Zuheir Mohsen (; 1936 – 25 July 1979) was a Palestinian Politician who was the leader of the

Ba'athist Ba'athism, also spelled Baathism, is an Arab nationalist ideology which advocates the establishment of a unified Arab state through the rule of a Ba'athist vanguard party operating under a revolutionary socialist framework. The ideology ...

As-Sa'iqa faction of the

Palestine Liberation Organization The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ) is a Palestinian nationalism, Palestinian nationalist coalition that is internationally recognized as the official representative of the Palestinians, Palestinian people in both the occupied Pale ...

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

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

ian wing of the

Ba'ath Party The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party ( ' ), also known simply as Bath Party (), was a political party founded in Syria by Michel Aflaq, Salah al-Din al-Bitar, and associates of Zaki al-Arsuzi. The party espoused Ba'athism, which is an ideology ...

during the Jordanian rule of the West Bank, he was chosen for this position after defense minister

Hafez al-Assad Hafez al-Assad (6 October 193010 June 2000) was a Syrian politician and military officer who was the president of Syria from 1971 until Death and state funeral of Hafez al-Assad, his death in 2000. He was previously the Prime Minister of Syria ...

'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 and career

Mohsen was born in Tulkarm,

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

, now in the northern

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

, where his father was the

mukhtar A mukhtar (; ) is a village chief in the Levant: "an old institution that goes back to the time of the Ottoman rule". According to Amir S. Cheshin, Bill Hutman and Avi Melamed, the mukhtar "for centuries were the central figures". They "were ...

(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, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

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

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

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) and appointed Mohsen as its general secretary.Hiro, D. ''Inside the Middle East'', Routledge, 1982, p.153 Journalist

Robert Fisk Robert William Fisk (12 July 194630 October 2020) was an English writer and journalist. He was critical of United States foreign policy in the Middle East, and the Israeli government's treatment of Palestinians. As an international correspo ...

stated that As-Saiqa under Mohsen during the

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon. The religious diversity of the ...

employed its energies against the PLO,Fisk, R. ''Pity the Nation'', OUP, 2001, p.75 seeing in June 1976 "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

Political views

As a member of the As-Sa'iqa faction, Mohsen followed the line of

ideology, which interpreted the question of Palestine through a pan-nationalist sense which contradicted the PLO's official stance and charter that affirmed the independent existence of Palestinian Arabs as a

nation A nation is a type of social organization where a collective Identity (social science), identity, a national identity, has emerged from a combination of shared features across a given population, such as language, history, ethnicity, culture, t ...

which belongs to a single democratic

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

that consists of all of former

. In a March 1977 interview with the Dutch newspaper Trouw, Mohsen made the following remark:James Dorsey, ''Wij zijn alleen Palestijn om politieke reden'', Trouw, 31 March 1977 " The Palestinian people does not exist … there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians,

Syrians Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine Arabic, Levantine and Mesopotamian Arabic, Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The culture of Syria, cultural ...

, and Lebanese. 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 Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

. Yes, the existence of a separate Palestinian identity exists only for tactical reasons ..Once we have acquired all our rights in all of Palestine, we must not delay for a moment the reunification of

and

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

". 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", referring to the decline of Pan-Arabism in the aftermath of the

Six Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states, primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June 1967. Military hostilities broke ...

in 1967.

Assassination

Mohsen was killed by gunshots to his head as he left a

casino A casino is a facility for gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos also host live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, conce ...

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

on 25 July 1979 and walked towards the apartment. Although the attack was blamed by various sources on

Mossad The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (), popularly known as Mossad ( , ), is the national intelligence agency of the Israel, State of Israel. It is one of the main entities in the Israeli Intelligence Community, along with M ...

, Palestinians, and Egypt, the gunmen were at first not identified. In 2018, Ronen Bergman claimed that it was the first assassination by a new Israeli 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, '' From Beirut to Jerusalem'' (HarperCollins Publishers, 1998, 2nd ed.), p. 118

External links

1973 interview with Mohsen (including photograph)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mohsen, Zuheir 1936 births 1979 deaths Arab people in Mandatory Palestine Assassinated Palestinian politicians Deaths by firearm in France 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 European politicians assassinated in the 1970s Politicians assassinated in 1979