Zuheir Mohsen | |
|---|---|
زهير محسن | |
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| Born | 1936 |
| Died | 25 July 1979(1979-07-25) (aged 42–43) |
| Cause of death | Assassinated |
| Occupation | Leader of the pro-Syriaas-Sa'iqa faction of thePalestine Liberation Organization (PLO) |
| Political party | As-Sa'iqa |
Zuheir Mohsen (Arabic:زهير محسن; 1936 – 25 July 1979) was a Palestinian politician who was the leader of theBa'athistAs-Sa'iqa faction of thePalestine Liberation Organization (PLO) between 1971 and 1979.
Previously active in theJordanian wing of theBa'ath Party during theJordanian rule of the West Bank, he was chosen for this position after defense ministerHafez al-Assad's 1969–70 takeover in Syria, which he had supported against the previously dominant government ofSalah Jadid. Mohsen was also a member of the National Command of theBa'ath Party.[1]
Mohsen was born inTulkarm,Mandatory Palestine, now in the northernWest Bank, where his father was themukhtar (head of the town).[2] He became involved in political activity at a young age, joining the Ba'ath party at the age of 17.[3] Mohsen trained as a teacher but lost his job in 1957 after being arrested for "subversive activity". He subsequently spent time inQatar, from where he was eventually deported as a result of his political activity, before making his way toDamascus where he helped form as-Sa'iqa.[3]
Mohsen rose to the position of heading as-Sa'iqa thanks to his close links to Assad, who after taking power in Syria purged the movement of its leftist elements (bringing it ideologically closer toFatah) and appointed Mohsen as its general secretary.[4]
JournalistRobert Fisk stated that As-Saiqa under Mohsen during theLebanese Civil War employed its energies against the PLO,[5] seeing in June 1976 "The PLO in open combat within West Beirut against As-Saiqa, who had attacked Arafat's forceson orders from Damascus"[6]
As a member of the As-Sa'iqa faction, Mohsen followed the line ofBa'athist ideology, which interpretedthe question of Palestine through apan-nationalist sense which contradicted the PLO's official stance and charter that affirmed the independent existence ofPalestinian Arabs as anation which belongs to asingle democraticstate that consists of all of formerMandatory Palestine.
In a March 1977 interview with the Dutch newspaperTrouw, Mohsen made the following remark:[7]
"The Palestinian people does not exist …there is no difference betweenJordanians, Palestinians,Syrians, andLebanese. Between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese there are no differences.We are all part of one people, the Arab nation [...] Just for political reasons we carefully underwrite our Palestinian identity. Because it is of national interest for the Arabs to advocate the existence of Palestinians to balanceZionism. Yes, the existence of a separate Palestinian identity exists only for tactical reasons[...] Once we have acquired all our rightsin all of Palestine, we must not delay for a moment the reunification ofJordan andPalestine".
The interviewer James Dorsey stated that "Mohsen's position is not that surprising. Listening to his political and ideological views, one sometimes cannot suppress the feeling that perhaps less has changed in the Arab world than was originally expected",[7] referring to the decline of Pan-Arabism in the aftermath of theSix Day War in 1967.
Mohsen was killed by gunshots to his head as he left acasino inCannes on 25 July 1979 and walked towards the apartment. Although the attack was blamed by various sources onMossad, Palestinians, and Egypt, the gunmen were at first not identified.[8] In 2018,Ronen Bergman claimed that it was the first assassination by a newIsraeli combat union, called "The New Bayonet". According to Bergman; "The Mossad marked the hit down as a success."[9]BothYasir Arafat andHafez al-Assad attended his funeral in Damascus on 29 July. He was initially succeeded as leader of As-Sa'iqa by Sami Attari.[10]
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