Word: syrians
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...embargo could have been reinstated at any time. So it was up to Syria and Israel, whose mutual suspicion and hatred seemed indelible. Not that Syria was overflowing with good feeling for the U.S. either. Kissinger tells how, as his plane was coming in for a landing during the Syrian shuttle, a U.S. diplomat on hand to greet him turned to Syria's waspish Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Abdel Halim Khaddam and said: "I think the airplane is God's punishment to mankind." "No," replied Khaddam without changing expression, "America...
When I embarked at the end of April 1974 on the negotiation that led to the disengagement of the Israeli and Syrian armies on the Golan Heights, little did I realize that I was to shuttle back and forth between Damascus and Jerusalem for 34 weary days...
...piece of territory, even if only a sliver of what Israel had taken in the 1967 war. Every Arab leader had told me that Syria could not merely settle on restoration of the 1973 line; to keep pace with Egypt, which had recovered a slice of the Sinai, some Syrian gain of lands taken by Israel in 1967 was imperative. This was particularly true of Quneitra, provincial
Strangely enough?and both Syrians and Israelis will resent this?they were more similar in attitude and behavior than either was to Egypt. The Egyptian leadership group is suave, jaded, cosmopolitan. Their Syrian counterparts are prickly, proud, quick to take offense. Egypt is accustomed to leadership in the Middle East; there is a majesty in its self-assurance. Syria fights for recognition of its merit; it consumes energy in warding off condescension. Israel shares many of these qualities...
...shuttle proceeded, a strange phenomenon became evident. Syrian negotiators, their armies pushed back into the environs of their capital, exuded the sense that history was on their side; militarily predominant Israel acted as if one wrong step would spell its destruction. There was a reversal between victor and defeated, with the stronger asking for guarantees and the weaker demanding territorial advance. Syria commanded respect in its selfdiscipline; Israel, compassion in its foreboding...