MEMRI July 24, 2016
Clip No. 5602
TV Host Takes Palestinian Activist to Task over Palestinian Snub of the
Syrian Revolution: The Number of People Who Fled Iraq and Syria in the Past
Three Months Equals the Entire Palestinian Nakba
http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/5602.htm

During a July 24 interview on the Syrian opposition Orient News TV channel,
host Dima Wannous asked her guest, Muhammad Masharqa, spokesman for the Free
Palestinian-Syrian Assembly, why the Palestinian cause remained "the world's
number one cause" over the years, even though the total number of
Palestinians displaced equaled the number of people who fled Syria and Iraq
in the past three months. Masharqa's response that the establishment of the
state of Israel "was a colonialist enterprise with Western goals" did not
satisfy Wannous, who said that unlike the Palestinians, the Syrians would
not have forgiven Saddam his crimes against his own people merely for
fighting their enemy. The Free Palestinian-Syrian Assembly, which was
established in May in Gaziantep, Turkey, emphasizes Palestinian involvement
in the Syrian revolution.

Dima Wannous: "Why has the (Palestinian cause) become the world's number one
cause? I mean, the calamities of the other Arab nations over the years were
no less tragic than the tragedy of the Palestinian people."

Muhammad Masharqa: "You can look at it from another perspective. The
colonialist enterprise that brought about the state of Israel did not target
only the Palestinian people but the entire Arab region. All the destruction
in the Arab world can be traced back to the fact that there is an advanced
post in the region for the colonialist powers, and it is called 'the state
of Israel.'"
[...]
Dima Wannous: "In 1948, the years of the Nakba, the Palestinian people were
driven out of their homes and their land. Approximately 750,000 people were
displaced. You know the figures better than me. 750,000 Palestinians were
displaced, only 150,000 of whom were expelled from Palestine. The others
remained in their historical homeland, although in different places. If you
take the total figure of 750,000, this is equal to the number of people who
fled Syria and Iraq in the past three months. I repeat the question in
another way, because you did not answer me the first time. Why is the
Palestinian cause the world's number one cause?"

Muhammad Masharqa: "It is not the world's number one cause..."

Dima Wannous: "Well, after five years, many Syrians are asking why their
cause has already been forgotten by most people. Moreover, the Palestinians
are blaming the Syrians that their revolution is Islamic, and has failed to
produce any free democratic ideology. They say that the Syrian revolution
emerged from the mosques, and so on. How come yours is the world's number
one cause? With all the great crimes perpetrated by the Israeli enemy - how
many people were killed in the Palestinian 'Land Day?' You know better than
me. Six people were killed. That's what I've read."

Muhammad Masharqa: "Look, it is important to seek answers in history. In
what context was Israel established? Was the context Palestinian or did it
pertain to the entire region? From this perspective... It constituted... It
cooperated with the Apartheid regime in South Africa, and with other forms
of colonization equipped with a myth. But it had clear political and
economic goals right from the start. The centrality of the Palestinian cause
stems from this. This is an objective thing. It is not because the
Palestinians were good at propaganda."

Dima Wannous: "In other words, you've benefitted from the enemy being Jewish
and Israeli..."

Muhammad Masharqa: "No, it was a colonist enterprise with Western goals."

[...]
Dima Wannous: "Saddam Hussein was idolized by the masses for firing 36 or 39
Scud missiles at Tel Aviv, while he was perpetrating crimes on a daily basis
against his own people. The Palestinian greatly appreciated Saddam Hussein
for this deed. If we want to talk about the Palestinians' approach to the
liberation of the peoples, is it conceivable for them to support a murderer,
an arch-killer, a dictator - all the foul terms apply to these leaders -
just because he fired missiles at Tel Aviv? What about the (Iraqi) people?"

Muhammad Masharqa: "Consider this within the context of the historical
culture of this nation, since the Prophet Muhammad and to this day. This
culture still views the individual leader... All the people evoke the image
of Omar Ibn Al-Khattab, whom we consider to be just caliph..."

Dima Wannous: "You are talking about people in general, but I'm talking
about the Palestinians."

Muhammad Masharqa: "The Palestinian culture did not land from another
planet..."

Dima Wannous: "It's not, but on this issue, it is different, because the
Syrians would not have fallen in love with Saddam - if he were still alive -
if he had started fighting the Syrian regime..."

Muhammad Masharqa: "That's just the way Arab Islamic culture is. Since the
days of Omar Ibn Al-Khattab... We talk about Saladin, the savior, the hero,
the inspiring leader. This is the culture of Arabs. This is the Arab-Islamic
culture."
[...]
Dima Wannous: "Most of the Palestinians today support Hassan Nasrallah,
considering him to be an instrument of liberation, but today, Hassan
Nasrallah is doing his 'liberation' in Aleppo, not Palestine."

Muhammad Masharqa: "Who has the statistics...?"

Dima Wannous: "It's not about statistics. We watch and read what's going on.
Obviously, I can't go one by one and ask each Palestinian for his opinion."

Muhammad Masharqa: "In my view, this generalization is inaccurate. Like all
the people on Earth, the Palestinians are divided on these issues."

The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) is an independent,
non-profit organization providing translations of the Middle East media and
original analysis and research on developments in the region. Copies of
articles and documents cited, as well as background information, are
available on request.
MEMRI holds copyrights on all translations. Materials may only be used with
proper attribution.

The Middle East Media Research Institute
P.O. Box 27837, Washington, DC 20038-7837
Phone: [202] 955-9070 Fax: [202] 955-9077 E-Mail: memri@memri.org
Search previous MEMRI publications at our website: www.memri.org