Israel Matzav

Funeral for Syrian 'Naksa day' victims turns into anti-Bashar protest

On June 8, I reported on the funerals of those Syrians killed in the 'Naksa day' attempt to breach Israel's borders with Syria. The funerals were reported to have deteriorated into a riot against the local 'Palestinian' terror groups - in particular the PFLP-GC - for not organizing 'Naksa day' protests. There was more to it than that.

An estimated 100,000 Palestinians – some two-thirds of the Yarmuk camp population – took part in the mass funerals, chanting slogans against the Syrian president: “Ya Bashar, ya Bashar, where, where are you? They massacred us under your eyes, where, where is the Syrian army, where are you?” Syria is home to some of the more extremist Palestinian organizations – from Hamas, which has its headquarters in Damascus, to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC), led by Ahmed Jibril.

Jibril himself came to the funeral with a number of assistants and the leaders of several other extremist Palestinian organizations; however, when he tried to make a speech praising Assad and blaming Israel for the deaths, his voice was drowned by protests; he was asked to leave and let the dead be buried in peace. He refused to move, so the crowd started pelting his group with stones.

Soon the protest turned more violent, and protesters vented their anger on the PFLP-GC’s headquarters.

They burst into the offices and broke furniture before setting the place on fire. Two guards were killed in the onslaught; Jibril’s security officers opened fire, killing 14 protesters and wounding hundreds. Throughout the rioting, the masses yelled, “The people want an end to the factions” – that is, the many Palestinian groups active in Syria, meddling in their lives and fighting among themselves for influence – mimicking the call of the protesters in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, “The people want an end to the regime.”

What the refugees were saying was that they’d had enough of being manipulated by the Syrian regime through the 10 extremist Palestinian factions it supports and which do its bidding. Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal rushed to the camp in an attempt to appease protesters, but he was greeted by loud jeers and curses and was driven away.

Jibril is considered the most important of the leaders of the pro-Syrian factions; it is a well known fact that he has been acting for the Syrian government for the past 40 years. It transpired that he had been the principal mover in the planning of the mass demonstrations on the Golan on behalf of Assad, while, according to Arab media, it had been clear from the first that they were doomed to failure since Israel would not let its border be overrun. On Tuesday, the victims of the previous day were laid to rest; the heads of the factions stayed prudently away.

Some Arab media are saying there are many in the camps who feel solidarity with the Syrian protesters being massacred by the regime. In any case, the violent protests in this camp probably explain why Assad did not send more people to the Golan the following day and why his army restored the roadblocks on the road leading to it, which had been dismantled in advance of the Friday march to the border.

In the short run, don't expect to see more 'Palestinians' storming Israel's border with Syria.

In the longer run, this is quite intriguing. While the Arab countries are moving toward democracy and Islamism (and taking a harder line in favor of the 'Palestinians' - See Egypt for example), the 'Palestinians' themselves are waking up to the reality in which they are being used as pawns by the remaining Arab regimes, and may be more inclined to make a reasonable compromise with Israel, if only they had leaders capable of doing so.

Read the whole thing.

Labels: Ahmed Jibril, Golan Heights, Hamas, Naqsa day, Palestinian Authority, Palestinian refugees, PFLP-GC, Syrian uprising

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:38 AM