Green Energy
Haaretz:
Syria threatens to take back Golan by force
Syrian officials threatened on Saturday to take back the Golan Heights by force if a peace agreement involving the return of the strategic plateau is not reached with Israel, Army Radio reported.
A group calling itself the Syrian Committee for the Freedom of the Golan said it would take steps to regain control of the territory, adding that Israel has not shown willingness to achieve peace or to return what they called "Syrian land."
The comments were made at the inauguration ceremony, attended by Syrian President Bashar Assad, for a new communications center in Quneitra.
"The communications center will report on the troubles of Syrian residents residing in the occupied Golan under barbaric and racist Israeli rule," Syrian Information Minister Mohsen Bilal was quoted as saying at the ceremony, in a reference to Druze in the Golan who wish to live under Syrian sovereignty.
Last Sunday, Assad rejected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's offer to resume peace talks between the two countries from "point zero."
Assad said the negotiations should resume from the point at which they stopped under former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, when the two sides had planned to formulate mutual commitments that would enable the talks to move to a direct negotiations stage.
The indirect negotiations stopped some six months ago, following Operation Cast Lead, and the announcement of early elections in Israel.
Israel gained control of the Golan Heights during the 1967 Six-Day War. Syria insists that the basis for peace talks with Israel is a full withdrawal from the territory.
-
WSJ: Israeli Forces Fire on Protesters Near Golan TEL AVIV—Israel's army opened fire on dozens of Arab demonstrators who marched from the Syrian border toward the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights to mark the anniversary of the outbreak of the 1967...
- Bush To Olmert: Why Are You Giving Syria The Golan For Nothing?
From Haaretz: WASHINGTON - U.S. President George Bush believes that Israel is offering Syria the Golan Heights without getting anything in exchange, according to sources briefed on his White House meeting with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert last week. After...
- Olmert Racing To Conclude Deal With Syria?
In Sunday's Times of London, Uzi Mahnaimi reports that eventually resigning Israeli Prime Minister Ehud K. Olmert is indeed racing to conclude a 'peace deal' with the Assad regime in Syria. Under the deal's terms, Israel would cede the...
- An Agreement With Syria, But For Whom?
Maariv reported on Friday morning that an agreement between Israel and Syria is within reach and both sides have agreed to pay the price (link in Hebrew). The only 'problem' is Prime Minister Ehud K. Olmert's miserable political standing....
- Syria Fires At Israeli Aircraft
Hmm: Syrian air defenses opened fire on IAF aircraft that violated Syrian airspace overnight Thursday, a Syrian military spokesman said. "We warn the Israeli enemy government against this flagrant aggressive act, and retain the right to respond in an...
Green Energy
Syria threatens to take back Golan by force
Haaretz:
Syria threatens to take back Golan by force
Syrian officials threatened on Saturday to take back the Golan Heights by force if a peace agreement involving the return of the strategic plateau is not reached with Israel, Army Radio reported.
A group calling itself the Syrian Committee for the Freedom of the Golan said it would take steps to regain control of the territory, adding that Israel has not shown willingness to achieve peace or to return what they called "Syrian land."
The comments were made at the inauguration ceremony, attended by Syrian President Bashar Assad, for a new communications center in Quneitra.
"The communications center will report on the troubles of Syrian residents residing in the occupied Golan under barbaric and racist Israeli rule," Syrian Information Minister Mohsen Bilal was quoted as saying at the ceremony, in a reference to Druze in the Golan who wish to live under Syrian sovereignty.
Last Sunday, Assad rejected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's offer to resume peace talks between the two countries from "point zero."
Assad said the negotiations should resume from the point at which they stopped under former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, when the two sides had planned to formulate mutual commitments that would enable the talks to move to a direct negotiations stage.
The indirect negotiations stopped some six months ago, following Operation Cast Lead, and the announcement of early elections in Israel.
Israel gained control of the Golan Heights during the 1967 Six-Day War. Syria insists that the basis for peace talks with Israel is a full withdrawal from the territory.
-
WSJ: Israeli Forces Fire on Protesters Near Golan TEL AVIV—Israel's army opened fire on dozens of Arab demonstrators who marched from the Syrian border toward the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights to mark the anniversary of the outbreak of the 1967...
- Bush To Olmert: Why Are You Giving Syria The Golan For Nothing?
From Haaretz: WASHINGTON - U.S. President George Bush believes that Israel is offering Syria the Golan Heights without getting anything in exchange, according to sources briefed on his White House meeting with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert last week. After...
- Olmert Racing To Conclude Deal With Syria?
In Sunday's Times of London, Uzi Mahnaimi reports that eventually resigning Israeli Prime Minister Ehud K. Olmert is indeed racing to conclude a 'peace deal' with the Assad regime in Syria. Under the deal's terms, Israel would cede the...
- An Agreement With Syria, But For Whom?
Maariv reported on Friday morning that an agreement between Israel and Syria is within reach and both sides have agreed to pay the price (link in Hebrew). The only 'problem' is Prime Minister Ehud K. Olmert's miserable political standing....
- Syria Fires At Israeli Aircraft
Hmm: Syrian air defenses opened fire on IAF aircraft that violated Syrian airspace overnight Thursday, a Syrian military spokesman said. "We warn the Israeli enemy government against this flagrant aggressive act, and retain the right to respond in an...