Israel and Palestine Here comes your non-violent resistance

[Ironlikealion Profile]

THE SYRIAN regime of Bashar al-Assad on Sunday made a desperate effort to distract attention from its continuing, bloody assaults on its own people. Hundreds of Palestinians were bused from refu­gee camps near Damascus to the de facto border with Israel in the Golan Heights, where they broke through a fence and invaded a nearby town. Surprised and badly outnumbered, Israeli troops eventually opened fire, killing at least one person. Crowds of Palestinians also marched on Israeli border posts with Lebanon, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank; all together more than a dozen fatalities were reported.

Syria was fully capable of preventing the breach of the border by the young so-called “refugees” – most of whom had never even set foot in the places they alleged they were “expelled” from 63 years ago.

Syrians who claim to be descendants of those who abandoned their homes in 1948 -- inspired by the promises of Arab leaders who assured them they could soon return to enjoy the spoils of their Jewish neighbors once they were “driven into the sea” –are being used as pawns by their own leaders, these very same rulers.

Palestinians demonstrate every year against Israel’s founding, and Facebook organizers helped drum up support for Sunday’s marches in the style of the Arab Spring. But no one can reach the heavily militarized Syrian front with Israel without the consent and cooperation of the Assad regime. That Syria’s allies in Lebanon and Gaza, Hezbollah and Hamas, were visibly involved in the demonstrations was also telling. Like the dictatorship in Damascus, the terrorist groups are profoundly threatened by the Arab demands for democratic change — and trying to switch the subject to Israel is the region’s most familiar political gambit.

It bears repeating, however, that President Obama himself has yet to publicly condemn the violence in Syria; to say that Mr. Assad must go; to withdraw the ambassador he dispatched to Damascus last fall to “engage” the regime; or to impose sanctions on the ruler himself. The administration said 10 days ago that it would “adjust . . . relations with Syria according to the concrete actions undertaken by the Syrian government.” Since then Syrian troops have invaded more cities and killed scores more people. Now the regime has provoked violence with Israel. Has the time not yet come for an “adjustment”?

Anthony Shadid wrote in the May 15 issue of New York Times:

The threat of unrest at the border is the method. As Syrian dissident Radwan Ziadeh, a visiting scholar at George Washington University quoted by Shadid, noted, “It's a message by the Syrian government for Israel and the international community: If you continue the pressure on us, we will ignite the front with Israel.”

And guess who will be used as the mules to shlep the bombs?

Just as they were in 1948, and in every decade since – Assad clearly intends to make cynical use of the Arabs who have for more than half a century made their homes in Syria, whose children, grandchildren and even great-grandchildren have since been born there.

It's an easier way for Assad to divert attention from the chaos at home, explains Shadid – a real struggle. He would rather endanger his own civilians than risk a military battle against the IDF in the war he is threatening, which he most likely would spectacularly lose.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ ... story.html

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/144279

[Rydher Profile]

I always wondered why the world says Israel stole Palestinian land. Without even touching the subject of ancient history and what happens when you lose a war. Why is it never mentioned that after the war in 1948 when the UN designated land for the Palestinians. Jordan annexed the West Bank and Egypt took the Gaza District? The later, both Egypt and Jordan didn't allow the Palestinians to form their own independent government.