is a liturgical symbol of authority and pastoral leadership.

Pronunciation Read more

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