Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09DAMASCUS464
2009-07-02 13:56:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Damascus
Cable title:  

AT RALLY, SYRIA CALLS ON U.S. TO SUPPORT RETURN OF

Tags:  PREL KPAL IS SY 
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VZCZCXYZ0007
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDM #0464 1831356
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 021356Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6563
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 0620
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 0587
C O N F I D E N T I A L DAMASCUS 000464 

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ELA, PARIS FOR MILLER, LONDON FOR TSOU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/30/2019
TAGS: PREL KPAL IS SY
SUBJECT: AT RALLY, SYRIA CALLS ON U.S. TO SUPPORT RETURN OF
THE GOLAN

Classified By: CDA Maura Connelly for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L DAMASCUS 000464

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ELA, PARIS FOR MILLER, LONDON FOR TSOU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/30/2019
TAGS: PREL KPAL IS SY
SUBJECT: AT RALLY, SYRIA CALLS ON U.S. TO SUPPORT RETURN OF
THE GOLAN

Classified By: CDA Maura Connelly for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: A SARG-founded Palestinian rights
organization held a solidarity festival near the Golan
Heights on June 27 to call for the return of Palestinian
refugees and of the Golan Heights to Syria. There were
significant differences between Israeli and Syrian media
coverage. Israeli press reported President Bashar al-Asad
attended the rally, and SARG officials' statements threatened
to "take the Golan by force." Syrian media, in contrast,
reported only one SARG official (not Asad) attended and said
the Golan was a "national priority." An editorial in Syrian
state-owned press the following day called on the United
States to intervene on Syria's behalf in the peace process.
End Summary.


2. (U) According to local media reports, the SARG-founded
Palestinian-Syrian Association for the Right of Return
(PSARR) held a rally in Quneitra, near occupied Syrian towns
in the Golan Heights on June 27 to celebrate the 35th
anniversary of the day former SARG President Hafez al-Asad
raised the Syrian flag over the Golan. About 1,200 people
attended the rally from nearby camps.


3. (U) At the rally, Syrian MP and PSARR Vice-Chairman
Mohamad Habbash said, "We have an unwavering faith that the
Golan will be fully liberated and that the nation's leader
will hoist the liberation flag over every hill of our beloved
Golan." He added, "The Golan is a national priority," before
concluding that "the liberation is near and the occupation
will definitely end."


4. (C) The Israeli newspaper Haaretz, by contrast, reported
Syrian officials threatened to take back the Golan "by force"
if necessary, and that SARG President Bashar al-Asad attended
the rally. (Note: A Syrian journalist told Emboffs Asad did
not attend. End Note.)


5. (U) June 28, one day after the rally, an editorial
appeared in SANA, the Syrian state press, saying Israel was
not a "serious partner" in the peace process. The editorial
claimed "American efforts" were necessary for "just peace, as
the new U.S. Administration promised." Syrian press reported
only MP Habbash attended the rally on behalf of the SARG.


6. (U) The Syrian Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor
founded PSARR in August 2007. The Association demands the
right of return of Palestinians, advocates for the
"liberation" of the Golan, and aims to file lawsuits against
Israel at courts of international law. PSARR Chairman Ibrahim
Shibabi claims the Association is independent of the
government and not affiliated with any political party or
coalition.


7. (C) Comment: The raising of the Syrian flag in Quneitra,
on the Syrian side of the demilitarized Golan, is an annual
affair that normally produces nationalist rhetoric. We cannot
verify international media reports that Syrian officials
threatened to take back the Golan by force, but Asad, as
recently April 2 told the Qatari newspaper Al-Sharq, said,
according to a FBIS translation, "Resistance does not exist
spontaneously, and the day will come when we become free,
either by means of peace or war. However, when citizens lose
hope, they will turn to resistance, in one way or another."
In contrast, Haaretz quoted Asad from the same interview as
saying, "The day in which we will be liberated (on the Golan)
is at hand -- by peace or war."
CONNELLY