Israel can’t be occupier and peace-maker

The Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, has called on Tel Aviv to either opt for occupation or for peace, arguing that the two conceptions are at odds with each other.

“A country cannot be an occupier and at the same time work towards achieving peace,” Syria’s president told reporters in Damascus during a joint press conference with visiting Finnish President Tarja Halonen on Thursday.

“I explained our commitment to peace to (Halonen),” Assad went on to say. “The Syrian people back the government’s commitment to the peace process and its principles, particularly the ‘land-for-peace’ principle and the UN resolutions as a basis for the diplomatic process, which was outlined at the 1991 Madrid Conference.”

The Syrian leader meanwhile urged Tel Aviv to take concrete steps towards achieving peace.

The strategic Golan Heights originally belongs to Syria and was seized by Israeli forces in 1967. This is while Tel Aviv has expressed no intention in giving back the territory to Damascus.

Israel captured the Golan Heights following the 1967 Six-Day War and annexed the Syrian territory in 1981. Raising Damascus’ ire further, Israeli warplanes destroyed Syria’s al-Kibar conventional military site in 2007, accusing the country of harboring a nuclear reactor there, a claim rejected by Syria.

Under the auspices of Turkey, Israel and Syria have launched peace talks aimed at reaching a comprehensive peace agreement. Negotiations however reached a stalemate in September, after the resignation of former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert.

Syria then withdrew from the talks in protest of Israel’s three-week land, sea and air assault in the impoverished Gaza Strip. More than 1,500 Palestinians were killed during the onslaught on the coastal sliver. The offensive also inflicted $ 1.6 billion in damages to the Gaza economy.