Israel Matzav

Assad wants more than the Golan

We keep hearing how the 'price for peace' with Syria is giving them the Golan Heights and how they won't even sit down at a table with us unless we promise them in advance that the outcome will be turning over the Golan Heights to the Assad regime. But most of the Leftists who favor giving Assad the Golan believe that's all he wants and that giving him the Golan will be the end of his demands. It turns out that's not the case. This is from an Assad interview with The New Yorker's Seymour Hersh (okay, not always the most reliable source).

Assad also stressed that a solution must be found for Palestinian refugees living in Syria.

"I have half a million Palestinians and they have been living here for three generations now. So, if you do not find a solution for them, then what peace are you talking about?" he asked.

"What, I said, is the difference between peace and a peace treaty? Peace treaty is what you sign, but peace is when you have normal relations," Assad continued. "So, you start with a peace treaty in order to achieve peace.... If they say you can have the entire Golan back, we will have a peace treaty. But they cannot expect me to give them the peace they expect.... You start with the land; you do not start with peace."

What could go wrong?

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:07 AM