Gideon Kouts’s special report from Damascus for the Mabat news program

Anchor: And now we’re with Gideon Kouts, who was Mabat’s correspondent in Syria over the past day. Gideon, you were part of the delegation of journalists accompanying Sarkozy, and now you’re already in Paris. But in Damascus, how did you introduce yourself?

Gideon Kouts: In Damascus I arrived as an Israeli correspondent, and that is perhaps the whole story, because they hosted me there as an Israeli correspondent, I was granted a visa, and when I received the visa in Paris to accompany this visit, I was told they hoped I would cover it in a spirit of friendship between the countries. So when I got there I was somewhat disappointed, alongside the great interest in a visit like this. After all, it’s the first time an Israeli correspondent has visited the palace of a Syrian president. The disappointment was perhaps first of all with the city itself. All the... the picture we have of Damascus as a city... a city... as a diverse city, as a beautiful city—it is a very neglected city, and a great deal of investment will really be needed to bring it into good condition. That may be one of the reasons Assad is trying to break through the blockade... the international blockade on his country. And only the president’s palace, up on the summit, is a completely different world. And when it came to getting into that palace, that’s where they began giving me trouble, me and another Jewish journalist who was with me—and the poor fellow wasn’t Israeli. At first they assigned bodyguards to us inside the delegation’s hotel, bodyguards who basically wouldn’t let us move anywhere, or even go out. And when we finally went with the delegation to the palace and other places, what developed there was perhaps a media tussle, as I understood it, between different factions in the presidency. The security people didn’t want to let us in, whereas in the end the president’s secretary allowed your correspondent to be present at the two press conferences held there. So I felt it firsthand, as though I was embodying this issue of indirect negotiations. Indirect negotiations—that is, they talked about peace; there was a four-way summit today, and the subject was peace and peace talks with Israel and in the region, but it is still indirect; that is, it can be done without the presence of the interested party. So perhaps it didn’t seem important to them that an Israeli journalist be there. In the end, it seems one must overcome many... many, many walls of... of... of... denial, of... of years of hatred. In the end, I’d like to say that I also ate some good hummus there, so the road... [laughs] the road to Damascus may... may be worth it.

Anchor: How was the hummus?

Gideon Kouts: The hummus was excellent. The hummus was excellent, and that may be the only thing encouraging me to go back there after the reception, which was quite difficult and tense. And I’ll have a chance to go back to it, I think, tomorrow.

Anchor: Well, we’ve made a note of that: the hummus in Damascus is excellent. Gideon Kouts, who was Mabat’s correspondent in Damascus over the past day, thank you very much. And a detailed report on this visit to Syria and Damascus tomorrow.