Miracle Babies Jihad and Mohammad survive Isis-held Yarmouk's lower circles of hell in Syria

[oberliner]

Excerpt:

Mohammad was born in Yarmouk on 25 January 2015. When Isis entered the camp and tensions heightened, his mother, Nadia, fled in search of safety. Her only thoughts were to save the life of her newborn son. Yet she has not lost hope in the possibility of a dignified future. She hopes that if and when life returns to normal she will be able to live once more with her husband and son in the family home in Yarmouk.

These tales of courage and human dignity are a lesson for us all. When I next brief the Security Council as I did a few days ago, I will tell them about Jihad and Mohammad.

I will continue to press the case for humanitarian access to other children like them inside Yarmouk, other civilians who need help where they are. To do this hostilities will have to subside. Pressures on armed actors in Yarmouk must be exerted to this end. Beyond that, those civilians wishing to temporarily leave must be allowed to do so safely.

These things are possible. It takes the political will, nothing more nothing less. Yarmouk must be a place where the politics of the possible begin to take hold. I believe they can. To abandon such belief would be to abandon Jihad, Mohammad and thousands of other civilians like them. This is not an option.

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/miracle-babies-jihad-mohammad-survive-isis-held-yarmouks-lower-circles-hell-syria-1496307

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

1. So have you ever posted on any non-Palestinian refugee camp horrors?

Any diaries on Iraqi refugees? Syrians? Libyans?

Laid any sort of groundwork to show that you've given thought to refugees in any prior conflict before?

Or is your sudden shift from defending the actions of Israel against Palestinians to talking about Yarmouk simply following the path of talking points about how 'Palestinian supporters only care about "some" Palestinians' or however it was phrased in the last set of comments?

It's hard not to be cynical about these diaries when the talking points to attack 'Palestinian supporters' are trotted out immediately at the release of the first post. It just comes off as taking the horrors they're undergoing (eta: and using them) as a political ploy. But maybe we could be less cynical if you could point to your past OP's on other refugees from prior conflicts, so we could see that it was actually a case of other posters merely latching onto your posts to use them as an attack on 'fair weather Palestinian supporters', and not your intent to use the diaries to push that meme.

[oberliner]

2. No

I mostly post about things related to Israeli-Palestinian issues.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

4. Wll, that's certainly an honest response.

I'll try not to be cynical then, on the basis of that honesty. Yarmouk does desperately need help and protection it's not getting from Syria. The UN needs to do some major work there.

[oberliner]

5. You can be cynical

I certainly think your comment is a reasonable one. I am sure there are other folks thinking the same thing. I don't mind the scrutiny.

With regard to Yarmouk, what do you think the UN can reasonably do at this point? They keep calling out for help but it's not clear exactly what sort of help they are asking for and from whom.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

6. I'm starting at

total ignorance on this one. Until you brought up Yarmouk, I'd never even heard the name before, so I have no idea what they've done so far. Does Yarmouk have any sort of UN peacekeeping force? If so, can it be supplemented? Can the camp be moved farther from disputed territory, perhaps somewhere where other military forces are close by and can respond quickly if ISIS gets close? Can the refugees be evacuated to other camps entirely?

(Edit: Ah, worse than I thought, from the linked article, it sounds like ISIS doesn't just raid the camp, but has occupied it and is staying in among the civilian population, which further complicates matters.)

[oberliner]

12. I'll leave it to someone more knowledgable than me to answer those questions

I don't know that I can do so.

[King_David]

3. This is the IP group

[azurnoir]

7. So Pierre Krahenbuhl believes that IS can be dealt with via "political will"?

if so our POTUS needs a new advisor

[oberliner]

8. What would you advise?

How should the situation be dealt with?

[azurnoir]

9. really I'm at a loss however a viable Palestinian State would be a starting point don't you think?

now getting the refugees safely out of Yarmouk is another thing entirely

If we were just talking bout Assad then yes I think a political solution would be possible however it seems ISIS is beyond reason or politics just pure religious fanaticism of the most vile sort, I'm not speaking of Islam here but of the sort of fanaticism that has invaded almost every organized religion at one time or another

[oberliner]

10. No

I don't think that is a starting point. If we wait for that to happen, everyone in Yarmouk could be dead. I think more immediate action needs to be taken in the short term.

And as for the long term, while I certainly support the creation of a viable Palestinian state, I do not think that doing so will have any impact on ISIS one way or the other though it could certainly help address the issues facing Palestinians living in refugee camps if they can relocate to such a state safely.

[azurnoir]

11. Then exactly what "immediate action" do you propose?

[oberliner]

13. I'm at a loss

Hopefully there are folks more knowledgable than I who are working on exactly that question.