A group of LLM and JD students at the Syracuse University College of Law recently held a silent stand as a form of solidarity with the people in the besieged cities of Madaya and Zabadani in Syria.

The stand was a call for the UN to move fast and find a long lasting solution that will save the rest of the people and children stuck inside the cities and threatened to be dead out of hunger every moment. It is also a call to all political parties to push toward ending the siege of civilians and other humanitarian violations to be a solid ground for a lasting political solution.

Madaya is located in the eastern countryside of Damascus, the capital of Syria, close to the Lebanese boarders. The city has been besieged for more than 200 days now by the regime forces and Hezbulla militia, a Lebanese militia loyal to the regime and supported by Iran. Zabadani, a close by city to Madaya, was also besieged and witnessed violent shelling and clashes by the regime and Hezbulla. The two cities are among tens of cities in the countryside of Damascus and elsewhere participated in the Syrian revolution since its start in March, 2011. There are 40,000 people in the city, including 20,000 who fled Zabadani and tried to find refuge in Madaya.

After failing to enter and conquer Madaya and Zabadani due to the rebels and civilians resistance, the regime and Hezbulla forces started a new tactic of starvation. Madaya is completely besieged and surrounded by landmines placed by the regime and Hezbulla to prevent any movement in or out of the city. It is a systematic and continuous starvation that aims to punish and force people to sell and leave their land in a step to change the demographic shape of the area for sectarian reasons.

More than 25 death conditions were documented by Doctors Without Borders in their report in January 07, 2016 due to hunger and starvation, and the number is rising with the passing of every day.

Silence and feeling powerless is no longer a sufficient response to the humanitarian and war crimes happening in Syria. We, the people of the world, have the power of our voices and our moral commitment to say enough is enough. Let us end the siege and end part of the Syrian misery.

Dima Hussain
LL.M student at the SU College of Law ’16

Ahmed Hmeedat
LL.M student at the SU College of Law ’16

Published on March 6, 2016 at 1:18 am