the Commissioner General of UNRWA, the United Nations agen- cy tasked with the welfare of the Palestinians, visited Yarmouk, a neigh- bourhood in Damascus, Syria. When he entered Yarmouk, the people came to greet him and to collect much-needed supplies. They emerged, he said, like ghosts fromthe depths of Yarmouk, as if froma medieval siege. For months, the residents of this neighbourhood had eat- en animal feed and burnt furniture to survive. The stark greyness of the peo- ple reminded Mr. Grandi, who has worked at UNRWA for a decade, of black and white archival pictures of the 1948 expulsion of the Palestinians from their land. Mr. Grandi and his team visited Yar- mouk days after the United Nations Se- curity Council unanimously passed resolution 2139, a detailed text that lays out specic measures that the Syrian government and the rebels need to take to ensure unhindered humanitarian ac- cess to the Syrian people. It is the rst major unanimous resolution from a Council divided about Syria. The resolu- tionwas not passed under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, which would have al- lowed military action if the parties failed to uphold its recommendations. It men- tions particular areas that have lan- guished under siege, such as the Old city of Homs and Yarmouk, and under- scores the need for the parties to agree on humanitarian pauses, days of tran- quility, localised ceaseres and truces. It is such a localised truce that allowed Mr. Grandi and the UNRWA team to enter Yarmouk. The war toll The Syrian civil war is like a massive tidal wave which swept across the coun- try leaving behind widespread devasta- tion. Buildings bear the physical marks of the damage. More than half of the Syrian population now live in poverty, says a study by the Syrian Centre for Policy Research, with the unemploy- ment rate now near fty per cent. Half of Syrias children have dropped out of school, with many Syrians unable to ac- cess health care. In the second quarter of 2013, Syria lost 174 per cent of the equiv- alent gross domestic product of 2010. Six and a half million Syrians out of 21 mil- lion are internally displaced; two and a half million are refugees (UNHigh Com- missioner for Refugees Antonio Gu- terres told the Council that Syrians will soon overtake Afghans as the largest ref- ugee population). When Mr. Grandi says that the people of Yarmouk seemed to appear froma medieval siege, he is not exaggerating. Many people now say that Syria has precipitously in a thousand days slid backwards centuries. It is this situation that pushed the UN Security Council to nally act. UN Secu- rity Council chair Rai- monda Murmokaite (Lithuania) said this res- olution albeit overdue provided a moment of hope for the people of Syria. The war in Syria is messy, with no clear bat- tleeld or frontline. It is, as Mr. Grandi put it, a mosaic of areas, the con- trol of which is uctuat- ing. o expect a UN resolution to have an im- pact in such a chaotic battleeld is idealistic. Nonetheless, it has sent a clear message to Damas- cus and to the Syrian op- position that humanitarianism must be a key consideration; whether this will have any impact on the local commanders is another matter. Whether this will even be a consider- ation for the radical Islamists is an even greater concern. Short-lived ceaseres Over the past few months, there have been almost 50 signicant local cease- res that have lasted from a month to a week. These ceaseres emerged for a va- riety of reasons, notably the sheer ex- haustionof the parties to the conict and the rapid ascendancy of one side over the other. While these ceaseres have been essential for delivery of humanitarian aid and for the evacuation of trapped Syrians, they have not beenforged onthe basis of a commitment to peace. Warfare re- mains the dynamic in Syria. These local cease- res are useful, Mr. Grandi notes, because they create a pattern, a frame of mind that pro- motes trust amongst the people. He says that the Yarmouk ceasere came about as civilians thrust themselves forward against the combatants. But this has been a vola- tile ceasere, withthe ci- vilians in a subordinate position to the logic of war and its adherents. In Rif (rural) Damas- cus, local ceaseres have held for several months, largely because both sides seem to have come to see the warfare as futile. Ziad Haydar of As-Sar reported (on Febru- ary 24) that the ghters were exhaust- ed. A total incapacity has struck the armed men at the front. Despair that the stalemate will not shift and concern at the inltration of the armed radicals has led to a situation where yesterdays enemies will turn into tomorrows al- lies, reports Haydar. Others are not so optimistic. Some sense that the overall war in Syria might go on for a decade, muchlike the war inAlgeria inthe 1990s. In the interstices of the war, these small ceaseres will allow people to survive. It is a morbid thought. It suggests that the logic of war continues to dominate in Syria. The leadership of all sides believe that they can either win or can inict further grievous harmon their enemies. It is at the local level that such con- dence has begun to falter. That is why local truces have beenrelatively easier to establish than country-wide ceaseres. Importance of small gestures UN resolution 2139 recognises that the only way forward is a political solu- tion. Everything else local ceaseres,. humanitarian access, humanitarian dis- tribution points are the triage neces- sary to stop the bleeding. They will not heal the situation. Local ceaseres, how- ever, are a valuable mechanism to help reinsert non-combatant civilians into the political process, people who had been sidelined by the ghting. These small gestures are capable of building the condence of people whohave other- wise lost the will to believe in a Syrian future. The UNresolutionby itself will of course not do any of this, Mr. Grandi says, but its importance will lter down to the local level combatants. And the local truces in some parts of the country might send a message to the leadership of all sides and their foreign backers that Syrians no longer wish to destroy their lives for the agenda of oth- ers. Syria is, to paraphrase the poet Agha Shahid Ali, a shadow chased by sear- chlights in search of its body. The UN resolution and the local ceaseres are torches to light its way. (Vijay Prashad is the Edward Said Chair at the American University of Beirut.) Rising from the Syrian ashes EXHAUSTED BY WAR: For months, the people of Yarmouk survived on animal feed and burnt furniture. Here, they throng the streets to receive supplies from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in Damascus, Syria. PHOTO: AP/UNRWA Local truces might send a message that Syrians no longer wish to destroy their lives for the agenda of others, nds Filippo Grandi, Commissioner General of UNRWA Vijay Prashad People emerged like ghosts from the depths of Yarmouk, as if from a medieval siege Filippo Grandi AFP CM YK ND-ND 11 THE HINDU SATURDAY, MARCH 1, 2014 DELHI COMMENT >>In Centre likely to take call today on Presidents Rule in AP (Feb. 28, 2014), there was a reference to the Supreme Court judgment of 2004 in S.R. Bommai versus Union of India case. The correct year is 1994. >>It is Naveen Jaihind. It is not Naveen Jindal, as stated in AAP elds Rajmohan Gandhi in Delhi East (Feb. 28, 2014), who will contest from Rohtak. >>Inthe Sports page report, Former boxer kidnapped (Feb. 28, 2014), the picture of the boxer Antonio Cermeno was left out inadvertently. CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS F irst the American teenager sur- vived a rare cancer. Then she wanted to study it, spurring a study that helped scientists nd a weird gene aw that might play a role in how the tumour strikes. Age 18 is pretty young to be listed as an author of a study in the presti- gious journal Science. But the indus- trious high school students efforts are bringing new attention to this mysterious disease. Making that idea work required a lot of help from real scientists for Elana Simon her father, who runs a cellular biophysics lab at the Rocke- feller University; her surgeon at Me- morial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; and gene specialists at the New York Genome Center. A second survivor of this cancer, who the jour- nal said didnt want to be identied, also co-authored the study. Together, the team reported on Thursday that they uncovered an oddity, a break in genetic material that left the head of one gene fused to the body of another. That results in an abnormal protein that forms inside the tumours but not in normal liver tissue, suggesting it might fuel cancer growth, the researchers wrote. Theyve found the evidence in all 15 of the tumours tested so far. Its a small study, and more re- search is needed to see what this gene aw really does, cautioned Dr. San- ford Simon, the teens father and the studys senior author. YouTube video But the teen-spurred project has grown into work to get more patients involved in scientic research. Scien- tists at the National Institutes of Health are advising the Simons on how to set up a patient registry, and NIHs Office of Rare Diseases Re- search has posted on its website a YouTube video inwhich Elana Simon and a fellow survivor explain why to get involved. Fibrolamellar Hepatocellular Carcinoma. Not easy to pronounce. Not easily understood, it says. Ms Simon was diagnosed at age 12. Surgery is the only effective treat- ment, and her tumour was caught in time that it worked. But there are few options if the cancer spreads, and Ms Simon knows other patients who we- rent so lucky. A high school internship during her sophomore year let Ms Simonuse her computer science skills to help researchers sort data on genetic mu- tations in a laboratory studying an- other type of cancer. AP Teen helps scientists study her own rare disease Telephone: +91-44-28418297/28576300 (11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday); E-mail: readerseditor@thehindu.co.in W hen AamAadmi Party (AAP) lead- er Yogendra Yadav was conduct- ing workers meetings in Haryanas districts sometime ago, he was asked how the established political parties in the State are viewing the AAPs entry. Oh, they are dismissive of us and think that our party has a reach only in urban areas. In a way this complacency suits us and we can continue to expand our pres- ence undisturbed, Mr. Yadav said. After Sundays overwhelming show of strength in Rohtaks HUDA ground, the AAP does not have this luxury anymore. The party has arrived with a bang and political talk in the State now revolves around estimations of how many people came for the AAP rally. In a State where the turnout at political rallies is seen as a measure of a partys popularity and a crowd of 10,000people canbe exaggerat- ed to one lakh or more by enthusiastic party people, even the AAPs worst de- tractors, namely the Congress and the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), con- cede that Arvind Kejriwals maiden po- litical rally outside Delhi drew 15,000 to 20,000 people. A different approach But the signicance of the AAPs mega show is not so much in the numbers, but that they came on their own, spending their own money on fuel, transport and food, as the cash-strapped party made it clear that unlike other parties, it has no money to buy crowds. The other differ- ence was the composition of the crowd. The professional rally types gave it a miss and instead, teachers, students, young professionals, some farmers, and the poor turned up. The fact that the top leadership of the party Mr. Kejriwal and Mr. Yadav hail from Haryana is one reason for the draw of this new entrant, as also its de- clared intent that after Delhi, it aims to capture power here. Dilli hui hamaari hai, ab Haryana ki baari hai (Delhis be- come ours, now its Haryanas turn), is the most popular slogan. The party has a two-fold approach for Haryana, where its leaders are devoting the maximumtime. The idea is to put up a good show in the Lok Sabha election and build up momentumfor the eventu- al goal the Assembly election due later inOctober. Mr. Yadav is personally over- seeing the campaign in Haryana and is also contesting the Gurgaon Lok Sabha seat. Recalling the old favourite Jai Ja- wan, Jai Kisan of the seventies is there- fore a carefully thought-out move because farmers and retired soldiers comprise a signicant chunk of the Ha- ryanvi vote bank. The privilege of enunciating the par- tys promises for Haryana was also given to Mr Yadav. Video graphing of inter- views for government jobs, investigating land scams of the last twenty years and giving a voice to women in whether li- quor vends in their village should be per- mitted or not are Haryana-specic issues that touched a chord with the people. Natural choice Haryana as the AAPs next target is a natural choice. Even before the AAP came into being, Mr. Kejriwal had cam- paigned against the BJP and the Con- gress in the 2011 by-election for the Hisar Lok Sabha constituency. He hails fromSiwani inBhiwani district and grew up in Hisar. During the Anna Jan Lokpal andolan too, a large chunk of those who had gathered at the Ramlila Maidanwere supporters fromHaryana. Most of them have turned into AAPworkers. The eight lakh members (more than in any other State) that the party enrolled in the last month or so is due to this workforce. A handful of IAS and IPS offi- cers have also joined in the last few days and in the same manner in which they gath- ered for the Delhi elections, expatriate Indians have be- gun taking leave from their overseas jobs to work for the party in Haryana. The State also offers a fer- tile ground for a new entrant due to the political vacuum that has been created here lately. Bhu- pinder Singh Hoodas Congress govern- ment, after tenstraight years inpower, is facing an anti- incumbency wave on ac- count of rampant corruption, misgov- ernance and land scams. The opposition INLD is now hobbling with its top leadership Om Prakash Chautala and his son Ajay Chautala in jail for a jobs scam. The BJP which has tied up with the Haryana Janhit Con- gress (HJC) of former Chief Minister Bhajan Lals son Kuldeep Bishnoi does not have a base in rural, Jat-dominated areas. Ideally it would have liked to ally with the INLD, which commands a sub- stantial Jat following, in addition to the HJC, but the corruption taint prevents it fromdoing so. Bumpy road ahead But making inroads into the Jat vote bank that comprises almost 25 per cent of the population is not easy. The AAP has made it clear that it is against caste- based politics. So Naveen Jaihind, the partys candidate from Rohtak who has been chosen to take on Mr. Hoodas son Deepender Singh Hooda claries that he has taken on Jaihind as his surname so that no one knows my real caste. The sentiment could nd resonance in urban areas and among the youth, but in Ha- ryanas Jat heartland, few are impressed. Mr, Kejriwal and Mr. Yadav are not Jats and conventional reasoning dictates that the face of a party that wants to make it big in Haryana should be a Jat. However Dalits with a 21 per cent composition come a close second to the land-owning Jats and the AAP is reac- hing out to them. Mr. Hoodas pro-Jat policies and a series of atrocities against Dalits in recent years have alienated this section from the Congress. This is just one of the several oat- ing groups in Haryana which is looking for a place to drop anchor. As a Congress legislator wryly admitted: The AAP is pulling in those people who are outside the hardcore vote banks of established parties. And this oat- ing vote [group] can go up to [a] substantial 40 per cent. After succeeding in metropolitan Del- hi withthe help of tech-savvy youngsters and the internet, the acknowledged chal- lenge for the AAP is to reach out to rural voters whose concerns, aspirations and means of communicationare very differ- ent. If the attendance and sentiment at the Rohtak hunkar rally (war cry) is any indication, the AAP seems to be over- coming this handicap quite well. chander.dogra@thehindu.co.in AAPs big Haryanvi splash ROARING SUCCESS: The AAPs overwhelming show of strength in Rohtaks HUDA ground proves that the party has arrived in Haryana with a bang. PHOTO: RAJEEV BHATT After succeeding in metropolitan Delhi, the partys challenge is to reach out to rural voters whose concerns, aspirations and means of communication are very different Chander Suta Dogra Haryana offers a fertile ground for a new entrant due to the political vacuum that has been created lately H enry Kissinger once pointed out that since Peter the Great, Russia had been expanding at the rate of one Belgiumper year. All undone, of course, by the collapse of the Soviet Union, which Russian President Vladimir Putin called the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the [20th] century. Putins mission is restoration. First, restore traditional Russian despotismby dismantling its nascent democracy. And then, having created iron-sted stability, march. Use the 2008 war with Georgia to detach two of its provinces, returning themto the bosomof mother Russia (by way of Potemkin independence). Then late last year, pressure Ukraine to reject a long-negotiated deal for association with the European Union, to draw Ukraine into Putins planned Eurasian Union as the core of a new Russian mini-empire. Turns out, however, Ukraine had other ideas. It overthrew Moscows man in Kiev, Viktor Yanukovych, and turned to the West. But the West the EUand America had no idea what to do. Russia does. Moscow denounces the overthrow as the illegal work of fascist bandits, refuses to recognise the new government created by Parliament, withholds all economic assistance and, in a highly provocative escalation, mobilises its military forces on the Ukrainian border. The response? The EUdithers and Barack Obama slumbers. After near total silence during the rst three months of Ukraines struggle for freedom, Obama said on camera last week that in his view Ukraine is no Cold War chessboard. Unfortunately, this is exactly what it is for Putin. He wants Ukraine back. Obama wants stability, The New York Times reports, quoting internal sources. He sees Ukraine as merely a crisis to be managed rather than an opportunity to alter the increasingly autocratic trajectory of the region, allow Ukrainians to join their destiny to the West and block Russian neo-imperialism. Sure, Obama is sympathetic to democracy. But it must come organically, frominternal developments, you see. Must not be imposed by outside intervention, but develop on its own. But Ukraine is never on its own. Not with a bear next door. American neutrality doesnt allow an authentic Ukrainian polity to emerge. It leaves Ukraine naked to Russian pressure. What Obama doesnt seemto understand is that American inaction creates a vacuum. His evacuation fromIraq consigned that country to Iranian hegemony, just as Obamas writing off Syria invited in Russia, Iran and Hezbollah to reverse the tide of battle. Putin fully occupies vacuums. In Ukraine, he keeps aunting his leverage. Hes withdrawn the multibillion-dollar aid package with which he had pulled the now-deposed Ukrainian president away fromthe EU. He has suddenly mobilised Russian forces bordering Ukraine. His health officials are even questioning the safety of Ukrainian food exports. This is no dietary hygiene campaign. This is a message to Kiev: We can shut down your agricultural exports today, your natural gas supplies tomorrow. We can make you broke and we can make you freeze. Kissinger once also said in the end, peace can be achieved only by hegemony or by balance of power. Ukraine will either fall to Russian hegemony, or nally determine its own future if America balances Russias power. How? Start with a declaration of full-throated American support for Ukraines revolution. Follow that with a serious loan/aid package say, replacing Moscows $15 billion to get Ukraine through its immediate nancial crisis. Then join with the EUto extend a longer substitute package, preferably through the International Monetary Fund. Secretary of State John Kerry says Russian intervention would be a mistake. Alas, any such declaration fromthis administration carries the weight of a feather. But better that than nothing. Better still would be backing these words with a naval otilla in the Black Sea. Whether anything Obama says or does would stop anyone remains questionable. But surely the West has more nancial clout than Russias kleptocratic extraction economy that exports little but oil, gas and vodka. The point is for the U.S., leading Europe, to counter Russian pressure and make up for its blandishments/punishments until Ukraine is on rm nancial footing. Yes, $15 billion is a lot of money. But its less than one-half of one-tenth of 1 per cent of the combined EUand U.S. GDP. And expending treasure is innitely preferable to expending blood. Especially given the strategic stakes: Without Ukraine, theres no Russian empire. Putin knows that. Which is why he keeps ratcheting up the pressure. The question is, can this administration muster the counterpressure to give Ukraine a chance to breathe? 2014. Washington Post. Putins Ukraine gambit WORLD VIEW American neutrality doesnt allow an authentic Ukrainian polity to emerge. It leaves Ukraine naked to Russian pressure. CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER