"When killing happens in Palestine, int'l community presses Israel more than they have pressed Assad regime," activist says.
By REUTERSSmoke rises from the Bab Sabaa neighbourhood of Homs 390 (R)(photo credit: REUTERS/Shaam News Network/Handout)
The international community is harder on Israel over the deaths of Palestinians than it has been over Syrian President Bashar Assad's 13-month siege against opposition activists in Syria, an opposition activist charged on Wednesday."When killing happens in Palestine, even though the United States is an ally of Israel, the whole international community presses Israel more than they have pressed the Assad regime," said Mousab al-Hamadi, an opposition resident from Hama province, where activists say 31 people were killed on Monday by government troops. Monitors from the United Nations visited the conflict-torn city a day before."After one month we will have maybe 1,000 or 2,000 people killed - it is ridiculous. How can the international community watch without moving quickly," he said, responding to an announcement that it will take another month to deploy 100 unarmed military observers to oversee a shaky April 12 truce agreement.Most activists reacted with a mixture of anger and apathy.Syrian opposition activists accused the UN of "playing with Syrian lives" by dragging out the deployment of ceasefire monitors in the country."It takes them a month to arrive? Are they coming on horses?" said a resident from the city of Homs, which has endured sustained shelling by the army. He asked to be referred to only by the nickname 'Sami' for fear of arrest."This has just given the regime more time to kill us," said Walid Fares, an activist living in nearby Homs city, over Skype. "We are being killed right now, we are not being killed in a month's time."There are currently 15 monitors in Syria, visiting areas torn by a 13-month uprising against Assad, whose government has responded to protests with gunfire and shelled central districts of opposition strongholds, saying it is fighting an "armed terrorist" revolt.Jpost.com staff contributed to this reportClick for full JPost coverage
