PRO-PALESTINE ACTIVISTS SEE THE LIGHT…PALESTINE IS A PART OF SYRIA Ghassan Kadi 11 June 2012

PRO-PALESTINE ACTIVISTS SEE THE LIGHT…PALESTINE IS A PART OF SYRIA
Ghassan Kadi
11 June 2102

 Personal opinions cannot turn fact into fiction and cannot alter reality. Palestine is a historic, geographic, cultural and national part of Syria. The same applies to Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq.

Historically, that part of the Levant has been known and referred to as Greater Syria also known as the Fertile Crescent.

There is no need to turn fact into a great political argument and a huge debate; at least not herein for the purpose of this article. But in any which way one looks at this argument, whether he/she wants to draw the boundaries of the nation of Syria a few kilometres this way or that way, there is little doubt that the history of this region implies similarities that cannot be ignored even by the most ardent supporters of the independence and nationhood of the current states.

It must be remembered that the borders of the current states of Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq have been drawn by the French and British colonialists in the 1920’s, and the Palestine that was mapped and drawn was what became that area that was snapped away by the Hebrew state.

This is not about a lesson in history, but rather about stating facts that many people in the West ignore. As a matter of fact, an average run-of-the-mill Westerner does not need to know this information if he/she does not want to form a view about the political situation in that part of the world and tried to understand how and why it is affecting his/her welfare.

But for the Western activist, the one who can see the atrocities perpetrated by the state of Israel against the people of Palestine, some knowledge of history becomes paramount.

It is rather ironic that many Western pro-Palestinian activists seem to view the Middle East as a mosaic of distinct nations without being able to connect the dots. It is even more amazing how they can have great passion and devotion for Palestine, and do not seem to give a damn about say Lebanon or Syria. The truth of the matter is that one cannot separate the events in any of those territories from any other.

But to be fair, what is more ironic is that many Arabs do not see the great links that connect the fates of their states with each other. But if one probes underneath the skin, it becomes easy to see that Arabs of this calibre either have personal vested interests that could be jeopardised otherwise, and/or blinded by some form of sectarianism or tribalism.

But when those sectarian tribals go out to the West and start preaching their ideologies to listening ears, their words are taken like gospel and only a handful stop to question their ideologies and motives. The biggest example to this category of people is Ahmad Jalabi who duped the West about the Iraqi WMD’s for personal gain.

Palestinians are not any more or less “educated” in this field than their Arab compatriots. Those with developed national understanding and aspirations are quite aware of their belonging to a bigger entity albeit Greater Syria or the whole Arab World. That said, some Palestinians are isolationists in the sense that they believe in the “Palestinian decision”.

The truth of the matter is that without Syria and Syrian support you can kiss Palestine goodbye.

The Palestinian Resistance in both of its major incarnations; the PLO and Hamas, have been fostered by Syria. The only major military defeat that Israel has ever suffered was done by the hands of Hezbollah and which would have never been able to get its members trained and armed without the support of Syria.

But with the level of ignorance and bigotry that is predominant in many hearts and minds, it is not at all uncommon to find Palestinians taking political sides that not only do not serve the Palestinian cause, but in fact are for its detriment.

It is therefore not very unusual, for example, to find some Palestinians supporting Hezbollah only and only for kicking Israel’s hide, but at the same time, taking very strong anti Hezbollah stands for the simple reason that Hezbollah is a Shiite organization.

Likewise, it is not at all unusual to find Palestinians supporting the Syrian rebels, and thereby taking the same political stand as the Israeli cabinet has recently proclaimed.

But if fanatic Palestinians, fanatic ultra rightwing Christian Lebanese, fanatic Sunni fundamentalists have dogmatized views, their position can be known and defined as being such. What is hard to explain is the position of the Western so-called pro-Palestinian activists. Why do they stop at hearing half truths?

Instead of pontificating and making statements that clearly reveal their total ignorance of the region, if those Western activists were indeed interested in the welfare of the people of the region, they must first realize that Palestine and Syria are one. If they cannot see this and understand it, they might as well go home and be quiet. Hey are doing us more harm than good. It is our fight, we do not need them.

This may sound like a very harsh and ungrateful statement to make and this is not the intention. There is no doubt at all that most of the Western pro-Palestinian activists are well intentioned decent human beings who are shocked by the actions of Israel. But not unless they educate themselves about the region, the whole region, then they may inadvertently end up as meddlers who can in fact cause harm.