On Nakba Day (May 15th) this year there was a new kind of protest that got the worlds attention. A large number of people (unarmed) marched on and penetrated the Israeli Border (the Golan Heights armistice lines) with Syria in the North. During this border pentration a number of people were killed and injured. As a result both Israel and Syria were quick to blame the other for casualties, with Israel claiming that Syria had manipulated the Nakba Day protests as a way to use the resulting clashes to divert attention away from their own issues including the slaughter of hundreds or thousands of protestors.
Syria of course denied this, but now according to Michael Weiss, blogging at the Daily Telegraph it looks like Israel might have been right about Syrian involvement. If the document that he purports to have from Syria is real and not some forgery then this is a smoking gun showing Syrian complicity in the Nakba day protests.
According to the documentation (should this be real picture of the letter on the Telegraph link in the introduction), the Governor of al-Qunaitera, in south-west Syria has leaked a letter from Dr. Khalil Mash-hadiya, Mayor of Al-Qunaitera regarding "Syrian Orchestration" of the Nakba Day Protest/Clashes on along the Golan Borderline.
The Letter states:
All security, military, and contingent units in the province, Ain-el-Tina and the old al-Qunaitera are hereby ordered to grant permission of passage to all twenty vehicles (47 passenger capacity) with the attached plate numbers that are scheduled to arrive at ten in the morning on Sunday May 15, 2011 without being questioned or stopped until it reaches or frontier defense locations.
Permission is hereby granted allowing approaching crowds to cross the cease fire line (with Israel) towards the occupied Majdal-Shamms, and to further allow them to engage physically with each other in front of United Nations agents and offices. Furthermore, there is no objection if a few shots are fired in the air.
Captain Samer Shahin from the military intelligence division is hereby appointed to the leadership of the group assigned to break-in and infiltrate deep into the occupied Syrian Golan Heights with a specified pathway to avoid land mines.
According to the Israeli Daily Ynet- the Telegraph offers no corroboration and they only call it a "semi-official document. YET they make the following claim:
The document states that the military forces stationed at the border were given an order to allow 20 buses carrying civilians to enter the restricted military zone and approach the border fence.
The communiqué stresses that none of the civilians would be carrying military IDs or weapons, in an effort to stage a "peaceful and spontaneous" protest.
Since civilians are barred from going near the border, if the document in authentic, then it clearly points to the riots being orchestrated by the Syrian regime, in hope of diverting international attention form its own brutal crackdown on anti-Assad protesters.
The Key here is the ease of border access and the use of Syrian Intelligence to navigate Mine Fields on the border.
As Haaretz points out:
The document goes on to describe a specific captain "from the military intelligence division" who is appointed to "the leadership of the group assigned to break-in and infiltrate deep into the occupied Syrian Golan Heights with a specified pathway to avoid land mines."
Those involved with the plan are then reminded not to carry any identification with them to the protest.
The IDF said that Syrian soldiers in the area did not get involved in the incident. Following the Nakba day incidents, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel was determined to defend itself and its sovereignty.
The tragedy of course here is that this was repeated during the "Naksa Day" protests... which left anywhere from 12 to 20 people killed when:
Palestinians from the suburbs of Damascus were reportedly bused into the area and massed the border without interference from Syrian troops.[2]
Despite warnings from the IDF not to cross the frontier into Israel, the activists ignored their calls and crossed the Syrian border fence. According to the IDF, when the demonstrators did not stop, Israeli forces shot at their lower bodies. While the IDF reported 12 known injuries, Syrian television claimed 23 activists were killed and 350 wounded.[2][4]
An Israeli official stated that it was clear that the Syrian government "gave the green light for the protesters to move toward the border, and contrasted this with the situation on Sunday in Lebanon, where the border was quiet." He said the clashes served as a means for the Syrian government to distract from its own domestic problems, namely the 2011 Syrian uprising.[2]
As a result one needs ask the following questions. Is this letter authentic? While it is being widely reported in the Israeli press, it's authenticity is still in question. Even blogger Weiss who broke this says that; " I have just been forwarded what appear to be (vb1 emphasis) Syrian state documents". My first question of course, (like Ynet's) was are these real?
I then asked WHY.. would this blogger receive this document. Who is Michael Weiss and how is he getting Syrian Paperwork? According to the column head in the Telegraph, Mr Weiss is: "Michael Weiss is the Communications Director of the Henry Jackson Society and the Spokesperson of Just Journalism, which monitors the British media's coverage of Israel and the Middle East."
Now, to be fair Just Journalism has been accused of being biased with regards to Israel.
Mr. Weiss is also a member of the Henry Jackson Society
Which according to Wikipedia:
The Henry Jackson Society is a non-partisan think tank (with charity status in the United Kingdom). The aims of the organisation are to promote 'democratic geopolitics'.[1] Originating within the University of Cambridge, the organisation is now based in London.
Named after the late Henry M. Jackson, a former Democratic U.S. Senator from Washington State and leading proponent of U.S. Cold War policies, the society advocates a proactive approach to the spread of liberal democracy across the world[citation needed], including, when necessary, by military intervention[citation needed], and conducts research into questions related to this goal. The society advocates the use of military power in specific situations: to end ethnic cleansing; to remove oppressive dictators when other means fail; and to prevent the breakdown of the rule of law. Its perspective is fundamentally Atlanticist but it is also pro-European and argues explicitly for European military interoperability.
but has been accused by the U.K. Guardian of at least being influenced by Neo-Conservatives.
If however, these questions can be answered and this letter verified as true it will show a cynical manipulation of the Press, and international by Bashir Assad and the Syrian regime - not once, but twice. But more than that it shows a complicity between Palestinian activists and the Syrian government. A complicity that would certainly not reflect positively on the Palestinian movement.
By the same token, if this is a forgery or can be shown as one, it would show a cynical use of the media by the those interested less in the truth and more in providing a political narrative of support for Israel. It would render anything else coming from the sources in question as truly questionable material and would certainly not reflect well on Israeli credibility.