Support Syria Civil Defence: Write to your MP

The petition being run by Syria Civil Defence and The Syria Campaign calling for a No-Fly Zone has now been joined by another organised by Avaaz. The Avaaz petition calls for “an air exclusion zone in Northern Syria, including Aleppo” rather than an all-Syria no-fly zone, but it’s still most welcome, and Syria Civil Defence are encouraging followers to sign.

WHITE HELMETS PETITION

AVAAZ PETITION

I have signed the Avaaz petition, though it’s not just northern Syria that needs a no-fly zone. For example Douma in the south near Damascus has been suffering greatly from Assad’s air attacks. At least 26 people were killed there on Sunday alone. Here’s a video of rescuers on the scene.

What’s needed is to ground Assad’s air force nationwide through deterrence and—if necessary—retaliation. This means demanding air attacks cease immediately, and if there is a single air attack after that demand then retaliating against Assad’s air bases with standoff weapons. A ‘deter and retaliate’ strategy is no harder to apply nationwide than it is in just a part of the country as it doesn’t require air patrols to enforce.

As well as these two petitions, if you’re in the US you can email your representatives in Congress, courtesy of the Syrian American Council:

TELL CONGRESS TO ENACT A NO-FLY ZONE

Inspired by that, I have set up a similar page for UK voters to email their Member of Parliament. If you’re in the UK please use this page to email your MP and ask them to support Syria Civil Defence in their call for a No-Fly Zone:

WRITE TO YOUR MP

The major parties in the UK are now largely silent on Syria, adopting a ‘don’t mention the war’ approach in the run up to the election. We need to do all we can to break that silence.

Finally, if you’re in London tomorrow, please join Syria Solidarity UK and others calling for a no-fly zone at the American Embassy from 2 to 4pm.

PROTEST 22 MARCH: US EMBASSY IN LONDON