Syrian President Bashar Assad
Photo: AP
Netanyahu's Sunday speech
Photo: Avi Ochion, GPO
Syrian state paper: Netanyahu wants apartheid
Editorial slams Israeli prime minister's speech saying, 'Zionist government agrees to set up Palestinian cantons reminiscent of blacks' cantons in racist South Africa'. Article adamantly rejects notion of 'demilitarized Palestinian state'
Syria, like the Palestinian Authority, was dissatisfied with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Sunday speech.
Syrian state newspaper, Tishreen, published an editorial on Monday saying, "The Zionist government, according to Netanyahu's speech, agrees to set up Palestinian cantons reminiscent of the blacks' cantons in South Africa in the days of the racist regime."
In his speech, the prime minister did not mention the issue of the Golan Heights, but did declare that he was wiling to go anywhere – including Damascus.
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The editorial, titled 'Canton mentality', read, "The cart is being put before the horse – this has always been the principle Israel's leaders have relied on in their attempts to get to the root of the Arab-Zionist dispute, as they view themselves as the victims and not the aggressors and view the Palestinians as the aggressors and not the ones with the rights.
"They speak of a captive Israeli soldier but do not mention over 10,000 Palestinian prisoners – women, men and children – who are kept in their prisons."
Regarding Netanyahu's economic vision, the article read, "They talk about energy, water desalination, economic investments and economic peace before they talk about retreating from the occupied lands and recognizing the Palestinian people's rights.
"They talk about a 'territory under Palestinian control' that they can invade at any moment, since it will have no military. They overlook the military arsenal with which they can invade anywhere they wish."
The editorial went on to address Netanyahu's vision of a "demilitarized Palestinian state" saying, "They speak of their right to use the Palestinian territory's skies, as if it is an open area with no people and where there will never be a state.
"These densely populated areas have no rights, no sovereignty over the land, the border or the sky, and the term 'state' is a trivial term void of all political or legal meaning."
