Talking points NEWS 2314 March 2020 THE WEEKSlaughter in Idlib: ahuman catastrophe“Nevercrossariverthatis
onaveragefourfeetdeep.”
EssayistNassimNicholas
Taleb,quotedinTheTimes
“Timesarebad.Children
nolongerobeytheir
parents,andeveryoneis
writingabook.”
Attrib.Cicero,ibid.
“Everysainthasapast,and
everysinnerhasafuture.”
OscarWilde,quotedin
TheSpectator
“Childrendon’tanalyse,
theyonlyexperience.”
NovelistJamesScudamore
inTheDailyTelegraph
“Men,likepeaches
andpears,growsweet
alittlewhile before they
beginto decay.”
Oliver WendellHolmes,
quotedinForbes
“Theparticularcharmof
marriageistheduologue,
the permanent conversation
betweentwo peoplewho
talkovereverythingand
everyone tilldeath breaks
the record.”
CyrilConnolly,quotedon
ArtsJournal.com
“Asuperior pilot uses his
superiorjudgementto avoid
situationswhichrequirethe
use ofhissuperiorskill.”
AstronautFrankBorman,
quoted inTheTimes
“Ibelieveinanopenmind,
butnotsoopenthatyour
brains fallout.”
NewYorkTimespublisher
ArthurHaysSulzberger,
quotedintheInewspaper
“Wehave allabetter guide
in ourselves, if wewould
attend to it, than any other
personcanbe.”
Jane Austen, quoted on
BookRiot.com“Itsoundsliketheplotofa
luridcrimethriller,”saidthe
DailyMail.Inajudgment
publishedlastweek,Sheikh
MohammedbinRashid
al-Maktoum–therulerof
Dubaiandoneoftheworld’s
richestmen–wasfoundbya
UKcourttohaveorchestrated
thekidnappingoftwoofhis
growndaughters,andtohave
mountedacampaignof
intimidationthatleftthe
youngestofhissixwivesinfear
forherlife,afterdiscoveringher
affairwithabodyguard.Inhis
ruling,thejudge,SirAndrew
McFarlane,statedthatthe
70-year-oldhadorderedthe
unlawfulabductionofPrincessShamsa,then
19,fromaCambridgestreetin 20 00,andthe
snatchingofhersister,PrincessLatifa,then
32 ,fromayachtintheIndianOceanin 2018.
Both had triedto escape theirfather’sclutches.
Neitherwomanhasbeenseenin publicsince.
Therevelationswere made afterhis youngest
wife,45-year-oldPrincess Haya,the daughter
ofKing Hussein ofJordan,fled toLondon
last Aprilwiththeirtwochildren,saidOwen
Bowcottin The Guardian.Sheikh Mohammed’s
attempttohavethechildren returned toDubai
triggeredalegalactioninthe UKfamilycourts,
whichHayaresisted byseekingaForced
MarriageProtectionOrderin relationtotheir
12-year-olddaughter;she claimedthatthe
sheikhplannedtomarrythegirl
offtothecrownprinceofSaudi
Arabia.Sincethecasewasheld
inacivilcourt,McFarlane’s
fact-findingjudgmentwas
made“onthebalanceof
probabilities”–ratherthanto
thecriminalstandard,whichis
“beyondareasonabledoubt”.
ButhefoundthatPrincess
Haya’sallegations,exceptfor
thatrelatedtoforcedmarriage,
hadbeenestablished.“Thiscouldhardlybemore
serious,”saidTheGuardian.
Asthecourtnoted,Sheikh
Mohammed’sactionswere
“contrarytothecriminallaw
ofEnglandandWales,internationallaw,
internationalmaritimelawandinternationally
acceptedhumanrightsnorms”.Shockingly,
thecasealsoraisesthepossibilitythatthe
UKgovernment intervenedtoclose down the
investigationintoPrincessShamsa’sabduction.
TheForeignOfficedeclinedtoshareinformation
abouttheincident withthe court;the United
ArabEmiratesisone ofBritain’skeyalliesinthe
PersianGulf,and amajorcustomerforBritish
exports.Thecase remindsuswhywe shouldbe
“verygrateful”forourlegalsystem, saidBobby
Friedman inTheDailyTelegraph. Itdidnot
matterhowrichorpowerfulthesheikhwas;
thejudge wasprepared tomakeadevastating
judgmentagainst him. Theruling shows“why
ourcourtsare trustedthroughouttheworld”.Sheikh Mohammed: akidnapper unmaskedThedisgracedsheikhwithHaya“Fewplaceson Eartharemoremiserable than
Idlibprovince,the last bigpocketofrebel-held
territoryinwar-tornSyria,”saidTheEconomist.
Itishometo aboutthreemillion people, half of
whomonlyfledtheretoescape fighting
elsewhere inthecountry.They’ve faced weeks
ofindiscriminatebombattacksbyforcesloyal
toSyria’sdictator,Basharal-Assad,who is
determinedto win everyinchofhisnationback,
“even if thatmeans reducingittorubble”. At
leastamillionofIdlib’sinhabitants arenow
livinginrudimentary camps along Turkey’s
border, starvedoffood,medicine andadequate
sheltertoprotect them from thebitter winter
temperatures.It’s ahumanitarian catastrophe –
andrightnow,Turkeyis“theonlycountry
trying to staveitoff”.Its president, Recep
Tayyip Erdogan,launchedaseries ofstrikeson
Assad’sRussian-backed forces last month, and
threatenedtoopenTurkey’s borders to allow
refugees into Europe, unlessWesternleaders
offeredmorehelp–athreat hedeliveredon.
Aceasefiredealagreed between Erdoganand
Vladimir Putin lastweekhas brought some
respite forIdlib,saidSimonTisdall inThe
Guardian,but fewexpectit to last. Noris the
international community likely to do anything
to stop theinevitable “bloody denouement”.
AlthoughGermanyhas talked vaguelyof
creating“safetyzones”in northern Syria,there’s
“no appetiteforintervention onthe ground”.
Thesadfactisthatit suitsmanypeople tolook
the other way onIdlib, saidSinanUlgen in
ForeignPolicy. Assadand hisIran-backedShia
militiasare determinedto wrest control ofthe
predominantly Sunni territoryfromrebel and
jihadist groups;theWest fears the return of
homegrownextremists, and wouldrather they
were slaughtered in Syria.Turkey’s troopdeploymentin Idlibhad “more
to do withcleansing thearea of Kurds”than
alleviating suffering, said James Durso on The
Hill. However, when it comes torefugees,
Ankarahasagenuinegrievance.Turkeyhosts
almost3.6 million Syrian refugees andhas spent
about $40bnon them,afigure thatdwarfs the
$6bn in aiditwas offeredby Brussels fouryears
ago in return forstopping thesepeople heading
onwards into the EU.Turkey hasaneconomy
one-third the sizeof Britain’s, yetitishosting
more refugeesthantheentireEU, said Ian Birrell
in theInewspaper. Whileit’s hard to sympathise
withathuggishautocratwho “uses refugees
as pawns”,his arguments onthis issue deserve
ahearing. They’reatimely reminderofthe
“continuinghorror story inSyria, themisery
of thevictimsandthe urgent need to find a
formula to protectdispossessedpeople”.St atistics of the week
The proportion of UK adults
who identify aslesbian, gay or
bisexual grew from 1.6%
in 2014 to 2.2% in 2018.
The Guardian
The number ofhospital beds
in England has halved in 30
years. The UK has 2.5 beds
per 1,000 people, compared to
Germany’s eight.
The King’sFund/The GuardianWit&Wisdom