Here’s an open letter to Stop the War Coalition that I signed which (yet again) highlights their support of those who defend oppressive regimes like Iran’s and Syria’s. The open letter was published here. You can read it below.

By the way, here’s a good article by James Bloodworth on this issue saying she is “the equivalent of one of Hitler’s brown priests” and that though she has now pulled out, she would have fitted in so very well…

News recently broke that Stop the War Coalition (StWC) invited Mother Superior Agnès Mariam de la Croix to speak at its November 30 International Anti-War Conference. Fellow guests included MPs Diane Abbott and Jeremy Corbyn and journalists Owen Jones and Jeremy Scahill.

Responding to a firestorm of protest, Jones and Scahill vowed to boycott the event if the Syrian-based nun spoke alongside them. Eventually she decided to “withdraw” from the conference and StWC issued a statement without explanation. Nor did it divulge why anyone would object to a Syrian cleric’s participation in an ostensibly pro-peace event.

Here are some reasons why we consider Mother Agnès-Mariam’s inclusion in an anti-war event to be a “red line” for opponents of conflict. Despite contrary claims, she is a partisan to—rather than a neutral observer of—the war in Syria.

Mother Agnès claimed that the Syrian opposition faked films of Bashar al-Assad’s 21 August 2013 sarin-gas attack on Ghouta in the suburbs of Damascus. In her 50-page dossier on the horrible events of that fateful morning, she wrote that the dead, gassed children documented in those videos “seem mostly sleeping” and “under anaesthesia.”

According to Father Paolo Dall’Oglio, a Jesuit priest exiled by the Assad regime for speaking out against its suppression of peaceful protests and currently a prisoner of al-Qa’ida’s Syrian affiliate, ISIS, Mother Agnes “has been consistent in assuming and spreading the lies of the regime, and promoting it through the power of her religious persona. She knows how to cover up the brutality of the regime”.

Moreover, Syrian Christians for Peace have denounced Mother Agnès for claiming there had never been a single peaceful demonstration in Syria. The also accused her of failing to disburse any of the money she raised in the name of their beleaguered community. They have asked “that she be excommunicated and prevented from speaking in the name of the Order of Carmelites.”

Having a massacre denier and apologist for war criminals like Mother Agnès speak alongside respected journalists such as Jeremy Scahill and Owen Jones is not only an insult to them and their principles. It is also, more insidiously, a means of exploiting their credibility and moral authority to bolster hers, both of which are non-existent.  No journalist should be sharing a platform with Agnès when she stands accused of being complicit in the death of French journalist Gilles Jacquier by his widow and a colleague who accompanied him into Homs during the trip arranged by Mother Agnès in January 2012.

Given that her UK speaking tour is still scheduled to last from the 21st to 30th November we, the undersigned, feel compelled to express our profound and principled objections to those who give a platform to a woman condemned by Syrian pro-peace Christians for greasing the skids of the regime’s war machine.

Signatories:

1. Prof. Gilbert Achcar, SOAS
2. Assaad al-Achi, Local Coordination Committees in Syria
3. Rime Allaf, Syrian writer
4. Omar al-Assil, Syrian Non-Violence Movement
5. Hussam Ayloush, Chairman, Syrian American Council
6. Noor Barotchi, Bradford Syria Solidarity
7. Mark Boothroyd, International Socialist Network
8. Kat Burdon-Manley, International Socialist Network
9. Clara Connolly, Human Rights lawyer
10. Paul Conroy, photojournalist
11. Donnacha DeLong, National Union of Journalists
12. Hannah Elsisi, Egyptian Revolutionary Socialist
13.  Raed Fares, Head of Kafranabel Media Centre
14. Naomi Foyle, writer and co-ordinator of British Writers in Support of Palestine
15. Razan Ghazzawi, Syrian blogger and activist
16. Christine Gilmore,  Leeds Friends of Syria
17. Golan Haji, poet and translator
18. Marcus Halaby, staff writer, Workers Power
19. Sam Charles Hamad, activist
20. Nebal Istanbouly, Office Manager of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces (SOC) in the UK
21. Tehmina Kazi, human rights activist
22. Ghalia Kabbani, Syrian journalist and writer
23. Khaled Khalifa, Syrian writer
24. Malik Little, blogger
25. Amer Scott Masri, Scotland4Syria
26. Margaret McAdam, Unite Casa Branch NW567 (pc)
27. Yassir Munif, sociologist and activist
28. Tom Mycock, Unite shop steward (pc)
29. Maryam Namazie, Spokesperson, Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain and Fitnah – Movement for Women’s Liberation
30. Tim Nelson, Unison Shop Steward (pc)
31. Louis Proyect, Counterpunch contributor
32. Martin Ralph, VP Liverpool TUC (pc)
33. Ruth Riegler, co-founder of Radio Free Syria, Syrian International Media Alliance
34. Mary Rizzo, activist, translator and blogger
35. Christopher Roche and Dima Albadra, Bath Solidarity
36. Walid Saffour, Representative of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces (SOC) in the UK
37. Gita Sahgal, Centre for Secular Space
38. David St Vincent, contributing writer and editor, National Geographic Books
39. Reem Salahi, civil rights lawyer
40. Salim Salamah, Palestinian blogger
41. Yassin al-Haj Saleh, Syrian writer
42. Richard Seymour, author
43. Bina Shah, author and contributor to the International New York Times
44. Leila Shrooms, founding member of Tahrir-ICN
45. Luke Staunton, International Socialist Network
46. KD Tait, National Secretary, Workers Power
47. Peter Tatchell, human rights campaigner
48. Paris Thompson, International Socialist Network
49. Hassan Walid, Anas el-Khani and Abdulwahab Sayyed Omar, British Solidarity for Syria
50. Robin Yassin-Kassab, author and co-editor of Critical Muslim
51. Qusai Zakariya, activist from Moadamiyeh, Syria
52. Nisreen al-Zaraee and Wisam al-Hamoui. Freedom Days
53. Tasneem al-Zeer, activist
54. Razan Zeitouneh, human rights lawyer
55. Ziauddin Sardar, writer, journalist and editor of the Critical Muslim