Syria’s spin on the peace negotations: It’s all your fault

According to the man who’s been secretly negotiating peace talks with Syria and Israel, Syria wants peace. It’s the mean ol’ U.S. and the media who are ruining things. And Israel, of course.

According to Suleiman, it is the Americans who are blocking Israel from responding to the Syrian peace initiative: “The US is not letting Israel make peace with Syria. The Israeli side is obstructing the peace. Syria wanted peace: It is hard to improve the economy, hard to fight corruption, fight to bring your country to the 21st century when you’re in a state of war. And a big chunk of Syrian territory is being occupied by Israel,” he says.

“I think Israel and the US are making big mistakes. President Assad is very serious about making peace with Israel,” he asserts.

This is the same Assad who is rearming Hezbullah via weapons that are delivered to Syria and driven by truck into Lebanon. What a peaceful guy! What a peaceful thing to do!

“The results (of our contacts) went to (former Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon , the same way they went to the Syrians, but Sharon gave it his blessings, to my understanding. But the thing is, Syria wanted to make peace with Israel, Syria wanted to build relations with the United States; President Assad said time and again that he wanted to have good relations with the United States. He extended his hand in friendship and peace to Israel and the US, and they turned him down,” Suleiman says.

I have two words to say about this: LI. AR. This guy sets my bullshit detector off the scale.

The 70-year-old Suleiman says he was associated with former Syrian president Hafez Assad. “I think the chance for peace now is great. I really believe Syria is serious and is willing to go the extra mile for peace. Everything is on the table now. Many things were not on the table in the 90s.

“The June 4 (1967) border and the water situation are sacred and non-negotiable. Syria must have the sovereignty over the Golan heights. Everything else can be talked about. We (drew up) the paper for two years, we met eight times and had a beautiful solution to the sovereignty and the water. Syria and Israel have a problem, and we will work together to find a solution to the problem that will satisfy both.”

And again, you see how he places all the blame for the failure of peace negotiations on Israel, and yet utterly ignores the intransigence of the Syrians. The 1967 borders are “sacred”? That doesn’t sound to me like the words of an impartial negotiator. And if that doesn’t convince you, this should:

“The (US) forced Syria to leave Lebanon, and now there’s no one there to control Hizbullah. So Hizbullah became the master in Lebanon. And then there was the war last summer. If Syria was in Lebanon, Hizbullah would not have been able to wage war,” Suleiman asserts.

Uh-huh. The U.S. forced Syria to leave Lebanon so that the Lebanese could reclaim their state. Hezbullah was receiving orders from Iran and arms from Syria. Once again, bullshit detector, off the charts. And yet, there is more.

“For relocating 15,000 people from the Golan heights, Israel will get peace with Syria, peace with Lebanon, Hizbullah will not bother Israel. There will be good relations between the countries, Syria and Israel will work together to solve the Palestinian problem.

Really? So if Israel gives Syria back the Golan, they’ll stop arming Hezbullah?

Suleiman promises that if a peace agreement is signed Damascus will shut down Hamas and Islamic Jihad offices operating in its territory, and ultimately all Arab nations will normalize relations with Israel. Further, a peace agreement would ensure Hizbullah operative in the political plane only, and will reduce its sway over Iran and Lebanon.

Uh-huh. And there will be peace on the planet and everyone will sing together and hold hands and watch the faeries dance every night.

Ynet scored an exclusive interview with a liar, who will be quoted by the mainstream media as an upstanding negotiator who failed because Israel and the U.S. wouldn’t let him make peace. Watch for it.