Syria says protesters in Daraa were "Palestinian extremists"

Syrian media is claiming that the instigators of the Dara'a protests on Friday, which resulted in Syrian forces killing a number of demonstrators, were "Palestinian extremists."

Syria's Al Watan writes that

The majority of those who participated in the chaos and devastation were Palestinian extremists...In the capital Damascus, an official Palestinian source confirmed the rejection of the riots triggered by some Palestinians in the Daraa camp, pointing out that the Palestinians in Syria ...will not hesitate to address those who violate security in Syria.

He emphasized that these are outside of the Palestinian consensus and will be prosecuted.

Al Watan attended a meeting that was held yesterday afternoon with all the Palestinian factions and the a delegation went to the Daraa camp with a clear message that any departure from the ["refugee"] camps would be faced by the Palestinian security first without mercy and they confirmed the complete rejection of any acts of sabotage carried out by extremist elements.

There are two UNRWA camps in Daraa.

If the protesters were really Palestinian, then Syria is apparently not the pro-Palestinian Arab paradise it styles itself to be. If they weren't, then it is very notable that Syria wants to blame its Palestinian population for the demonstrations.

Either way, it will take time for the Western media to mention this detail about the deadly protests, because the pro-democracy meme is easy to digest, but Syrians shooting members of its own Palestinian population is a little more complicated and detracts from the idea that Palestinian Arabs' only enemy is Israel.