Syria’s Ambassador to London, Dr. Sami Khiyami, invited Jewish residents of the Golan Heights to consider living under Syrian rule.

“Syria is a safe haven for all its neighbors – a secular country that respects all faiths and whose citizens have always enjoyed equal rights,” said Dr. Khiyami at a conference held at the University of London on Saturday. The ambassador suggested Golan residents remain in their communities if the region is taken over by Syria, “rather than return, as they will have to do in accordance with international law, to Israel,” which he called an apartheid state with “false pretenses to democracy.”

The conference, entitled “The Golan: Ending Occupation, Establishing Peace,” was sponsored by the Syrian Media Center. Two Israelis also attended the conference; Dimi Rider, a university student and David Sasson of the Forum of the Peace Initiative with Syria.