Golan Heights, Mideast Peace Negotiations

“Israel’s Return of the Golan Heights a Sacred Cause for Damascus” (April 5) describes the plight of the former Syrian population of the Golan Heights and the frustration of Syrian President Hafez Assad and his government that Israel is reluctant to return this area to Syria for a “peace” agreement. However, the article is remiss not to mention that before the 1967 war, in which the Golan Heights were captured by the Israelis, they were used by the Syrian army to shell at will Israeli settlements and to shoot at workers tending their fields. Any visitor to the former fortifications of the Syrian army can see how easy it was to target Israelis below. The Syrian movie maker who describes the peaceful everyday life on the Golan Heights prior to the 1967 war does not describe the attacks on the Israeli settlements and the plight of their residents.

The Syrians’ frustration with the fact that they were left out of the peace process is understandable in light of their ambition for a leadership role not only in the Arab world, but in the entire Middle East. However, from the Israeli point of view it is hard to deal with a totalitarian regime which harbors in Damascus the headquarters of several organizations that declare the destruction of Israel as their major goal and are constantly involved in terrorist attacks against it. These activities were going on unabated during the negotiations between Israel and Syria in which Assad demanded Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights for “peace” but refused to detail what this agreement would entail; for example, whether it would include regular trade relations customary among neighboring nations, etc.

The article presented only the Syrian version of this major conflict without trying to describe and evaluate the other side of the coin.

DAVID SHICHOR

Fullerton

* John Daniszewski’s story completely ignored that Syria, after starting a war . . . lost it. Should Las Vegas give back a gambler’s losses?

EUGENE SCHRIER

Rolling Hills

* Re “Jordan’s King to Meet With Clinton,” April 1: Tension in the Middle East once again forces King Hussein of Jordan to come to the U.S. for help. I do not know when the Muslims, particularly the Arabs of the Middle East, are going to learn. When it comes to Israel, asking U.S. officials for help is like asking the fox to investigate why chickens are dying.

GEORGE H. HASSANZADEH

Los Angeles