brutal war

The West has been on every side in the Syrian civil war. First, it was so determined to overthrow the Assad regime that it carried out military strikes on government positions. Then it was forced to wake up to the brutality of the Islamic State and turned their bombs on them. The one thing that has remained constant is their support, both military and financial, for so-called ‘moderate’ opposition groups fighting under the Free Syrian banner even though their human rights abuses are legion and they work with outfits like the Al Nusra Front, which is Al Qaeda’s affiliate in the country. One of the groups which has received the most aid from the US, mainly in the form of advanced weaponry like the BGM-71 TOW anti-tank missiles, is Harakat Nour al-Din al-Zenki, an insurgent group which is based mainly in Allepo and part of the Syrian Revolutionary Command Council. Its fighters recorded themselves on July 16, beheading a young Palestinian boy, Abdallah Issa, no more than 13 years old. To justify the beheading, which took place at a refugee camp in Allepo, the group said he had been fighting on behalf of the Syrian government. It was only after widespread worldwide condemnation that the Hakarat said the beheading may have been a ‘mistake’ and blamed it on an individual rather than reflecting the workings of the group as a whole.

The international powers that support the group may be inclined to accept the individual mistake excuse. But to those who are not shrouded in the cloak of hypocrisy, the beheading should not come as a surprise. Amnesty International has previously documented how the Harakat abducts and tortures journalists and humanitarian workers in Allepo. Their actions show how the words ‘freedom fighter’ and ‘terrorist” have no meaning and are used only to distinguish between those who are pro- and anti-West. Human rights groups have long complained about the brutalities inflicted by rebels in Syria and it does the West no good to compare them favourably to the IS. By funding these groups and providing them weaponry, the US and its allies become morally culpable in beheadings, kidnappings and wanton murder. To say the other sides are doing the same thing is no justification. Above all, such incidents should show outside forces that they need to stop meddling in Syria and have blood on their hands too. This applies not just to the West but to Turkey as well, which is also a major backer of the Harakat, and Russia, which carried out military strikes on behalf of Assad. Syria has become a playground for world powers to fight out their battles and rivalries and it is children like Issa who are paying the price.