Humanitarian, military and diplomatic response to the syrian conflict hosted by the middle east institute. It is about 90 minutes. Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. Im very sorry for the delay this morning. Other news is keeping our moderator busy, but he will be here in five or 10 minutes. I thought in the interest of time and because we are on air on cspan, we should get moving. Ill be giving some opening remarks. I think well get started on some of our opening remarks and then very swiftly alex will be a real start a moderated discussion. First of all, welcome to the middle east institute. Thank you ever so much for joining us to this extremely important event. Someone who is worked on syria and particularly on idlib nonstop for the last nine years, i can safely say that events like this couldnt come at a more important time. Im also not aware of any other events like this one happening in washington these days, so im extremely glad its taken place. The crisis that has developed in northwestern syria in recent months is entirely unprecedented. Not just after nine years of war in syria, but in this whole world modern history. And yet despite the sheer enormity of the crisis, the world has really get to do more than issue public statements of concern. Im going to keep my opening remarks pretty brief because if i get carried away, ill end up saying everything i plan to say on the panel. But i do want to say from the outset i am so grateful to have such an esteemed panel of experts and practitioners, all you willill lend invaluabled perspective to understanding what relates a complex but extraordinarily important issue. First on our far left we have dr. Zaher sahloul who is the founder and president of medglobal, and medical in june of that seeks to reduce healthcare disparity by providing Free Health Care to refugees and displaced people. Dr. Sahloul has just returned from a medical mission inside idlib where he visited humanitarian partners, met with recently displaced people in idp camps and treated patient in the largest hospital Still Standing in idlib. He shared his experiences in the last few weeks in details of the ongoing crisis with the u. N. Secretary generals office. Dr. Sahloul is also a former president of the Syrian American medical society, the cofounder of the American Relief coalition for syria, and a cofounder of the syria faith initiative. He was also awarded the of the year in 2016 for his medical work. Elizabeth tsurkov is a fellow and middle east program at Foreign Policy research institute. Shes a doctoral student in Political Science at princeton university, and i should add a prolific writer on all things syria. Her research is primarily based on an Large Network of contacts shes cultivated across syria as well as fieldwork across the region. Shes also Research Fellow at the forum for regional thinking, a progressive israelipalestinian think tank based in jerusalem. Elizabeth has worked as a consultant with the International Crisis group, the atlantic council, and the European Institute for peace, among many other places. She has a decade of experience working with human rights organizations in middle east defending the rights of refugees, migrants, laborers, palestinians and ethnic and religious minorities. Alex marquardt will be here shortly, and is an awardwinning National Correspondent based on cnns Washington Bureau focusing on National Security issues. Alex spent most of the past decade as a Foreign Correspondent for abc news based in moscow, jerusalem, beirut and london. He spent considerable time on the front lines of wars and uprisings in the middle east. He reported on the refugee and migrant crisis, covered the wave of terror attacks in europe but y isis. He was among the first cairo as thes in revolution exploded, and to make many trips in syria to report on the war from both the regime and rebel sites. He was ground in gaza during the wars with israel and he traveled across ukraine as the Russian Military invaded. So on behalf of the middle east institute, welcome to all two, soon to be three of you. Really looking forward to this important discussion that will follow. The last thing i will say is one final note before we do hand it over. Questions for the panelists, and polling questions from all of you in the audience and from Live Television via the interactive site. I believed information, yes, is on the screen here. If you go to the website on your smartphones or any Electronic Device and enter the code 622500 , you will be able to submit your own questions throughout the event, answer two polls which i will go through in a second, at anytime during the panel and you can see and upload vote other peoples questions threat the panel as well. This will essentially allow our moderator to keep the engage discussion going with all your input throughout the whole event. And i should just add the first poll here is a relatively straightforward one, should the u. S. Try to play a role in stopping the violence in idlib . You can vote yes or no. You will see the results change as we go. The second one, which im hoping will come up because i dont have it in front of me it will come up in a minute and be similarly straightforward. But there will be a with more second one answers to the question which will probably give us a bit more of an interesting, more complex response. On that note i will go and sit , and take my place on the panel. Alex has arrived and will be here shortly. We will start going through with elizabeth first. Perhaps i will follow on and then dr. Sahloul will conclude. Thank you so much for coming here. This is a crucial moment in the history of the syrian uprising that turned into civil war, and i think when we reflect back on this time, also in the history of the 21st century this is essentially a humanitarian crisis of extreme proportion. And it actually has the significant potential to get worse. So i wanted to draw our attention to the fact that, first of all were talking about a massive crisis. Since the start by the regime in russia and later on Iranian Forces joined as well, we are talking over 1 Million People displaced from their homes towards the border with turkey. Those individuals cannot return to their homes. Unless ceasefires put in place. These people will not be able to return. Were talking about the start of a protracted displacement crisis, or more correctly, the acceleration of a displacement crisis. Essentially most of the population in idlib, population about 3 Million People, most of them are now displaced from their homes. They are no longer living in their homes and living along the stretch of land on the border with turkey in camps if they are lucky. And just outside in the cold, under trees, if they cannot even find a tent. This situation will not improve made to securee the area from which people fled to allow people to return. Two areas that will not be under regime control because the population fears returning. Cities, population largely not return, it is not safe to return, and therefore we are talking about a crisis, but these people have no homes to return to. In conversation with people in idlib, ive been speaking to people there for many years. The level of desperation and the genuine belief that they are about to die en mass is very prevalent. This of course has an effect on the ability and willingness of people to resist what is happening, to resist both in trying to still care for the community and trying to remain resilient and also military resistance. There is a sense that this is futile, but asset actors have basically decided their fate and, therefore, they might as well take up and leave instead of trying to save the town. Move toebodied men displacement camps. This is what is contributing to the rapid advancement of line forces. I think that for people who spend time in idlib as dr. Sahloul has, people who speak a lot to the population, theres also the sense that this population this is a population , who even before the crisis, half of that were displaced in other areas. So people refuse to live under the assad regime, who were bused to these areas. A strong population that has endured a numerous levels of violence. Enormous bubbles of violence with institutions, with mutual support. This is breaking apart. People are being pushed to the edge where they can no longer take care of their community. They are now focusing on new survival, of survival for themselves, to feed themselves and their children. The humanitarian crisis is of such proportion that this society, this very, very strong resilience is now breaking apart. There are still people for trying to help others. There are major ngo workers but there is this sense that everything is just falling apart. I think the fact that such a strong population is now tearing at the seams goes to show what people have been subjected to. Through airstrikes, the mass displacement. People also know what happens to people who remain behind in the towns that are captured by the regime. The few who did so, a tiny, tiny minority, images have emerged of people being executed or people being tortured after being captured, and this is something that is creating a real sense of terror among the population. They expect the regime will continue to advance towards them. Turkish intervention is limited. Theres an honest belief that they are about to die, and when i talk to people and i try to understand what will they do, what are they thinking and doing next, some say when it gets will storm the Turkish Border, which is the main turkish concern. While others are just saying this is our fate and this is what will happen to them and we expect that you should expect it. , wek them not to accept it are talking about population most of the population our children, 51 , many women there. Thank you. Thank you, elizabeth. Go ahead. Im going to start with a quiz. If you are used to this culture, the man, family or someone with the children will quiz about something. Said the war in syria and has little to do with us . We should be using our diplomatic power to insist on a ceasefire and negotiated peace, instead based on some measures of political participation, accountability, and the conditions for that concern of refugees. Who said that . Ill help you. Its not President Trump. It is not the secretarygeneral. Jolie. A yesterday in an oped. What we are witnessing with the Syrian Crisis is the lack of leadership in the u. S. Especially, and in the u. N. In general. Especially the secretarygeneral. Thats why we have an endless nineyear of war and suffering in syria. In order to attract the attention of the media or policymakers, it has to be unprecedented. If we had only a few thousand people displaced in syria, no one will say anything. It has to be 900,000 people in a few months in order for the media to respond to the Syrian Crisis. A couple of days ago cnn contacted me because they want to have an interview about idlib. Then they called and they said sorry, we have breaking news. I said, what was the breaking news . They said the previous governor illinois, rod blagojevich, will be released and this is more important for us. So i was thinking that you have one corrupt governor who is in prison being released, and this this is a big news now compared to 900,000 people who are suffering in idlib, who have no shelter. Some of them are freezing to death, and the media cannot basically cover these two stories. Why is the media important . Because when the media covers. Ur story, it puts pressure when the media decides that 900,000 humans in idlib should be perceived as humans like us, then our policymakers should Pay Attention to them. Our policymaker will Pay Attention. This this is not been happening in syria for the past nine years except when you have short windows of opportunity. I came from idlib a couple of months ago. I am a physician from chicago. I have been going back and forth to syria for the past nine years. Other places, mostly Northern Syria. I have also been in other disaster regions including yemen, gaza, puerto rico, help with the refugee crisis. My Organization Provides health care to the refugees who are displaced. But what i see in idlib is something that have seen in any other disaster region. Im not saying that because im originally from syria. Im saying as as a humanitarian, as a physician. Im going to mention a few , andles of people i met that speaks to the resilience that elizabeth has been talking about. I met with a neurosurgeon from my city originally, used to come to the United States every year for courses and been applied what he learned back in syria. He was the best neurosurgeon in syria. When the uprising started, he treated some of the victims of the snipers. For those who do not understand crisis,of the syrian when the uprising started by demonstrations, Peaceful Demonstrations by young people mostly in the street, asking for political reform. The regime used several tactics to prevent what happened in egypt and tunisia where you have a change in the regime, and i think you have been in egypt and you witnessed it. They used snipers to shoot at demonstrators. Peaceful demonstrators in many cities. When doctors treated the victims of snipers, then doctors were put in prison. They were tortured. Some of them were tortured to death. They also found the peaceful activists that are leading these demonstration by killing, by torture, by putting in prison. They also trained and recruited to fight american troops in iraq and basically this is predictable what they will do. We know jihadists will start carrying arms and causing the uprising to transform from peaceful to sectarian and so forth. And he allowed it to fester in many areas in syria. While targeting the moderates opposition in many other areas. He knew that the d d jihadists would form isis and other groups. He tried to kill the uprising by using chemical weapons more than 200 times. By targeting hospitals and doctors, according to physicians for human rights, more than 580 hospitals were bombed in syria mostly by the assad regime in and russia. More than 900 and doctors and nurses were killed in syria while they are discharging the ir humanitarian duty. The neurosurgeon was part of the doctors who was treating victims. His family was wiped out by the regime. His brother was imprisoned and he was surrounded, and then when the city was controlled by the regime, then he was displaced but he continued to perform neurosurgery on the victims of war and also community for brain tumors and stroke and things like that. When the north was overrun by the regime, then he moved to up in one of the largest hospitals. He continues to go to the hospitals knowing that he may not return to his family alive every day. These heroes should be our heroes. Every physician and nurse and Health Care Worker in the United States of america should be aware of these heroes. They do their duty knowing that they may be killed while treating their community. When we talk about the resilience of the community in idlib, the main reason for the resilience is you have hospitals and clinics that are treating the children of the families and the community that is there. People told me in aleppo and idlib that they will take the chance of living in neighborhoods and cities that would have bombs and missiles, but when you do not have a physician that will treat your kid when they have fever, then they will leave. When we are talking about half of the population of syria displaced, half of the population, 12 Million People in syria displaced living inside and outside. The main reason is the tactic by the regime, to bomb hospitals, to destroy hospitals, to bomb schools and destroy schools and bomb markets and destroy markets. The infrastructure. That is leading to the displacement of the population and showing on social media the extreme brutality that will happen to people who are left behind. So now on social media you are seeing these videos of denigration of tombs by assad regime militia. That means he is showing the syrians, even your death will not be spared by our brutality. If you move back to these areas, you are going to have the same fate. Im going to speak also about the children of syria. This is the drawing i brought with me from idlib with children of one of the refugee camp, or displaced camps. This is a drawing that was drawn with mud because its very muddy. There was flooding in the camp and we had to wear long boots to navigate the mud. This child, she is 12 years old. She was displaced with her family seven times, seven times. In many other wars, you have one or two displacement. 7, 8ria, you have displacement of the families and the population going north or going to idlib, now theres no more idlib. These people do not have any other place to go. The 3 Million People in idlib are trapped. They cannot go to any of the to any other place. So if you think they can flee to lebanon or iraq, they cannot flee. It is landlocked. The fate of these 3 Million People over and over. She told me she wants to be a doctor. Actually most of the children that i have seen in the camp, they wanted to be doctors and teachers and architects. Our government here a source of healing not only in syria but for the whole middle east. Being source of stability and stability in chaos and extremism. If we just focus on syria, Pay Attention to it, because syria is important. Not because the iphone was invented by a Syrian American but because because of the geography of syria. Thats the revenge of geography. Because of location of syria, the countries that are around three, the fact that many may go through syria, or many things common history of syria, it is very impo