Zuheir Mohsen ( ar, زهير محسن; 1936 – 25 July 1979) was a Palestinian leader of the pro-Syria As-Sa'iqa Ba'athist faction of the

Palestine Liberation Organization The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ar, منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية, ') is a Palestinian nationalist political and militant organization founded in 1964 with the initial purpose of establishing Arab unity and sta ...

(PLO) between 1971 and 1979. Previously active in the

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

ian wing of the

Ba'ath Party The Arab Socialist Baʿath Party ( ar, حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي ' ) was a political party founded in Syria by Mishel ʿAflaq, Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Bītār, and associates of Zaki al-ʾArsūzī. The party espoused ...

, he was chosen for this position after defense minister

Hafez al-Assad Hafez al-Assad ', , (, 6 October 1930 – 10 June 2000) was a Syrian statesman and military officer who served as President of Syria from taking power in 1971 until his death in 2000. He was also Prime Minister of Syria from 1970 to 1 ...

's 1969–70 takeover in Syria, which he had supported against the previously dominant government of Salah Jadid. Mohsen was also a member of the National Command of the

Early life

Mohsen was born in Tulkarm,

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...

, now in the northern

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

, where his father was the mukhtar (head of the town).Rayyis and Nahas, ''Guerrillas for Palestine'', Taylor & Francis, p.145 He became involved in political activity at a young age, joining the Ba'ath party at the age of 17.Rayyis and Nahas, p.144 Mohsen trained as a teacher but lost his job in 1957 after being arrested for "subversive activity". He subsequently spent time in

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

, from where he was eventually deported as a result of his political activity, before making his way to

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

where he helped form as-Sa'iqa.Rayyis and Nahas, p.144 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 to

Fatah Fatah ( ar, فتح '), formerly the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, is a Palestinian nationalist social democratic political party and the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and s ...

) and appointed Mohsen as its General Secretary.Hiro, D. ''Inside the Middle East'', Routledge, 1982, p.153

Political views

Mohsen essentially followed the line of as-Sa'iqa's Syrian Ba'athist ideology, which interpreted the Palestinian question through a perspective of pan-Arab nationalism. In some respects this contravened the PLO charter, which affirmed the existence of a future Palestinian State. Mohsen himself stated that there were "no differences between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians, and Lebanese", though Palestinian identity would be emphasised for political reasons. In a March 1977 interview with the Dutch newspaper Trouw he stated that "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 balance Zionism. Yes, the existence of a separate Palestinian identity exists only for tactical reasons" , representing the Ba'athist perceptive regarding the question of Palestine. Journalist

Robert Fisk Robert Fisk (12 July 194630 October 2020) was a writer and journalist who held British and Irish citizenship. He was critical of United States foreign policy in the Middle East, and the Israeli government's treatment of Palestinians. His stan ...

claimed that As-Saiqa, under Mohsen, employed its energies against the PLOFisk, R. ''Pity the Nation'', OUP, 2001, p.75 stating that in June 1976 he saw "the PLO in open combat within West Beirut against As-Saiqa, who had attacked Arafat's forces on orders from Damascus."Fisk, pp.80-81

Assassination

Mohsen was killed by gunshots to his head as he left a casino in Cannes on 27 July 1979 and walked towards the apartment. Although the attack was blamed by various sources on

Mossad Mossad ( , ), ; ar, الموساد, al-Mōsād, ; , short for ( he, המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים, links=no), meaning 'Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations'. is the national intelligence agency ...

, Palestinians and Egypt, the gunmen were at first not identified. In 2018, Ronen Bergman wrote that it was the first assassination by a new

Israeli Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli (b ...

combat union, called "The New Bayonet". “According to Bergman; "The Mossad marked the hit down as a success." Both Yasir Arafat and

attended his funeral in Damascus on 29 July. He was initially succeeded as leader of As-Sa'iqa by Sami Attari.Middle East International No 105, 3 August 1979; p.12

Notes

References

Thomas L. Friedman Thomas Loren Friedman (; born July 20, 1953) is an American political commentator and author. He is a three-time Pulitzer Prize winner who is a weekly columnist for ''The New York Times''. He has written extensively on foreign affairs, global tra ...

, ''

From Beirut to Jerusalem ''From Beirut to Jerusalem'' (1989) is a book by American journalist Thomas L. Friedman chronicling his days as a reporter in Beirut during the Lebanese Civil War and in Jerusalem through the first year of the Intifada. Friedman wrote a 17-pa ...

'' (HarperCollins Publishers, 1998, 2nd ed.), p. 118

External links

1973 interview with Mohsen (including photograph)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mohsen, Zuheir 1936 births 1979 deaths Assassinated Palestinian people Assassinated Palestinian politicians Members of the Jordanian Regional Branch of the Ba'ath Party Members of the National Command of the Ba'ath Party (Syrian-dominated faction) Palestine Liberation Organization members Palestinian Arab nationalists Palestinian people murdered abroad Palestinian refugees People from Tulkarm People killed in Mossad operations People murdered in France Members of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization Members of the Palestinian Central Council Members of the Palestinian National Council