Start from Damascus! President Obama Trying The Damascus Track
16 December 2010By Tariq Alhomayed
Washington has called the Palestinians and Israelis to
[start] a new round, which aims at resuming peace
negotiations; as usual Israel immediately welcomed
this, and will set out to sabotage it in the future,
whilst the Palestinians, as usual, are skeptical and
will discuss their choices. This is the absurd
situation that our region has been witnessing for a
long time!
The question that must be asked here is: why does
Washington not pursue another track in order to reach
the desired peace, such as through Israeli – Syrian
negotiations? The Israeli – Syrian peace process is
much simpler than the Israeli – Palestinian
negotiations, and could be a genuine key to achieving
peace between Palestine and Israel. Whilst it is true
that it is difficult to trust the promises of the
Syrians, and that Damascus wants to impose its desires
upon the world; let us look at the situation from a
Syrian perspective, for what are their alternatives
[to this]?
Would it be rational for Damascus to promote regional
stability, refrain from supporting Hezbollah and Hamas,
and distance itself from Iran, in return for nothing
more than promises? From a Syrian position, this would
be dangerous and indeed potentially disastrous. So
what is the solution? It seems that the options are
limited; the US must either achieve the Israeli –
Palestinian peace, and even if we recognize that this
is inevitable in either the short or long-term there
is nothing to indicate that this will be achieved
soon, or strike Iran in order to isolate its allies in
the region, including Syria, however this is an option
that has serious consequences. Alternatively, the US
could try taking another track in order to reach
peace, and that is via Damascus, however this will not
happen without the return of the Golan Heights to
Syria, and much depends on this issue.
If this were to happen, Damascus would no longer be
able to support Hezbollah which is threatening to
destroy Beirut today, or support Hamas which no longer
has many option in front of it and either must join
the peace process or transfer its political
headquarters from Damascus to Tehran, which would be
political suicide. It would also not be possible for
Damascus to be an ally of Iran in the same manner that
it is today. Some might say that if the Syrians are
clever, they will take the Golan Heights back and then
renege and not contribute to regional stability,
however this is not true, for this would have a steep
price [on Damascus and the region]. The least that
Damascus could do [in this event] would be to enter a
stage of lukewarm peace [with Israel] and this is
better than pouring oil on the fire, something that
Damascus excels at.
Therefore the Syrian – Israeli peace would facilitate
the Palestinian – Israeli peace process, isolate
Iran's allies and clip Tehran's influence in the
region. Syria is the major intersection for all of
Iran's allies, from Iraq to Lebanon, and even Gaza;
therefore a Syrian – Israeli peace would strengthen
regional stability and enhance regional security and
cooperation.
It is true that there are some who say: why should we
reward Syria? However politics is the art of the
possible; not the art of bickering. Some might also
ask: do you trust Syria? The answer to this is no,
however we don't trust Israel and have granted it all
of these opportunities [to achieve peace], why
shouldn't we give the Syrians a chance?
Therefore, if President Obama wants to create a
genuine turning point in our region, he must try the
Syrian track [to achieve peace] on the condition that
these negotiations have a glass-ceiling, in other
words ensuring that Damascus does not have the
opportunity to manipulate the situation and Israel
does not delay and procrastinate, something that it
excels at, especially as the Israeli – Syrian file is
not excessively complicated.
So, President Obama, try the Damascus track!
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