The success of the Syrian revolution...will it lead to the realization of the dream of a Palestinian state? (Analysis)

After 13 years of killing, torture and displacement, the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria (2000-2024) fell. The Syrians breathed a sigh of relief, having obtained a right that many thought was unattainable, as they ended 61 years of rule by the Baath Party regime and 53 years of rule by the Assad family.

On December 8, Syrian factions took control of the capital, Damascus, and other cities before them, with the withdrawal of Bashar al-Assad’s regime forces from public institutions and streets.

In the immediate vicinity, Palestine, this historic scene has increased the Palestinians’ hope that decades of injustice and Israeli occupation can be ended, the dream of a Palestinian state can be realised, and the Israeli genocide that has been ongoing in the Gaza Strip for more than 14 months can be ended.

With American support, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, leaving more than 152,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing, amid massive destruction and famine that killed dozens of children and elderly people.

For decades, Israel has occupied lands in Palestine, Syria and Lebanon, and refuses to withdraw from them and establish an independent Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital, on the borders before the 1967 war.

Common denominators

Palestinian affairs expert Ahmed Al-Hila told Anadolu Agency that "the success of the Syrian revolution will undoubtedly have major effects on the region and on the Palestinian cause."

He continued: "The Syrian people, with the beginning of achieving their aspirations and hopes for freedom and dignity after more than 13 years of struggle and revolution, will have a direct positive and stimulating impact on the awareness of oppressed peoples who suffer from occupation and tyranny."

He stressed that "this transformation proved that fate responds to the will of free peoples, no matter how long it takes, and that oppression and tyranny cannot last in the face of that will."

He added: "It also targeted the Syrian people's military capabilities, through hundreds of air strikes within a few days, in a way that confirmed that the Israeli occupation is a threat to the Middle East and the interests of its people."

He believed that this would "in turn strengthen the common denominators between the Palestinians and the Syrians in confronting the Israeli occupation strategically on the basis of restoring the occupied lands, which is the most important gateway to establishing the Palestinian state that the Palestinian people seek in accordance with their right to self-determination."

Israel took advantage of the developments in Syria, launching hundreds of air strikes, destroying warplanes, various missiles and air defense systems in numerous military sites across the country.

On December 15, the Israeli government approved a plan presented by Netanyahu to promote settlement in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, which sparked criticism from many countries and the United Nations.

In the June 5, 1967 war, Israel occupied most of the Syrian Golan Heights, including parts of the slopes of Mount Hermon, which is not recognized by the United Nations.

No change in the status of Palestine

Badr Al-Madi, a professor of political science at the German Jordanian University (Rasmiya), has a different opinion. In his interview with Anadolu Agency, he ruled out that the developments in Syria would change the situation in Palestine.

He said: "I do not think that what happened in Syria will change the current situation in Palestine. The ruling groups in Syria now did not put the Palestinian issue among their priorities, and this is a kind of true understanding of the international dimension that actually influences the Palestinian issue file."

He added: "The Syrian people also have living, political and social priorities as a result of the regime's war against them, which makes them withdraw into themselves for many years."

The past added that "the events of October 7th were a fundamental shift in Arab, regional and international positions, as the Israeli reactions and the unlimited support that Tel Aviv received revealed that the powers with a colonial past still view the issues of others with condescension and cannot apply what they claim of human rights and international legitimacy to rebellious states such as the entity state (Israel)."

He considered that "what happened in the Gaza Strip at all political, humanitarian and military levels brought about a broad change in the positions of countries and individuals towards occupied and oppressed peoples."

He added, "The weakness in the structure of the countries that had influence in the Syrian state before the fall of the former regime, and here I mean Russia and Iran, and as a result of their inability to implement what they promised to change the rules of the game with Israel, weakened their position in protecting the regime and their interests in Syria."

“Non-state actors (less than the state and located within it) have exploited this regional and international fragility to radically change the structure of the Syrian state,” Al-Madi concluded.

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