News, December 2003, www.aljazeerah.info
Human Price of the Israeli Occupation of Palestine
Israeli daily aggression on the Palestinian people
Mission and meaning of Al-Jazeerah
Cities, localities, and tourist attractions
|
Lawmaker from Sharon's party invited to Syria — report
Jordan Times, Wednesday, December 31, 2003
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (AP) — A lawmaker from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Likud Party has been invited to Syria to discuss a recent proposal by Syrian President Bashar Assad to renew peace talks between the bitter foes, Israel Radio reported Tuesday. The lawmaker, who was not identified, will visit Egypt to discuss the Syrian invitation with officials there, the radio said. It did not say whether he would meet Syrian officials there or if he would travel on to Syria.
A spokesman for Sharon would not comment on the report.
Sharon's office told the radio that no Likud lawmaker represents the government in such matters.
While it was not clear which lawmaker was invited, the Likud Party includes two members of parliament from the Druze community, an offshoot of Islam with many members living in Syria. The two lawmakers did not answer calls requesting comment Tuesday.
Assad told The New York Times in an interview earlier this month that the United States should help reopen negotiations between Israel and Syria.
The two sides almost reached an agreement in 2000 that included an Israeli offer to return most of the Golan Heights, which it captured in 1967, but they disagreed over the final details.
Israeli experts on Syria said this week they believe Assad's offer is serious since he has been pushed to a corner by the US war in Iraq and threats of sanctions if Syria does not crack down on groups operating from its territory.
Sharon reiterated earlier this week Israel's demand that Syria dismantle the groups. Any resumption of talks would have to start from zero, Sharon told his ministers. Syria has called for resuming talks from where they left off in 2000.
Syria's state-run Syria Times newspaper said Tuesday that Sharon's refusal to resume negotiations with Syria from the point where they left off was "another staggering step backwards." "If this reveals one thing, it reveals the real intentions of Sharon and his government over peace-making: They don't want peace," the English-language daily said in an editorial.
Israeli experts said this week that Assad wants to exhibit some sort of moderation in light of recent Libyan and Iranian announcements that they will open their weapons programmes to international inspection.
Syria may also be concerned that Israel could attack its territory again, like on Oct. 5 when Israeli fighter jets raided a reported Islamic Jihad base in Syria, the experts said. Despite the attack, the border between the two countries has been very quiet in recent years.
The liberal Israeli daily Haaretz urged the government to consider the Syrian offer.
"Even if Assad's motivation derives from strategic weakness rather than a sudden interest in Israel, his proposal still deserves serious and sincere scrutiny," the paper said in an editorial published Tuesday.
It said any Syrian weakness "strengthens Israel's hand and offers hope that the Syrian positions that were so rigid in the past will be more flexible." Syria and Israel have fought three major conflicts, in 1948, 1967 and 1973. But since the last war their conflict played out mainly in neighbouring Lebanon, where Syria holds sway and backs the anti-Israeli movement Hizbollah.
 |
| Earth, a planet hungry for peace |
 |
| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03). |
 |
| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank, like a Python (Alquds, 1/25/03. |
 |