Spirits Are High in Syria’s Capital as Leaders Openly Show Support for Hezbollah (NYT)
DAMASCUS, Syria, July 15 — The mood here in Syria’s capital was defiant, even gleeful, on Saturday as Hezbollah continued its rocket attacks on northern Israel....“Yesterday the Syrian Baath party expressed its full support and sympathy for Hezbollah,” said Marwan Kabalan, a political science professor at Damascus University. “It is overt now, because this is no longer something the government wants to hide. People here are very emotional about the whole situation, and many of them wish that Syria would get up and join Hamas and Hezbollah in their battle against Israel.”
A half-dozen Syrians interviewed at random in Damascus cafes all said that they admired Hezbollah’s leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, for using military action to back his anti-Israeli remarks.
“Nasrallah has caused a great deal of embarrassment among the Arab leaders,” Dr. Kabalan continued. “He is seen as the only Arab leader who can stand by his words and resist Israel.”
Imadd Fauzi Shueibi, a political analyst who often works as a consultant to the Syrian government, laughed as he said that he believed that Israel was being drawn into a trap if it thought it could successfully fight on two, or even three, fronts....
“I am laughing because I am so happy to see that in Israel there are these very stupid leaders,” Dr. Fauzi Shueibi said. “Israel has nothing to gain by changing the balance of power in the region. To fight on two fronts at the same time is stupid; if they try to open three fronts, that will be madness.”
“No one can believe that this will stop without a huge victory for Hezbollah and for Syria,” he added. “I haven’t felt so optimistic since 1973. I think we are closing the noose on Israel. This may be the last battle, and we may be able to redraw the map of the Middle East, but not on the schedule of America’s plan ...”
Syrian analysts noted with some pride that Syria will have a central role in any peace agreement, and that the United States may now be forced to make a deal with Syria because of Hezbollah’s actions.
“Syria has demonstrated once again that it can’t be marginalized,” said Dr. Kabalan, the political science professor. “It has succeeded in turning the tables on the Americans...."
YNetNews.com reports that Israel has given Syria ultimatum
The London-based Arabic language newspaper Al-Hayat reported Saturday that “Washington has information according to which Israel gave Damascus 72 hours to stop Hizbullah’s activity along the Lebanon-Israel border and bring about the release the two kidnapped IDF soldiers or it would launch an offensive with disastrous consequences.”The report said “a senior Pentagon source warned that should the Arab world and international community fail in the efforts to convince Syria to pressure Hizbullah into releasing the soldiers and halt the current escalation Israel may attack targets in the country.”
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