You make a broad and sweeping assertion and then seem unable to document it.
One more chance. You state:
"And the fact that Syria STILL REJECTS the existence of Lebanon as a country"
I'd like to see a link for this VERY definitive assertion. As you even stated it in capital letters for emphasis, it ought to be easy to locate an authoritative quote if there is any truth to it.
There is little doubt that Syria has ambitions regarding Lebanon based on rather recent historical claims. However, that by itself doesn’t provide any legitimacy for your sweeping statement.
Now let’s get to the rest of your post.
What are you implying with your link to the “Greater Syria” article? en.wikipedia.org
Just providing a link without quotes to boost a specious argument seems at best misleading.
Are you saying this particular article is reflective of current Syrian foreign policy?
Let’s contrast the historical Syrian claims to Lebanon to Israel's historical claims to the whole of Palestine.
“Greater Israel”
en.wikipedia.org
You also link to the Syrian Social Nationalist Party without explanation. Does its existence give your argument any legitimacy? Again, you don't explain at all.
Here is an excerpt from Wikipedia about that party:
en.wikipedia.org
"... Founded in Beirut in 1932, the party has played a significant role in Lebanese politics at various points, notably being involved in attempted coups in 1949 and 1961. It was active in resistance against the Israeli occupation of Lebanon from 1982 on. It is now part of the pro-Syrian bloc, along with Amal and Hezbollah, and has only limited popular support in Lebanon. In Syria, the SSNP became a major political force in the early 1950s, but was thoroughly repressed in 1955. It remained organized, and in 2005 was legalized and joined the Baath Party-led National Progressive Front. It is thought to be the largest legal party in Syria apart from the Baath, with perhaps 90,000 members. ..."
Are you claiming that because the Syrian Social Nationalist Party is part of the ruling coalition with Baath that "Greater Syria" has now become a Syrian foreign policy objective?
Assuming that this is your unstated claim, I don’t observe you applying the same yardstick to Israel. Note that the National Religious Party has been part of a coalition with Likud several times and the NPR is a fervent advocate of "Greater Israel". In fact, many would contend that Likud itself is still in favor of a "Greater Israel" and therefore advocates policies in clear violation of U.N. resolution 242 which calls for "withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict (1967)".
en.wikipedia.org
For consistency’s sake, I am sure you therefore similarly condemn every Israeli government that included any of these parties in government, correct? |
