http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2009/929/re81.htm
8 - 14 January 2009
Issue No. 929
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875
Who uses whom?
Syria has a history of supporting militant Palestinian factions, but some say
it uses them as pawns, Bassel Oudat writes from Damascus
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Click to view caption
Syrian protesters shout anti-Israel slogans as they hold candles with
Arabic placards that read: "The children of Gaza as the martyrs of freedom"
left, and "Only the Israelis will pay later for they are doing in Gaza now",
during a demonstration against the Israeli attack on Gaza in Damascus
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Syrian-Palestinian relations suffered during the 1970s and 1990s, first because
of the Lebanese civil war and then because of the Oslo Accords. Once the
Palestine Liberation Organisation initiated its policy of "independent
Palestinian decision-making", many Palestinians took that as a message for
Syria to stay out of Palestinian affairs.
Syrian-Palestinian relations turned chilly after the Palestinians and the
Israelis signed a self-government agreement in Oslo in 1993. Damascus portrayed
the move as a stab in the back of Arab solidarity, a blow to the integrity of
the Arab negotiating position.
Since the Madrid Conference of 1991, Syria and some Palestinian factions agreed
that collective Arab negotiations with Israel were preferable to one-track
talks. The Damascus-based groups, in particular, saw eye to eye with Syria on
all matters concerning negotiations -- prompting speculation that Syria was
using them as a bargaining chip.
Tensions abated in 2000 when Yasser Arafat attended the funeral of the late
president Hafez Al-Assad in Damascus. A year later, President Bashar Al-Assad
met Arafat on the sidelines of an Arab summit in Amman. In 2003, many
Palestinian officials visited Syria in an attempt to revive relations and were
given a warm reception by the Syrians.
Following the 9/11 attacks, the US made a list of alleged terror organisations,
including Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine-General Command (PLFP-GC). In August 2003, the US Treasury decided to
freeze the assets of six Hamas leaders, including Khaled Mashaal and Moussa Abu
Marzouq, who both lived in Damascus.
The US administration warned Syria in June 2002 that it would come under
sanctions unless it closed down the offices of "extremist" Palestinian
organisations in Damascus. The Damascus-based groups were engaged in
recruiting, training, financing, and plotting attacks against Israel, US
officials said. Washington also accused Syria of training Palestinian fighters
in camps near Damascus. Syrian officials denied everything, saying that only
Palestinian media offices existed in Damascus.
In fact, several Palestinian organisations are based in Damascus, especially
the 10 groups that opposed the PLO since the Madrid Conference of 1991: Hamas,
the Islamic Jihad, the PFLP-GC, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of
Palestine, the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah Al-Intifada),
the Palestinian Liberation Front, the Popular Liberation Brigades (Al-Saeqah),
the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Palestinian People's
Struggle Front and the Palestinian Revolutionary Communist Parties.
After the US warning, some Palestinian leaders, especially those of Hamas, left
Syria. But in November 2003, US officials claimed that Syria had failed to
restrain Palestinian groups and that the latter were planning "terrorist acts"
out of Damascus. Washington claimed that Syria facilitated the delivery of
hardware to Hamas, using a freight plane formerly used in relief operations in
Iran.
In early 2004, Damascus responded, saying that it asked Palestinian groups
operating in Syria to stop their media and political activities. Syrian
officials told Palestinian leaders to keep a low profile, and occasionally
limited their movement. Weeks later, Palestinian groups residing in Syria
denied that Syria had pressured them or closed their offices, saying that they
were still operating as usual.
In January 2005, Mahmoud Abbas, then Fatah candidate in the presidential
elections, went to Syria in his first visit since 1996. When Abbas won the
elections, Al-Assad congratulated him. The Syrian rapprochement with the
official Palestinian Authority (PA) was generally seen as an answer to
Washington. Syria was telling US officials that it was talking to all the
Palestinians, not just the hardliners. Before June 2003, Fatah offices in
Damascus had been closed for 20 years.
Nonetheless, Damascus has very close ties with Hamas, although the latter is
part of the Muslim Brotherhood, a group banned in Syria. Following Hamas's
electoral victory, Al-Assad received Mashaal and congratulated him on the "free
and fair" elections. In return, Mashaal said that Syria was "the happiest
country" to see Hamas win, adding that the elections victory "broke the chains"
that kept Damascus down.
In April 2006, Iran's Hashemi Rafsanjani met in Damascus with Mashaal and
Ramadan Shallah of the Islamic Jihad and promised them further backing. Soon
afterward, Al-Assad said that Syria was ending the blockade on the Hamas
government. He also called on all Syrians to start donating money to the
Palestinian people. Al-Assad then played host to Mahmoud Al-Zahhar, foreign
minister of the dismissed Hamas government, a man whom Jordan and Egypt had
refused to receive.
It was said then that Hamas, Syria, Iran and several Palestinian groups had a
plan to bring down the PA. In October 2006, the Israeli Foreign Ministry issued
a report saying that the Syrians were training Hamas operatives, but making
sure not to get directly involved in Hamas operations.
Meanwhile, Hamas leaders have often been accused of being Syria's lackeys.
Palestinian and Arab officials maintain that Syria and Iran back the policies
of Hamas in order to send a message to Washington: antagonise us at your own
risk
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