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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Syria 'totally' rejects Israeli referendum law on Golan |
| 2010-11-24 |
| [Emirates 24/7] The Syrian foreign ministry on Tuesday rejected a new Israeli law mandating a referendum ahead of any pullout from the Golan, saying the status of the territory seized from Syria was not negotiable. The Israeli parliament passed the law which which also applies to annexed east Jerusalem on Monday night. "Syria totally rejects this Israeli measure which changes nothing to the fact that the Golan is Syrian territory and cannot be part of any negotiations," the foreign ministry said in a statement. "The principle for making peace is the return (to Syria) of the entire Golan, up to the June 4, 1967 line," it said in reference to the Golan's status before it was seized by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War. The law requires any government signing a peace agreement that cedes territory in east Jerusalem or the Golan, or other sovereign territory within Israel, to secure parliament's approval or hold a national referendum. Israel was "flouting international law and the will of the international community which considers that east Jerusalem and the Syrian Golan are occupied Arab land," the ministry in Damascus said. Israel annexed mainly Arab east Jerusalem shortly after seizing it in the 1967 war, while the Golan plateau was formally annexed in 1981 -- in moves not recognised by the international community. Any pullout from east Jerusalem would only occur as part of a peace deal, but talks between Israel and the Paleostinians are currently suspended because of a dispute over Jewish settlement building. Likewise a pullout from the Golan would only be likely as part of a negotiated peace treaty with Syria, but the two countries remain technically at war and no talks are under way. "This law is addressed to those who still have illusions concerning the current Israeli government and who believe that it seeks peace," the foreign ministry said. The Paleostinians -- who hope to make east Jerusalem the capital of their future state -- have also condemned the referendum law, with their chief negotiator Saeb Erakat saying it makes a "mockery of international law." |
| Posted by:Fred |