Posted on 01/15/2007 8:28:22 PM PST by zarf
Unverified as of this writing, and the devil is in the details, but Haaretz is reporting a historic agreement between Israel and Syria: Secret understandings reached between representatives of Israel, Syria.
In a series of secret meetings in Europe between September 2004 and July 2006, Syrians and Israelis formulated understandings for a peace agreement between Israel and Syria.
The main points of the understandings are as follows:
* An agreement of principles will be signed between the two countries, and following the fulfillment of all commitments, a peace agreement will be signed.
* As part of the agreement on principles, Israel will withdraw from the Golan Heights to the lines of 4 June, 1967. The timetable for the withdrawal remained open: Syria demanded the pullout be carried out over a five-year period, while Israel asked for the withdrawal to be spread out over 15 years.
* At the buffer zone, along Lake Kinneret, a park will be set up for joint use by Israelis and Syrians. The park will cover a significant portion of the Golan Heights. Israelis will be free to access the park and their presence will not be dependent on Syrian approval.
* Israel will retain control over the use of the waters of the Jordan River and Lake Kinneret.
* The border area will be demilitarized along a 1:4 ratio (in terms of territory) in Israel’s favor.
* According to the terms, Syria will also agree to end its support for Hezbollah and Hamas and will distance itself from Iran.
The document is described as a “non-paper,” a document of understandings that is not signed and lacks legal standing - its nature is political. It was prepared in August 2005 and has been updated during a number of meetings in Europe.
My first thought was, "This has to be from The Onion."
I'm all for peace, but only if it's real. Fake peace is worse then outright war.
And given the track record of Syria, I'm imagining 'peace' will be something like the story of the rat and the python. It goes something like this:
The snake is freezing to death, he begs the rat to be let into his rathole to warm up.
The rat says, "Your a snake! You'll eat me!"
The snake says, "No, I won't! You'll have saved my life! I'll be greatful!"
The rat says, "Well, OK, I guess."
The snake warms up, and promptly coils around the rat.
The rat says, "But I saved your life! Why are you eating me?"
The snake says: "Sorry, that's just what I do, I'm a snake. You knew that before you saved me."
And if she believes she can trust Assad to honor any agreement he might make, she's an even bigger fool than she revealed herself to be this past summer.
how will this affect President Bush's plan to deal with Syria?
this IS from the Onion, right?
Sounds like a Democrat campaign speech--laudable bromides, like "bring us together", cure cancer, give everyone a living wage, etc. As was said, the devil is in the details, and this list is ephemera, it seems to me.
Lake Kinneret = Sea of Chinnereth = Sea of Galilee
So Isreal gives up the high ground of Golan and we can all sing Kumbayah!I am sure this will work. /sarcasm on!
A lot of people haven't figgered out LittleGreenFootballs yet.
yitbos
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