What's the point of striving for freedom and human rights in Syria when Assad Jr. will eventually die and appoint his son to take over the dictatorship? Syria appears more like North Korea than any other Arab country. It's people live in fear of the secret police, opposition members are locked away in prisons, and if anybody steps out of line they have Hama to remind them (the city where Assad's daddy sent in the army and killed 20,000 Syrian civilians in order to quash an uprising against his brutal dictatorship). Trying anything with Syria is useless. There's no point in investing there (the people have no money to spend, and it's a backwards Arab bureaucracy where you have to pay baksheesh and worry about thugs hitting you for protection money. Syria still wants to take over Lebanon, and a million illegal Syrian settlers are still there. The only way out is that Syria may implode from being so backwards. They've got almost no water resources left, and almost no industry to keep their country going. The only fear is that what would replace Assad might simply be Al Qaeda - in which case the Syrians themselves would be in the worst position, not Israel or anybody else.

Obama now has backing of Quartet, Arab League and all current members of UNSC. Obama has the tools to make a peace deal happen but only if he chooses to used them.

Good for you brother, let us hope that all parties involved use the tools of peace and justice. Earl in Haifa

Hamas made an immediate rejection of the talks, now of course Syria jumps onto rejection wagon. So many of the players in the M.E. simply want to destroy Israel. So they begin by denigrating Abbas, basically calling him a U.S. lackey. Remember in that part of the world the way you attack political enemies is tie them to the "Zionist", the ultimate put down. Secondly, link them to the U.S. as a puppet. Same old, same old. Whenever peace is a possibility they get worried, if a peace agreement is reached between the Pals and Israel, they lose their favorite scapegoat, Israel.

Any talks with Arabs are a waste of time. They make demands, not negotiate. Here is a complete list of every single compromise and concession by the Arabs ever:

Yup the moment theres is a sign of real progress towards resolution of the conflict these people suddenly appear like a horrible nauseating odour - to champion the Palestinian cause? Thats a laugh! They are wonderfully content to see Palestinians in camps, stateless without rights in Lebanon or Syria yet baulk at the idea of Palestinians in control of their futures Well NO MORE! We are fed up being the pawns of THEIR Middle East political game whether it be with Iran, Syria Mr Pretty Boy Mashaal or Israel We will determine our own future in our own way

If all Israel would pack up and move to the moon, it would not satisfy Islam. They only have one goal, and we all KNOW what that is.

The fact is that there is nothing to talk with Fatah or Hamas. They have no claim on the Historical Jewish Land. Point final.

Hey Mr. P.M.:::Why don't you just tell those dudes over at the white house that you gotta get ready for the high holidays and that you'll see 'em in November, if ya know what i mean.

The Land of Israel belongs exclusively to the people of Israel. The Jews have the right to build and live freely in their country. Agreements as a result of blackmail and pressure are not valid and will not change historical truth and International Legitimacy (The San Remo agreements). Mistakes done in the past by Israeli government(s) should not be respected and should be put right immediately. Settlements in Judea, Samaria (i.e., the West Bank), Gaza and the whole of Jerusalem are legal. We should return to the original legitimacy as described at : http://xrl.us/bjch4

Israel's Left was so desparate to get peace they signed the Oslo Accords which ultimately proved worthless. The Oslo Accords, as Assad claims where so bad, actually protected Arafat and his terrorists by allowing Arafat to fund terrorists while claiming he had no idea and blocked Israel from retaliating against even the most obscure terror group as if it were an attack on the entire "Palestinian" nation and would break the agreement. Essentially, it protected Arab terrorists from IDF retaliation while Arafat traveled the world on the Western dime promoting his plan for staged destruction of Israel (per his speech in South Africa). Damn right the next agreement would be "worse" than Oslo, because (hopefully) Israel will be smart enough to keep it honest, coming from a position of power.

Sammy is right,the Syrian government is playing a filthy,cynical game.It has no interest in a strong Palestinian Arab state,just in a weak one that it can dominate as a spring-board to absorbing the whole of the former Palestine Mandate,including Jordan,and Lebanon into a Greater Syria. It's been Syria,all along,with its expansionist,imperialist government,that's been the Middle East problem,not Israel. THREE CHEERS FOR ISRAEL!!!