Cairo - There is already peace and quiet on the 1,200-
square-kilometre strategic plateau that separates Syria from Israel.
The last time the Golan Heights was the scene of hostilities between
the two neighbours was in 1973.
In a war orchestrated with Egypt, Syria tried but failed to regain
the Golan, which Israel occupied in the six-day war of 1967 and
annexed in 1981.
But the plateau lapsed back into a lasting period of quiet after
both countries signed an armistice in 1974.
The strategic importance of this area has made it a constant
source of friction since the establishment of the state of Israel in
1949. The heights have become a subject of protracted secret and
public negotiations between Israel and Syria, the last of which were
launched on Wednesday in Turkey.
'The Golan is not subject for negotiations,' said Emad Fawzy
al-Shuaiby, head of the Damascus-based centre of strategic
studies and data.
With the capture of the Golan in June 1967, Israel seized the high
point on Mount Hermon, which in only 2,220 metres from Syria. The
Syrians found themselves vulnerable to an Israeli land attack since
the heights form a critical natural defence against Israel.
The Golan also contains important water resources. It is a fertile
land producing oranges, grapes and other fruit.
To Syria, Israeli occupation meant the flight of many of the
Syrian population of the Golan. In 1967, about 130,000 people lived
in 139 villages compared with a few thousands currently living there,
according to Syrian estimates.
Syria regards the around 20,000 Jewish settlers who moved to the
Golan as illegal intruders.
For all these reasons, restoring the Golan Heights has become an
inalienable principle in Syrian foreign policy and has been a major
obstacle for Middle East negotiators who hope to build a
comprehensive, lasting peace in the region.
The collapse in 2000 of various forms of negotiations under US
auspices, which went on for a almost a decade, deepened mistrust
between Syria and Israel.
But contact has never really stopped ever since, including secret
meetings, which reportedly took place in Europe between 2004 and
2006. The meetings, which were denied by both sides, reached so-
called understandings for a potential peace agreement.
Among the understandings were an Israeli agreement to withdraw to
the pre-June 5, 1967 boundaries, continued Israeli control over the
use of the Jordan River and Lake Kinneret and a Syrian pledge to end
its support for the Lebanese fundamentalist Hezbollah group.
Syria's ties with Hezbollah and Iran have been, and will remain, a
thorny issue in any negotiations with Israel. The Jewish state and
the US hope that through a peace deal they can pull Syria away from
the Iranian fold.
But Syria says its ties with Iran are unbreakable and even
believes that what it perceives as Hezbollah's victory over Israel in
the 2006 Lebanon war has strengthened Damascus' bargaining position
in any future negotiations.
'The Syrians seem to be getting the terms they always wanted since
all Israeli conditions (for peace talks) are no longer valid, such
as the demand that Syria sever ties with Hezbollah, Iran and
the Palestinian factions.' Al-Shuaiby said.
'Syrians are fully prepared when they go into negotiations. They
are strengthened by a historic 2006 victory over Israel and a change
in the balance of power in Lebanon this month (May),' the Syrian
analyst said.
The balance of power, which al-Shuaiby refers to, was created by
Hezbollah's show of its military muscles against its rivals last week
in Lebanon, leading to agreement with the pro-Western government that
gives the fundamentalist group veto power in a new cabinet of
national unity.
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