The view from the oldest city in the world is optimistic. While Syrians still express shock over images of their Foreign Minister, Mr Farouk al-Sharaa, standing next to the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ehud Barak, they believe there will be a peace agreement within months and that Israel could begin withdrawing from the Golan by next summer.
Dr Nabil Sukkar, a leading Syrian commentator, said: "No one would have committed himself to these talks if there was not a 90 per cent chance of success. The two sides went [to Washington] to strike a deal. Elements of the deal have been agreed upon already. Syria seems to have some assurances that [the Israeli] withdrawal will be to the line of June 4th, 1967. There may be a little fine-tuning of the border but Syria would never have agreed to talk about anything less than full withdrawal."
Since 1991 the Syrian government has worked to create a consensus favouring the land for peace deal, Dr Sukkar said. However, ordinary Syrians do not believe the peace will be "warm".
"There is too much blood and anger. It will take a generation to overcome all the resentment," one woman said. "They have been occupying our land for more than 30 years. We can't forget this."
Syria also has a "Golan lobby". The 100,000 Syrians driven from the area occupied by Israel now number 400,000. Fatmeh, a young Golani woman born in exile, said: "My father is sitting in front of the television day and night, watching all the news bulletins. He is celebrating . . . he is ready to go home." Syria is certain to ask for compensation and for funds to rebuild the villages bulldozed by Israel so the native Golanis, now scattered throughout Syria, can go home.
Ordinary Syrians are furious that Israel is demanding compensation for Jewish settlers who live in the Golan. "They should not be paid, they are living on our land. The settlers should pay us," asserted Fatmeh.
Dr Sukkar said "once this issue is behind us" the government will tackle economic reform. For Syrians suffering from a low growth rate and high unemployment, peace means shifting priorities and resources. "Peace will create stability which will encourage investment," Dr Sukkar said.
He expects a new government to be formed next year which will implement the economic programme proposed a decade ago for the transformation of the Syrian command economy to a market economy. The authorities have been trying to create a consensus in favour of the plan and overcome the resistance of those with vested interests in the status quo. President Hafez al-Assad "delivered an address to parliament last year which set the stage for the reform of the banking, services and public sectors and for activating the private sector", Dr Sukkar said. The Syrians, a people settled round the Damascus oasis, have for millennia been suspicious of outsiders and outside influences. They have developed a narrow, inflexible world view. But today they are gradually opening up. Many houses and blocks of flats sport satellite dishes. Syrians can watch television from almost anywhere. The controversial al-Jazira station, transmitting from the Gulf state of Qatar, is a great favourite.
Syrians also read newspapers from neighbouring Arab countries besides the influential Arabic papers published in London, many available on the day of publication. The Internet, still restricted to a privileged few, and mobile phones are on their way. Peace with Israel and real rapprochement with the US will break down psychological barriers and promote the process of Syrian "globalisation".