Published Monday, January 13, 2014
Are we to express repentance before tackling such a subject? So be it, here we go: He who besieges a refugee camp is a criminal; he who kills people from hunger or thirst is a criminal; and he who doesn’t speak up against such oppression is a criminal! Fair enough? Let’s get down to business.
Following the death of Ariel Sharon, a single sentence was echoed by those supporting the opposition in Syria and objecting to the Resistance in Lebanon! Based on experience, ideology, politics, history, and geography, the majority of those people are not advocates of the Palestinian cause.
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On the contrary, they never once stood against any of the humiliation and massacres suffered by Palestinians all over the world, yet they agreed: “Sharon only died after he was assured that someone in Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp is continuing what he started in Sabra and Shatila!”
On the contrary, they never once stood against any of the humiliation and massacres suffered by Palestinians all over the world, yet they agreed: “Sharon only died after he was assured that someone in Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp is continuing what he started in Sabra and Shatila!”
Those who believe this is an expression of solidarity with Palestinians, let them have it. Those who think that such a stupid slogan helps Palestinians, they are ridiculous.
But, as a matter of fact, Yarmouk is not Sabra and Shatila. Syria is not Lebanon. The Syrian army is neither the Israeli occupying forces nor the racist Lebanese gangs. The armed groups in the camp are not the pioneers of the Palestinian revolution. The Salafi Palestinian movement is not the Palestine Liberation Organization. And the road to Palestine doesn’t pass through Damascus.First and foremost, the Palestinians ought to face the truth themselves, commoners before leaders, and refugees before residents of the historical land in the territories stolen in 1948, the occupied West Bank and liberated Gaza, which was transformed into a big prison!
Today, the unfolding events are 100 percent a Palestinian responsibility. This is a fact, and those who deny it should present us with evidence, not slogans. They should admit that Palestinians in Syria enjoyed advantages that their counterparts were deprived of in every corner of the world – advantages not even enjoyed in Gaza and the West Bank. In Syria, Palestinians were citizens.
Naturally, Palestinians endured oppression, tyranny, and misery like all Syrians. They also suffered from the practices of some Palestinian forces that took advantage of their relations with Damascus. But what happened to Yarmouk today? What made it a target? What pushed Palestinians in this camp to believe in toppling Bashar al-Assad?
In mid-2011, Yarmouk came to be at the heart of the Syrian crisis. No one imagined it would remain neutral, but no sane person ever figured that much of the camp would raise their weapons in the face of Syria.
The camp witnessed interior clashes, then some residents “rebelled” and took over large areas in the interest of “the Syrian revolution.” They refused to let the Syrian army in, and turned the camp into a haven for opposition armed groups.
The Syrian army bombarded the camp. Militants and civilians were killed. This was followed by the great exodus. Those who stayed are the ones who refused to go through a new displacement, as well as members of armed groups and their families. In a few months the camp was transformed into a haven for groups like the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and al-Nusra Front.
The camp’s most prominent group is Aknaf Bayt al-Maqdis Brigades (Brigades in the Environs of Jerusalem), formed by members of Hamas, including a bodyguard of Hamas political bureau chief Khaled Meshaal. Hamas claims the group leaders are no longer within its organizational structure, but still refuses to condemn their actions. Some of these militants provided assistance to armed groups outside the camp and even outside Damascus countryside.
Meanwhile, the Syrian army has not entered the camp, and it doesn’t intend to. This is a decision made by Syrian authorities and well known by all parties, including the camp’s armed groups. No real solution will ever be reached unless the Palestinians themselves force the militants out and decide to distance the camp from any interior Syrian tumult.
But the real issue here goes beyond Yarmouk, it actually involves many Palestinians, including the advocates of the Islamic movement inside Palestine and the diaspora. It is based on a Palestinian awareness that what is happening today goes against their beliefs regarding the future of their cause. The behaviors of Islamists in Syria, Egypt, and other countries brought catastrophes.Can any Palestinian explain the secret of this great enthusiasm to topple the Assad regime? Whose interests are they serving by destroying Syria?
Why is a Palestinian youth from the 1948 territories, the West Bank, or Gaza ready to travel to Syria to blow himself up when he can walk a few miles and blow himself up against occupiers of his land? There are a number of facts that indicate Palestinians are contributing to the war in Syria.
According to a December 2013 BBC report, 30 Palestinians from Gazan were killed in Syria, while an estimated 70 Palestinians left Gaza to join the war in Syria. Prominent Salafi leader in Gaza, Abdullah al-Maqdesi, told France 24, “About 27 jihadis left to fight in Syria, some of them came back, some were martyred, some injured and others are still there or left Syria to another country.”
Mohammed al-Qonayta, a Qassam Brigades leader, was killed while training ISIS fighters. Mohammed Jihad al-Zaanin fought alongside ISIS and was proclaimed a “martyr in the service of God.”Eben Tamima Center in Gaza also announced the death of Nidal al- Ashi and Saed Shaalan “the martyrs of the Salafi movement in Syria”.
What are these Palestinians doing? Why are they doing it? Who can stop them or convince them that their battle is elsewhere? Palestinian refugees are the ones called to conduct an overall review.
What are these Palestinians doing? Why are they doing it? Who can stop them or convince them that their battle is elsewhere? Palestinian refugees are the ones called to conduct an overall review.
Ibrahim al-Amin is editor-in-chief of Al-Akhbar.
This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition.