The Syrian Opposition Coalition’s (SOC) Office for Youth held a panel discussion under the title “The Assad regime’s atrocities against Palestinians” at its office in the town of Azaz. Keynote speakers included SOC’s Vice-president and Coordinator of the office Ruba Habboush, Coordinator of the Free Palestinian-Syrian Conglomerate Ayman Abu Hashem, student and volunteer teams.
Habboush talked about the atrocities that the Assad regime, the father and son, committed against Palestinians, especially during the Syrian Revolution. She cited the Assad regime’s heinous crimes in the Yarmouk camp, and the arrest and displacement campaigns against Palestinian-Syrians in response to their involvement in the Syrian Revolution. She stressed that the Assad regime has for decades deliberately distorted the Palestinian cause and used it to its own advantage.
For his part, Abu Hashem pointed out the difference between the Syrian and Palestinian issues. He said that while the Palestinian struggle is a resistance movement against an usurper entity, the Syrian revolution seeks to topple a political system that has been perched on lives of Syrians for decades. He stressed the need for the Syrian people to preserve their cohesion and overcome political divisions and disagreements as well as combine their efforts in the service of the same issue, especially when they face threats, junctures or challenges that hinder their progress.
Abu Hashim highlighted the contributions of the Palestinian-Syrians to the Syrian Revolution in response to the Assad regime’s exploitation of the Palestinian cause and the practices of the pro-regime militant groups such as the so-called Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Participants stressed the need to take lessons from the Palestinian struggle; show unity; and avoid political differences and divisions. They also called for upholding the inclusive national discourse to keep the Syrian Revolution alive in the hearts and minds, culture and behavior of the Syrian people until building a civil democratic state.
(Source: SOC’s Media Department)
