The Palestinian Leader You Will Never Hear About – A Little Bio Of Zuheir Mohsen

Zuheir Mohsen (Arabic: زهير محسن‎; born in 1936 – murdered in 1979) was a Palestinian military and political figure active among Palestinian nationalist movements in the 1960s and early 1970s. Mohsen was primarily known as leader of the Sa'iqa, then a military wing of the PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine) closely associated with the Syrian Ba'athist-promoted Arab nationalist ideology. Due to controversial statements he made that undermined a Palestinian identity and linked his regional clout in the Middle East, he has never been completely free of controversy. A nuanced character, Mohsen's footprint on the Palestinian resistance is set against a backdrop of inter-Palestinian rivalries, and geopolitical complexity of the broader Arab-Israeli conflict.

Early Life and Background

Born in Safi, Palestine in 1936, Zuheir Mohsen grew up in a tumultuous time area. This was only a few years prior to the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, setting into motion a series of events that would forever mark Palestinian history. His family, like many Palestinian families were separated as a result of the 1948 Nakba, or mass dispossession of Palestinian Arabs with the creation of Israel. The Mohsen family, like hundreds of thousands of other Palestinian refugees after the Nakba, had to go into exile.

Mohsen was also a Nakba survivor, and after the war his family moved to Jordan: another country where many displaced Palestinians found shelter for generations. Mohsen got caught up in the rising tides of Palestinian political activism in Jordan. That experience would inform his later work on Palestinian nationalist movements.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Mohsen became increasingly identified with the burgeoning Palestinian resistance movements, especially those associated with Arab nationalist currents. His involvement in these movements was shaped by the political climate of the broader Middle East, notably the emergence of pan-Arabism, ushered in by figures like Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser and larger socialist and communist trends across the Arab world.

The Rise to Fame and The Sa'iqa Role

In fact, Mohsen was closely associated with his command and operations in the militia known as Sa'iqa (literally — "Thunderbolt"), a Palestinian militia originally created under Syrian auspices within the PLO's orbit. Sa'iqa was neither a purely Palestinian organization nor a national one, but aligned with the Syrian Ba'ath Party and supported by the interests of Syria's regional aspirations and political role. Its membership tended to mirror pan-Arab nationalist and socialist ideologies, especially those championed by the Ba'ath Party.

The Sa'iqa movement was tailor made to tie the Palestinian liberation struggle into the broader Arab political and military plan. During its peak, Sa'iqa was one of the most dominant organizations in the PLO, the main umbrella group for Palestinian nationalist movements. In Mohsen's time Sa'iqa emerged as a powerful component of the military > and political balance [pp.

Mohsen, mostly due to his connections within Syria and as an accomplished military strategist, solidified his position among the Palestinian resistance during the 1960s and early 1970s. Mohsen was often credited with emphasizing a military approach and steering clear of the more political Palestinian trends, exemplified by Fatah loyal to Yasser Arafat. An advocate of the armed struggle, he thought Palestinians could only win their fight to free their land from Israeli occupation through force.

Differences in Strategy and Climate in Politics

Mohsen's criticism of the PLO leadership (Arafat and the Fatah movement) was one of his more politically significant and ideologically charged stances that he took. In Mohsen's view, PLO leadership was captured by diplomatic efforts and negotiations, while the military determination to reach Palestinian goals lacked. His views were more in line with the Syrian Ba'athists and the most radical elements of the Palestinian resistance who favour military struggle over negotiations.

Nevertheless, Mohsen's ties with the other Palestinian groups were also somewhat controversial. His ties with Syria and the Syrian regime's interests in Palestine sometimes drove him apart from other Palestinian factions who wanted to keep a degree of independence between the Palestinian struggle and regional Arab powers. Against this background, the pro-Syrian Sa'iqa was still a major faction in those days but had come to be perceived as little more than an instrument of Syrian influence rather than a serious Palestinian resistance force.

Following the Jordanian Civil War in 1970, which saw the Jordanian military engage with Palestinian guerrilla groups — resulting ultimately in the expulsion of most in its wake — this tension between Syrian-aligned forces such as Sa'iqa and more nationalist elements like Fatah would only sharpen further. At this time Syria was backing organizations such as Sa'iqa, which created greater tensions within the PLO. For many Palestinians, the dependence of Sa'iqa on the Syrians raised doubts about whether or not it was truly a Palestinian group fighting for self-determination, or merely just another player in a larger regional power-play.

Controversial Statements on What Constitutes a Palestinian

One of the most famous statements about Palestinian identity comes from the now-deceased Zuheir Mohsen who at that time was a senior official in the PLO. In the interview, Mohsen purports no separate Palestinian nation existed and that this group was just part of a broader Arab identity. His argument was that Palestinians are merely Arabs who were residing in Palestine and not a true nation with their own cultural or political identity. He said:

“There is no such thing as a Palestinian person. Palestinians are not an amalgamation of people. The idea of a Palestinian state is a wholly Arab nationalist pledge, and whether to leave it or use it is an issue for the Arab nations; who cares what they do with Palestine?」

This was a political bombshell – it contradicted the fundamental principles of the Palestinian national movement that had decades-long fought for an independent Palestinian state. Long before they were able to define their own separate national identity the Palestinians had become a people distinct from the Arab masses surrounding them.

Thus, the shocked reactions of numerous Palestinians and their supporters on social media at Mohsen's comment — from a senior leader in one of the most prominent Palestinian nationalist movements. It embodied his embrace of Arab nationalism and the idea that Palestinian independence was subordinate to the Arab world. Many felt his comments threatened to undermine the Palestinian effort and was a betrayal of self-determination. But others read his ideas as a manifestation of the broader Arab nationalist current that pervaded most Middle Eastern politics at the time, in which uniting the Arab world and liberating Palestine were a single project.

Death and Legacy

The same goes with the mysterious death of Zuheir Mohsen in 1979 in Damascus, Syria. There is still plenty of speculation surrounding his death, with some claiming inter-factional rivalry in the Palestinian movement and others that he was targeted by Israeli intelligence. However qualified the military leadership of Mohsen and however contentious the ideology surrounding his death, he remains held as a figure of martyrdom nonetheless.

Mohsen, who also held a position in the Sa'iqa faction and was closely associated with Syria, was one of the most contentious figures among Palestinian resistance movements. His views on Arab nationalism trumping national identity, and military focus remain controversial. Some consider him an unwavering warrior for Palestinian rights, while others condemn his long-standing association with Arab regimes and his subversion of the Palestinian struggle to larger Arab political objectives.

Now, Mohsen barely resonates in the popular Palestinian and Arab discourses that replaced him with larger characters such as Yasser Arafat and other Fatah leaders of liberation. Yet, a contested chapter in the history of Palestinian nationalism, his role in Palestinian politics and the Arab-Israeli conflict cannot be dismissed.

Read more of it»­ Zuheir Mohsen is one of the few figures that will remain haters in such areas, are always a loyal subject to Palestinian and Moorish history. Background: He made military and ideological contributions to the Palestinian cause most notably through his leading role in the Sa'iqa faction. But his legacy is clouded, on the one hand, by radical views towards Palestinian identity and close ties to Syrian Ba'athism. Mohsen's life mirrors the rifts in the Palestinian movement and wide Arab world, as a battle for independence and identity that remains influential to the Middle East today.