By Stan Goodenough
The terrorist-supporting Damascus regime of Bashar el-Assad Saturday clarified its priorities for being willing to sit down and talk - albeit indirectly - with Israel.
It's not a state of peace and normalization Syria wants, said Syrian Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Faisal al-Mikdad. It's the Israeli Golan Heights.
And the Syrians are willing to go to war to grab them.
"[W]e will defend our [sic] land at any time."
In fact, the Golan Heights were part of the Ottoman province of Palestine that was originally set aside for the creation of a Jewish homeland.
Great Britain gave the plateau to the French Mandate of Syria and it was controlled by an independent Syria for just 20 years before the IDF took control of the land in 1967 – in response to Syrian aggression and terrorism.
Despite the fact that Israel has held the heights for more than twice as long as Syria, Damascus insists it is the rightful owner.
The Israelis "should know that the Golan Heights belong to us and that they should not be raising their children in the Golan, since this is not their place. They will not enjoy their lives there," al-Mikdad warned.
“Syria has several courses of action if Israel refuses to return" the heights, he added, ominously.
According to the Syrian, Israel is no longer the feared foe of 1967 and 1973, and Syria is not engaging the Jewish state "from a position of weakness.
"The victory achieved by the Lebanese resistance [Hizb'allah] in July 2006 changed everything in the region," he said.
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