(Jerusalem Post) Zvi Mazel - Among the Palestinians killed trying to storm the Golan Heights on June 3, nine were from the Yarmuk refugee camp on the outskirts of Damascus. As news started trickling in about the number of dead and wounded, people in the camp suddenly understood that they had been duped by Syrian leader Bashar Assad, who had chosen to buy with Palestinian blood an operation intended to draw attention away from his brutal handling of the country's crisis. An estimated 100,000 Palestinians took part in the mass funerals, chanting slogans against the Syrian president. When Ahmed Jibril, head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC), headquartered in Damascus, tried to make a speech praising Assad and blaming Israel for the deaths, his voice was drowned by protests. Soon the protest turned more violent, and protesters vented their anger on the PFLP-GC's headquarters, setting the place on fire. Two guards were killed in the onslaught; Jibril's security officers opened fire, killing 14 protesters and wounding hundreds. The violent protests 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. The writer is a former ambassador to Romania, Egypt and Sweden, and a fellow of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.
2011-06-22 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive