Abbas Slammed During Damascus Visit

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas was attacked by the Syrian press during his visit to the Syrian capital in mid May.



Pro-government news website Sham Press criticised Abbas in a May 14 editorial for refusing to meet with the leaders of Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Damascus.



The president, who is backed by the West, is engaged in a political struggle with Hamas, which is supported by Syria and Iran.



Abbas, whose legitimacy as president is questionable according to the website, refused to hold talks with political head of Hamas Khaled Meshaal, who has been in exile for years in Damascus.



“He doesn’t grasp the reality [of the region] and only cares for his own personal position,” noted the editorial, which was signed by the website’s unnamed political editor.



This explains why Abbas refused to meet Meshaal while agreeing to shake hands with “Israeli murderers”, added the website, in an apparent reference to Israeli leaders.



The author of the editorial also accused Abbas and his political team of failing to put an end to what he said were crimes committed by Israel against Palestinian people.



According to the author, it was shocking to see Abbas quarreling with the resistance group Hamas – which, he said, has sacrificed everything for the Palestinian cause – instead of condemning those he classed as the real “killers”.



The political editor stressed that Abbas’s visit to Damascus will not prompt Syrians to change their stance towards the Palestinian cause.