|
Trending Topics
|
Syrian State Document: Assad Orchestrated Nakba Day Raids on Golan Heights
(Telegraph-UK) Michael Weiss - A Syrian state document leaked by the governor of Quneitra in southwest Syria suggests that the regime fully orchestrated the "Nakba Day" raids by Palestinians into the Golan Heights on May 15. The document describes an "urgent meeting" of Maj.-Gen. Asef Shawkat, the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, and the chiefs of security and military intelligence in Quneitra province. The memorandum outlines how the regime ordered the dispatching of 20 buses to the border to precipitate a confrontation between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers and UN peacekeeping forces, thereby distracting international attention from the Syrian revolution. "All security, military, and contingent units in the province...are hereby ordered to grant permission of passage to all twenty vehicles (47 passenger capacity) with the attached plate numbers that are scheduled to arrive at ten in the morning on Sunday, May 15, 2011, without being questioned or stopped until they reach the frontier defense locations. Permission is hereby granted allowing approaching crowds to cross the cease-fire line (with Israel)." "Captain Samer Shahin from the military intelligence division is hereby appointed to the leadership of the group assigned to break in and infiltrate deep into the occupied Syrian Golan Heights with a specified pathway to avoid land mines. It is essential to ensure that no one carries military identification or a weapon as they enter with a strict emphasis on the peaceful and spontaneous nature of the protest." The writer is Communications Director of the Henry Jackson Society.