File image.
Thousands of Syrians took to the streets across the country on March 31 and April 1 in protest against Israel’s newly approved law allowing the death penalty for Palestinian prisoners.
The protesters, some of them were armed, denounced the controversial law passed by the Israeli Knesset earlier in the week and voiced support for Palestinian prisoners and the Gaza Strip. They marched on foot, in cars and on motorcycles, carrying the flags of Palestine and various Islamist banners.
The largest protests were in the southern governorates of Daraa and Quneitra, which are located on the front with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Protestors there attempted to reach the front.
Amid the protests, several videos with gunmen, mainly from Daraa and al-Qunitra, threatening Israel emerged online. Soldiers and officers from the new Syrian military also shared videos to social media with direct threats to launch attacks against Israel.
The Israeli military invaded the buffer zone adjacent to the occupied Golan Heights in the governorate of al-Qunitra right after the fall of the regime of former president, Bashar al-Assad, more than a year ago, and has since established a series of posts there, including atop of the strategic Mount Hermon.
The military has been also conducting operations in al-Qunitra, the neighboring governorates of Daraa and Rif Dimashq on a regular basis.
These operations created some serious tensions between the Israeli military and people in southern Syria, which escalated into clashes on more than one occasion.
Several armed factions calling for fighting Israel emerged over the past year, the most recent of which, the Movement to Deter the Occupation, appeared to be supportive of the new Syrian government. The group has not announced any attack yet, but it released a statement praising the latest protests.
The latest protests came amid the American-Israeli war on Iran, but the protesters didn’t voice their support to the Islamic Republic, a key ally of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
Interestingly, Abu Obaida, the spokesman for the military wing of the Iran-allied Hamas Movement, praised the mass protests in Syria.
“From the heart of Gaza, and from Jerusalem and its surroundings, we salute the proud Syrian people and their masses who rose in support of the resistance, al-Aqsa, and the detainees,” he said in a statement.
“We have heard your voice, and we are proud of you,” he added.
Speaking at Chatham House in London on March 31, Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa said that Damascus is working to keep the country out of the ongoing regional war, warning that the country could still become a target amid escalating tensions.
“We do not have a problem with Iran in Tehran, we have a problem with Iran in Damascus… but our policy in Syria was clear – to reach Damascus, to safeguard security, and to establish economic development. We have been patient in regard to the relationship with Iran,” Sharaa said.
“Israel dealt with Syria negatively by bombing locations, making incursions into Syrian territories, and violating the 1974 agreement (between Israel and Syria)… we tried dialogue via indirect negotiations, and then direct negotiations, we reached good points, but then the Israelis changed their opinion at the last minute,” he added.
The protests may have been secretly organized by the Syrian intelligence to pressure Israel into returning to the negotiations.
In any case, this movement can be considered a natural result of the ongoing war on Iran. Israel and other allies of the United States in the region were badly hit by the Islamic Republic, and even in Lebanon, Hezbollah has been putting on surprisingly fierce resistance. Seeing this, many in Syria were likely embolden.
The mass protests should not be played down. In fact, more are being organized for April 3, across Syria. Israel, which has already launched strikes against the country amid the war on Iran, could respond to this escalation in some way or another.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence
NOW hosted at southfront.press
Previously, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.org.
The .org domain name had been blocked by the US (NATO) (https://southfront.press/southfront-org-blocked-by-u-s-controlled-global-internet-supervisor/) globally, outlawed and without any explanation
Back before that, from 2013 to 2015, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.com
the joo puppet jewlani will soon be overthrown.
we can only hope. i wouldn’t hold my breath waiting on the rest of the muslim world to do much of anything but smoke water pipes, drink tea and complain about the fake jews and us. the ones in the us are too busy selling people cigarettes and alcohol and overpriced expired snacks in their gas stations and liquor stores. they want somebody else to do the fighting.
shitrael is fucked!!! im afraid the oh dead yinon plan is dead. it wont happen with so many enemies in the region
hahahaha who do you think set that up ?
i hope you are right, but the real question is will the arab and turks that majority that complain about the fake jew and us actually get up off their as in these nations and go against their governments? turkey is pretty much controlled by the military and same with pakistan. i believe erdogan is a crypto jew, same with the gulf arab monarchs.
nice, the entire assyrian empire will strike back at shitsrael :):) when these guys start their non government sanctioned threats they mean business. mean syria is missing out on all the action, and i do not really think the populace likes the zionist very much despite the current government….
from all i am seeing looks like there will be no more israel after the conflict ends….
hasmoreames than a phone book
gun all terrorist-protestors down!
heheheh
yeah you’re speak big like your pedophile gaylords – little fishfood.
“pedophile gaylord” is you husband’s user name on grindr…heheheh
i know that you long, have desire, dying, starving for my cocke up your ass and cume there. hehehehe
i’m curious as to why you even comment. do you try to just annoy people? public opinion is definitely against you, so you can’t say you’re trying to change people’s perception of anything.
you enjoy much penetration, yes?
heheheh
gods chosen can do what ever they want to goym
yeah, good joke – little fish stick.
another soros funded operation?not a word out of them when iran’s been publically executing iranians for ever .
the assad regime was far more pro israhell than all this
are you insane?
wait until these people get hungry!
“… but then the israelis changed their opinion at the last minute”
oh wonder, oh wonder… ;-)))
message to syrian’s. your leader works for nato and the apartheid regime in isreal. do what your gut tells you. be mindful that not all western people are complete idiots and ignorant fools. syria is a beautiful country and well worth taking care of. so is the country of your neighbours. so much human history is wrapped up in the region. best wishes from the uk…from me anyway.
they won’t do anything against israel, i can bet on that. maybe instead they will go invade lebanon or go back to killing alawites, christians or the druze.
exactly what i was saying. a bunch of bs protests for the palestinians, but they won’t do a thing against the us and so called israel. they had the perfect opportunity to fire anti-tank missiles at israeli tanks and armored when they made their incursion, but they didn’t even throw a rock at them. they can form all types of groups across the region to send drones and rockets and missiles, despite their treacherous governments, but they do absolutely nothing
they are like the lebanese army.
there are muslim countries taht kill regular people for really no reason, by law. why doesn’t israel, a svereign nation, have the right to vote their own laws? and especially, punish mortal terrorists attacks with death? those people do kill people. why do they have the right to live?
israel kills and has killed thousands for no reason. get real. from palestinians to lebanese and even american citizens have been killed by israelis.
protesting and doing nothing else against the fake jews and us again. sunni arabs have a way of saying one thing and doing something else entirely like the fake jews and “westerners” they work for. we shall see where their heart is at. they’ll “rally for palestine” one minute and try to cross the border and fight hezbollah the next minute. they’ve shown themselves to be unreliable at best and quite treacherous in most instances.
are these the same dickheads that spent years killing syrians for israel and the americans?