Dr. Bashar Hafez Al-Assad, the 16th
president of the Syrian Arab Republic, has continued his father’s legacy and has
reached some of his political accomplishments since taking office on July 17,
2000. President Assad has kept up his fight to achieve the best for his country.
His agenda is transforming Syria into 21st century technology and keeping up to
date with the rest of the world. The president is as committed to the Middle
East Peace Process as his father was. He has remained just as strong as the late
president was and has not changed his position in his bid for peace on the
Israeli front. Mr. Assad is just as firm as his father had been and just as
strong in his goal for a better Syria. Upon being inaugurated as the 16th
President of the Syrian Arab Republic, Dr. Bashar Al-Assad called and still
calls for the return of the Syrian Golan Heights to its rightful nation.
President Assad stressed the fact that he would never compromise an inch of his
territory for the sake of peace. He, along as his father had, remain strict on
the land for peace formula which states that Syria acquires all of its lands in
exchange for peace with Israel. The conflict over this mountainous region will
never cease until the Israeli party handover the Golan Heights back to the
Syrian government. President Assad will never back down from these principles.
The Golan Heights is a mountainous region located in the southwest of Syria. It
covers approximately an area of 1,250 square kilometers. Under the principles of
his seven-year plan, President Bashar Al-Assad is determined to claim leadership
over it before his first term expires in 2007. The Sea of Galilee has been one
of the reasons for conflicting differences between Syria and Israel. Israelis
depend on it as one need of fresh water. Also, due to water shortages in Syria,
the Arab state would also benefit from the water it used to acquire before the
occupation of the Golan Heights took place. Due to the generosity of President
Bashar Al-Assad, Syria gave a good amount of its water to Jordan because of its
lack of water at the time when Syria is still having problems with its supply.
The return of the Golan would help give Syrians a better secure feeling that
their water problems have decreased at a good rate. Syria's water supply still
has problems. There were around 100,000 Syrians living in the Golan. Many of
them belonged to the Druze or Circassian races. Many Golan residents supported
Syrian-army bases on the heights. Most of these residents fled when the Israeli
occupation took place in 1967 and headed back to the populated cities of Syria.
Under the leadership of the late Syrian president, Hafez Al-Assad, an aim was
set to liberate the Golan Heights from the Israelis in the October War of 1973.
The Americans, however, assisted the Israelis in keeping the Golan Heights under
their control by sending them aid. An agreement in 1974 gave Syria control over
the main city, Quneitra. When President Hafez Al-Assad came to raise the Syrian
flag over the capital, he saw that the Israelis had purposely bulldozed the
cities in the towns on the land.
WHEN THE LATE PRESIDENT, HAFEZ AL-ASSAD, CAME TO RAISE THE SYRIAN FLAG IN
QUENITRA, HE FOUND THAT THE ISRAELIS PURPOSELY BULLDOZED THE BUILDINGS IN THE
TOWNS, WHY?
President Bashar Al-Assad came to power in Syria and created a basis for himself
that he would follow in the footsteps of his late father, President Hafez
Al-Assad. President Assad has made it clear that the Syrian principles of peace
that were stated by his father would remain the principles that would liberate
the Golan Heights of Syria. Levy Eshkol, the Israeli prime minister in 1967,
brought his troops into Syria and occupied the Syrian Golan Heights by force.
President Bashar Al-Assad has committed himself to bringing an end to the
occupation of Syria's Golan Heights. CNN reported in the summer of 2000 that
President Assad was ready to talk peace with the occupier of over three decades.
Meanwhile, President Assad has called a halt to peace negotiations with the
Israelis at a time when the Palestinian uprising goes on.
President Assad keeps one fact straight and says the only way to achieve a
lasting peace with Israel is only if they withdraw 100% from the occupied Golan
Heights. The Israeli government has tried to compromise with Syria, but they
have not learnt the fact that Mr. Assad will not change any policies that his
father had towards the occupied land. Israelis saw it as a turning point when
Syria's great leader died in June 2000 because they believed that Dr. Bashar
will be an easier person to compromise with, but they were in for a surprise.
President Bashar Al-Assad has reiterated that he is like his father when it
comes down to the issue of the Golan Heights.
Many now ask, well if the Israelis are not going to hand over the complete 100%,
how will President Bashar Al-Assad liberate the Golan Heights? You must now
remember that a few things that are said now are in the opinion of the head of
the website. You can see that Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, is using
violence to stop the Palestinian uprising. He has used American F-16 fighter
planes to strike at Palestinians. He has hit two Syrian radar position in
Lebanon because he believes Syria is responsible for the actions of Hizbullah
that stand for the liberation of Arab land. Syria supports liberation group's
efforts to liberate Arab lands, but the only reason the people view Hizbullah as
terrorists is because they do not dress up in suits and ties and give orders to
massacre. Ever since Ehud Barak and William Clinton walked out of office, Israel
has become the center of condemnation. This puts pressure on them to begin the
process of withdrawing from occupied lands. Bush showing condemnation makes
Sharon ready to do anything that does not upset the main ally. Without the
United States, I doubt Israel would have survived like the way it has. Just to
add more pressure to Sharon, Belgian officials wants to put him on trial for the
massacre in Lebanon in the towns Sabra and Shatilla in September 1982. It is
obvious that the Likud party of Israel cannot make peace at this point and the
Labor party has not shown any other signs since the assassination of Yitzhak
Rabin, the late Israeli prime minister.
President Bashar Al-Assad has no means of liberating the Golan Heights through
force unless Israel provokes the Syrian leadership which they are doing by
bombing the Syrian positions in Lebanon. The fact that Israel is being condemned
for all of its actions is helping them to reconsider their future, possibly
withdrawing, at least I hope that is what they are thinking about. Now Clinton
is gone and it is hard for Israel at this point because Bush seems to barely be
as biased as his predecessor. Bush is probably the only candidate from the
United States who can help the restoration of the Golan Heights because he is
the president. If only he can assess the history of the conflict with great care
and detail, he will know how to deal with this conflict. It is time that the
United States end the biased alliance towards Israel and help make peace. I hope
Israel knows that the Golan Heights can never be theirs forever. If they do not
act quick, Syrians in the Golan Heights might trigger a Syrian uprising. Israel
also has to understand that it gained the Golan Heights at the hands of a Soviet
miscalculation that ignited the Six-Day War. Menachem Begin, the Israeli prime
minister who singed a peace deal with Egypt's Anwar El-Sadat, annexed the Syrian
land in 1981. The annexation was not recognized by United Nations or by the
United States. The U.N. and the U.S. failed to stop the annexation and now they
should commit themselves big time to help the restoration of the Syrian land. I
believe that Syrians have acknowledged the fact that Israel is staying where it
is, in the lands of Palestine. President Assad commented on the fact that he
will never sign any peace deal that does not confirm the 100% return of the
Golan. President Assad had this to say in his inaugural speech, "Or they suggest
to give us 95% of our land and when we ask about the remaining 5%, they say it
is only a problem of few meters and this should not be an obstacle in the way of
peace. If those few meters are not a problem and should not be an obstacle in
the way of peace, then why they don't return to the June 4th lines and give us
5% of the territory west of the Lake?" President Assad has given us proof that
the return of every inch of the Golan is obliged if Israel wishes to sign a
peace deal with Syria. That quote signifies how committed Mr. Assad is to his
father's policy and it also signifies how much love he expresses for Syria. We
never want any country to take a part of Syria because it is the home of the
Syrian people and they should never have to sacrifice their land. President
Bashar Al-Assad can be said to be a person who has national pride for his
country. The return of the Syrian Golan Heights is at the top of President
Assad's agenda, but the only way he can accomplish that is by negotiating with
the Israelis. President Assad wants to achieve peace with Israel. He stresses it
in his inaugural address, "We would like to stress here that we have the urge to
reach a state of peace, but we are not ready to give up an inch of our
territory, nor do we accept our sovereignty to be impinged upon." That quote
proves his commitment to gain peace, but only if the Golan is returned to Syria.
The young leader wants to bring back his people to the Syrian front, because
they are shut off from the rest of the republic. He feels with them and states
that that they will always be Arab Syrians, "Our brave people on the Golan will
always be today and tomorrow and forever Arab Syrians because no matter how long
it might take, this land will always be ours and will be returned complete to us
one day sooner or later."
The policies that President Bashar Al-Assad lays out for the return of the Golan
Heights are no different than the ones his father laid out. The complete
withdrawal from the Golan Heights will acquire a peace deal between Syria and
Israel. If Israel cannot accept that, then they should look out for the
consequences. Syria's stance is firm and clear and will never change. The Syrian
people are backing President Bashar Al-Assad's leadership that will finish the
job his brave father started. "No matter what, it is on Syrian soil and
eventually it will come back under the Syrian leadership." President Bashar
Al-Assad has given Syria an opening with his recent political actions. He has
already released several hundred prisoners from their cells around Syria. The
young leader has also given critics a chance to share their views concerning the
regime in public. In 1994 Dr. Assad became Head of the Syrian Computer Society
and has encouraged young people to get involved in the internet. This is only
one part of President Bashar's agenda to give Syria a reformation. President
Assad has even allowed foreign films to be imported freely into Syria. He wants
to create a better relationship with the Lebanese. One thing that both Dr.
Bashar and his father have in common is that they have kept their firm position
in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Assad even told the former United States'
Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, on October 18, 2000 that he would not
resume negotiations with the Israelis at the time of the Palestinian uprising.
Assad has also made it clear that in order to achieve peace with the Israelis,
they would have to withdraw completely from the Syrian Golan Heights. The key
points that the president has looked upon will guarantee the success of Syria
alongside the rest of the world.
President Bashar Al-Assad assumed power of Syria in order to keep the legacy of
his father alive. Dr. Bashar and his father both brought stability to Syria. The
young president is optimistic about the fact that he and his people will advance
Syria technologically. He wants to have a friendlier relationship with Syria's
sisterly country, Lebanon. He will not sign a deal with any country that puts
Syria at risk of losing its dignity. That includes the conflict with the
Israelis who are failing to abide by United Nations Security Council Resolutions
242 and 338 which call for the Israeli withdrawal of all occupied Arab
territories. Syrians are backing President Bashar Al-Assad in his goal to move
Syria into 21st century status. The Syrian capital, Damascus, is the basis from
which President Bashar Al-Assad will continue the reforms of Syria that will
move it into 21st century status.
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