Haatrez published a report about Golan Heights and it is worth to be read despite if you are an Arab , you will feel sad and angry while reading it. Of course as Arabs we are not surprised from that revelation , on the contrary but they are the questions of why and how on earth these wonderful beautiful heights were lost and why they have not returned back yet whether through war or peace for real. By the way you can find the Life magazine issue from 1967 the report is referring to here.
Historically Syria lost the Golan heights in the six days war but unlike how the blame is usually focused on the Egyptian role of the defeat , the lose of the Golan was the responsbility of the Syria regime or to be precise Al Assad and his gang from Talas and Khaddam who controlled the army and Golan heights as well.
Militarily Syria for the past 35 years could have returned back huge parts of the Golan through war forcing Israel to head for the negotiation table if it wanted to , Syrians are fearless fighters and with the weapons they have got from Russia all those years , many things could have changed , there were perfect times to open the front again during the intifadas instead of strong words speeches and useless rallies. It is shame that a resistance group like Hezbollah did what the Syrian regime with all its power has failed in doing all those years.
Politically I do not know why I have a feeling that the Golan issue has nothing to do with Jerusalem issue nor with water sources issue but with the Political well itself. Al Assad regime does not want to return the Golan heights , it wants to continue ruling Syria whether with Golan or without it.
The Golan will return with a real democratic Syrian regime that puts the unity and national security of Syria above all.
Hi Zeinobia, "The Golan will return with a real democratic Syrian regime that puts the unity and national security of Syria above all."
ReplyDeleteNo. It has less to do with who is in charge in Syria than what they offer to Israel to get the Golan Heights back. Assad of course wants it back. Getting it back would make him look strong and help his leadership reputation. But he can't get it because Israel will kick Syria's butt again, and maybe even take more territory as punishment. If someone takes over for Assad to run Syria, they will inherit the exact same situation. I think they will never get it back because neither Assad nor a successor can make an offer that would strengthen them domestically. And the longer Israel hold Golan, the more they think of it as their own, and the more Syria must offer to get it back. It's too late. Administratively if not officially it's been part of Israel for almost 30 years already.
This makes me sad, Z. You have the same misconception about Syria that you do about Egypt, which is that the leaders are self-interested corruptocrats (correct) and that when democratic change comes, popular will is going to teach Israel a lesson (incorrect). Israel will kick as many asses as they must no matter who is in charge. If newly democratized countries use their popular mandates to force conflict with Israel, they will lose still more land.
We have already seen how this scenario plays out when the Palestinians decided to double down on the hard-line approach by putting Hamas in charge. They don't have much to show for it.
As 'Arabs' people have predetermined analyses and views on issues?
ReplyDeleteThe 'Arabs' in Sudan must be different then as they feel sad and angry not about the occupation of the Golan but about the occupation of Halayeb by Egyptian forces.
Militarily Syria for the past 35 years could have returned back huge parts of the Golan
ReplyDelete1973 War ended tragically for Syria.
1979 Syrian-Israeli encounter ended tragically for Syria.
2997 Operation Orchard ended tragically for Syria.
there were perfect times to open the front again during the intifadas
The problem with Arabs like you is that they just want to kill Jews. The funny thing is that they could have returned Golans back in 1967. But Arabs again wanted to kill and they as usually again lost.
"Militarily Syria for the past 35 years could have returned back huge parts of the Golan through war forcing Israel to head for the negotiation table if it wanted to , Syrians are fearless fighters and with the weapons they have got from Russia all those years , many things could have changed , there were perfect times to open the front again during the intifadas"
ReplyDeleteA big LOL to that! Wanna know why Syria hasen't done anything?
"On June 9, 1982 the Israeli Air Force carried out Operation Mole Cricket 19, crippling the Syrian air defence array. In subsequent aerial battles against the Syrian Air Force, the IAF managed to shoot down 80 Syrian aircraft WITHOUT LOSING A SINGLE FIGHTER PLANE in an air to air combat. IAF AH-1 Cobra helicopter gunships destroyed dozens of Syrian armored fighting vehicles and other ground targets, including some T-72 main battle tanks."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_Air_Force#1982_Lebanon_War_and_its_aftermath
You shed crocodile tears on the Golan but have non for Lebanon who's been under Syrian occupation since 1976 or for the Syrian people who've been under the Assad's family boot since 1963.
I'm not impressed.
@Jason , I think nobody believes the myth of the greatest and bravest army of the Middle East anymore, strangely their butts have been kicked in South Lebanon by a resistance group , they could not bring it end after years of spying and bringing down the
ReplyDeleteMy dear in 1956 and in 1967 the IDF technically did not fight any war , it took Sinai without significant fight but in 1973 things were different
http://yom-kippur-1973.info/eng/main.htm
Plz do not give them too much credit , the flops of the IDF are too many to be remembered
You know the IDF is just like Mohamed El-Naschie
@Africanist , I am not surprised of your views , I know exactly where you are going to stand and this proves my point of view ;)
@John , shut up
@angry Israeli ,you are the last one to speak about occupation , you are the one who shed crocodile tears on Lebanon , Syria has left it already so what you are talking about !!?/ Oh I forgot you are angry coz Hezbollah is still there , well my angry Israeli Hezbollah is Lebanese party not Syrian
Hezbollah is still there and so is Syria but they won't be forever, I can asure you this. Syria and Iran are the ones who control Lebanon, not the Lebanese, and you can deny this or lie as much as you want, but that won't change this fact. Syria and Hezbollah are the ones who assasinated Hariri, remember?
ReplyDeleteI wonder why you admire a "resistance" group who has brought so much destruction to Lebanon, like in 2006, and who's leader hasn't seen the light of day ever since.
But since you care more about killing Jews than the wellbeing of Lebanon, or of any other Arab country, I'm not surprised.
And you can continue to underestimate the IDF's streangth as much as you want but when the day comes we'll see who will cry and who will laugh.
See you on the battlefield Zeinobia!
What point of view does my comment prove?
ReplyDelete= )
Occupation is occupation and there should be no 'acceptable' and 'unacceptable' occupation right?
ReplyDeleteHalayeb is a large open prison.
Halayeb's indigenous civil-society activists who are Sudanese citizens languish in Egyptian jails without trial, and some of them have died under torture.
Why do they not deserve mention Zeinobia?
You condemn the manhandling of women by French police - so what do you say about how defenceless African Sudanese refugees were brutalised by Egyptian security forces?
You claim that the French security forces are racist, yet you vehemently deny racism in the Egyptian media...
Being selective about ethical causes is nothing but plain hypocrisy.
@angry Israeli , your attitude is enough to determine who will laugh and who will cry
ReplyDeleteFYI tomorrow Hezbollah will expose in press conference tomorrow Israel's involvement in Al Hariri's murder
You hate Al Hariri , so please stop your crocodile tears on him
Remember Qena 1 and 2 !!??
@ Zol ,
ReplyDeletedo you know that Egyptian activists also face jail time ,torture and death in our prisons before speaking about the Sudanese activists !!??
If you read my France post , you will know that I referred to Egypt
Look dear this is not being selective or hypocrite , this is about the topic of the post , you want to speak about Hala'ib then please do this in Hala'ib posts
@John , shut up
ReplyDeleteEven my Egyptians girl friend admits there is huge Arab racism towards Jews, just if there were more clever Egyptians like her and less arrogant hate mongers like you
"FYI tomorrow Hezbollah will expose in press conference tomorrow Israel's involvement in Al Hariri's murder"
ReplyDeleteLOL
And tomorrow Netanyahu will reveal Hizballah's involvement in the murder of Rabin, so?
@Zeinobia 1:10, Really I agree with much of what you say (and I think it's hilarious you told John to shut up haha, no offense John). I think you are correct that several times Israel has gotten their asses handed to them like some incidents in southern Lebanon. And correct that "greatest and bravest" is a myth. Israel's opponents have displayed great tenacity and courage, but results are limited to small symbolic and tactical actions. If you look strategically at the big picture Israel is going to be a tough nut to crack. Globalfirepower lets you do military match ups. Wolfram Alpha lets you compare militaries and economies. Israel is at a disadvantage in total number of men-under-arms. They also have a political left wing who prevent Israel from responding strongly to some attacks. On the other hand Israel has a powerful economy and a huge defense budget. They are extremely well equipped with home made high-tech gear. This Wikipedia page is amazing: Israel, with a population of 7,000,000 is almost as big an arms exporter as China with a population of 13,000,000,000. There is no Arab country among the top arms exporters of the world. So, realistically, I don't see how you can take them down, even without America helping them. In the long term there is a demographic threat to Israel as a Jewish state because of the relative fertility rates with Israeli Arabs, but that's another matter.
ReplyDelete1,300,000,000 I meant of course for China's population.
ReplyDelete@Jason
ReplyDeleteJust because I am non-religious person I heard sooo many insults from Egyptians, so one shut up really doesn't bother me.
There is a lot of things you don't get and which I am not willing to discuss here. If you ever happen to date an Egyptian girl, you may get them.
John, I know there's a lot I don't get. I've never been to the Middle East. Your comment about dating an Egyptian girl is mysterious but intriguing. Perhaps you can give me a hint: hasten dot jason at gmail dot com
ReplyDeleteJason 1st comment
ReplyDeleteYour assumption that a democratic regime in Syria (and other Arab countries) would not help them in their struggle against Israel is false. Isreal already lost face in my countries in Europe
and even here in the USA among young liberals and surprisingly (to me) among young American Jews (one of them said to me few weeks ago that Israel had the habbit to shoot first and investigate later!!) The only thing the state of Isreal got left in its puplic relation game is the image of a democratic oasis in the middle of the Arab dectators. Once this gone isreal has no cards to play and have to follow international laws like the rest which means return land and pay fine for the 30 years just like what Iraq is paying to Kwait.
The Israeli ambasasor had to show up in a comic show Colbart report in order to help improve the image of Isreal that is suffering in the USA
Egyptian in USA
If anyone of you has seen the Golan Heights you will immediately realize its strategic importance. If you stand at the Height's top you could see 25 Km into Israel which makes it a very valuable piece of real estate which Israel will never give up regardless who rules Syria.
ReplyDelete@Angry Israeli
ReplyDeleteWhy do you call yourself 'angry'? Israel has won every war since 1948 so, you should call yourself 'happy Israeli'
@John: You are an idiot and probably your EGY girlfriend too. I see we are done with your grand pa the great stories and moving to my Egy girlfriend one..God who let this John out of his hole?!!
ReplyDeleteSomeone like you doesnt even understand any thing about coexisting. We have known it and practiced it way more successful that you and where ever hole in this World you come from. We have had Jews living among us for years and years and what messed that up the creating of dirty Israel. Its way too old to hear that shit about hating Jews. Jews arent respected and loved in so many countries and I have met and lived among ppl of different nationalities and back grounds and believe me there are more in the West who hate Jews than there is in the East and a good part of it has to do with Israel. As for us, the story is simple, stop acting like bullies and admit to the wrong doings in Palestine and then well accept you. Think that you could force yourself on us and by time well accept you and well raise generations and generations that will make sure the criminal outsiders are kicked out. This same rule applied before with non Jews who tried to stay in the region by force and will apply again to those who are today exploiting their Jewish faith to take what is not theirs along with those who have different believes or non at all but support that filth called Israel. SIMPLE
@Z: As a regular follower of your blog I find it disrespectful to others when Africanist keeps on bringing irrelevant comments to the original post. Its all repeating the same thing over and over. Please put an end to this.
To the idiot who said Halayieb is a big prison!!! a) I would love to assure you, wt ever treatment others get from our police our activists and even normal citizens get it. In a way we have equality in torture and bad treatment by the regime. This is a disputed area, and you are free to choose which side to side with but wont change the FACT this is a disputed area.
Last but not least, in no way, shape or form is the issue of Halayieb comperable to the issue of Golan, Palestine and Gaza and the idiots who keep on throwing this on unrelated topics are idiots who are trying to divert attention from the main topic. TAKE YOUR SHIT SOMEWHERE ELSE.
Did you mention the massacre at Mustafa Mahmoud and those African, Sudanese refugees who lost their lives in Cairo your post on 'racism' in France?
ReplyDeleteThe hypocrisy is 'precisely' highlighted in posts like these that deal with 'illegal occupation' which you 'choose' to condemn, and then 'condone' in the case of Halayeb.
Occupation is occupation is occupation.
You either condemn it or condone it.
Being 'selective' according to one's nationalistic whims and figments of past glories and manifest destiny is both logically and ethically - bankrupt.
To Anonymous @ 3:10 AM
ReplyDeleteWe don't care if you accept us or not. And if anyone acts like bullies it is the Arabs since this is ingraned in your "culture". And if any one should admit their wrong doings it is you Arabs. Here's just a few of your wrong doings:
Stealing Israel from the Jews for 1400 yrs
Stealing Egypt from the Copts for 1400 yrs
Stealing Sudan, Somalia, Comoros and Djibouti from Africans
Stealing Lebanon, Syria and Iraq from the Arameans
And stealing North Africa from the Berbers
So if someone imposed itself on someone it is the Arabs on the entire MENA.
Regarding your claim that Jews and Arabs lived in peace before Israel just see the flowing links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Jews#Muslim_and_Arab_antisemitism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1066_Granada_massacre
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiraz_blood_libel
http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2009/02/arab-and-muslim-attacks-against-jews.html
http://www.zionism-israel.com/log/archives/00000349.html
Oh and btw Jews have been living in Israel continuasly for 4000 yrs, which can't be said about the Arab invaders and occupiers:
http://www.arabisraeliconflict.info/fact1-israel
http://www.eretzyisroel.org/~samuel/presence.html
So please leave MENA alone and go back to Arabia!