Recent statements by Syrian leaders to the effect that “Syria wants the United States to work seriously for a resumption of the peace process with Israel at the point where it broke down,” (the official Syrian Al-Thawra newspaper, Saturday January 10) and the subsequent invitation to Jerusalem by Israeli President Moshe Katzav have been the subject of commentary in the Syrian, and general Arab, press.
The Syrian press in particular, naturally, gave the subject a lot of attention.
The speculations in the Arab world - fueled by Israeli statements - that such public “exchange” of messages between Israel and Syria were a sign of secret talks, led one Damascus newspaper, Tishrin, to print a denial. “Syria has not made any secret contacts with Israel whatsoever, neither in the past nor in the present,” the paper said, January 13. The “allegation” made by Israeli Foreign Minister Sylvan Shalom that contacts were made recently with Syria was “no more than another baseless lie marketed by the Israeli government to serve its interests.”
As for the Israeli view of negotiations with Syria, Tishrin commented, “When the Sharon government claims that it is ready to hold negotiations from square one and without conditions, it is in fact setting preconditions.”
In the Syrian-occupied Lebanon, the newspapers, unsurprisingly, carried sentiments similar to those of their Syrian counterparts.
The January 13 edition of Beirut’s Al-Anwar carried an opinion piece detailing three obstacles to peace talks between Israel and Syria: 1) “There is nothing to suggest that the current pro-Israeli US administration would insist on pushing through Syrian or Palestinian peace talks in a US presidential election year;” 2) “While Syria wants to start from where the talks ended in 2000, Israel wants to start from scratch;” and 3) Ariel Sharon. According to the columnist, Prime Minister Sharon has set “impossible conditions” for the resumption of peace talks, by saying in advance that there would no Israeli pull-out from the Syrian Golan Heights -- peace or no peace -- due to the Heights remaining “essential” to “future Zionist plans for the region.”
A writer in Lebanon’s As-Safir (January 14) even accused the US administration of advising Israel to adopt a negative attitude toward Syria’s calls for the resumption of peace negotiations. The Lebanese columnist said that the US sent the same message to Turkey, as well, “but, while the Israeli government had no trouble in faithfully implementing Washington’s advice, the Turkish government was cautious not to rush into doing the same.” Washington’s “advice” to Israel and Turkey to tone down their rapprochement with Syria, the pundit explained, was to let Damascus know it was still under the “watchful eyes” of the USA.
Similarly, elsewhere in the Arab world, the moves in Syria and Israel were seen as collaboration between the US and Israel. Saudi Arabia’s Al-Jazeera newspaper wrote, on January 14, “Israel is keen to benefit as much as possible from the US presence in Iraq, as well as from its policies toward the region, which always take the Israeli position into account. Thus, the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is saying that in order to negotiate with Syria, Damascus should stop supporting what he calls terrorism -- one of the things stipulated by the US’ so-called Syrian Accountability Act.”
Akhbar Al-Arab newspaper, out of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, ignored the chronologically earlier Syrian statements regarding resumption of talks with Israel and commented, “Israel has started sending the occasional trial balloon, in an attempt to find out where Syrian policy is heading.” All in all, the paper continued, “It was normal for the Syrian president to reject this invitation… talks between Syria and Israel do not require the Syrian president to visit Jerusalem, but require an initial agreement based on two issues: Where do the negotiations begin? From where they ended last time or from scratch?”
The Syrian press in particular, naturally, gave the subject a lot of attention.
The speculations in the Arab world - fueled by Israeli statements - that such public “exchange” of messages between Israel and Syria were a sign of secret talks, led one Damascus newspaper, Tishrin, to print a denial. “Syria has not made any secret contacts with Israel whatsoever, neither in the past nor in the present,” the paper said, January 13. The “allegation” made by Israeli Foreign Minister Sylvan Shalom that contacts were made recently with Syria was “no more than another baseless lie marketed by the Israeli government to serve its interests.”
As for the Israeli view of negotiations with Syria, Tishrin commented, “When the Sharon government claims that it is ready to hold negotiations from square one and without conditions, it is in fact setting preconditions.”
In the Syrian-occupied Lebanon, the newspapers, unsurprisingly, carried sentiments similar to those of their Syrian counterparts.
The January 13 edition of Beirut’s Al-Anwar carried an opinion piece detailing three obstacles to peace talks between Israel and Syria: 1) “There is nothing to suggest that the current pro-Israeli US administration would insist on pushing through Syrian or Palestinian peace talks in a US presidential election year;” 2) “While Syria wants to start from where the talks ended in 2000, Israel wants to start from scratch;” and 3) Ariel Sharon. According to the columnist, Prime Minister Sharon has set “impossible conditions” for the resumption of peace talks, by saying in advance that there would no Israeli pull-out from the Syrian Golan Heights -- peace or no peace -- due to the Heights remaining “essential” to “future Zionist plans for the region.”
A writer in Lebanon’s As-Safir (January 14) even accused the US administration of advising Israel to adopt a negative attitude toward Syria’s calls for the resumption of peace negotiations. The Lebanese columnist said that the US sent the same message to Turkey, as well, “but, while the Israeli government had no trouble in faithfully implementing Washington’s advice, the Turkish government was cautious not to rush into doing the same.” Washington’s “advice” to Israel and Turkey to tone down their rapprochement with Syria, the pundit explained, was to let Damascus know it was still under the “watchful eyes” of the USA.
Similarly, elsewhere in the Arab world, the moves in Syria and Israel were seen as collaboration between the US and Israel. Saudi Arabia’s Al-Jazeera newspaper wrote, on January 14, “Israel is keen to benefit as much as possible from the US presence in Iraq, as well as from its policies toward the region, which always take the Israeli position into account. Thus, the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is saying that in order to negotiate with Syria, Damascus should stop supporting what he calls terrorism -- one of the things stipulated by the US’ so-called Syrian Accountability Act.”
Akhbar Al-Arab newspaper, out of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, ignored the chronologically earlier Syrian statements regarding resumption of talks with Israel and commented, “Israel has started sending the occasional trial balloon, in an attempt to find out where Syrian policy is heading.” All in all, the paper continued, “It was normal for the Syrian president to reject this invitation… talks between Syria and Israel do not require the Syrian president to visit Jerusalem, but require an initial agreement based on two issues: Where do the negotiations begin? From where they ended last time or from scratch?”