On a recent visit to the South and North of Syria, the author interacted with people from different walks of life and found that there was a strong feeling in Syria that the Anglo-American Bloc is bent upon demonizing the Syrian leadership in order to demolish a great civilization, just as happened in Iraq, Tunisia, Egypt, Sudan and most recently in Libya.

Syrians feel that the Zionist lobby in USA controls the Obama administration and has been using it to knock down the Syrian President by planting ‘wolf and lamb’ stories. The youthful Dr. Bashar Al-Assad is the only man in whom the Zionist lobby finds a potential Arab leader. Late President Hafiz-Al-Assad managed to restore the credibility of Syria by pushing out Israeli forces from Kunetra region in a historic battle in 1973.

The myth of the invincibility of Israel was destroyed, though strategic areas of Syria such as the Golan Heights, continue under illegal occupation of Israel since 1967. Tel Aviv defied UN Resolutions 242, 338, 425 and others in which the Security Council had directed Israel to vacate all Arab territories. Israel enjoys the backing of Anglo-American bloc as the Zionist lobby is strong in Britain and USA.

Syrian sentiments run high against United Nations double standards vis-à-vis the Gulf. The United Nations felt helpless to enforce the Resolutions of the Security Council asking Israel to stop its resettlement in the West Bank (Palestine) as well as in Jerusalem. On the other hand, the United Nations under Anglo-American dictates refused to wait for two weeks to ensure implementation of the UN Resolution vis-à-vis Iraq. This was repeated in the Libyan crisis. NATO’s aggression against Yugoslavia (1999), Iraq (2003) and Libya (2011) were barbaric acts in total defiance of the UN Charter, committed at the behest of the unipolar power, America.

After muzzling the great civilizations in the Arab world, the Anglo-American Bloc has pursued the Zionist agenda to wipe out the leadership around Israel which did not suit the US oil lobby. The men who mattered in the Arab world, beginning with Nasser and including Saddam, Yasir Arafat and Muammar Gaddafi are no more. Worse, the infrastructures they created for the development and progress of their countries have also been demolished.

Is the United States synonymous with the United Nations? After the liquidation of Col. Gaddafi and the fall of his regime in Libya, the US has begun a campaign to demolish the Syrian leadership. A so-called battalion of Friends of Syria was floated in the USA to incite matters in Syria with the help of arms, finances and men from neighbouring countries.

Top men in Syria feel that Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Israel have been backing the terrorists in Syria. The fallacy of UN Resolutions would shock any historian studying the history of UN Resolution 2042 in which the so-called parties to the conflict in Syria have been directed to hold ceasefire. One party, obviously, is the Syrian Republic, a sovereign state, and Member of the United Nations, who has respectfully agreed to obey the resolution.

But, who is the second party and where is the second party? How can this resolution be adjudged as valid or legitimate when there is a ghost second party? India earlier voted with the USA against Syria, to the utmost disbelief of the people of India and Syria. India voted again for Resolution 2042, which was not expected by people in the Arab world. India may argue that this was done to hold the viewpoint of the Arab League.

But the Arab League today does not represent the Arab popular mandate. The Arab League is represented by governments run at the pleasure of the Anglo-American Bloc. Literally there is no governance in Iraq or Egypt or Tunisia. The Palestinian leadership has been on the defensive since the death of Yasir Arafat. Where is the League of the Arab States? Does it represent the aspirations of the Arab people or the people of Syria or Palestine? The New Delhi elite has done a great injustice to India by sacrificing the Indian interest to the dictates of a so-called friendly America.

Syrians feel that the so-called crisis in the name of democracy has been blown out of proportion to divert world attention from the enforcement of UN Resolutions 242, 338, 425 and a dozen others which have been kept in cold storage by the United Nations under Washington’s diktat to bail out Israel from its obligation to vacate the Golan Heights of Syria, Jerusalem, and other Arab territories.

Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu had told me in a video interview that Israel shall not vacate Golan Heights at any cost. On the streets of Syria, the youth and intellectuals strongly express views that the UN observers should have gone to Gaza (Palestine) where hundreds of children, women and old are forced to starve due to barbaric sanctions imposed by Israel on Gaza. They ask that UN observers go and stop new settlements in Jerusalem and the West Bank which are being raised in utter defiance of the UN Resolutions.

The intelligentsia in the Arab world feels that Anglo-American interest lies in Arab oil, waters and strategic land - not in democracy or civil rights. Else, the Kingdoms, Sheikhdoms, Sultanates in the Arab world would have been on the priority hit-list for restoration of democracy. Syria or Iran would appear at the bottom of the heap in that priority.

Arabs and particularly Syrians now feel that India can mobilize the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa) to help restore peace in Syria which stands threatened by US interference in the guise of the UN Resolutions. The writer personally feels that the Prime Minister has not been informed on the ground reality in Syria. India’s vote for Resolution 2042 amounted to interference by the United Nations in the domestic affairs of a sovereign country. That right has been protected by the mandate of Article 2(7) of the Charter of United Nations itself. India has always taken principled stands inside and outside the United Nations, which made India highly popular in the Arab world. India should not fail its commitment to the world peace, especially in the Arab world.

As an independent observer, the writer visited South and North areas of Syria without any problem and met several ministers, media persons and diplomats. India is the only country in the world with no illegitimate interest in the oils, waters or lands in the region. India was among the countries in 1947 which opposed Resolution 181 of the United Nations, which divided Palestine. To this day India has been supporting the peace process in the Gulf. This is for the first time that India committed a calculated mistake which needs to be rectified without delay.

The killings of innocent people, blasting buildings at midnight, in Aleppo or Homs or elsewhere, by ghost attackers or foreign intruders cannot be justified. It is the responsibility of Govt. of Syria to provide protection to the life and liberty of every Syrian citizen. This is a domestic matter and America or the United Nations have no locus to interfere in the internal affairs of Syria. Russia and China are permanent members of the Security Council and their decision against the Resolution deserves appreciation.

In Aleppo, we met several Army soldiers who were seriously wounded by the ‘attackers’ while boarding a bus. It is sad that the UN observers did not care to identify them. The next day, an ITI camera team came from London to study the situation. When the team arrived in Maidan Ul-Tehrir suburbs of Damascus, they were welcomed with a huge bomb blast killing 10 innocent citizens. The culprits were never identified. A day later armed men tried to enter Syria from the Turkish border in ‘Tarfus’. UN observers refused to identify them. What does this mean? That Syria should not stop murderous attacks on her people at the hands of terrorists?

The Obama administration is being used to demolish another Arab civilization, Syria. The American President is more interested to get Zionist support for his re-election and hence logic, reasoning or arguments do not matter. Mr. Obama has failed to acknowledge the fact that the Zionist lobby has used his name to achieve their goals in the Arab world. They may not need him anymore.

Press reports appearing in several Indian newspapers and in the international media have been highly exaggerated, with minor incidents blown out of proportion. Acts of terrorism committed by terrorists, whom the US calls Taliban or Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, in any Syrian town or village are attributed to government failure. The Taliban are US enemy in Afghanistan but comrades-in-arms in Syria?

UN sanctions against Syria are highly deplorable. They are violative of the UN Charter itself, barbaric and against human dignity as such sanctions deprive children, old and women from seeking even medicines or food, as happened in Iraq, resulting in the death of more than one million children.

Syria has an elected President; 250 Members of Parliament shall be elected this month by due electoral process. The United Nations should have helped this political process instead of choosing to disturb political stability in Syria.

People of Syria in particular and the Arab world in general have great expectations from a friendly India. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should not allow this opportunity to slip out of his hands and should attempt to save the situation in Syria.

The author is chairman, National Panthers Party; member, National Integration Counil; and chairman, Indo-Arab Solidarity Council. He was recently in Syria.