US must press UN, international community to hold Syrian regime accountable for poison gas deaths of innocent civilians

(CHICAGO 08/21/2013) – The American Muslims for Palestine, a national education and advocacy organization, today condemns the chemical attack upon innocent Syrian civilians, near Damascus by the military forces of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.

According to the Federation of American Scientists, which studied videos of victims dying from the attack, it is possibly Syrian forces used a nerve agent, the most deadly of seven classifications of chemical weapons, according to a Washington Post report. More than 1,000 people reportedly are dead, including dozens of babies and children.

Last August, President Obama said chemical weapons use would be the “red line,” and in June his administration verified the Assad military was indeed using chemical weapons and/or poison gas against its own people. AMP calls on the president to forcefully stand behind his remarks and to force Syria to allow independent inspections in the towns and villages where yesterday’s attacks occurred.

Furthermore, AMP calls on the United Nations and Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to protect the people of Syria from the massive bloodletting brought about by the tyranny of Assad and his forces. The production, storage and use of chemical weapons violate the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993, of which the US is a signatory. Syria is not.

“The nightmare of the violence in Syria has gone on long enough and it is time the international community band together and help bring an end to the inordinate suffering of the Syrians and Palestinian refugees living there,” said Dr. Hatem Bazian, AMP chairman. “From Syria to Egypt to Palestine the hope from the Arab Spring is quickly evaporating, if not completely expired, and we are complicit in the failure of the democratic processes that are struggling to take shape there because our foreign policy is confused and weak.”