Syrian Opposition Members On Syrian Regime Hypocrisy: It Massacred Palestinians In Syria, But Weeps Crocodile Tears Over Palestinians In Gaza

The condemnation of Israel and its war on Hamas by the Bashar Al-Assad regime in Syria has been ridiculed by members of the Syrian opposition, who argued that the Syrian regime – which killed thousands of Syrian-Palestinians, including women and children, imprisoned hundreds, and displaced hundreds of thousands – has no right to weep for the bitter fate of Palestinians in Gaza.

According to opposition members, since the war in Syria began in 2011, the Assad regime has attacked dozens of hospitals and hundreds of schools, and is even now attacking civil infrastructure in northwestern Syria. Therefore, they contend, its show of concern for Palestinians in Gaza is hypocritical, and any Palestinian hope for assistance from it will be in vain. Further, some oppositionists even called for supporting Israel rather than Syria if a war should erupt between them.

Ruins of the Al-Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus (Syria.tv, October 10, 2021)

This report includes the statements made by members of the Syrian opposition against the Syrian regime on X (formerly Twitter), in the context of the war in Gaza.

Syrian Oppositionists: Assad Has The Audacity To Condemn Harm To Palestinians – After He Himself Murdered Palestinian Children And Bombed Dozens Of Hospitals In Syria

Several Syrian opposition members pointed out the hypocrisy of the Syrian regime, which does not hesitate to condemn what is being done to the Palestinians in Gaza despite having harmed Palestinians just as much.

Syrian media activist Radwan Al-Qassem posted a photo on his X account showing a sign from a demonstration against the Syrian regime in the country's southern Al-Suwayda Governorate. It read: "Clean your teeth of the flesh of Palestinian children [you murdered] in [the Palestinian refugee camps] Al-Zaatar[1] and Al-Yarmouk[2] before you pretend to cry for Gaza." He added: "To the regime gangs and their loyalists, there is no difference between those who kill Muslims in Gaza and those who kill Muslims in Syria."[3]

Radwan Al-Qassem's tweet

Similarly, Syrian activist Marea Othman wrote on X: "They murdered Palestinian children in the Al-Yarmouk [refugee camp] in Rif Damascus – and now are pretending they weep for those in Gaza. This is the nature of the Syrian regime, and its bullies who trade in [the Palestinian cause]."[4]

Mouaz Moustafa, director of the U.S.-based Syrian Emergency Task Force which is headquartered in the U.S., responded to the Syrian president's condemnation of the October 17 explosion at the Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza as "one of the most terrible massacres against humanity in the modern age.” He wrote on X: "... Assad, the guy [whose forces] targeted dozens of hospitals and a hundred schools before breakfast, condemns the explosion of a hospital. This animal, who murdered babies in Idlib in the past days, and the past decade, has the audacity to speak."[5]

Opposition Activists: Assad, Who Murdered Palestinians In Syria, Will Not Help Them In Gaza

Many voices on social media argued that no help for Gaza should be expected from the Syrian regime that had murdered many Syrians and Palestinians in Syria. For example, Syrian opposition activist Zain Al-Abidin, from Deir Al-Zour Govsernorate, who covers Eastern Syria, wrote on X: "The Bashar [Al-Assad] regime has turned 280,000 Palestinian-Syrians into displaced persons and made another 120,000 into refugees; [he has caused] the deaths of 3,207 Palestinians, including 352 children, 312 women, and 497 men who were tortured to death; and he has imprisoned some 1,800 Palestinians, among them more than 100 women, in the regime prisons. Someone who slaughters and expels the Palestinians in Syria will not help them in Gaza."[6]

Al-Abidin's tweet

Syrian activist and journalist Omar Madaniah wrote on X: "Bashar Al-Assad, who threw the Palestinians into the pit in Al-Tadamoun [neighborhood] in Damascus,[7] will not save them in Palestine."[8]

Madaniah's tweet

Maher Sharaf Al-Din, a Syrian writer and poet affiliated with the Syrian opposition, raised the issue of military attacks by the Syrian regime and its allies carried out only against Syrians, not against Israel. He wrote on X: "The motto of the resistance: Bomb Idlib with barrel [bombs], and bomb Israel with words."[9]

Syrian Opposition Social Media Account: Stand With Israel If There Is An Israel-Syria War

Against the backdrop of a possible war between Israel and Syria, the Syrian Akad Al-Jabal account on social media has called for standing with Israel. It wrote on X, addressing "our Syrian people in the Golan" as follows: "If war approaches you from the Syrian side, take up arms and fight alongside the Israeli army in order to protect your lives – because they [the Syrian regime forces] will kill you... Do not believe the slogans, since it is clear to you what is happening in Syria. It is better to live in hell than for the Syrian regime to rule over you."[10]

Another post on X from the Akad Al-Jabal account stated: "With regard to Palestine's war with Israel, I will wish Arab Palestine victory with all my heart – but if there is an Israeli war with the Syrian regime, I will absolutely take Israel's side."[11]

Tweet from the Akad Al-Jabal  account