Opinion
Assad wants talks, not peace
Smadar Peri
Published: 06.06.07, 18:03
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21 Talkbacks for this article
1. And This Is The Best Case Scenario
Terry ,   Eilat, Israel   (06.06.07)
Pessimists (I prefer realists) like myself see this as a way to justify various provocations & aggressions, if not all out war, when impossible demands are not met. Syria is a vassal of Iran & you don't have to be much of a genius to understand Iran's intentions towards us.
2. SYRIA = CHICHANITZA
andrew ,   miami,fl   (06.06.07)
3. article bias
kemji9 ,   chelsea, US   (06.06.07)
just like debka.com, this article is biased in israel's favor. This article totally demonizes syria, and makes assad seem like an irrational, lunatic despot. The golan heights was seized by israel in the 67 war, so it rightfully not israels', but the article doesn't talk about stuff like that. If Israel could remove a good chunk of its bias, justice would be better served, and peace would be more of a reality in the middle east, and palestinian areas.
4. nice propaganda to support isreal...it won't work buddy!!!!
(06.06.07)
5. peace won't come to the middle east
William ,   USA   (06.06.07)
untill every country is a democracy where the people get the money they deserve for there hard work and actually see it pay off with their country developing instead of being stolen by their so-called leaders who only have power because they call for isreal's destruction which right now is all the poor people of the their countries can think about to bring them happiness since their countrys are a wreck
6. Assad is trying to be a smart ass
jojo ,   zeland   (06.06.07)
of course the assad is trying to buy some time thru just talks with israel and not peace bcoz of : 1. buy sometime and provide cover for the iranians to work on their nuclear bomb with more freedom ( and thats why iran paid off all the syrian debts to russia). 2.exhaust israel by others (like Hizbullah, Hamas,....etc)
7. to #3 read your history books
andy ,   orlando.Fl   (06.06.07)
Assad is exactly that a tyrannical despot who supports and finances Hezbollah with the assistance of Iran.The Golan Heights was seized in the defensive war of 67.Prior to that Syria incessantly shelled Israeli villages from the top of the Golan.Syria by its aggression forfeited any rights to return of the Golan.Syria/Iran/Hezbollah are an axis of evil.
8. Diplomacy at work...
enzo ,   london,uk   (06.06.07)
"Assad wants talks" Give him talks...!!!
9. Smell the coffee: Assad is a lunatic despot
Ilan ,   Ariel   (06.06.07)
The Baathist regime is a group of cold blooded gangsters and Israel has nothing to gain in giving them an escape from the upcoming tribunal. They want negotiations not because they want peaceful and full relations with Israel, but because diplomacy is just another facet of conflict.
10. There is a cold peace with Egypt
MARK ,   USA   (06.07.07)
and Jordan. This is better then war.
11. He's an ophthalmologist, not an optician
Sol Salbe ,   Melbourne Australia   (06.06.07)
The fact that the writer derides Assad and call him an ooptician instead of an ophthalmologist tells you enough about her agenda. By convention the term ophthalmologist implies a medically trained specialist. Since ophthalmologists perform operations on eyes, they are generally categorized as surgeons.
12. to 3 assad is a dictator as saddam was and he should be
dovdevan ,   ashdod ; israel   (06.07.07)
toople ! but we prefer him to be the muppet of the iranian instead of an islamic regime ! Assad should be careful about his act because he has got a lot to lose in case of a war with israel !! Syria is not hezbollah syria is a country so we could use any weapon against a nation that threaten us !
13. Arssad wants somebody to talk, he's lonely
john ,   nz   (06.07.07)
14. To 3 - this is an opinion article.
Shoshana   (06.07.07)
Opinion articles are supposed to be biased! That is the whole point of them. They are not comparable to news articles, which are as objective as possible. Op-eds are subjective in every country, not only in Israel. Check the opinion section in British newspapers and see how objective your honorable journalists are. In fact, check BBC and you won't see too many differences.
15. #11 Sol Salbe - Read the article CAREFULLY
Barry ,   Tel Aviv, Israel   (06.07.07)
The article states that he is an optometrist, not an optician.. Assad is an optometrist by training. An optometrist is a highly trained specialist in eye problems. He never was a surgeon or an ophthalmologist. Next time you choose to comment on an article, at least have the decency to read it first.
16. Syrian peace crap
Brod ,   USA   (06.07.07)
Peri is right in her observation. This is also part of the Syria's tactic to cover up their sins on the assasination of Hariri. Israel should not make any move to such peace crap with a gun pointed at its head. Israel must make it clear to Syria, they should stop dreaming of the Golan as it is part of ancient Israel that Israel liberated from the aggressor-Syria in the War of 1967. In fact, part of ancient Israel, the territory north of the Golan, is still being occupied by Syria. Moreover, the Golan is a strategic place that will ensure Israel's security in its northern border. In all these, the Arab peace crap is just an excuse to usurp more of Israel's land from the Jews so that Israel will be reduced to a tiny indefensible enclave surrounded by ravenous Islamist-Jihadist wolves who are awash in Jihadism--the sword of Islam whose goal is to conquer, subdue and dominate the non-Islamist world. Israel MUST never fall into the Arab peace crap trap of a one-way street to Hell for Israel.
17. Ms Peri's self-serving words
English guy ,   London, UK   (06.07.07)
Is she positioning herself to be the next foreign minister? Not very likely with the standard of writing in this article. Ms Peri implies that a state of war is better than a cold peace - what a perverted view. She appears to vaunt her knowledge of Syria by knowing about the Hamidya market in Damascus - but her sub text is really about the thousands of Israeli tourists she thinks would flock there. Indeed, for many years Israel has yearned for "normalcy" and been bitterly disappointed by the cold peace with Israel and Jordan - but what can one expect? The legacy of Israeli policies towards the Palestinians, the various clauses in the peace treaties about residents of Jordan foregoing any chance to reclaim their property in Israel - all this adds up to one large festering sore, and that doesn't even take into account Israel's various bombing campaigns against its neighbours. As for her statement "democracy in Syria would inevitably topple Assad" - this is not necessarily the case as he is in fact very popular - perhaps not the 97% rating, but in a democracy - as we have seen in the UK, 45% of the vote is enough to form a government. Moreover, talk of bringing democracy to Syria is a smokescreen - as the rise of the Islamist parties would hardly be to the benefit of the government in the knesset or to the military establishment in haqirya. We all know that a strongman in charge of a whole country makes the life of Israeli politicians much easier - it provides stability and a non-changing list of names of people to talk to.
18. returning the Golan in exchange for nothing is a bad idea.
(06.07.07)
19. Assad must give up his claim to Golan if he wants Peace
Yehuda Maccabbee ,   MODI'IN   (06.08.07)
Otherwise, he risks being nuked and overthrown from power.
20. #1 Terry - I think that Olmert really means it.
Daniel ,   USA   (06.09.07)
He's been itching to discard all the land recovered in 1967. I believe him. I don't know about Assad, but Olmert means it. He sees some personal political gain there.
21. Policy Policy Policy
Uncle Sam ,   Jaffa, Israel   (06.16.07)
Policy making is Poor in Israel because the system of elections! There are too many parties, It is not clear what their aims are. I think that you should not give up an important aim even if it is not attainable just now. For example Peace with the Palestinians and/or Syria is a long range aim even if sometimes it looks that in the short range it is not possible.
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