Since 2011, according to a recent report, some 3,500 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting in Syria—more than those dead in the 2014 Gaza war. In addition, there are over 12,000 Palestinian prisoners, among them 765 children and 543 women, languishing in Syrian prisons. Numerous instances of the rape and torture of these prisoners have also been reported. But neither Palestinian leaders nor the international media are particularly concerned, writes Khaled Abu Toameh:
How were these Palestinians killed? . . . [D]irect shelling, armed clashes, torture in prison, bombings, and as a result of the siege on their refugee camps in Syria.
Yet the plight of its people in Syria does not seem to top the list for the Palestinian Authority (PA) in Ramallah. Pride of place on that list goes to assigning blame to Israel for everything the PA itself has caused. . . . In fact, in a step that boggles the mind, the PA leadership is currently seeking to improve its relations with the Assad regime in Syria—the very regime that is killing, imprisoning, and torturing scores of Palestinians on a daily basis.
In a move that has enraged many Palestinians in Syria, the Palestinian Authority recently celebrated the inauguration of a new Palestinian embassy in Damascus. . . .
[By the same token, the] Palestinian Authority leadership never misses an opportunity to call for the release of Palestinians held by Israel, most of whom are suspected of or have been found guilty of terrorism. But when it comes to the thousands who are being tortured in Syria, the PA leaders in Ramallah are deadly silent. . . .
The Palestinians of Syria would have been more fortunate had they been living in the West Bank or Gaza Strip. Then the international community and media would certainly have noticed them. Yet when Western journalists lavish time on Palestinians delayed at Israeli checkpoints in the West Bank, and ignore barrels of explosives dropped by the Syrian military on residential areas in refugee camps in Syria, one might start to wonder what [those journalists] are really about.
Read more on Gatestone: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8821/palestinians-syria