Editor:
It is heartwarming to read how the Sunshine Coast has welcomed refugee families and more have been sponsored yet to arrive later this year. With regards to some comments from Rita Rihani and Michil Ibrahim as related in the Coast Reporter’s April 28 feature story (“Refugees don’t believe media stories about ‘ruthless Assad’”), there do exist varying views from credible sources, however, that should also be considered. For one, the Syrian government was hardly “good” before the civil war. Canadian taxpayers, for example, wound up having to pay millions in justifiable compensation for Canadian complicity in the torture of Syrian-Canadian citizens such as Maher Arar, Abdullah Almalki of Ottawa, Ahmad El Maati and Muayyed Nureddin of Toronto. The point here is two-fold: Canada played a role in the torture of these innocent men but it was Syrian authorities that carried out the despicable deeds. Moreover, credible and highly regarded international organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have stated there is new evidence that supports the conclusion that Syrian government forces have used nerve agents on at least four occasions in recent months, killing civilians including children. There is no doubt that the Syrian conflict is a complex one and that the country has become the stage for proxy warfare fuelled by major actors outside that country. However, to describe Assad in a more positive light than those in opposition seems hard to swallow.
I would also take issue with the critique made of a leading news organization in the region, Aljazeera. It has provided some of the most credible and balanced news from the Middle East and is internationally renowned for it. We are fortunate to be able to watch and listen to it streamed online in English here in Canada.
Jürgen Dankwort, Sechelt
