Golan Heights

[bigboab]

Israel has shown willingness to give up the Golan Heights' in return for peace in the region. This is great news as this has been a major stumbling block on the road to peace. It should now be up to the international community to ensure that the Heights are not used to attack Israel in any way. I hope for everyones sakes that this is the first major step toward lasting peace.

http://www.gm.tv/news/headlines/2008...ael-peace.html

[IdolEyes787]

Palestinians have been offered better deals (2000 Camp David Summit. Palestine to contain 94% of the West Bank, and all of Gaza, with some land swapping; Reparations; Limited repatriation; etc)in the past and refused to negotiate.
I have seen nothing occur in the last eight years to make me believe that they would be more receptive now.
The problem with the situation in the Middle East is that their hostilities go much deeper than a simple dispute over land.
Until there is a fundamental altering in the way Arabs and Israelis view each other I'm afraid this conflict is destined to continue.

[arvind_sampath]

IdolEyes787 had noted that

The problem with the situation in the Middle East is that their hostilities go much deeper than a simple dispute over land.

I totally agree. All the problems that we see today, between Israel and Palestine, are only symptoms of what is arguably the longest-lasting conflict between two opposing groups or communities, anywhere in the world. Many believe,and they have good reason to, that the seeds were sown even as early as the biblical times. Something that old becomes, over time, a monster that negotiation and dialogue just cannot tame. It runs much deeper.
I remember being really into the mechanics of the conflict a couple of years ago, and from my varied readings at the time, Tom Robbins' novel "Skinny legs and all" still remains in my memory. Though this is in no way about the conflict itself (tom's novels are never about any one thing in particular...you'll know what i'm saying if you've read him) it does, in some interesting detail, touch upon the biblical roots of the conflict.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skinny_Legs_and_All

[Squeamous]

Israel would be mad to give up the Golan Heights.

[ilw]

umm the golan heights have next to nothing to do with palestinians and it won't happen anyway, olmert is way too weak politically to pull this off. The settlers won't accept land for peace

[tralalala]

I'd find it hard to believe that over 50% would give up the Heights.. Though a recent poll showed some 41% would be willing to give up the Heights in exchange for peace with the Syrians..

ilw notes that Olmert is weak politically - I must admit, that the weakest political figure in the region (after Lebanon's PM) is probably Assad.. He is a young, inexperienced leader, who works according to his impulses. His father had a much greater grip of control, and there were next to no problems up on the north-western border of Israel during Assad Senior's time.

Nowadays, after the destruction of their nuclear reactor (and don't tell me it was a mistake to attack it.. Just like everyone secretly thanked us for blowing up Saddam's reactor back in '81), I feel it's going to take a much more experienced Syrian leader, or rather, a crafty Israeli leader to actually get a proper peace treaty with the Syrian people..

It's actually not as complicated as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.. But it's a matter of time until this dispute is sorted. Not a simple one, may I add.

[tralalala]

Well, time seems to do wonders.. Damascus and Jerusalem both stated today that the talks are going well. The Syrians stated Israel is willing to give up the Golan Heights in exchange for peace...

Looking good. Just hope it will be something real and totally serious, and not some political spin.

[Squeamous]

I've changed my mind. Perhaps Israel should give Syria's ball back, but under the proviso that if it comes over again it'll be confiscated .

[torrentt]

won't happen, I don't think that a supporting terror country deserve land for peace for the reason that they won't give peace, they are best friends with Iran and share the same ideology - Israel must be vanished

[tralalala]

Then what's the point of holding the talks? The whole idea is to give the land back in exchange for peace.. I mean, look at Egypt - We gave back the whole Sini desert, which is a whopping twice the size of Israel, in exchange for peace (an oil at a reduced price), and it worked. And they have diplomatic connections with Syria.. Libya... Many states that hate Israel.. Main idea though is that with them specifically we have peace. It worked. No reason why it shouldn't work again. And lets not forget, we always have our nukes if anything goes wrong...