Syrian And Arab Journalists React To Assad's Anti-Israel Speech At Arab-Islamic Summit: Assad Has Killed More Palestinians Than Israel And Is Responsible For The Massacre Of Hundreds Of Thousands Of Syrians

On November 11, 2024, approximately one year after the Gaza-Israel war broke out following the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led invasion and massacres in southern Israel, and approximately two months after the major escalation in the Israel-Hizbullah conflict in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia hosted the Joint Arab-Islamic Extraordinary Summit in Riyadh. The purpose of the summit was to discuss the "acute crisis" in "the State of Palestine" and the "expansion of the conflict into the Republic of Lebanon."[1]

Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad was invited to attend the summit and deliver a speech, a measure that was described in the Arab press as part of normalization with the Assad regime.[2] As expected, during his speech Assad attacked Israel, referring to it as "barbaric" and as an "illegal colonialist entity" with "a secular worldview of bloodshed" and "an illusion of superiority." He also accused it of "schizophrenia," in that it displays "hatred of Nazis outwardly, while adopting Nazism as an integral component." He called on the summit's participants to "make the right decisions, so that we do not speak to a thief using the language of law, to a criminal using the language of morality, and to an arch-murderer using the language of humanity…"[3]

It should be noted that since the anti-regime protests broke out in Syria in March 2011, Bashar Al-Assad's regime has been employing a deliberate policy of violent, unrestrained, and undiscriminating repression against the civilian population, which has included the use of unconventional weapons and barrel bombs against population centers, besieging and starving civilian populations, and carrying out demographic and ethnic cleansing throughout Syria.[4] According to the U.N. and Syrian opposition websites, hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed during the Syrian civil war and millions have been displaced, including a large number of Palestinian refugees.[5]

In light of this, the invitation of Assad to attend the summit and to deliver a speech sparked much criticism among opponents of the Syrian regime, who underlined Assad's responsibility for the massacre and killing of hundreds of thousands of Syrians and Palestinians. They asserted that Assad's invitation to a summit dealing with the death of Palestinians and Lebanese is "a historic farce" and a "joke." They added that not only has Assad never taken any practical action for the sake of the Palestinians, he is in fact responsible for the deaths of thousands of Palestinians in Syria, and he must be tried for all of his crimes.

Assad speaking at the summit (Sana.sy, November 11, 2024)

This report reviews the reactions by anti-regime Syrian media figures to Assad's invitation to the summit and to the speech he delivered there.

Inviting A "War Criminal" Like Assad To A Summit On Stopping The War Is A Farce; He Killed A Million People In Syria

As mentioned, Syrian regime opponents criticized the very act of inviting Bashar Al-Assad, who they claim is responsible for the death and displacement of millions of people, to a summit calling for an end to the aggression against Gaza and Lebanon. Ahmad Al-Kasoum, for example, a Syrian opposition activist, wrote on his X account: "Inviting a war criminal like Bashar Al-Assad to participate in an Arab-Islamic summit that condemns the aggression against our people in Gaza and calls for its cessation is a historic farce, lived by anyone who benefits from this despicable policy that is based on the body parts of civilians, the ruins of the homes of residents who were forced to migrate, and the physical torment suffered by Syrians whose whereabouts are unknown, who have been [imprisoned] in Assad's criminal prisons for over a decade."[6]

Syrian journalist Mahmoud Talha wrote on X: "This summit is truly extraordinary, because it calls for an end to the Gaza war, in which 50,000 people have been killed, and is attended by Bashar Al-Assad. What do you think of this extraordinary summit[?]!! It is the pinnacle of absurdity."[7] 

Several writers mentioned the massacre carried out by Syrian regime forces in 2013 in the Al-Tadamun neighborhood of the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp near Damascus, during which Palestinians were executed and thrown into a mass grave.

Mohamed Hanid, a Tunisian academic living in France, posted on his X account: "Imagine, Bashar Al-Assad, whose militias massacred Palestinians in the Yarmouk refugee camp, will give a speech tomorrow on the rights of the Palestinian people during the Arab summit of shame."[8]

Syrian researcher Abbas Sharifeh shared a video of a man being executed and thrown into a mass grave, and commented: "Don't wait for the speech. The truth is that the young man who was led to the grave to be executed by the operatives of the Assad regime – he was a Palestinian."[9]

Criticism Of Assad's Speech: He Wept Over The Killing Of Palestinians In Gaza, When He Himself Killed A Much Larger Number Of Syrians And Arabs

Much criticism was also directed at the content of Assad's speech at the summit, in which he lambasted Israel for killing many Palestinian and Lebanese people. His opponents called this hypocrisy, saying that Assad himself is responsible for the death and displacement of far more Palestinians and Syrians. Accusing him of exploiting the Palestinian issue to gain sympathy in the Arab and Islamic world and divert attention from his own crimes, they added that Assad is the obstacle to peace in the region and should be put on trial.

Syrian Journalist: The "Bastard" Assad, Who Talks About The Rights Of The Palestinians, Has Massacred Many Palestinians In Syria

Some of Assad's opponents accused him of the indiscriminate killing of Palestinians in Syria, as happened in the Yarmouk refugee camp.

Faisal Al-Qassem, a Syrian national who serves as a host on the Qatari Al-Jazeera Network TV channel and a staunch opponent of Assad's regime, shared on his X account a video of Assad's speech at the summit alongside a video of Palestinians from the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus after "Assad's soldiers destroyed [the camp] over their heads with barrel bombs." He wrote: "… Did you know that the one who is attacking the Israeli crimes [actually] harmed far more Palestinians in Syria than the Israelis have harmed in Gaza? ...The bastard talks about Palestinian rights, and this is what he did to them in the Yarmouk refugee camp."[10]

X user "Abu Qassem" shared a video of Syrian security forces executing a Palestinian in Yarmouk alongside a video of Assad's speech, and commented: "The criminal Assad pretends to weep over the Palestinians in Palestine, although he himself buried them in a pit in the Al-Tadamun [neighborhood]."[11]

Abu Qassem's post.

Syrian oppositionist Sarouti Qalamouni likewise shared a video documenting the massacre, famine, and destruction wrought by the Syrian regime in the Al-Yarmouk camp along with a video of Assad's speech, and wrote: "In his speech yesterday at the Arab Summit, which convened to discuss ways to stop the war in Gaza, the criminal, murderer, arch-butcher and dictator Bashar Al-Assad spoke of humaneness, when he himself has killed, expelled, and besieged Palestinians in Syria."[12]

Assad Delivered His Speech While Using Suicide Drones Against Civilians In Syria; He Is Exploiting The Palestinian Cause To Distract People From His Actions

Syrian journalist Mus'ab Al-Yassin wrote on the Syrian opposition website Daraj Media: "Bashar Al-Assad boarded his plane at the Damascus airport only after giving orders to escalate bombings against Aleppo and Idlib, in order to ensure that his crimes against the Syrians continue even during his speech at the Arab-Islamic summit in Saudi Arabia… As the cameramen captured footage of Assad at the summit, his suicide drones assaulted the homes of civilians in a village west of Idlib and injured four civilians… He traveled to Saudi Arabia and delivered a high-flown speech about the massacres being carried out by Israel and about human rights and humanity while he is responsible for the death of over 15,000 men, women, and children who were tortured to death in his regime's jails and prisons since March 2011, and while 136,000 people are still imprisoned, or are missing and being tortured, in Syria…"[13]

Syrian expat Dr. Alaa Al-Din Aal Rashi also accused Assad of killing many people – Palestinians and Syrians – and said that he is exploiting the Palestinian cause in order to distract people from his crimes against Syrians and Palestinians in his own country. He wrote in an article on a Syrian opposition website:

"Do you think we have forgotten that Israel has killed less than a quarter of the number of people you and your father killed? That you are the ones who turned Syria into a scene of destruction and death? How does a person like you, who created his own tragedy with his own hands, claim to have empathy for the suffering of the Palestinians? What kind of justice are you talking about? What principles are you pretending to uphold as you trample justice every day with your decisions and your tyranny?

"You talk about 'joint Arab action' as though you are zealously committed to the unity of the nation and as though you are not to blame for the dissolution of Syria's [social] fabric into ethnic and sectarian groups, and for the fact that your nation is in exile throughout the world. What an absolute contradiction exists in your words: You call for defending the Palestinians and forget – or pretend to forget – that you and your regime are responsible for thousands of tragedies that have been written in the blood of innocents in the streets of Syria. You have committed crimes not only against the Syrians; even the Palestinians in their refugee camps have been exposed to your suppression and oppression. Perhaps you have forgotten, but we have not…

"You have exploited the Palestinian cause to cover for your policies, knowing that this is the easiest way to earn the approval of Arab and Islamic society. You spoke about Palestine as if it was your property and your top priority, while it is only a tool you have used for your private interests…

"Let me remind you of something you deliberately ignored: You have never presented a clear plan for supporting the Palestinian people. Your speech is full of slogans and empty of content… Your speech uplifts you as the top defender of Palestine, but in fact you are the chief culprit in the destruction of Syria. You perhaps believe that your speech will highlight your support for the Palestinian cause, but I see it as an attempt to clear your name and distract people from your crimes… Your slogans will not cause us to forgive your actions… You will not succeed in hiding the truth behind speeches and slogans. The Syrian nation knows you well and knows that you are using Palestine as cover and that you are selling out the homeland to foreigners."[14]

As Long As We Don't Talk About Your Crimes, Your Talk About Peace – In Syria Or In Palestine – Is Meaningless

Some also called for Assad to be tried for his crimes, stating that this is one of the conditions for peace in the region. Tarek Chindeb, a Lebanese attorney who opposes Hizbullah, wrote on his X account: "Chemical Bashar – the criminal and arch-murderer who is known as the tail of the dog… is a criminal and arch-murderer whose fate must be jail or the noose."[15]

Syrian opposition journalist Shiar Khalil, editor of the London-based daily The Levant News, likewise wrote in an article published by the daily that Assad is exploiting the Palestinian issue to distract people from his crimes, and called for Assad to be tried in order to facilitate peace in the region. He wrote:

"In a show full of contradictions at the Islamic summit in Riyadh, Bashar Al-Assad spoke about peace, ending the fighting, and the Palestinian cause, but his speech was a clear attempt to rebrand himself as a leader of resistance in the region, while deliberately ignoring the main role he played in destroying his country, exiling and arresting his people, and opening the door for Iran to implement its expansionist agenda.

"Like his father Hafez Al-Assad, Bashar Al-Assad used the Palestinian cause as an excuse to justify his policy of oppression… Bashar increased his exploitation of the Palestinian cause in order to attain regional legitimacy, even as his planes and artillery struck the Syrian people. For the Syrian regime, Palestine was always a propaganda tool for distracting people from its oppression and war crimes, rather than a real cause that [the regime] was defending…

"Assad's speech about peace and a ceasefire does not match his actions, which have killed hundreds of thousands of Syrians… Bashar Al-Assad is attempting to clear his name by means of international summits and conferences, using old slogans he inherited from his father. Yet reality proves that he represents an oppressive police state that serves the agendas of Hizbullah and Iran and that has no place in any real regional peace plan. As long as Assad is not tried for his crimes, any talk about peace – in Syria or Palestine – is a completely useless political illusion."[16]