Palestine for the Syrians?

By Daniel Pipes

The terms; Palestine and Palestinians are Islamic imperialist phenomenon. There is no such thing as a Palestinian people. Before 1948, they were referred to as Syrians. There was only Syria. The Palestinian phenomenon was created with the intention to justify Jihad.

During a meeting with leaders of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) in 1976, Syrian President Hafiz al-Asad referred to Palestine as a region of Syria, as Southern Syria. He then went on to tell the Palestinians: " You do not represent Palestine as much as we do. Do not forget one thing: there is no Palestinian people, no Palestinian entity, there is only Syria! You are an integral part of the Syrian people and Palestine is an integral part of Syria. Therefore it is we, the Syrian authorities, who are the real representatives of the Palestinian people."

Although unusually candid, this outburst exemplifies a long tradition of Syrian politics, and one that has gained increasing importance in recent years. The Asad government presents itself as not just an Arab state protecting the rights of the Palestinians but as the rightful ruler of the land that Israel controls. According to this view, the existing republic of Syria is but a truncated part of the Syrian lands; accordingly, the government in Damascus has a duty to unite all Syrian regions, including Palestine, under its control.

The growth in Syrian military capabilities in recent years makes these ambitions a major source of instability throughout the Levant. Indeed, the Syrian claim to " Southern Syria" has become central to the Arab-Israeli conflict; Syrian has become not only Israel's principal opponent, but also the PLO's. Damascus is likely to retain this role for many years, certainly as long as Hafiz al-Asad lives, and probably longer.

When Asad uses the term Southern Syria, he implicitly harks back to the old meaning of the name " Syria." Historically, " Syria" (Suriya or Sham in Arabic) refers to a region far larger than the Syrian Arab Republic of today. At a minimum, historic Syria stretches from Anatolia to Egypt, and from Iraq to the Mediterranean Sea. In terms of today's political geography, it comprises all of four states-Syria, Jordan, Israel, and Lebanon-as well as the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and substantial portions of south-eastern Turkey. To distinguish this territory from the present Syrian state, it is known as Greater Syria.

Until 1920, Syria meant Greater Syria to everyone, European and Middle Easterner alike; For example, an early nineteenth-century Egyptian historian, 'Abd ar-Rahman al-Jabarti, referred to the inhabitants of El Arish in the Sinai Peninsula as Syrians. Palestine was called Southern Syria first in French, then in other languages, including Arabic. The 1840 Convention of London called the area around Akko " the southern part of Syria" and the 11th edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica (published in 1911) explains that Palestine " may be said generally to denote the southern third of the province of Syria." These examples could be multiplied a thousand-fold.

Creating a separate Palestinian state is as ridiculous as creating a separate state called Kosovo. There are only two rightful claimants of Kosovo. Albania and Serbia. Just like Syria and Israel in the Palestinian conflict.

Source:

https://www.danielpipes.org/article/174