Report: Document reveals Nakba Day clashes planned by Syria government

In his blog on the website of the U.K.'s Daily Telegraph newspaper, Michael Weiss reveals official Syrian document describing the dispatch of 20 buses sent to infiltrate Israel's border with Syria on the day when Palestinians mourn the creation of Israel.

By Haaretz

New evidence in the form of an official Syrian state document suggests that the Syrian regime purposefully orchestrated last month's Nakba Day clashes on the border with Israel, Michael Weiss reported in his blog on The Telegraph website on Monday.

Weiss, who is the spokesperson of Just Journalism, an organization that monitors coverage of Israel in British media, said that he was forwarded an official Syrian state document describing a meeting between Syria's chief of staff and chiefs of the Syrian military intelligence branches in the province located on the Israel-Syria border.

The document describes 20 buses which were to be dispatched on May 15, also known as Nakba Day, when the Palestinians mourn the creation of the State of Israel.

Two people were killed near Majdal Shams on the Syrian border and between three and 10 people were killed in Maroun a-Ras on the Lebanese border during the protests last month when demonstrators attempted to breach Israel's border.

The document says "Permission is hereby granted allowing approaching crowds to cross the cease fire line (with Israel) towards the occupied Majdal-Shamms, and to further allow them to engage physically with each other in front of United Nations agents and offices. Furthermore, there is no objection if a few shots are fired in the air."

The document goes on to describe a specific captain "from the military intelligence division" who is appointed to "the leadership of the group assigned to break-in and infiltrate deep into the occupied Syrian Golan Heights with a specified pathway to avoid land mines."

Those involved with the plan are then reminded not to carry any identification with them to the protest.

The IDF said that Syrian soldiers in the area did not get involved in the incident. Following the Nakba day incidents, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel was determined to defend itself and its sovereignty.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/report-document-reveals-nakba-day-clashes-planned-by-syria-government-1.367653