MK Bishara warns Syria of Israeli attack

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www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3301614,00.html
National Democratic Assembly chairman, Knesset Member Azmi Bishara, arrived in Damascus on Friday and immediately began making public statements condemning the Israeli occupation of the territories.

Bishara joined his party members, MKs Jamal Zahalka and Wasil Taha, as well as former MKs Muhammad Kanan and Mohammed Miari, who have been in the city since Thursday.

In the course of his meeting with senior members of the ruling Baath party, Bishara warned Syria of the possibility that "Israel launch a preliminary offensive in more than one place, in a bid to overcome the internal crisis in the country and in an attempt to restore its deterrence capability."

During the meeting, Bishara lauded Syria's support for the national rights of the Palestinians and Lebanon, and stressed that the motivation for the "American-Israeli attack" against Syria lies in Damascus' firm stances. "Syria is the last barrier standing before the strike," MK Bishara said. "The Palestinians living under the occupation have long realized the importance of adhering to the Arab option, in light of the scope of adventurous attempts to hurt their cultural and Arab identity," he added.

In an interview with the Syrian news agency SANA, Bishara expressed support for Syria's position and the struggle it was conducting for "the liberation of its occupied lands." Bishara also stated that Syria had been put "under pressure due to the fact it has stood by the resistance and rejected the American hegemony in the region, because it insisted on freeing the occupied Arab outside the 1967 lines, and because it has stood up for the nations' right o resist the occupation."

During the interview, Bishara declared: "We are Syria's allies and will continue to be in contact with it on the national level, through our well-known views."

MK Zahalka explained that the visit in Damascus "was aimed at expressing solidarity with Syria, as well as discussing the recent developments in the region, particularly following the wild Israeli aggression against Lebanon."

 

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http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/760939.html

Bar-On wants passports recalled from Arab MKs who visited Syria

Interior Minister Roni Bar-On on Sunday called on Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni to recall the passports of three Arabs lawmakers who visited Syria without seeking permission from the government.

At Bar-On's request, Attorney General Menachem Mazuz ordered a criminal investigation be opened against Balad MKs Azmi Bashara, Jamal Zahalka and Wassel Taha over their recent visit to Syria.

Bar-On called the trip a criminal offense and said all steps should be taken to try the MKs and stop "this shamelful phenomenon." He also asked Mazuz to allow him to restrict the international travels of the three MKs.

This was the first time in five years Balad MKs have organized a trip to Syria. After Bashara's last trip in 2001, the Knesset passed a law forbidding MKs from visiting any enemy state.

The MKs said their trip had been an expression of the importance of maintaining positive ties between Arabs in Israel with Syria, especially during periods of war.

Zahalka said the visit had been "for the sake of the rights of Arabs in Israel to maintain relations with Arab nations," and had been intended to show solidarity with the Lebanese people.
"We are friends of Syria and we will continue to maintain ties with her on a national level, as is our known stance," Bashara told the Syrian news agency Sana.