That is, as far as I can tell, the Arab attitude towards Israel. Read this interview with a Syrian journalist, and you have to wonder at the utter sense of entitlement these people feel; even more than us entitled Americans.
What about the scenario raised in Israel according to which Syria would agree to lease out the Golan Heights to Israel in exchange for recognition of Syria’s sovereignty over the region?
This is another excuse, another ploy the extent to which the Israelis are playing games and are not serious. There are seven wonders in the world, and the possibility of leasing out the Golan Heights is apparently one of them.
The Syrian stance is clear: We went to Madrid based on the territories for peace principle and Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338. This must guide the negotiations; nothing else. Territories for peace – or more accurately, all of the territories for peace; this will prevent people from instilling any word games into international decisions. Leasing? The only chance this could ever happen is if a new Syrian regime comes to power on the back of an American tank. And this of course will not happen.
Why isn’t Syria ready for compromise on this issue? Why is Syria always expecting too much?
The Syrians have always said that peace is our strategic choice but the current status quo cannot continue. The Syrian people are sick of the whole thing not being serious, although it is committed to peace. As far as we are concerned things are not complicated, and the content of negotiations is not clear. The Israelis need to decide if they are ready or not – and let them stop looking for and making up excuses.
Nowhere in there is any acknowledgement that Syria lost the Golan Heights because it attacked Israel, and before that, was shelling Israeli towns and farms from the Golan.
Never give it back, Israel. Never.
major problem with the West (Israel included) today is that they have become too civilzed. With people like this, and talk like this, there will be no peace. Why do we continue to have ‘dialogue’ with them? Why do we continue to listen to them?
In my life, when I come across people who twist words, I stop talking to them and slowly edge myself out of their lives. Unfortunately, these dudes have guns and there are alot of them.
Words with them are totally meaningless. They have centuries of brutality built into their culture – and it has been very successful.
What they need is exactly what they want to impose on the world: Islam. Total Submission. But on our terms and values.
Nice quote:
“Supposing no progress is made toward the opening of negotiations – is a military scenario a possibility from the Syrian standpoint? Certainly…”
Oh please, oh please…
Excellent picture of Assad (in the article), btw. How big is it again, Bashar?
What the Arabs mean by peace is Israel’s destruction and the annihilation of its Jewish population.
Don’t tempt us Bucky. Considering what Syria has been doing in Iraq and Lebanon that American tank looks better every day. I suspect the next time we have to fight Arabs or Iranians the results will look more like Germany or Japan at the end of WWII rather than Operation Iraqi Freedom. No more pulling the punches.
Another problem is that the misinterpretation of UN resolutions 242 and 338 is not even commented upon, although it’s clear that the authors of 242 did not include the indefinite article in the wording intentionally. What is contemplated is a certain amount of land in return for peace.
I still wonder why the 1949 lines have suddenly become sacred when the Arabs always insisted they were not border, merely cease-fire lines. As to the rest, it’s obvious, Maryl, and I refer you to what you call the Exception Clause and is more properly called the Bensky Corollary to Everything:
If you start and lose several wars you have to pay some penalty, unless you’re fighting Jews, in which case you always go back to square one.
And in regards to dealing with the Palestinian issue, perhaps we should take a few pointers from the Mongols.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-weather29dec29,0,2536448.story
It seems, at lest from this article, that the Mongols have been treated rather unfairly as their image is one of brutal conquerors.
Looks like I have some future reading material to plumb the depths of truths that have been buried by cultural stereotypes…
It was a huge mistake for the IAF not to pound Damascus into rubble this past summer as Syrian-supplied and Syrian-manufactured rockets were pounding Israeli cities.
When I read crap like this I imagine 2000lb bombs dismantling the Syrian regime piece by piece, and it feels good.
“The Syrians have always said that peace is our strategic choice but the current status quo cannot continue. The Syrian people are sick of the whole thing not being serious, although it is committed to peace.”
Lying sacks of shit.
I repeat: LYING SACKS OF SHIT