The tragedy of Palestinians in Syria

There is another tragedy inside the Syrian one which the world rarely pays attention to. It is the tragedy of the Palestinians in Syria whose destiny is controlled by a regime which tries by all means to block the political solution in the region. The Assad regime has hurt the Palestinian people, who live in appalling conditions in Syria. The Syrian regime is partially responsible for the miserable condition of the Palestinian cause. This regime is not capable of either peace or war, but coexists in a state of unrest which only serves Israel’s interests. The Israeli occupation always chooses the right time to impose new realities. The Syrian regime still believes that it can expand its political block infinitely – very much like Israel. Whoever doubts this statement can question the reasons for the invasion of the Syrian Golan back in 1967 when Hafez Assad was the Syrian defence minister. The Syrian regime wants to use, at all times, the Palestinians as their own target. This regime always uses them under the pretext that an independent Palestine would be heresy. This slogan was launched by the founder of the regime, late President Hafez Assad and his son Bashar. He followed his father’s footsteps despite the Oslo Accords signed in 1993 and changed the rules of the game completely. It is very difficult to understand the real nature of the current Syrian regime without tracing its historical relation with the Palestinians – they were barely mentioned in Syria after the Revolution broke out, although their number exceeds half a million. A good number of Palestinian victims have fallen between the hands of the Assad regime well before this issue was brought to light. Before the Baath party took control of Syria, turning to Palestinian cause was an expression of the deep crisis which the country suffers from - it was a crisis of an entity and a regime at the same time. Syria dragged the Arabs into a failed war in 1948 after it played an important role in rejecting the division decision issued in autumn 1947. After reaching a ceasefire agreement, the regime withdrew it army but remained in a part of the Palestinian territories named Hamma. The Syrian negative interference into the Palestinian affairs never stopped. This intervention reached its peak when Hafez Assad took over in 1970. Since 1970, the Palestinians have been exploited by the Assad regime. Assad Senior wanted to be responsible for the front extending from Aqaba in Jordan to Naqoura in South Lebanon. He used the Palestinians in a game that aimed to constantly provoke Jordan. Some Palestinian elements were based in Syria and had no other missions than sending threats to Jordan. The Jordanian regime was able to deter the Syrian regime, but Lebanon turned out to be the first victim of the Palestinian’s abuse by Syria. The Palestinian card was firstly used against the Christians in Lebanon. The Syrian regime ignited a civil war in this small country. Thanks to the Palestinian card and the terrible mistakes committed by the Palestinian historical leader Yasser Arafat in the mid-seventies, Hafez Assad deployed his army in Agar with the blessing of the West. The official reason for this was to chase the Palestine Liberation Organisation from the Lebanese territories. The arrogance of the Syrian regime reached its peak when it brought a brigade of the Palestinian Liberation army to Beirut in order to separate the Muslim and the Christian communities inside the heart of the Lebanese capital. The relationship between the Syrian regime and the Palestinians is ebb and flow. I am referring here to the true Palestinians, not those who work for the Syrian services. There was always a need to control the Palestinians by the Syrian regime, resulting in that the number of Palestinian victims killed by the Syrian regime or its alliances is much more than those who were killed in confrontations with Israel. Do the Palestinians living in Syria deserve this war Syria launched on its people? The reason behind these killings is their refusal to join the “killers” of the regime. It is good enough for the regime to suppress the Palestinians in Syria who are tired of being exploited. The Syrian regime treats the Palestinian as a commodity who deserves to be killed when it decides to be neutral in a war. Is not it the greatest tragedy amid the recent Syrian tragedy? --- The views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent or reflect the editorial policy of Arabstoday.