In a recent editorial in the Syrian government daily Teshreen, the paper's editor-in-chief, 'Issam Dari, attacked the Western leaders who attended Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations. He wrote that the leaders of the "imperialist" countries – the U.S., Britain, France, and Germany – had gone to Israel in order to stress "that they would continue to sponsor this poisonous mushroom that they planted in the Arab garden with the aim of sowing destruction, chaos, terrorism and crime in the Arab world." He added that although these leaders sought to convince the world that Israel was an established fact, Israel would nonetheless be uprooted sooner or later.

The following are excerpts from the editorial:[1]

"An Unprecedented Convention of Western [Leaders], Led By U.S. President [George Bush], Attended the 60th Anniversary of the Plundering of Palestine"

"An unprecedented convention of Western [leaders], led by U.S. President [George Bush], attended the 60th anniversary of the plundering of Palestine. The same countries that carved up the eastern Arab lands, turning all the Arab countries, without exception, into colonies... have rushed to take part in the 60th anniversary of [Israel] – that illegitimate and deformed entity which serves as a warship [anchored] at the head of the imperialist Western powers [in the Arab world].

"It is these very same countries that were represented [in the celebrations]. The U.K. prime minister [was there], to remind us Arabs – and especially the Palestinians – of the cursed Balfour Declaration of November 2, 1917; the American president [was there] to remind us that the U.S. was responsible for [U.N.] Resolution 181 for the partition of Palestine, passed on November 29, 1947; the French president [was there] to remind us that France and Britain betrayed the Arabs who believed their promises, and dashed their hopes for freedom and independence by means of the Saykes-Picot agreement of 1916; and the German chancellor [was there] to shed crocodile tears over the [Jewish] Holocaust – whose authenticity and number of victims are in doubt – while ignoring the present holocaust faced by the Palestinian people..."

"[They] Came to Israel... To Stress That They Would Continue to Sponsor This Poisonous Mushroom"

"The representatives of these imperialist countries came to Israel in order to stress that they would continue to sponsor this poisonous mushroom that they planted in the Arab garden with the aim of sowing destruction, chaos, terrorism, and crime in the Arab world.

"The very countries that drew up the maps, turned the Arab counties into colonies, invented the [British] Mandate, robbed... the Palestinians of their homeland, and presented it as a gift to foreign vagrants and murderers, are now shamelessly endorsing their past, present and future crimes..."

"The Rightful Owners [of the Land] Are Capable of Uprooting the Poisonous Mushroom – If Not Today Then Tomorrow"

"[These countries] support Israel's terrorism on all fronts: in Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria. We must not forget that George Bush supported Israel's pirate attack on Syria [in September 6, 2007]. Today they have gathered in Israel in order to emphasize their unlimited support for [this country] and for the massacres it is perpetrating, without giving a [single] thought to the suffering of the Palestinians these past 60 years.

"They who planted this poisonous mushroom have come today to declare their eternal support for it. They fail to heed the lesson of ancient and recent history, and especially that of the Crusader [period], which lasted 200 years but ended with the [rightful] owners of the land uprooting the poisonous mushroom from their soil. [Now, too,] the rightful owners [of the land] are capable of uprooting the poisonous mushroom – if not today then tomorrow.

"From an historical perspective, 60 years is an insignificant [time period], and the inevitable day [of Israel's demise] will surely come. That can explain the apprehension felt by the Zionists and by their sponsors, who bothered to take the long and tiring journey [all the way to Israel]. They sought to convince the world that what happened 60 years ago – in fact [everything that happened] since the Sykes-Picot agreement – is now an established fact, and that the poisonous mushroom was not in danger. But the reality is totally different..."

[1] Teshreen (Syria), May 14, 2008.