AUSTRALIANS AND SYRIANS IN ONE WORLD

Australians for Reconciliation and Truth Towards Syria (ArttS)

To secure a sustainable, equitable world – one without war – the work of peace-building, truth-telling and reconciliation will be critical. At the core of that work will be deep listening.

The Uluru Statement from the Heart is an opportunity for Australia to become a more inclusive and mature nation. Using both heart and mind, we have the possibility of transforming Australia’s character, and thus of working more confidently at an international level for a sustainable, equitable world. 

For the latter, a challenging starting point would be to reset Australia’s relationship with Syria, another country whose antiquity informs its present. 

The current plight of the Syrian people should give us cause to review our assumptions as well as government policies vis-à-vis Syria. What has determined those assumptions and policies? Who have we been listening to, and who have we been ignoring? 

Since 2011, Australia, in line with its strategic allies, the US and the UK, has imposed coercive universal sanctions on Syria that have negatively impacted the lives of millions of people. 

A UN expert states that these sanctions are ‘suffocating’ Syria. They have contributed to the impoverishment of 90% of the Syrian population, and female-led households are the most impacted. The expert questions the legality of such sanctions. Why do they continue?

In the West, the perspectives of people within Syria (particularly those of women, who are key knowledge holders) have mostly been ignored, allowing skewed political or ideological narratives to override empathetic, human ones. 

If we are to respond to Syrians as fellow humans and if Australia is to exist within ‘a community of civilisations’ in a fair and peaceful world, hearing multiple perspectives and rethinking assumptions will be essential. Positive change can emerge.

The focus of ArttS: 

1. Opening respectful ‘doors’ to Syria by promoting contact between the people of Syria and Australia, particularly in the Arts
2. Creating opportunities for Australians to learn about the impact of sanctions on the lives of families in Syria
3. Responding to media reports that diminish and distort the lives, concerns and truths of Syrians
4. Examining the narratives used to justify sanctions on Syria
5. Lobbying the Australian government to lift all unilateral coercive sanctions it has imposed on Syria

July 2023

ArttS is an initiative of Australians, including Syrian Australians, who are deeply concerned about the catastrophic impact unilateral coercive sanctions are having on the lives of Syrians. ArttS works closely with ‘Beloved Syria’. This initiative has been welcomed by people within the arts community in Syria.

Susan Dirgham

President of ‘Australians for Reconciliation and Truth Towards Syria’ (Artts)