Appeal to Chancellor Angela Merkel and the members and parliamentary groups of the German Bundestag and the European Parliament
Stop starving out the people of Syria!
End the embargo, so that Syria can live in peace!
For more than four years, the U.S.A. and its allies have been waging concealed war on Syria:
they supply Islamist groups with up-to-date weaponry, and have their “military advisers” train
them in camps in Turkey and Jordan for bloody missions in Syria. As in the Seventies and
Eighties in Afghanistan, the Wahhabite regime in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf emirates provide
billions of dollars to recruit and arm ISIS and the Al-Nusra Front.
The responsibility of the German government and the EU
The EU and the German government are participating in this dirty war against Syria. Since 2011,
they have placed an embargo on Syria.
The stated goal of this embargo is to cripple Syria’s economy and force its population to rebel
against their government. Together with the U.S.A. and the rulers of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf
emirates, the EU and the German government have “frozen” the country’s foreign credit balances, and
banned imports from Syria, in particular of crude oil. All monetary transactions have been prevented, in order to deprive the country of the revenues to purchase goods that it needs for its population and economy. Even bank transfers from Syrians living and working abroad to their relatives are no longer possible.banned exports to Syria, in particular of fuel and heating oil, as well as the technology and equipment for pumping and refining petroleum or liquefying natural gas, and for generating stations. But without fuel and electricity, farming and food production, trades and industry come to a halt.
On 14 December 2012, the German state television news programme Tagesschau already asked cynically “How long can Assad’s economy survive this?”, and added triumphantly “Syria’s economy is in a bad state. Even before the popular rebellion, 30% of the people live on not much more than one euro a day. There is galloping inflation. Food costs twice as much. Diesel fuel and imports scarce. Electricity is switched off for three hours even in Damascus, and longer elsewhere.” Today, three years later, Syria’s GDP has sunk by 60%, and the unemployment rate has shot up from barely 15% to 58%. 64.7% of Syrians live in extreme poverty, and can no longer afford even the barest necessities of food. In this desperate situation, violence, fanaticism, and crime flourish; terrorist organizations such as ISIS and the Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra can recruit easily.
The embargo against Syria, a developing country, is an inhuman form of warfare, directed against the civilian population. In the Nineties, more than a million people, including over half- a-million children, perished as a result of the embargo in Iraq. Do we want to top that figure?
The embargo against Syria only intensifies the bloody battles there. 220,000 dead, almost a million maimed or injured, more than ten million people fleeing – is that still not enough?
Lift the embargo against Syria, so that the country’s economy can recover, and further
impoverishment of the people be prevented.
* Grant the country humanitarian and reconstruction aid generously.
* Restore diplomatic relations with Syria. Respect its sovereignty.
It is high time for the German government and the EU to assume a role as mediator in this conflict, and make a contribution to restoring peace in Syria and the region.
Maintaining the embargo means being an accomplice to genocide!
initial signatories:
Dr. Friedrich-Martin Balzer, Historiker
Hartmut Barth-Engelbart, Schriftsteller, Musiker, Kabarettist
PD Dr. Johannes M. Becker, Marburg
Rolf Becker, Schauspieler
Wolfgang Bittner, Schriftsteller
Reiner Braun, Geschäftsführer der „Internationale Juristen und Juristinnen gegen den Atomkrieg (IALANA)
Volker Braun, Schriftsteller
Volker Bräutigam, Publizist
Heinrich Bücker, Coop Antikriegscafe Berlin
Sevim Dagdelen, MdB, migrationspolitische Sprecherin der Linksfraktion
Daniela Dahn, Schriftstellerin
Dieter Dehm, MdB, mittelstandspolitischer Sprecher
Hartmut Drewes, Pastor i. R., Bremer Friedensforum
Bernd Duschner, Dipl. Volkswirt, Vorsitzender von Freundschaft mit Valjevo e. V.
Dr. Salem El-Hamid, Generalsekretär der Deutsch-Syrischen Gesellschaft
Peter Feininger, Privatlehrer für Kunst und Musik, Redakteur www.forumaugsburg.de
Anneliese Fikentscher, Bundesvorsitzende Arbeiterfotografie
Wolfgang Gehrcke, MdB, stellvertretender Vorsitzender und außenpolitischer Sprecher der Linkspartei
Senne Glanschneider, stellv. Bundesvorsitzende Arbeiterfotografie
Annette Groth, MdB, menschenrechtspolitische Sprecherin der Linksfraktion
Joachim Guilliard, Heidelberger Forum gegen Militarismus und Krieg
Heike Hänsel, MdB, Entwicklungspolitische Sprecherin der Linksfraktion
Klaus Hartmann, Bundesvorsitzender des Deutschen Freidenkerverbandes
Evelyn Hecht-Galinski, Publizistin
Michael Held, Sprecher des ökumenischen Netzes in Deutschland
Inge Höger, MdB, abrüstungspolitische Sprecherin der Linksfraktion
Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Peter Horn, IAEA-Expert in Isotope Geochemistry
Dr. Anne Maximiliane Jäger-Gogoll, Priv. Doz.
Ulla Jelpke, MdB, innenpolitische Sprecherin der Linksfraktion
Claudia Karas, Aktionsbündnis für einen gerechten Frieden in Palästina
Dr. Helmut Käss, Braunschweig
Dr. Sabine Kebir, Privatdozentin
Peter Kleinert, Redakteur der Neuen Rheinischen Zeitung
Susanna Kuby, Publizistin
Dr. Brigitte Kustosch, Lehrerin i. R.
Dr. Helmut Lohrer, International Councillor IPPNW Deutschland
Professor Domenico Losurdo, Universität Urbino, Präsident der Internationalen Gesellschaft für dialektisches Denken
Pascal Luig, Vorstandsmitglied Naturwissenschaftlerinitiative Verantwortung f. Frieden u. Zukunftsfähigkeit
Dr. phil. habil. Karl Melzer, Arabist und Philosoph
Ulrich Mercker, Bonner Friedensbündnis
Dr. Amir Mortasawi, Arzt und Autor
Albrecht Müller, Publizist und Herausgeber der NachDenkSeiten, Planungschef im Bundeskanzleramt unter Willy Brandt und Helmut Schmidt
Dr. Izzedin Musa, Diplom-Geologe i.R.
Harald Nestler, Handelsrat a. D, Sprecher des Ortsverbandes Berlin-Köpenick der GBM e.V
Alexander S. Neu, MdB, Obmann der Linksfraktion im Verteidigungsausschuß
Andreas Neumann, Vorstand Arbeiterfotografie
Norman Paech, Völkerrechter, Universität Hamburg
Doris und George Pumphrey, Berlin;
Ellen Rohlfs, Mitglied der Deutsch-palästinensischen Gesellschaft und der Friedensgruppe Gush Shalom, Israel
Jürgen Rose, Oberstleutnant a. D. und Publizist
Professor Dr. Werner Ruf, Politikwissenschaftler und Friedensforscher
Dr. Werner Rügemer, Publizist
Rainer Rupp, Journalist
Erich Schaffner, Schauspieler und Rezitator
Dr. Sabine Schiffer, Leiterin des Institut für Medienverantwortung
Erasmus Schöfer, Schriftsteller
Jochen Scholz, Oberstleutnant a. D.
Renate Schönfeld, Pfarrerin i. R.
Eckart Spoo, Publizist und Herausgeber des Ossietzky
Thomas Immanuel Steinberg, ehemals SteinbergRecherche
Frieder Wagner, Journalist und Filmemacher
Dr. med. Jens Wagner, IPPNW
Willy Wimmer, Parlamentarischer Staatssekretär des Bundesministers der Verteidigung a. D.
Laura Freiin von Wimmersperg, Moderatorin der Berliner Friedenskoordination
Lucas Zeise, Finanzjournalist
arabian language version: http://www.freundschaft-mit-
german: http://www.freundschaft-mit-
7 Responses
Embargoes are always tempting. Yet they never seem to accomplish th3 desired results and always hurt the population more than the government.
Please send me a copy by e-mail ! Thank you !
Please send me a copy by e-mail
Please send me a copy
Please send a copy
This is something people really don’t see. When they talk about aid for the Syrian people they are only talking about those who left Syria. Even so, 75% of people in Syria who have been dislocated from their homes are still in Syria living in government controlled areas where they receive allotments of food and water, healthcare and schooling for their children.
I’d like to sign this appeal – even without comment, but I’m doing already the fifth stupid calculation. Submitting the appeal is always creating an “error”-comment!