Bishara: Peace is not attainable without Syria

Palestinian intellectual and Israeli Knesset member Azmi Bishara on Tuesday stressed that just and comprehensive peace will not be achieved in the region without Syria. He voiced his demand for a full Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Syrian Golan and south Lebanon.

In remarks he made on Tuesday to "al Biader as Siyasi" daily issued in the occupied Arab territories, Bishara, who recently visited Damascus, underlined that Syria is the birthplace of Arab nationalism and, "We are in need of this Arab depth and this kind of Pan-Arab meeting."

On the impression he got when he visited Syria, Bishara said in Syria a man feels the great Arab nation and that when one visits Damascus, it reminds him of old Jerusalem.

Regarding the Israeli Premier's proposal on the redeployment in the West Bank Bishara described this proposal as empty and its conditions as unclear. He added that Netanyahu wants to gain time he needs to deal with Israeli internal policy.

Bishara warned against thinking that the resigned Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy is cordial towards the Palestinians, because Levy is the one who inaugurated Beil? Ell colony to the north of the city of Ramallah.