The Maseer Conglomerate and the Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC) held a virtual workshop under the title “problems and challenges facing the Syrian-Palestinians in Syria.”
Keynote speakers included SOC’s President Nasr Al-Hariri, Vice-president Oqab Yahya, members of the political committee Farouk Tayfour, Bahjat Atassi and Abdullah Kaddo, members of the General Assembly Ahmed Ramadan, Ahmed Tomeh and Zakaria Malahifji, representatives of political bodies and civil institutions, and Palestinian-Syrian and Syrian intellectuals and activists.
The workshop, which was moderated by Rawa’a Asfour, began with a speech by Coordinator of Maseer Conglomerate Ayman Abu Hashim who talked about the participation of Palestinian-Syrians in the Syrian revolution as essential component of the fabric of Syrian society.
Abu Hashim said that the Assad regime killed, injured and detained tens of thousands of Palestinian-Syrians since March 2011, adding that more than a third of the Palestinian-Syrian prewar population left Syria and that 80% of them have been displaced from their homes.
Abu Hashim called upon the institutions of the revolution and the opposition to assume their responsibilities with regard to the displaced Palestinian-Syrians as he warned of attempts to sow discord between Palestinian-Syrians and the Syrian people.
Al-Hariri talked about the SOC’s vision as he stressed that the Assad regime bears full responsibility for the plight of Palestinian-refugees, citing the Tal al-Zaatar massacre that the Assad regime committed against Palestinian refugees in Lebanon in 1976.
He said that the Palestinian-Syrians have joined the Syrian revolution since day one, stressing the need for unity between the Palestinian-Syrians and the Syrian people as essential for building a free Syria.
For his part, Hussam Al-Saad talked about the problems and challenges facing the Palestinian-Syrians and how to deal with them, pointing out that the Assad regime still detains more than 2,000 Palestinian-Syrians in its prisons and that more than 600 Palestinian-Syrians died under torture in Assad’s prisons.
He also talked about the dire living conditions the Palestinian-Syrians are suffering, especially the lack of healthcare services.
Yahya stressed that the Palestinian Cause has always been the number one cause for the Syrian people, adding that the Palestinian-Syrians are making tremendous sacrifices in the struggle against the Assad regime’s tyranny. He stressed the Palestinian-Syrians’ right to full citizenship.
Participants agreed on a set of recommendations, including activating the Commission for Palestinian-Syrians in the Syrian Interim Government, strengthening the brotherhood between Palestinian-Syrians and Syrians, and seeking to improve the living conditions of Palestinian-Syrians in the liberated areas.
They also agreed to put in place mechanisms to think of ways to protect the Palestinian-Syrians in Syria and to establish a new awareness of the Palestinian Cause in order to bridge the gap between the revolution’s social base and the opposition institutions.
They also stressed the need for comprehensive reforms in the institutions of the revolution. stressing also the need to confront the regime’s zooning plans in the Yarmouk refugee camp. They also stressed that the right to full citizenship does not contradict with the right to return to their homes in Palestine. (Source: SOC’s Media Department)
