Assad activists attempt to disrupt Palestine solidarity conference

Supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad attempted to disrupt a Palestinian solidarity conference in Tunisia on Thursday, the event's organisers have said.

Assad activists stormed the room raising Syrian and Palestinian flags as they chanted "resistance, resistance, no to normalisation".

A Facebook page run by a group called The Arab National Union called on "Arab nationalists" in Tunisia to disrupt the conference.

The Syrian group's "failed attempt" reinforces the idea that "[colonialism] and despotism are two sides of the same coin," read a statement from the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, which organised the conference in the Tunisian resort town of Hammamet.

The protest was swiftly ended by guests at the conference, who called on demonstrators to "stop exploiting the Palestinian cause to leverage their goals", according to a Facebook post published by Hamzeh Moustafa from the ACRPS.

The three-day meeting, Boycott as a Strategy to Counter Israel's Occupation and Apartheid: Present-day Realities and Aspirations, opened on Thursday.

"[It] gives long-time friends of the Palestinian movement a role to play, after having been relegated to the role of bystanders in the negotiations process," read the event's background paper, describing the movement as a "cornerstone" of the Palestinians' popular resistance to the Israeli occupation.

The BDS campaign describes itself as a global movement of citizens that carries out and advocates for non-violent campaigns of boycotts, divestment and sanctions as a means to overcome the Israeli regime of occupation, settler-colonialism and apartheid, as well as to achieve freedom, justice and equality for the Palestinian people.

The movement called on civil society around the world to launch broad boycotts, implement divestment initiatives, and to demand sanctions against Israel, until Palestinian rights are recognised in full compliance with international law.