The Meda Line: ‘Who Gets to Belong?’ Palestinians in Syria Confront Old Suspicions Under New Rule 

‘Who Gets to Belong?’ Palestinians in Syria Confront Old Suspicions Under New Rule 

Arrests, media attacks, and changes in official terminology have deepened anxiety among Palestinian refugees over their legal status and place in Syrian society 

By Waseem Abu Mahadi/The Media Line 

[CAIRO] When Palestinian-Syrian journalist Qusai Amameh published a report on the redevelopment of Damascus’ Mount Qasioun—a project involving plans for a five-star hotel and luxury commercial complex overlooking the capital—he expected debate over corruption, transparency, and reconstruction priorities. 

Instead, much of the backlash focused on something else: that he is Palestinian. 

On May 3, Syria Shift, a platform critics say is linked to Syria’s Ministry of Information, published a video titled “The Palestinian Filter,” attacking Amameh, editor-in-chief of the Syrian platform Street. Rather than addressing his reporting, the segment framed his Palestinian identity as the real issue, raising a deeper question now facing many Palestinians in Syria: Who gets to belong, and who gets treated as an outsider? 

Fayez Abu Eid, director-general of the Action Group for Palestinians of Syria, told The Media Line that such incidents reflect a broader problem in how Palestinians are discussed online. 

“As political debate has moved onto social media and digital platforms, it’s become easier for criticism to cross the line into hostility, especially toward Palestinian refugees in Syria. There’s a difference between criticizing a person or a political position and blaming an entire community. When people start speaking in broad generalizations, it can fuel prejudice and deepen stereotypes.” 

The video triggered a wave of anger and criticism from journalists, activists, and Palestinian rights advocates, many of whom accused the platform of promoting discrimination and collective suspicion against Palestinians. Under mounting public pressure, Syria Shift later removed the video from its platforms, a move many saw as evidence of the backlash it had generated. 

For many Palestinians, the controversy reflected something larger unfolding across post-Assad Syria. As Alawites are viewed through the lens of the former regime and Druze are accused of separatism, Palestinians say they, too, are increasingly being treated not as part of Syria’s social fabric, but as a community under suspicion. 

That fear deepened in April, when Syrian security forces detained Palestinians across Damascus and its countryside following protests against an Israeli law imposing the death penalty for certain Palestinians convicted of deadly terrorism offenses. At least 30 were taken from Khan al-Shih camp alone, while others were arrested in Jaramana, al-Huseiniyeh, Rukneddine, and al-Hamah. Many were taken to undisclosed locations. No official explanation was given. 

For activists and rights groups, the arrests were not an isolated security measure but part of a broader atmosphere in which Palestinians are once again being asked to prove they belong. 

The law, championed by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, passed the Knesset on March 30 by a 62-48 vote and drew condemnation from Palestinian leaders and rights groups, who said it entrenched a discriminatory system of punishment. Its passage reverberated across the region. 

Thousands of Syrians demonstrated from Damascus to Daraa in solidarity with Palestinians and against Arab normalization with Israel. 

In Damascus, protesters broke from a larger Umayyad Square rally and stormed the United Arab Emirates (UAE) embassy. The UAE condemned “riots, acts of vandalism, and assaults” at its mission and head of mission residence. 

US Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack urged Damascus to safeguard all diplomatic missions and continue what he called “the courageous work of reconciliation,” describing Syria’s regional reengagement as a defining chapter. The Syrian Foreign Ministry said the violence did not represent the Syrian people. 

“Just as the authorities tried to impose central control over the Druze, Alawites, and Kurds, it is natural that they would seek the same with Palestinians: ensuring full loyalty, preventing any independent political space, and eliminating any force that could be seen as a future source of concern,” Ryan Maarouf, a Syrian journalist from As Suwayda, told The Media Line. 

Maarouf said Damascus reads Palestinian political expression through an Israeli lens. 

“The Palestinian file in Syria is not only a social or legal issue. It is also tied to Israel’s security file, because any political or organizational Palestinian presence can be read by Israel as a threat, which makes the authorities even more sensitive toward it,” he said. 

After the recent attack on the UAE Embassy in Damascus, Palestinians were again broadly implicated by some commentators. Some pro-government voices used the incident to incite against Palestinians and revive old accusations that they represent a political and security burden. They were portrayed not as refugees with historic ties to Syria, but as a destabilizing external force. 

Human rights groups warned that Palestinians are increasingly being framed either as a security threat or as part of the old regime’s legacy, leading to greater scrutiny and social exclusion. Activists said the speed with which collective blame resurfaced showed that the Amameh case was not isolated, but part of a wider atmosphere in which Palestinians are treated as permanent outsiders. 

“During the years of war, Palestinians in Syria paid a severe humanitarian price, even though many tried as much as possible to stay out of the conflict,” Abu Eid said. “More than 7,500 Palestinians were arrested by the former regime’s security forces, around 1,500 died under torture, and the fate of more than 5,000 remains unknown to this day.” 

Yarmouk camp, on the southern edge of Damascus, was founded in 1957 for Palestinians displaced during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. By 2011, it held about 160,000 residents, the largest Palestinian refugee community in Syria. The Free Syrian Army entered in December 2012; the Assad regime besieged the camp the following July, cutting off food and medicine. More than 160 people died of starvation. A 2018 regime offensive destroyed most of the camp, including most facilities run by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). 

A social worker who lives in Yarmouk camp, speaking on condition of anonymity for safety reasons, told The Media Line that Palestinians had not yet felt direct measures on the ground, but that media and social media discourse close to the authorities had grown sharper. “There is a growing feeling that some voices are trying to demonize Palestinians and portray them as an obstacle to Syria’s stability, and this is causing real concern among Palestinians in Syria,” the social worker said. 

UNRWA’s 2026 humanitarian appeal reports that 92% of Palestine refugees in Syria, more than 384,000 people, face food insecurity, up from around 63% in March 2024. It also says that roughly 30%, more than 125,000 people, remain in protracted internal displacement. 

Abu Eid said the suspicion has continued under the new government. 

“Even today, many Palestinians feel they are viewed with suspicion or treated through broad narratives that ignore the diversity of their positions and experiences during the war,” he said. “This feeling grows stronger when decisions affecting them are issued and then later amended or apologized for.” 

That fear intensified last year after reports that official documents had replaced the term “Syrian Palestinian” with “Palestinian resident.” The social worker said the changes went further. “The description ‘Syrian Palestinian’ was replaced with ‘resident Palestinian,’ and the original place of registration was removed in favor of classifying them as ‘foreigners,’” the social worker said. “This created serious fears for us as Palestinians, because we consider ourselves Syrians as well, not only Palestinians.” 

Syrian authorities described the changes as a technical error, but Palestinian groups said they struck at their legal identity. 

“When terms like ‘Palestinian resident’ appeared instead of ‘Syrian Palestinian,’ many people did not see it as a simple technical issue,” Abu Eid said. “They understood it as a possible sign of a deeper change in the legal approach to Palestinians and a warning that their long-established rights could be weakened.” 

Maarouf went further. “When the label ‘Palestinian resident’ appeared instead of ‘Syrian Palestinian,’ I do not see it as merely a technical mistake, but rather as a way of testing public reaction to any future change related to the legal and social status of Palestinians,” he said. 

Palestinians in Syria have historically occupied a distinct legal position. Under Law 260 of 1956, many Palestinian refugees were granted rights similar to those of Syrians in work, education, public services, and residence, while retaining their Palestinian nationality and remaining excluded from political rights such as voting or running for office. 

“Palestinians in Syria lived for decades almost as Syrians. They served in the army, owned homes, and built full lives,” Maarouf said. “Presenting them today as an external party or a temporary guest is not just an administrative issue, but a clear political message.” 

In Lebanon, Palestinians cannot own property, practice dozens of professions, or gain citizenship; UNRWA reports that more than 80% live below the poverty line. 

A joint April analysis by Syrians for Truth and Justice, the Syria Justice and Accountability Centre, and Justice for Life documented presidential decrees and ministerial decisions throughout 2025 that amended laws and restructured state institutions without parliamentary action. The reclassification of Palestinians as “foreigners” has raised concern that Damascus is moving toward the Lebanese model of permanent legal marginalization. 

The Ministry of Information launched a media code of conduct in February to regulate hate speech, presenting the post-Assad period as a new era of professionalism. But critics say pro-government media and online networks have often treated minorities, including Druze, Alawites, Kurds, and Palestinians, through the lens of loyalty and suspicion. 

That pattern has produced documented violence. The US Commission on International Religious Freedom said in its 2026 Annual Report that the transitional authorities “exhibited systematic and ongoing tolerance for egregious violations of religious freedom” throughout 2025 and recommended Syria for designation as a Country of Particular Concern. On March 7, 2025, fighters loyal to the transitional authorities or operating under the Ministry of Defense killed at least 1,500 Alawite civilians in two days in summary executions along the Syrian coast. A July 2025 escalation in Suwayda displaced about 187,000 Druze, according to Syrians for Truth and Justice. 

In March, Kurdish civilians returning from Nowruz celebrations in Afrin were attacked by groups that coerced them into stepping on Kurdish flags while General Security personnel watched without intervening. The attacks came two months after a presidential decree recognized Kurdish cultural rights and criminalized ethnic incitement. 

The Action Group for Palestinians of Syria said monitoring of the April detention campaign suggests several possible pretexts, including alleged affiliations with the Islamic State group, alleged ties to remnants of the Assad regime, and the UAE embassy attack. The Ministry of Interior had already arrested two individuals in connection with the embassy incident. Spokesman Nour al-Din al-Baba accused them of ties to the former Syrian regime. Some Khan al-Shih detainees were later released; others remain in detention. 

“Any fair approach to Palestinians in Syria must recognize both realities at once: They are part of the Syrian social fabric, but they are also a refugee community with a unique legal and historical status,” Abu Eid said. “Ignoring either side makes the issue far more dangerous and unstable.”