Arab nations to gather in Maryland and discuss Arab-Israeli peace

Updated Monday Nov. 26, 2007: Syria announced Sunday that it would attend the Middle East Conference, which begins tonight, after officials were promised that Golan Heights would be on the agenda.  The country, which was holding out,  supports groups oppossed to peace between Israel and Palestine.

Egypt and the United States have managed to coax the majority of Arab leaders to attend a peace conference in Annapolis, Md. next week. However, Syria continues to hold out. Syria is a key player in Middle Eastern politics and conflict. For, as the Middle Eastern saying goes: “There cannot be war without Egypt- but there cannot be peace without Syria.”

            And Syria is using this leverage to have its political goals heard. Before Syria joins ship, its government demands the conference address the issue of Golan Heights, Syrian land that has been occupied by Israel since 1967. Israel’s occupation of the area has made thousands of Syrians refugees in their own homeland and prompted violence in the region.

            The Bush administration said Friday that they were willing to discuss Golan Heights but not explicitly put it on the agenda. However, Syria wants it on paper. Arab League officials said they were optimistic about Syria’s attendance.

            Israeli officials are thrilled by the decision of 15 Arab nations to attend the conference, which may lead to the negotiations necessary to establish Israel and Palestine as two separate states.

See The New York Time’s full story.