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‘If they (the Western Leaders) were concerned and sincerely committed to the peace process, they would immediately cease supporting a terrorist organization which is linked to al-Qaeda and which is involved in atrocities and killings in Syria.’

Press TV has talked with Michel Chossudovsky, Director of the Centre for Research on Globalization in Montreal, to get his opinions on the role of the Israeli regime in the ongoing foreign-backed unrest in Syria.

Below is a transcript of the interview, posted on Global Research.ca.

- Mr. Chossudovsky, today we have Israel threatening Moscow possibly with force. How does Israel play into this equation and how much physical involvement can we expect from Israel?

- Well, first I should say that Israel is supporting the insurgency. In other words, it is supporting al-Qaeda in Syria. This is not known to public opinion. Through the Golan Heights, it is supporting terrorist units of al-Nusrah, which are fighting the Syrian government. It has logistics, weapons supplies, Israeli vehicles going into Syrian territory; it also has a hospital facility for the rebels located in the Golan Heights.

So, in effect, right from the outset Israel has been involved in supporting the various factions, the so-called Islamist factions, which are, as we know, mercenaries trained in Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

So, in effect, we have to ask ourselves who are the main military actors in the Syrian war theater. The al-Nusrah rebels, which allegedly represent the opposition, are supported by the Western military alliance and Israel.

These are the foot soldiers of the Western military alliance and they are waging a war against the Syrian people.

Now when the European Union decides to lift the arms embargo, what they really have in mind is to channel military aid to this mercenary force, which is supported by foreign powers.

That is a very different position to that of Russia or Iran for that matter, which provide military assistance to a sovereign country to a government through bilateral agreements.

In effect what we are also dealing with is Western and Israeli military aid channeled to a terrorist entity, which is illegal under the international law but it is also in violation of the US’ anti-terror legislation.

- Mr. Chossudovsky, recently US senator John McCain went to Syria via Turkey. How do you interpret this visit?

- Well, John McCain is actually in blatant violation of the US’ guidelines on anti-terrorism.

There is an anti-terrorist list, there is a list of terrorist organizations, which is made up by the State Department and John Kerry is negotiating, interfacing, with representatives of that terrorist organization and the same thing is true for John McCain when he crosses into Syria, and the same thing is true with regard to the former ambassador to Syria Robert Steven Ford, who is also supporting these terrorists.

So we have to distinguish between military aid through official channels, from government to government, which is what the Russians are providing to Syria on the one hand, and the type of assistance which Israel, Britain, France, the United States, is channeling to an illegal organization (according to their own criteria).

So in other words these Western officials should be arrested on anti-terrorist charges because they are in violation of international law.

- Despite the fact that the European Union has lifted the arms embargo on Syria, how optimistic are you that the Geneva II talks would bear fruit and resolve the Syrian crisis politically?

- Well, I think that the Western leaders are, in effect, attempting to build peace and democracy by threatening war. Essentially that is what they are doing, heightening the threats, channeling weapons to the terrorists, incidentally those terrorist have been decimated by the Syrian Armed forced, so in effect the Western military alliance is in a dead end. So, they are now considering all the options. But essentially if they were concerned and sincerely committed to the peace process, they would immediately cease supporting a terrorist organization which is linked to al-Qaeda and which is involved in atrocities and killings in Syria.