Clashes on Syrian border
Photo: Reuters
Syrian President Bashar Assad - inciting protests
Photo: EPA
US blames Syria for violence; UN condemns Israel
White House says Syrian behavior intended to draw attention from domestic crackdown, stresses Israel has right to defend itself, while UN rep claims IDF used disproportionate force
The White House is blaming Syria for inciting deadly protests across
its border and into the Israeli-held Golan Heights.
White House press secretary Jay Carney said Monday such behavior on the part of Syria is unacceptable. He said it was intended to draw attention from the Syrian government's violent crackdown on its own people who are pushing for reforms.
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Syrian President Bashar Assad's security forces have tried to crush an uprising against his regime with gunfire, sieges and shelling.
Carney's comments come after Palestinian mass marches toward Israeli borders that led to armed clashes and multiple deaths on Sunday. Carney said Israel has the right to defend its borders and that its neighbors have a responsibility not to prompt such clashes. He called for restraint on all sides.
"We encourage maximum restraint on all sides," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters on Air Force One.
Meanwhile, the United Nations condemned Israel over the deadly clash. A UN representative said Israel used "disproportionate, deadly force" when its soldiers fired on demonstrators marching toward the country's borders.
The statement Monday by UN special coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams was unusually forceful. He said he was "shocked" by the number of deaths and urged both sides to show restraint.
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