Shara: Israel's threats are a political discrepancy
Syria-Israel, Politics, 11/16/2000

Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Shara said on Wednesday that the European Union (EU) should have issued a condemnation of the Israeli brutal acts against the Palestinians and France should have cancelled banquet plans during the Marseilles EU- Mediterranean meetings, if it wanted Arab states to join it.

In a press conference he held on Wednesday at the Damascus Meridian hotel for correspondents of Arab and foreign news agencies accredited in Damascus, foreign minister al-Shara added: " we expected Europe to, at least, issue a condemnation of Israel's brutal aggression against the Palestinians people." He regretted the fact that the Arab states did not reach a common stand on Marseilles conference when they met at the recent Summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference OIC in Doha. The minister continued that in the absence of Syria and Lebanon from the EU- Mediterranean meeting, the meeting will be incomplete. He commented " this association was not able to achieve success, without our participation." He wondered " how is it going now to be able to achieve that without us."

Replying a question on the Israeli threats against Syria and Lebanon, al-Shara stressed that those repeated threats demonstrate Israel's political inability to continue the peace process in the Middle East.

On the 30th anniversary of the Correctionist Movement ( the Movement which brought the late Syrian President Hafez al-Assad to power on November 16, 1970) just thirty years ago, al-Shara said " this movement which was led by the late great leader President Hafez al-Assad had its imprints not only on the history of Syria but on the history of the entire Middle East region as well."

He said "the Arab summit constituted a point in the right direction and a step that needs following up. When resolutions are adopted and when they remain mere ink on paper, citizens are frustrated and become desperate. But when resolutions are followed up, even minimally, and produce tangible result, they create a kind of hope among all and make the convocation of a summit an objective and not a means only."

He described Israel's policies as a failure, particularly in the last three months, beginning from Sheperds town peace talks through the Geneva summit , which was followed by the Israeli defeat in Lebanon and then the Palestinian Intifada in Palestine.

He continued that for this inability, the Israelis resorted to military power and that is a natural thing because the Israelis have no logic or philosophy. This would surely lead Israel to pull out of the occupied territories in the end.

Concerning Syria and Lebanon's response if aggressive measures are to be taken against them, the Syrian foreign minister said that Syria and Lebanon have many options, including self- defense and steadfastness, noting that Syria and Lebanon call for the implementation of international legitimacy resolutions and hold the US historically responsible for providing Israel with sophisticated weapons in order to be used against the unarmed children.

On the Euro-Med Meeting in Marseilles, al-Shara expressed regret that all the meetings which were held on the sidelines of the Islamic summit in Doha did not succeed in crystallizing a unified Arab position regarding Marseilles meeting.

He explained that the political issue was not the concern of Europe in such Euro-Med Association and that five years have passed without achieving any gains out of this association.

Replying to a question, he said that the ME peace process is nine years old and Israel is responsible for its failure, simply because it is the party which occupied the land which has been taken as a hostage. Therefore Israel is responsible for the absence of peace.

The foreign minister concluded by saying that Israel was particularly responsible for its non- compliance with the UN resolutions.

Previous Stories:
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