Syrian President Bashar al-Assad made thinly veiled threats against Israel on Monday in a speech at the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in Turkey. Referring to Israel as an “occupying power,” Assad told the audience, “Resistance of the occupation is a national duty, and to support it is a moral and legal duty."
Among the “rights” claimed by Assad's administration is the return of the strategic Golan region, which was annexed by Israel following the Six Day War in 197. Assad also backs the Palestinian Authority's demand to create a new Arab state that would include all land east of the 1948 armistice line.
Calls for "Resistance" and "Elimination of Occupation"
"The failure of negotiations to return all rights means resistance is an alternative solution,” Assad threatened, while calling on his fellow Muslim leaders to “work for the elimination of the occupation,” instead of pressuring Israel to cease construction in Judea and Samaria.
While encouraging “resistance” against Israel, a word usually used to refer to terrorism, Assad decried domestic terrorism within Muslim countries. Only by guaranteeing citizens' safety can the Muslim world prosper, he said.
Assad was quoted by Syrian media as accusing Western nations of deliberately thwarting developing nations' efforts to increase their productivity. He reportedly said that the West thus hopes to ensure that such nations remain available as markets for Western-produced goods. To counter such efforts, Muslim countries should work together and focus on development projects that are mutually beneficial, Assad said.