Bristol Challenge

OR how can Bristol shape a meaningful intervention in Syria

We often hear that we live in an interconnected globalised world, and that things happening on the other side of the world are bound to have an impact on our local community. This discourse has been part of the debate on Syria.

So how do the events in Syria impact our lives in Bristol? I am looking outside the office window on a clear sunny day like today and see nothing to worry about. The beautiful Ashton Court in the distance is making the place look tranquil and peaceful. There are children happily playing in the playground, people walking their dogs, some young people noisily driving their motorbikes on the grass and making a mess – nothing out of the ordinary for Bristol. Nothing to indicate worry, displaced people, destroyed houses and lives, ended lives at the hand of conventional or chemical arms.

I am not even sure the full effect of the situation is felt in all of Syria. On Friday an acquaintance from Romania went to Syria to get married. He is either a committed romantic or the events in Syria are not so desperate everywhere.

Back to Bristol though. How does this affect us here and now, why should we care, and what can we do?

1.       Syria is on TV and radio most of the day, and we hear about it more than we would under other circumstances. Through the media, Syria enters our houses and offices. Displaced people and refugees, people killed and wounded – they all enter our living rooms with the 6 o’clock news. When we see the issue, it becomes our responsibility. Just as much as seeing somebody in the street throwing litter or abusing a vulnerable person becomes our responsibility.

2.       There is a Syrian community in Bristol – albeit small, but it is still here. And if we refuse to admit that letting Syrian people enter our living rooms through TV means we have a duty to intervene, there are families in Bristol directly affected by the events.

3.       Events in Syria are having a significant impact on the position of the UK in the world, and as such the position of Bristol – our trade partners, our bridges across oceans and seas. I’ve heard through the grapevine that City Hall and Mayor George Ferguson would be interested in twinning Bristol with a city in the US. Our relationship with the US would determine how possible that is.

4.       And finally, we would all like to know that if anything similar to what is happening in Syria was to happen to us, here and now, there would be somebody out there who will stand up to injustice.

So there is no way around it. The events in Syria are not only a global issue. They are a local issue. And as such, as local citizens of Bristol we have a duty to intervene. Or at least shape an intervention. I know that organisations like the UN and NATO have allowed us to pass on moral duty and responsibility to a third party, leaving it up to “them” to do the job. We can then either praise or criticize them from the comfort of our twitter or facebook accounts.

Let’s all face it. This is not working. Right now interventions in their conventional form mean military interventions. And there is probably a place and time for these kinds of interventions too. Clearly the British public, and the Bristol public as such, don’t see military intervention as an option for Syria.  What are the options though? What can we do now it is clear that we have to do something?

Perhaps it’s time for a local solution to change the world forever! Come on Bristol you’ve always been a pioneer of human rights and non-conformism. Give us your thoughts on how to intervene in Syria. Refugee women and children from Syria are watching you from your screen… hoping.