In response to the recent events in Gaza, Arab media organs, especially those known for opposing the Syrian regime, published several articles comparing Israel's strikes on Gaza to the Syrian regime's reaction to the uprising against it, both in terms of the death toll and in terms of the Arabs' response to each crisis. The articles stated that the response of the Syrian regime has been far more brutal than Israel's operation in Gaza, and that the Arab world, which was quick to address the events in Gaza, has been hesitant in responding to the crisis in Syria.
The following are excerpts from some of the articles:
Article On Syrian Muslim Brotherhood Website: Assad's Victims In Syria Are Far More Numerous Than Israel's Victims In Gaza
In an article on the website of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, Badr Al-Din Hassan Qurbi, an oppositionist Syrian columnist, compared the number of Gazans killed during the first five days of Operation Pillar of Defense with the number of Syrians killed during those days, and placed the figures in a chart, as shown below:
After presenting this chart, he wrote: "The figures and the comparison between them show that the number of Syrian citizens killed by their own regime is eight times higher than the number of people killed by the 'Zionists' from among the residents of Gaza, who are not citizens [of the Zionist state]. These [figures probably] please the 'Israelis,' who have far to go before they match the figures, averages, and results achieved by the resistance-waging Syrian regime. And they never will match [these figures].
"The table shows that, in the 30 days preceding the 'Israeli' war, an average of 190 people were killed in Syria every day – almost 14 times as many as were killed in Gaza by the 'Israelis' every day during the first five days of the war." Qurbi also points out that, during the first five days of the war in Gaza, the number of Syrian fatalities dropped from an average of 190 fatalities per day to only 107 fatalities per day.
He continues: "The condolences extended by the Syrian regime over the Gazan victims, and its call on the world to pressure 'Israel' to stop its aggression, puzzled the Syrians, considering that, in the 20 months [since the beginning of the uprising in Syria], the number of victims of oppression and massacre has exceeded 45,000, more than 3,400 of them children. This, in addition to 200,000 detainees and hundreds of thousands of people who have been driven from their homes [and forced to seek shelter] inside and outside the homeland. This puzzlement, however, apparently means nothing to the regime and its shabiha,[1] who believe that the massacre of Syrian civilians is not particularly noteworthy compared to the regime's policy and achievements in leading the resistance and resistance fighters. [They also think that the killing of Syrian civilians] is an internal matter that should not concern the Arabs or foreigners, and that anyone who speaks of it is interfering in the business of others and taking part in a global conspiracy against the resistance [policy] of the [Syrian] regime...
"But the most important implication of the figures [in the chart is that they reveal] the unparalleled scope of the [Syrian regime's] crimes, which cannot be compared to what the Zionists are doing to our people in Gaza. In light of this, the Syrian victims wish that the Syrian regime had the same standards as the 'Israeli' regime when it comes to killing..."[2]
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The chart, as it appeared in the article on ikhwansyria.com
Article On Al-Arabiya Website: The Israeli Army Is More Merciful To Its Enemies Than The Syrian Regime Is To Its Citizens
An article on the website of the Saudi Al-Arabiya channel, which is known for its criticism of the Syrian regime, also pointed out that the number of Syrian victims is much higher than the number of Gazan victims, even though Israel conducted more air strikes and used more deadly weapons. It said: "The hudna between Israel and Hamas came as a painful surprise for the Syrians, because [it proved that] the Israeli army shows more mercy and kindness to its Palestinian enemies than what the [Syrian] regime's army, which calls [itself] 'the Defender of the Land,' shows the [Syrian] non-combatants and armed rebels..."[3]
Iraqi Columnist: "The Arab League, Which Was Indifferent To The Massacre In Syria, Suddenly Woke Up When It Came To Gaza"
In an article on the liberal Saudi website elaph.com, Iraqi columnist Ibrahim Al-Zubaidi compared the Arab world's reaction to the events in Syria to its reaction to the events in Gaza. He wrote that, for years, the Arab League did nothing to help the Palestinians, until one day, "it suddenly woke up, without warning." He continued: "The members of the Arab League [Foreign Ministers] Council put on their armor and took up their swords, and then they all got up as one and came to Gaza for several hours, in order to express the nation's solidarity with Hamas and condemn the killing of the mujahideen...
"That's all well and good... but where were you during the first eight months of the intifada of the courageous Syrian people, when your comrade, ally and brother Bashar [Al-Assad] massacred unarmed civilians with knives, stones, bombs and missiles?... Where were you when the number of fatalities in Syria rose above 40,000, and the number of detainees reached 200,000?... Where were you when that brave hero [Assad], you brother in jihad and resistance, [used his] planes and missiles... to shell marketplaces, schools, and hospitals?...
"Obviously, none of us feel anger toward [Arab League Secretary-General] Nabil Al-'Arabi and the other Arab leaders for responding to the Gazan [issue] with all speed and diligence. But any reader of this article who has any honor, or any humane and religious [feeling], is [surely] furious with the [Arab League] secretary-general and his friends... for not convening the moment that infidel Assad fired the first bullet on the small innocent children of Der'a, or the moment the first missile or first plane [were deployed], or the first city flattened. They did not convene [even] later, when the blood of the victims flooded the planes and valleys of Syria...
"We are furious with [Nabil] Al-'Arabi because he dared to say that Assad's regime had to fall only after a year and a half of massacres, destruction, and deportations, and only after the entire world decreed that the monster had to go... Are Assad's planes raining manna and quail-meat on the children of Aleppo, Hama, Der'a, Latakiya, and Damascus, while only Netanyahu's planes are shooting [live] fire? The cluster bombs fired by Bashar's cannons on the Syrian people every day and every hour – are they legitimate, whereas Netanyahu's bombs are forbidden? Is murder [something that can be accepted] calmly and serenely when committed by a close brother, and which is painful only when committed by a stranger? Do the Syrian youths have water flowing in their veins, while only the Gazan youths have blood flowing in theirs...?"[4]
