Palestinian Official to ST: President al-Assad the ‘great Arab leader’
Anwar Raja, a Political Office Member at the Popular Front for Liberating Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC), has underscored that the strategic goal of the ongoing Israeli aggression on Gaza Strip is to demoralize the Palestinian people’s spirit amid ‘cold’ and ‘slow’ Arab popular reactions.
Speaking to Syriatimes newspaper, the Palestinian official said: “The Zionist enemy seeks, through its aggression on Gaza Strip, to demoralize the spirit of the Palestinian people and their belief in the Arab nation. They want the Palestinian people to be frustrated and say: ‘Oh… alone’.”
Other goals of the aggression are inflicting the maximum possible losses upon the Palestinians and targeting resistance’ weapons, Mr.Raja added.
He pointed out that the aggression is being launched amid cold and slow Arab popular reactions and expressing schadenfreude campaigns- on social networks- based on attitudes towards Hamas.
‘Arab Wreck’
From his viewpoint, timing of the aggression was set at this period because the Arab countries are preoccupied with their own concerns and the resistance alliance – the Syrian Arab army, Hezbollah and Iran- are preoccupied with the global war on Syria.
So, the Arab popular reaction has been cold and slow so far.
There is unbalance in the Arab nation resulting from the “Arab wreck” which was earlier called the ‘Arab spring’,” the Palestinian official said.
Resistance pay back twofold
However, some observers say that the Zionist enemy [Israel] has decided to launch its aggression on Gaza Strip in July in order to tell the whole world that it is capable of retaliating against the painful blows it had received from the resistance in south Lebanon back in July 2006.
This viewpoint was supported by Mr. Raja who gave us two examples from the agenda of the Zionist enemy’s political actions.
“On May the 20th 1985, three Zionist soldiers held by Palestinian fighters were released in exchange for the release of 1150 Palestinian prisoners from the Zionist occupation’s jails. The Zionist enemy was humbled by the prisoner swap, so it assassinated the son of the Secretary General of PFLP-GC, Jehad Jebril, on May the 20th 2002.”
“On November the 25th 1987, more than 35 Zionist soldiers plus several officers were killed during ‘glider operation’ carried out by the Syrian and Tunisian fighters against Gabor camp [the camp of heroes] to the north of occupied Palestine. A year later [on November the 25th ], the Zionist enemy launched a ground offensive against the Palestinian camps in Lebanon.”
Mr. Raja added that the Zionist enemy wants to say, by carrying out its aggressions on a certain date that it is able to make resistance pay back twofold.
Oslo authority
On the other hand, he talked about the US diplomacy and Oslo authority.
“Since one year and a half ago, you can notice that the US diplomacy has been activated to swoop on the Palestinian cause to reach a deal through negotiations between Ramallah authority and the enemy’s government in order to place the last nail in the coffin of the Palestinian cause.”
“Unfortunately, Oslo authority in Ramallaah [Mr. Mahmod Abbas] is against resistance and Intifada and it sees that negotiations are the only option to end the conflict.,” Mr. Raja added, pointing out that there have been many attempts to stymie the Palestinian people over the past 20 years .
Despite that, he expects that a new Intifada will erupt in the occupied Palestine after awakening the nation’s spirit.
“The war will continue and it will be expand geographically. I mean: if the ground offensive in Gaza Strip has been escalated, new front lines in south Lebanon and Golan are due to be opened,” Mr. Raja said.
Our duty
He confirmed that resistance alliance is like communication vessels.
Mr. Raja pointed out that the fighters affiliated to the PFLP-GC and to some movements of the Palestinian National Alliance and Hezbollah fought alongside the Syrian Arab army in confronting the Zionist war on Syria.
“Almost 200 fighters affiliated to the PFLP-GC were martyred and 500 others wounded during the ongoing Zionist war on Syria.”
“We are proud of this and it’s our duty because standing with Syria means standing with Palestine and the just causes. Syria’s victory is important at the Arab level and it means winning the cup of the free people of the world. “
President al-Assad ‘great Arab leader’
The Zionist attack on the region targets the Arab nation and its future. It comes within the US-western plot that has been contrived to be sponsored by the successive US administrations instead of the United Kingdom.
“President Bashar al-Assad was clear and crucial when he reiterated that the real security of the Arab nation can be realized through keeping the Palestinian cause as a core issue based on principles and facts,” Mr.Raja said.
He described President al-Assad as a ‘great Arab leader’, adding that the Palestinian cause is one of Syria’s firm principles.
“Stressing Syria’s firm stance towards the cause during the global war which is being launched against Syria, protects the cause and reflects Syria’s steadfastness. What is going on in Syria and the region as a whole has bearing on what is going on in the occupied Palestine.”
Mr. Raja echoed what President al-Assad said in his speech after taking the oath of office on Wednesday: “Those who believe that we can live safely, if we distance ourselves from the Palestinian cause, are deluded.” He clarified that the real balance, freedom and sovereignty of the Arab nation can be realized through removing the Zionist dangerous [Israel].
Gloating campaigns
The Palestinian official also commented on campaigns- on social networks- displaying schadenfreude at the Israeli aggression on besieged Gaza Strip are due to reaction of ingratitude and disloyalty of some Palestinians [Hamas] towards Syria.
“These limited campaigns are based on naïve and rage reactions. But the fear is that some reporters, intellectuals and politicians may exploit them to consolidate the concept of isolation among the Arab countries and Palestine. In fact, what President al-Assad said on Wednesday in this regard was decisive.”
President al-Assad said: “We must distinguish between the resistant Palestinian people and the ungrateful Palestinians; between true resistance fighters – who we should support – and the amateurs who masquerade themselves in the mantle of resistance to serve their interests, gloss their image or strengthen their authority. Otherwise, we will be – consciously or unconsciously, serving Israel’s objectives of dividing us even further and make us believe that our crisis is domestic and isolated.”
Egyptian ceasefire initiative
As for the Egyptian ceasefire initiative, Mr. Raja clarified that the PFLP-GC rejected the initiative because it serves the Zionist enemy’s interests as it does not deal with lifting the siege imposed on Gaza Strip and releasing 6000 prisoners in the enemy’s jails as well as random arrests.
“The initiative gives Netanyahu a pretext to expand his ground offensive against the Palestinian people, simply because he was certain that the Palestinians will reject the initiative which he immediately accepted.”
Mr. Raja added that the initiative said nothing about penalizing the Zionist enemy that killed hundreds of Palestinians and wounded thousands, including children, women and the elderly in the ongoing aggression on the beleaguered Gaza Strip.
“The Zionist enemy targets the Palestinian children, women and the elderly as the death toll proves this fact. It uses missile’s guidance system and not warning missiles as it claims. ”
“However, the rockets fired by the Palestinian resistance target military sites of the enemy and mistakes were made due to lack of sophisticated technology.”
The Palestinians have every right of possessing weapons to defend themselves and liberate their homeland from the Zionist occupation. But the problem is that the western culture about Palestine is based on historical sources that have nothing to do with reality.
There are lots of Palestinian sources in the internet about the history of Palestine and the unconscionable and heinous massacres perpetrated by the Zionist enemy [Israel] against the Palestinian people.
Resistance alliance will never succumb
Mr. Raja asserted the continuity of fighting the Zionist enemy by all means till the liberation of Palestine.
“Whatever the weapons we have as Palestinians, we can not liberate Palestine alone. We can shake the security haughtiness of the Zionist enemy and this will have effect on immigration to the occupied Palestine and from it.”
“If you know the equation of conflict, you will know how to fight. The current war on Gaza is not a certain movement’s war. It is Palestine’s war and the Arab nation’s war,” Mr. Raja confirmed.
Foreign Minister’s statement ‘silly’
Regarding the Arab foreign ministers’ meeting recently held on Israel’s aggression on Gaza Strip, the Palestinian official said: “The meeting issued a ‘silly’ statement that mirrors the declining state of the Arab nation. It was like throwing arrows on the wounded Palestinians.”
“We are defending ourselves and our rights… Gaza is like one house… 1.800.000 persons live in 365 square kilometer area.”
“We [Palestinians] do not bet on those cuckolds”, he said, in reference to Foreign ministers.
“A lot of Palestinian persons were uprooted and thrown out of their homeland… Golda Meir and David Ben-Gurion effronterily said that Palestine is a land without people for people without a land”, he stressed.
Yarmouk settlement can be reached only under duress
As for the reasons of al-Yarmouk camp initiatives’ failure, Mr. Raja clarified that no settlement could be reached before sanitizing the camp’s surrounding areas- Yalda, Taqaddoum, Hajar al-Aswad- from the armed gangs.
“Settlement can be reached only under pressure as the armed gangs in the camp receive their orders from the Mossad,” he said.
The Palestinian official noted that the gangs occupied the camp under Israeli decision to jettison the Palestinian right of return to their homeland and make the Palestinian refugees frustrated and feel homelessness.”
“Existence of Palestinian refugees in Syria asking for their rights to return is an existential threat to the Zionist entity.” Mr.Raja concluded.
Interviewed by: Basma Qaddour & Ibrahim Zaaboub