will i be known to you arabs or my fellow arabs? mr. president, my generation and myself remember the very well in their 50s and nearly 60s that we houston be in grade school at the time in syrian schools. and we used to sing to the anthem of the algerian revolution in the morning instead of reciting the syrian national anthem. we also used to give our few pennies pocket money that has a word in syrian dialect to donate this pocket money to arab liberation movements in the gulf that used to be struggling to be liberated. we the children, you still happily donate our pocket money, little as it were to assist our brothers in the gulf so that they would be liberated from the gridlock of colonialism. this was before the oil boom. at a time air abysm was distant from the way to which some view it today. mr. president, allow me to express my appreciation to south africa, personally wisely presiding over the work of the security council for the month. we would like to use this opportunity to stress once again the pride we feel for your people

i did not say he predicted an arab poet known to all arabs and read by all arabs by the name of nasar cab ani. he imagined this scenario and this session years before his death in a very famous poem that starts as follows. damascus, the treasure of my dreams. shall i bemoan to your arabism or shall i bemoan my fellow arabs to you? mr. president, my generation and myself remember very well in the 50's and early 60's that we used to be in grade school at the time in syrian scools and we used to sing to the anthem of the aljeern revolution in the morning instead of reciting the syrian national anthem. we also used to give our few pennies, pocket money, that has a word in syrian dial elect we use to donate this pocket money to arab liberation movements in the gulf that used to be struggling. to be liberated from british colonialism. we, the children, used to happily donate our pocket money, little as it were, to assist our brothers in the gulf so that they would be liberated from the grip of colonialism. this was way before the oil boom. at that time, arabism was different from the way to

known far too long what's been going on in the arab world. the reason there is a thriving arab-american community in the area is because many of us had to leave our homeland due to political persecution or the fact there's no respect for our dignity. in the san francisco bay area, we came together from all over the arab world to live. thank you, again, for coming. i hope you have enjoyed the program to a lot of people have worked very hard. i want to make a few announcements. we could not have done any of this without our sponsors. before we start, a big thank you to the presenting sponsor, the law firm. a round of applause for them. thank you. [applause] also, burgermeister franchise. [applause] and we have ike's place and [inaudible] [applause] we could not have done it without their support. they were very generous. i urge all of you to please support these businesses. without them, we would not have put on this event. >> and now i have the pleasure of introducing the musical ensembles. it is a bay area based ensemble that reaches out to a

shall i bemoan to you arabism or bemoan by fellow arabs to you? mr.esident, my generation and myself remember very well in the 1950s and early 1960s that we used to be in grade schools at the time in syrian schools, and we used to sing to the anthem of the revolution rather than singing the syrian national anthem. we also used to give our few pennys, pocket money, that has a word we use in syrian dialect that we used to donate this pocket money to arab liberation movements in the gulf that used to be struggling to be liberated from british colonialism. we, the children, used to happily donate our pocket money, little as it were, to assist our brothers in the gulf so that they would be liberated from the grip of colonialism. this was way before the oil boom. at the time, arabism was different from the way to which some view arabism today. mr. president, allow me to begin by expressing our appreciation to south africa and to you personally for wisely presiding over the work of the security counsel for the month. we would like to use this opportunity to

now it's happening for your generations of arab americans.d celebrate our diversity. we do our best to understand, to dialogue, and to create more understanding. we celebrate that. that is our strength in san francisco. that's why we have these wonderful celebrations. thank you to the ensemble for sharing your music here and creating a cultural connections. [applause] thank you. we have a wonderful city of san francisco. i know that we pride ourselves in being an international city. begins with celebrating all the diverse cultures and making sure everyone is recognized, that we have our education institutions reflect that, our cities, official events, reflected that but i know i have benefited greatly, not only as an attorney, but as someone who has worked in the city to have worked with so many leaders of the arab-american community. the business leaders have done very well here. knowing, also, the challenges that you face -- i also know there are so many examples of arab-american leadership in the technology world. just look at silicon vall

spring is really the arab spring and not the arab winter? you know, i hate to use the word arab spring, because in spring you don't have the bloodshed and all of these revolutions, it was really very painful and i think that many arab leaders are getting less and trying to change, an and i believe that king mohammed of morocco is really a model of what other arab states could do and fast. >> rose: what do you see as the role of turkey? >> well, turkey is still in a vacuum in the arab world. >> rose: even though it is not an arab state. >> exactly. and remember, turkey was all the way from qatar, to iraq to north africa. >> rose: right. >> so clearly, i value my friend very well and it is still in a vacuum. egypt is busy with its internal situation and iraq is involved in their situation also and saudi arabia right now is trying to assist here and there, so there is a big vacuum,. >> rose: and turkey has filled that vacuum? >> well, tried to fill it up, but arab still looks at turkey with hesitancy, because they utility highsed our region for

we are supporting the work of the arab league.

shall i bemoan to you arabism or bemoan by fellow arabs to you?dent, my generation and myself remember very well in the 1950s and early 1960s that we us to be in grade schools at the time in syrian schools, and we used to sing to the anthem of the revolution rather than singing the syrian national anthem. we also used to give our few pennys, pocket money, that has a word we use in syrian dialect that we used to donate this pocket money to arab liberation movements in the gulf that used to be struggling to be liberated from btish colonialism. we, the cldren, used to happily donate our pocket money, little as it were, to assist our brothers in the gulf so that they would be liberated from the grip of colonialism. this was way before the oil boom. at the time, arabism was different from the way to which some view arabism today. mr. president, allow me to begin by expressing our appreciation to south africa and to you personally for wisely presiding over the work of the security counsel for the month. we would like to use this opportunity to stress on

we are seeking to back the arab league, the arab league the way pent. calling for a transitioned how? for the first if i am. you're doing things here that aren't, you're not ready for that, are you. >> this is agd it -- this is their z. the bidding of the west is what the russians are trying to do. they're complicated, too. long relationship with syria in commercial and political terms. they know what's going on is wrong. they're doing what they can behind the scenes but they can't quite bring themselves to support a revolution that we've been looking for. so what's happening yesterday and today is to try to get that resolution. it's got to be syrian led at the end of the day. it's not capable of a solution like libya as there is no western intervention boots on the ground. if anything, it has to be arab inspired. the best thing that can happen is the austerity opposition should come together to support what the arab league is proposing in the way of a transition. but the united states. he has lost its grip and we must let him go. so we must work hard w

the arab league has also decided to enforce the economic sanctions of previous resolutions of the arab league and agreed on a meeting of friends in syria to take place in tunisia on the 24th of february. we welcome this development. the meetings will provide a timely opportunity to build an international consensus area and put forward urgent proposals to stop the killings and seek a peaceful outcome of the current crisis. there is no doubt th the e.u. and the high representative will take an active path in this endeavor. the high representative has also offered their expertise in the area sanctions and hs expressed the need to ordinate closely and a dialogue with opposition groups through the work of the u.n. front must go on. we continue to seek supportive part is said that the security council can come back to this issue in due course and agree on a strong resolution in syria. the high representative is making the case rapidly with members of the security council and regional partners to achieve this goal. the e.u.'s message for us in china is clear. they should not be on the wrong s

the eleven month long bloody volatile crisis here in syria on the arab western conspiracy in support of the armed terror groups of great and here in the country and syria is the best of the to cairo where the ministers of the twenty two countries of the arab league will meet in test side has come out actually with a very strong statement saying that this initiative by the arab league mirrors hysterics over the countries of this alliance of the healer to secure the u.n. security council's interference in the countries in syria's internal affairs have to china and russia vetoed the resolution many of those we've managed to speak to here in damascus also fear that this initiative make pave the way to foreign military intervention is something they are really afraid of and they're very much opposed to moscow has been very quick to react following the meeting with the foreign minister of the united arab emirates russia's foreign minister sergey lavrov has sat that russia needs more information more details on this plan to consider how successful how effective it could be. first in order t

i grew up as a young girl in this country of arab heritage, and very interested in my arab roots through my father's side. but i grew up... he worked for president kennedy, for example, as his federal aviation administrator, and actually reached the highest level of a minority, i believe, in the us government at that stage. and so i grew up wanting... infused by the spirit of the kennedy administration, of the civil rights movement, of the peace corps. my heroes were people like president kennedy, martin luther king, and i wanted to join the peace corps. i didn't... had no interest in royalty, or in thinking out changing myself. and in fact, to this day, i don't think i'm any different, except in what i have learned and experienced over time. i'm still the young woman who grew up in the united states, and whose life has evolved to encompass other cultures, other societies, and unimaginable responsibilities and love that as a young girl i wouldn't even have dreamt of. >> hinojosa: so you brought it up, love. there is something about your story which i think... peoe e thpower of this love,

this we have the arab league report which was a very and as you said earlier the arab league blame both sides for violence yet the arab league itself is saying you know that they that they support the opposition possible forms of assistance and so the one how they're trying to pretend to be honest brokers on the other hand they're not on the facts opposite. foreign powers are now mulling over deploying a peacekeeping mission of sorts to syria how feasible do you think that is well first of all to have a peacekeeping force you've got to have peace and why haven't we got peace in syria over the last eleven months that the government has said they would make concessions the government's been open to talks but the opposition has been egged on by irresponsible west powers and its allies and i think they would have had a peaceful solution to this months ago had the opposition not been egged on by the west they are being encouraged to take a very hard line the west has been denouncing the government violence but it hasn't been denouncing the violence by the opposition and until it does does th

has increasingly become an instrument of several key arab states particularly the g.c.c. states and cannot unfortunately be seen to be a neutral party in the syrian crisis so so so. the arab league monitors in syria there were only as you put it they report so european qatar withdrew their prisoners for the reason you just mentioned law i think if you look at arab states like saudi arabia and qatar i think from their point of view the arab league initiative and the sending of monitors and so on was never really about resolving the crisis i think it was about laying the groundwork for international intervention or at least the internationalization of the syrian crisis that came to an end with the russian and chinese veto of the united nations security council is for this reason that as we were talking earlier i think it's increasingly likely that they will now start to look at ways of for example sending arms to the syrian army. impression in general is like a period like twenty three days this is the nerve to evaluate the situation twenty three days since the army i mean

between iran and the arab neighbors. .. that we have had with them and we do have an ambassador level representative do them as i mentioned earlier, but i also figure 1 of the roles of the wider international coalition that we were just discussing a few moments ago who would need to meet with the various putin opposition. i think that would be for the opposition to proposed their plan to make their clear commitment to a democratic future for their country. and set out the community to human rights and protection of minorities to try to come together and one of the challenges for them is to come to, to develop a single platform and a single agreed agreement taking concern. so we will -- there is no particular limit on resources we can provide. we have provided training and documentation of human rights abuses and strategic communications and so on. we may be able to do more in the future. >> as the foreign secretary said it was very impressive on the bbc yesterday but before we go to army the opposition the marine corps will

russia says it will study an arab league proposal for a joint arab u.n. peacekeeping mission in syria foreign minister sergei lavrov says that a cease fire should be achieved before a new kind of mission of this should be deployed or he's sorry for the latest. russia's foreign minister sergey lavrov was needing today with his year a counterpart they were discussing the ongoing situation in syria over the weekend of course the arab league called for a new joint u.n. arab peacekeeping mission to enter the country now the foreign minister responded today schools by saying the russia would consider that proposal but the implementation that would come with a number of conditions. first in order to deploy a peacekeeping mission we need the agreement of the host secondly there should first be peace which the peacekeeping mission will then help sustain in other words there should be a kind of cease fire agreement but the trouble is that armed groups fighting with the regime's forces cannot listen to anyone and are not controlled by anyone there one of the crucial

the arab league is expected to call on the u.n. security council to pass a resolution creating a joint peacekeeping force for syria the group also wants more international support for the opposition and hopes to pull further pressure on the regime where we hope to get some reaction from cairo a little later on the latest developments concerning the arab league meetings there but in the meantime let's now cross live to london and talk to author and journalist action returns see. action with the arab league now looking very likely to be calling for a joint un peacekeeping mission for an intervention is inevitable now isn't it. one module dictators talking about another dictator i think the arab league is being used presumably as some kind of proxy because we know that the united states and the european union have all but military intervention. could happen should happen some sources even saying british sure special forces already in the ground so maybe there is already foreign intervention we know there is some kinds of foreign inter

today and over this week you're watching the weekly with me rule research the arab league is mulling over what further action to take on the crisis in syria with reports of continued escalating violence meanwhile the head of the group's observer mission has just resigned just as a proposal is being considered to again send monitors from the league and the u.n. to the country more on this we're now joined live by going to live for us in cairo where the pan arab body is meeting reno what can we expect to come out of the league's meeting today any chance it will bring any change to the ongoing crisis in syria. well it is hard to say at the moment one one thing that you can say for sure is that the syrian national council may be a looking forward to some of the arab states here who are participating to recognize them officially at this point only libya recognizes this is see as they as an official body however it is hard to say again what exactly will come out of this meeting of course the the violence in syria has been escalating there are claims by the by the opposition for saying is t

league and they discussed the possibility the arab observers and the arab league monitoring presence which had been on the ground and getting around a bit but is has now been suspended. >> charlie: there are interesting things about this and one, do you believe the president of syria having done what he has already done in terms of killing syrians, having crossed some boundary would be willing to accept any kind of negotiated settlement. >> charlie, he's got very stark choices. first of all, the economy is crumbling. they can't sell their oiln$&ñ a their currency is collapsing and you're hearing the same reports that even in damascus there are critical shortages that have emerged where months ago it would have been unheard of and there are defectors leaving not only the army but the regime and the opposition which has been until recently and still substantially peaceful to date in the face of the killing is more determined than ever to keep up their efforts. i said the other day in a different context it seems objectively when you look at the trajectories asad's days are number and t

arab league secretary general nabil. >> arab states aim at taking us as the syrian crisis in an arab context. we are attempting to avoid any foreign intervention. particularly military intervention. >> suarez: the draft resolution demands an end to the syrian government crackdown on the opposition. the plan would also require assad to hand over power to his vice president. that, in turn, is supposed to set the stage for a new unity government. the resolution before the security council says if assad fails to comply within 15 days, he could face unspecified further measures. despite the threat that syrians showed no signs of giving ground. >> the syrian people were always capable of solving its crises and internal problems alone. it has never accepted any form of foreign intervention in its internal affairs and affairs of its homeland syria. >> suarez: but it may never come to that. russia, a key syrian ally, has veto power in the council and foreign minister sergei visiting australia today called the resolution a path to civil war. >> i hope that knowledgeable people, reasonable peop

is debating two rival resolutions on syria the one between by russia and china was proposed by the arab league the western powers. it tickles for the syrian president to step down and proposes something canonic sanctions including an arms embargo the russian version of visions ending the violence through negotiations only and all over the west old. school succeeded as. both bash and the opposition agreed to get around the table. mr rabbani welcome to the show thank you very much for coming for being with us and my first question is about the mediaeval moscow has become a many enter in the talks between the syrian opposition and. namely the syrian national council and president do you think this can be considered a good and the step towards a peaceful solution of the conflict we're only programs like this a military solution well i certainly hope it will succeed because as you indicated yourself this may well be one of the very final opportunities to prevent an even bigger catastrophe and in syria i think there are basically two questions one is the question of transition and the other o

the reason there is a thriving arab-

states support them last sunday the arab league vote still for full political and financial support for the opposition to unify its ranks it. similar call from the leader of al qaeda. to unite efforts to help overthrow bashar al assad recent reports suggest iraqi weapons qatari troops and libyan rebels a role in syria on the opposition side this makes for a volatile and highly dangerous makes. many western powers interested in fomenting unrest and syria and so they'll turn a blind eye to extreme weapons coming in through borders like lebanon in turkey to create the very militants i won't call them terrorists but very dangerous armed groups but the west has its eyes wide open when it comes to the reported death toll to come of the no one figure more than five thousand employees civilians only but that figure leaves out any mention of pro-government forces killed in the conflict some say the numbers are destroyed to meet a political objectives. our number so far of six thousand. six thousand but you would be surprised to know that over two thousand eight hundred. this is. good comment

league's reportedly calling for a joint arab league u.n. peacekeeping force to be sent into syria president assad has already rejected the idea do you think it's a good idea i don't think it's a good idea to send any so-called peacekeeping forces i mean first we have to say what is the arab league the arab league is essentially a morri bond organization which is brought to life when the west needs it too it is played no active role for the last twenty five years in any positive sense in the region but surely the involvement of the arab league which is kind of a local regional group is better than the involvement of the un or nato as exterior organizations well it's fine having observers from them if they do their reporting accurately but foreign troops i mean you know who will be the foreign troops there the arab league said saudis said cut through these these sort of big vote crews of democracy in the region i mean that's utterly ridiculous it doesn't make sense at all i think the pressure has to be kept up on the externally nonviolent pre