Assad: Syria Ready For Peace, Israel Isn't
Ryan R. Jones - All Headline News Middle East Correspondent Jerusalem, Israel (AHN) - Syrian President Bashar Assad on Tuesday told three Israeli Arab Knesset members he has been hosting since last week, that his nation is ready to make peace with the Jewish state. Speaking to Ha'aretz from Damascus, Balad Party MK Jamal Zahalka said Assad is firmly committed to the 2002 Arab League peace initiative, and will recognize and maintain ties with Israel at once if Jerusalem accepted its terms. The peace plan, which was forged during an Arab League summit in Beirut, offers Israel full recognition throughout the Arab world in return for the surrender of all lands captured in the 1967 Six Day War and the right of millions of purported Palestinian refugees to take up residence in the Jewish state. Israel argues that the borders today only stand as they do because of repeated attempts by the Arab world to annihilate the Jewish state, and that a return to the pre-1967 lines would put Israel in a militarily indefensible position. The Golan Heights, which Syria wants returned in full, is of particular strategic importance to Israel as it contains the headwaters that provide the nation with roughly one-third of its fresh water. From 1948-1967, Syria attempted to divert those tributaries. The commanding plateau was also used to launch almost daily attacks on Israelis living in the valleys below. Likewise, Jerusalem has rejected |
