Thursday, May 22, 2008

"Many Syrian intellectuals now believe no-war, no-peace era has ended and that peace is the only solution."

Lina Sinjab quoted two of these intellectuals. One of them said "Syria has to recognise Israel as a reality, and Israel must engage with the region.". I had to sit down and get some oxygen after reading this. The clarion call of Syria's intellectual 'elite' left me dizzy and elated, who could have known it was this simple?

On one note, when Sinjab says that "many" Syrian 'intellectuals' held that view, did she personally speak to all six of them? What about Adonis?

19 comments:

Karin said...

Haha .. you are one cynical guy!! I have a bunch of great Syrian friends over the net and that's already MORE than six ...;-)

One way or another, the ONLY WAY IS PEACE! Israel MUST lift the occupation and siege on Gaza and return the GOLAN to Syria!

Imagine peace in that region ... till now it's only a mirage - a beautiful one though!!

Insh'allah ...

مترجم سوري said...

i have another picture to imagine, too. imagine that palastinians go back to live in their land, imagine that they finally can open their grandparents' house. imagine that i can go to alqudus and walk in it without having to see the israeli flag everywhere. just imagine.

insh allah

i'm syrian and i don't want peace with israel. even if they give back what they have taken.
i can't imagine the idea of the israeli flag in syria.

The Mandate Days said...

I am an Israeli and I think that peace is the only option once Syria is ready to cut her ties with the Nazi regim in Iran and dissmental Hizbulah and Hamas.
The only matter between us is the Golan. Once we agree upon security aragments we can sign peace.

مترجم سوري said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
مترجم سوري said...

thejerusalemblogger:

when u take something which is NOT urs, u do NOT put conditions to give it back.

once you stop twisting things, u can have peace.

Lirun said...

when you take it to prevent your villages being shot at day in day out - and the other side has since sat like a good little kid in silence waiting to get its toy back but realising good and well that even when you fly over damascus they better sit tight.. thEn you do put conditions.. because no you will not and should not need to tolerate your towns being shot at every day..

Karin said...

Sorry - I feel I need to say a few words:

أُمنية ...
I guess it's TERRIBLE to say "I don't want peace"!! Think of the people who can be saved! Israeli flags don't have to fly in Damascus but PEACE IS A MUST!!!

thejerusalemblogger ...

I don't think Israel has any right to set conditions ... they are NOT superiors/bosses of anyone! That's what peace negotiations are for - to find a way which is appropriate for both sides!
Not that I am PRO-Hamas but maybe it evaded your attention that they EXPLICITELY accept the existence of Israel so - NO "they want to kill us all" or "they want all Israel" anymore!

مترجم سوري said...

Karin:

I do not want peace with these people, what's so difficult about this?
if u care that much about their souls, if Europe and Britain and the USa worry that much about the destiny of these people, why don't u , and They offer them part of ur land or their land where they can make their state? why didn't they do this right from the beginning???
just why did Britian and europe send them to us? why did they force us into this problem???? europe is a big land, Britain is a large island, they could have extract whatever part they wanted and made this play on their land, not on OURS.

you do not have the right to say it's " terrible" to say so . Will u have peace with anyone who would come and take part of spain,saying " i'm taking ur lane, yet u have to shut up , smile and have peace with me??" answer this.

i should swallow this 60 years, smile and say " let's have peace and go on with our lives?" what kind of life is this, where i have to smile in their faces, let them live on the land while the owners of these land are spread in the world?
and by they way , when i say i do NOT want peace, i do NOT mean i want to kill anyone. i just want them to LEAVE.

Peace!.

Karin said...

أُمنية ...

Thanks for your response! You don't know me, don't know my background and that's why I am not at all upset, in fact I understand your position! I would like to have a chance to explain you my stand a bit more indepth ...

Israel, if WE (intentionally I say "WE") like it or not, is a fact and there to stay. Even Hamas as well as your president have, even though reluctantly, stated and accepted that. It was built on the suffering and despair as well as bones of the Palestinian people - who states anything else, simply has no idea about history and should take some classes.

It is a racist state ... no question. That's proven over and over again.

IF Israel would ...

a) lift the occupation as well as the siege on Gaza of course,

b) retreat to the 1967 or "green;line",

c) remove this horrid discrimination wall,

d) remove ALL roadblocks as well as settlements,

e) return the Golan to Syria,

f) release some 10.000+ political and non-political Palestinian prisoners PLUS those it holds captive from other countries, freedom and respect to those people who suffered for SIXTY YEARS through a horrid and humiliating occupation,

g) agree to a sovereign and free Palestinian state within the 1967 boarders

... wouldn't you be willing to make peace? If I say PEACE, I don't say you need to be friend with Israelis ... it can be a cold peace just as the one of Israel and Egypt! Just peace ...

You know, I was an activist in Palestine, have done a LOT and think I have a clue of what I am talking about ... I know ALL Palestine as well as Gaza personally - please give me a wee-bit credit!

If you wish to discuss further ... please send me an e-mail to karinpeschka@yahoo.com and I'll be more than happy to respond!

مترجم سوري said...

Karin:
I thank you for caring to explain your position, yet i do not quiet understand why are u upset of what i have said?if reading what most people feeling here upsets u , what about those who are living it since the day they were born?

anyway, you didn't answer my question:"Will u have peace with anyone who would come and take part of Spain,saying " i'm taking ur land, yet u have to shut up , smile and have peace with me, and accept me as a fact??"

i will answer yours after answering mine, if u don't mind.

Regards.

Karin said...

أُمنية ...

So good to hear from you again - thanks a lot for responding and sure I don't mind to answer your question prior to you answering mine!

I know the feeling of people in Syria and of course respect it. I am a bit struggeling with words as to HOW to put it so that I can make myself clear ...

I told you I was an activist and of course, as such, saw a lot of what's going on "behind the curtain" meaning things you would not find in ANY paper. Naturally I talked with the people, always with the help of one of my friends there who was kind enough to translate.
You are right, there are people who are against peace and want things to be the way they were prior to 1948, kick everyone out ect. - but the VAST majority of people, after having suffered in every single aspect of life for decades now, SIMPLY WANT PEACE - and I understand them.

Face the fact that Israel is not going away like a mirage ... I don't think it'll stay for ever, not even for a LONG period of time anymore the way it is now but still, it's there and the Palestinian people are SUFFERING, every day, every week ... often every hour.
I care deeply about the people ... they are more dear to me than you can imagine. I want them to LIVE ... and LIFE (in particular if you're facing an army like the IOF) is ONLY possible with PEACE!

I tell you my vision ...
I expect there will be oneday sooner or later a phoney, not-really-functioning so-called "two-state-solution". It CAN"T function because it is much too late for that ... in my eyes.
That will be a transitional state lasting from years to decades ... and finally, at the end, the inevitable result will be again a ONE-state solution in which Jews and Arabs live together as equals, just the way they did before Zionism came along. It will be a long stretch but that is what I envision.

Now to your question ...
"Will u have peace with anyone who would come and take part of Spain,saying " i'm taking ur land, yet u have to shut up , smile and have peace with me, and accept me as a fact??"

NO, of course not, I would fight tooth and nail to get back what is legally MINE!! There is a slight difference though ... from a huan point of view! Since the NAQBA, 60(!!!) years passed, and the third and somethines even fourth generation live either in exile or under the reign of Zionism, enduring it's horrors and humiliations. I am thinking of THESE people ... they are entitled to have a wee-bit of quiet in their lives, NOT to have to scale the sky on an hourly basis to check where the sound of a drone or an Appachie helicopter or even worse, a F16 comes from, NOT to have to go beg for food. Their children have the right to grow up without fear ect. ect - I could go on and on.
ALL that is ONLY possibly with a peace agreement. I just want to give the people a break ... they suffered too much already!

A brief word to the Israeli population ...
Probably you have trouble to believe what I am telling you but it is, nevertheless, the truth! The VAST MAJORITY of them have NO CLUE what exactly happened during NAQBA and what the country was like BEFORE ... that is not taught, not even mentioned in their schools! That is why their kids grow up saying "this is OUR country" ... they are brainwashed to do so! Nobody tells them the truth ... because that would mean to "betray Zionism" on which this country is based on!

See, it is a LOOONG comment and therefore I suggested to continue this discussion per e-mail ... maybe you want to consider that? I leave it up to you .. I have no poblem with either.

Thanks again for reverting .. I hope to hear from you again!
:-)

Karin said...

P.S.: I always copy your name but have no idea WHAT I am copying ... would you please tell me? :-)

مترجم سوري said...

Karin:

I thank your patience and nice responses. first I have to say this, to make things clear, u might have benefit the Palestinians and the Palestinian's cause more than me and a thousands person like me, the only thing I have done during my stupid 29 years is writing some lines about Palestine in my blog which everyone knows, while you have payed years of your life among them, though u have nothing to do with them, only pushed by the humanitarian question.

Now answering your question, Israel doesn't exist for me,-yes I'm keeping my head under the sand- whether our president , Hamas or Allah himself says I have to accept their existence , actually I can not , I will not. 60 years or 600 hundreds years, no occupation ever lasted, this is what I know and what I believe in.
The so called Israel, no matter what they are willing to do , like"the should be – done ages ago " list u have written above, which I do not think they are willing to do , and even if they are willing to , these are not the right reason to make us have peace with them. I mean they are not doing us a favor by doing them , we are doing them a favor for offering them to do this: they are having a LAND in return. What a cheap price for it!

Secondly, I know that there is this new wave in both Syria and Palestine, that we need to live, the next generation needs to breathe , let them have a chance of life and have peace.it's been 60 years , we have to accept Israel and live. ….etc . If I had one doubt that our happiness is awaiting at this step, I would have considered it, but I don't think it will serve us anything. What is the first step of any nation's happiness? I think it's freedom . you can not jump over this step to the second one, or blind your eyes to it and pretend it is not an essential thing for the nation's "happiness"

Now the condition in Palestine is of course more than my mind would imagine,and I don't have the right to discuss on behalf of them. I , who is having a roof over my head and a table with a nice meal to eat everyday, do not have the right for this. But if they allow me to say: it's their destiny, no people would accept its land to be taken . and I know that the vast majority are happy to pay their lives for their cause and not complaining about it. And those who are not willing to live this way , are leaving it. Not because they do not love their Palestine enough. It's coz they believe there is nothing more they can do.

Regarding ur vision, actually these two words have stopped me . you said "Jews and Arabs live"? It sounds weird to me.
Forgive me I can't clear my mind enough to say what's weired about them. It's nearly 12 . I'll leave it till tomorrow , maybe as an e-mail as u wished.

Regarding the population, I already know what u have said. I do chat to some israeils on line. I see that everything, including the region's history, was re-written to make them live up to the idea of "Israel" as much as the Palestinians and we are living for Palestine. That's why it's so complicated. It's our story against their story!

Yet I can't see how can they live with the fact of their government doing all these daily non – stop crimes against the Palestinians.
Or maybe they are excused to see and be happy about it, If they hear everyday that we want to clear them off the planet?

It was nice to have this discussion with you .

Regarding my name it means: a wish.

Regards.

Karin said...

Hi Wassim,

I do very much enjoy your responses as well!

All I did during those years as activist was "the right thing" ... what I would EVERYONE who calls him/herself a human being expect to do! Nothing special.

I struggle to understand your notion that Israel doesn't exist for you ... it's a wishful thinking, something which DOES but SHOUDLN't be - right? I mean FACT IS it DOES exist and even though we can state till we turn blue that it doesn't - it still remains exactly there where Palestine used to be. It's a fact ... even though I really try to understand your view.
You're right, NO OCCUPATION in history lasted for ever ... it will terminate itself this way or another. Still - it won't be the way it was before ... I think it's important to see that - and deal with it!

I know it sounds odd but I DO BELIEVE once (Only ALLAH knows when humans will become THAT enlightened!) any ind of supremacy thinking and racism will cease, Jews (NOT Zionists!!) and Arabs will be able to live together just the way they did it BEFORE Zionism ruined everything! It worked fine, there was no problem.

They re-write history in their favour ... it boggled my mind but that's the fact! People look at you as if you just fell in from outer space if you only suggest this land is not THEIRS ... that idea doesn't even exist ... it's hard to imagine!

"Yet I can't see how can they live with the fact of their government doing all these daily non – stop crimes against the Palestinians."
You're absolutely right! THEY believe they fight, defend themselves against terrorists ... remember they are taught it is THEIR land? And these "terrorists" want to kick them out .. of THEIR land! That's the philosophy of a SICK SICK mind ...

In case you wish to continue this dialogue - I'd be happy to ... let's switch to e-mail though please!

Was a pleasure to exchage views!:-)
(Thanks for telling me what your name means - I like it!)

Karin said...

Hi Wassim,

I do very much enjoy your responses as well!

All I did during those years as activist was "the right thing" ... what I would EVERYONE who calls him/herself a human being expect to do! Nothing special.

I struggle to understand your notion that Israel doesn't exist for you ... it's a wishful thinking, something which DOES but SHOUDLN't be - right? I mean FACT IS it DOES exist and even though we can state till we turn blue that it doesn't - it still remains exactly there where Palestine used to be. It's a fact ... even though I really try to understand your view.
You're right, NO OCCUPATION in history lasted for ever ... it will terminate itself this way or another. Still - it won't be the way it was before ... I think it's important to see that - and deal with it!

I know it sounds odd but I DO BELIEVE once (Only ALLAH knows when humans will become THAT enlightened!) any ind of supremacy thinking and racism will cease, Jews (NOT Zionists!!) and Arabs will be able to live together just the way they did it BEFORE Zionism ruined everything! It worked fine, there was no problem.

They re-write history in their favour ... it boggled my mind but that's the fact! People look at you as if you just fell in from outer space if you only suggest this land is not THEIRS ... that idea doesn't even exist ... it's hard to imagine!

"Yet I can't see how can they live with the fact of their government doing all these daily non – stop crimes against the Palestinians."
You're absolutely right! THEY believe they fight, defend themselves against terrorists ... remember they are taught it is THEIR land? And these "terrorists" want to kick them out .. of THEIR land! That's the philosophy of a SICK SICK mind ...

In case you wish to continue this dialogue - I'd be happy to ... let's switch to e-mail though please!

Was a pleasure to exchage views!:-)
(Thanks for telling me what your name means - I like it!)

Lirun said...

you two should get married.

مترجم سوري said...

lirun:
u are still here!
interesting

Karin said...

You are weird Lirun ... in case you don't know - what Wassim and I do is called exchanging views among educated people. In certain points to agree to disagree ... discussing, debating. Explain one's position, stand. Maybe to get to a common denominator (I am NOT saying numertor!) and if not - at least a peaceful modus operandi et vivendi!

THAT's the way it should be in my eyes and if politicians were capable to do that WITHOUT their stupid "pre-conditions", the whole war-industry would be as necessary as a hole in a head!

That this is not going to happen soon (if at all) we know as well. I'm afraid as "pre-condition" pigs have to learn to fly and fish to commute on bicycles ...

Lirun said...

thanks for that..

brilliant analysis..