On August 25, 2006, the Kuwaiti daily Al-Ra'i Al-'Aam reported on a new organization established in Syria for "the liberation of the Golan," using the strategy of Hizbullah. This report comes after several weeks during which the Syrian government press published numerous articles praising the "resistance," and even several articles threatening that Syria would adopt the path of resistance in the Golan Heights. [1] Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad said in an August 14, 2006 interview with the Egyptian opposition weekly Al-'Usbu' that "the Golan will be liberated by Syrian hands." He repeated this statement in a speech on August 15, 2006. In an August 23, 2006 interview with Dubai TV, he said that "it is the Syrian people who will decide if there will be resistance in the Golan." [2]
The following are excerptsfrom the article: [3]
"The Popular Organization for the Liberation of the Golan announced, in its first communiqué, that 'from now on it will not stay silent in the face of the ignoring of our rights and in the face of the Golan remaining under occupation.' The organization claimed that 'the way to restore [the Arabs'] rights has become clear, and the way [to achieve] victory and honor is the way of resistance.' The statement proclaimed that 'the Popular Organization for the Liberation of the Golan follows the path of resistance, and Israel and the [Western] powers will be made to bear their responsibility, after they have closed off for us all [other] paths.'"
A senior member of the Popular Organization for the Liberation of the Golan told Al-Ra'i Al-'Aam that "'resistance [includes] political and economic paths, and various paths of resistance alongside military action.'" He added that "'the organization will immediately begin its resistance actions in its general framework, and we may see, in the near future, military actions in the occupied Syrian Golan.'"
The paper reported that it was evident that there was an attempt to give an Islamic flavor to the statement, which opened with the Koranic verse "If Allah grants you victory, no one will be able to defeat you." The senior member in the organization added that "'the U.N. stood helpless in the face of the U.S.'s determination to implement international resolutions in a selective and one-sided manner - something which has brought the Arab people in Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria, and the Arab masses, to deny the legitimacy of the U.N. and the international community, due to their pro-Israel leanings. This situation has brought [us] to the point where we have no other option left besides the option of resistance, which has proved its effectiveness, despite what those who hold back [the resistance] and the defeatist people say when they describe the option of resistance as an option of adventurers.'"
He further said that "the sons of the occupied Golan, and the sons of proud Arab Syria, are continuing on their path, since the international community has abandoned them and turned its back on them. There is no other option left for us other than to adopt the Lebanese resistance as our model, as our patience has come to an end."
[1] See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 1264, "Syrian Government Press Threatens War in the Golan: 'Those Who... Call for Peace Must Always Support the Resistance,'" August 25, 2006, {{nodeurl-}}.
[2] See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 1250, "'We Have Reentered the Era of Victory Through Resistance': Iranian and Syrian Reactions to the Crisis - August 13-14," August 16, 2006, ‘We Have Reentered the Era of Victory Through Resistance’: Iranian and Syrian Reactions to the Crisis – August 13-14 ;
MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 1256, "Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad Praises the Resistance, Harshly Criticizes Arab Leaders, and Threatens Israel," August 22, 2006, Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad Praises the Resistance, Harshly Criticizes Arab Leaders, and Threatens Israel ;
MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 1265, "Syrian President Al-Assad on Deploying UNIFIL at Lebanese-Syrian Border: 'If [Lebanon] Wants to Destroy Relations Between Syria and Lebanon, It is Free to Do So - and to Bear the Responsibility,'" August 25, 2006, Syrian President Al-Assad on Deploying UNIFIL at Lebanese-Syrian Border: ‘If [Lebanon] Wants to Destroy Relations Between Syria and Lebanon, It is Free to Do So – and to Bear the Responsibility’ .
[3] Al-Ra'i Al-'Aam (Kuwait), August 25, 2006.
