Golan Heights

See also: Borders of Israel
Golan
الجولان
רמת הגולן
—  Disputed territory  —
Sites on the Golan in blue are Jewish communities. Sites on the Golan in black are Druze and Circassian communities. Areas of the Golan controlled by Israel are light-coloured while those under Syrian control are grey. The Golan Heights are surrounded by four countries: Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Israel.
Sites on the Golan in blue are Jewish communities. Sites on the Golan in black are Druze and Circassian communities. Areas of the Golan controlled by Israel are light-coloured while those under Syrian control are grey. The Golan Heights are surrounded by four countries: Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Israel.
Country Disputed between Israel & Syria
Area
 - Total 1,800 km² (695 sq mi)
 - Disputed area 1,200 km² (463.3 sq mi)
Highest elevation 2,814 m (9,232 ft)
Lowest elevation 0 m (0 ft)
Population (2005)
 - Total 38,900

The Golan Heights ( Arabic: الجولان‎, al-Jawlān, Hebrew: רמת הגולן‎ (audio) Ramat HaGolan) is a strategic plateau and mountainous region at the southern end of the Anti-Lebanon Mountains. The geographic area lies within, or borders, the countries of Syria, Israel ,Lebanon and Jordan. The Golan plateau encompasses about 1,800 square kilometres (690 sq mi); it is situated south of the mountains and extends to the east. Since 1967, the term generally refers to a somewhat different 1,200 square kilometres (460 sq mi) area that includes the western portion of the plateau, a small portion of the Jordan River Valley in the northwest, and higher, mountainous areas in the north, which descend to the southeast from Mount Hermon. The Golan Heights are of great strategic importance in the region.[1][2] The Golan Heights were undisputed Syrian territory until Israel captured the region on 9-10 June 1967 during the Six-Day War. The area has remained under Israeli occupation since then.[3] The territory was successfully defended by Israel in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, though a portion was later returned to Syria. In 1981 the area was unilaterally annexed by Israel, a move condemned internationally [4] and determined null and void by the UN security council.[5] There is an ongoing Syrian demand for the land to be returned, and the UN continues to issue resolutions calling upon Israel to end its occupation of the Golan and determining that all the legislative and adminstrative measures taken by Israel in the Golan are null and void.[6]

The name "Golan" refers to both Biblical and historical names for the southern portion of the area. (See Etymology, below). In contemporary usage, the “Golan Heights” refers to the territory captured by Israel from Syria.

Syria maintains that the Golan Heights are within the Quneitra Governorate. Israeli sources and the U.S. Committee for Refugees reported that the local population fled, whereas the Syrian government indicated that a large proportion of it was expelled.[7] Starting in the 1970s, new Jewish settlements were established in the captured area.[8] Israel asserts its right to retain the area under the text of United Nations Security Council Resolution 242, which calls for "safe and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force".[9] In 1981, Israel formally applied its "laws, jurisdiction and administration" to the Golan Heights with the passage of the Golan Heights Law. It has been governed since as part of Israel’s North District. This annexation is not internationally recognized[8] and United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 considers the area part of the Israeli occupied territories. (See Current status below).

Contents

Etymology

Panoramic view of the Golan Heights, with the Hermon mountains on the left side, taken from Snir
Panoramic view of the Golan Heights, with the Hermon mountains on the left side, taken from Snir

"Golan" is of Semitic origin and refers to the name of a city mentioned in the Bible as one of the "Cities of Refuge,” east of the Jordan River. Other names used in this context are Gaulan and Jaulan. The term "Golan" has been adopted in Israeli culture to refer to the territory formerly belonging to Syria that has since been annexed (without international recognition) by the State of Israel. The occupied territory does not include all of the geographic plateau or all of historic Golan considered by some as part of Eretz Israel. In Christian usage, the term has also come to denote a region stretching from that Biblical site westward towards the Sea of Galilee. The terms Gaulanitis or Gaulonitis have been used in this context.

Geography

Topographically, the Golan Heights ranges in elevation from 2,814 m (9,230 feet) on Mount Hermon in the north, to about sea level on the Yarmuk River in the south. The steeper, more rugged topography is generally limited to the northern and western portions, and approximately bounded by the Sa’ar valley to the south. The extreme northwestern area includes the mountainous Shebaa Farms area, which is disputed between Lebanon and Syria, as well as flat land in the Jordan valley, which extends west to the Hasbani River and the town of Ghajar, on the former Syrian – Lebanese border. This area includes the only overland route, between Syria and Lebanon, south of the Golan Heights.

The broader Golan plateau exhibits a more subdued topography, generally ranging between 400 and 1,700 feet (120–520 m) in elevation. To the east and at lower elevation, the plateau merges into the Hauran plain of Syria; the limits are not clearly defined, although Wadi Ruqqad and Nahr Allan are sometimes considered geographically. In Israel, the Golan plateau is usually divided into three regions: northern (between the Sa'ar and Jilabun valleys), central (between the Jilabun and Daliyot valleys), and southern (between the Dlayot and Yarmouk valleys). The Golan Heights is bordered on the west by a rock escarpment that drops 1,700 feet (500 m) to the Jordan River valley and the Sea of Galilee. In the south, the incised Yarmouk River valley marks the limits of the plateau and, east of the abandoned railroad bridge upstream of Hamat Gader and Al Hammah, it marks the recognized international border between Syria and Jordan.[10].

Geologically, the Golan plateau and the Hauran plain to the east constitute a Holocene volcanic field that also extends northeast almost to Damascus. Much of the area is scattered with dormant volcanos, as well as cinder cones, such as Majdal Shams. The plateau also contains a crater lake, called Birkat Ram ("Ram Pool"), which is fed by both surface runoff and underground springs. These volcanic areas are characterized by basalt bedrock and dark soils derived from its weathering. The basalt flows overlie older, distinctly lighter-colored limestones and marls, exposed along the Yarmouk River in the south.

The rock forming the mountainous area in the northern Golan Heights, descending from Mount Hermon, are geologically quite different from the volcanic rocks of the plateau, including a different physiography. The mountains are characterized by distinctly lighter-colored, Jurassic age limestone of sedimentary origin. Locally, the limestone is broken by faults and solution channels to form a karst-like topography in which springs are common (e.g. Baniyas). The Sa'ar valley generally divides the lighter-colored sedimentary rocks of the mountains from the dark-colored volcanic rocks of the Golan plateau. The western border of both the Golan plateau and the mountains is truncated structurally by the Jordan Rift Valley, along which the Jordan River and its northern tributaries flow.

In addition to its strategic importance militarily, noted above, the Golan Heights provides significantly to the water resources of the region. This is true particularly for higher elevations, which are snow-covered much of the year in the cold months and help to sustain baseflow for rivers and springs during the dry season. The heights receive significantly more precipitation than the surrounding, lower-elevation areas. The occupied sector of the Golan Heights provides or controls a substantial portion of the water in the Jordan River watershed, which in turn provides a portion of Israel's water supply. The Golan Heights are the source of about 15% of Israel's water supply.[11]

List of streams
Majraseh section of Daliyot stream in the Golan Heights

Economy

In addition to the importance of water resources, the Golan Heights also has Israel's only ski resort, near Mount Hermon.[12] Winemaking is a major and highly successful industry. Cattle graze on the upland plateau. The area is also popular for hiking.

In 2005 the Golan Heights had a population of approximately 38,900, including approximately 19,300 Druze, 16,500 Jews, and 2,100 Muslims.[13]

Current status

Unit 8200 (Israeli military intelligence) base on Mount Avital
View of the Golan Heights plateau from Mount Bental
Wind turbines in the Golan Heights
The Jilabun Waterfall
Overview of UN zone and Syrian Territory from the Golan Heights
The Petroleum Road
Mt. Hermon from the Road to Masaade

The Golan Heights were under military administration between 1967 and 1981. In that year, Israel passed the Golan Heights Law,[14] placing the Golan Heights under civilian Israeli law, administration, and jurisdiction. Most non-Jewish residents of the Golan Heights, mainly Druze, refused to surrender Syrian citizenship, though Israeli citizenship was available to them.

In the 1999 elections, 773 residents of Ghajar and fewer than 700 residents of the 4 Druze villages were eligible voters.[15] Syria continues to offer them benefits such as free university tuition.[16]

In 2005 the Golan Heights had a population of approximately 38,900, including approximately 19,300 Druze, 16,500 Jews, and 2,100 Muslims.[13] Jewish villages, including moshavim and kibbutzim, are consolidated municipally under the Golan Regional Council, and are inhabited by Israeli citizens. The Golan Muslims reside in the Israel-Lebanon border-straddling village of Ghajar. They accepted Israeli citizenship in 1981.[17] The Druze reside in the villages of Ein Qinya, Buq'ata, Majdal Shams, and Mas'ada. Most are involved in farm work.

Both personal and business relations exist between the Druze and their Jewish neighbors; there is little tension between the two groups.[8] As a humanitarian gesture, since 2005, Israel allows Druze farmers to export some 11,000 tons of apples to Syria each year, the first kind of trade ever made between Syria and Israel. Since 1988, Israel has allowed Druze clerics to make annual religious pilgrimages to Syria.[18]

The Druze

Unlike Druze in Israel proper, fewer than 10% of the Druze of the Golan Heights are Israeli citizens; the remainder hold Syrian citizenship. The latter are permanent residents of Israel, and they hold a laissez-passer. The pro-Israeli Druze are ostracized by the pro-Syrian Druze.[19] Reluctance to accept citizenship also reflects fear of ill treatment or displacement by Syrian authorities should the Golan Heights eventually be returned to Syria .[20] According to The Independent, most Druze in the Golan Heights live relatively comfortable lives in a freer society than they would have in Syria under the present regime.[21] According to Egypt's Daily Star, their standard of living vastly surpasses that of their counterparts on the Syrian side of the border. Hence their fear of a return to Syria, though most of them identify themselves as Syrian.[22] Ties to Syria are on the wane, and many have come to appreciate aspects of Israel's liberal-democratic society, although few risk saying so publicly for fear of Syrian retribution.[18]

Allon Plan for a Druze state in the Golan/Quneitra

In the 1970s, Israeli politician Yigal Allon proposed as part of the so-called Allon Plan that a Druze state (Jabal Druze) be established in Syria's Quneitra Governorate, including the Israeli-held Golan Heights.[9] Allon died in 1980, and the following year the Israeli government passed the Golan Heights Law, effectively annexing most of the Governorate.

The Golan Heights Law

Israel's Golan Heights Law of 1981 applied Israeli "laws, jurisdiction and administration" to the Golan Heights. It was administered as part of its North District. (Syria asserts that the Heights are part of the governorate of al Qunaytirah). Israel's action has not been recognized internationally.[8] United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 which declared the Golan Heights an Israeli occupied territory continues to apply. Israel maintains that it may retain the area as the text of Resolution 242 calls for "safe and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force". [23]

Israel's measures are frequently termed "annexation" but the word "annexation" or equivalent concepts, like "extending sovereignty," are not used in the law itself. In any case, the extension of sovereignty/annexation has placed the Golan Heights, an area claimed by Syria, under Israeli civilian and military control. For this reason, the Golan Heights have been a crucial part of peace negotiations between Syria and Israel.

When Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin was asked in the Knesset why he was risking international criticism for this annexation, he replied "You use the word annexation, but I am not using it."[24] The governmental Jewish Agency for Israel states that "Although reported as an annexation, it is not: the Golan Heights are not declared to be Israeli territory."[25] On the other hand, the Benjamin Netanyahu government's Basic Policy Guidelines stated "The government views the Golan Heights as essential to the security of the state and its water resources. Retaining Israel's sovereignty over the Golan will be the basis for an arrangement with Syria."[26] The UN did not recognise the "annexation" and they officially consider the Heights to be Israeli occupied. This view was expressed in the unanimous UN Security Council Resolution 497 stating that "the Israeli decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights is null and void and without international legal effect." It, like other relevant UN resolutions takes care to not explicitly call it an "annexation", referring at most to Israel's "annexationist policies."

Shebaa Farms Issue

See also: Borders of Israel

Additionally, Lebanon claims a small portion of the area known as the Shebaa Farms on Mount Dov in the area of Mount Hermon. Syria's position on the subject is unclear. Syria's foreign minister has orally declared that the Shebaa farms are Lebanese, but Syria has refused to notify the UN of its position officially. Thus, from the UN perspective, Shebaa remains Syrian until the Syrian government confirms its position through official channels. UN Security Council Resolution 425 confirmed[27] that as of June 16 2000, Israel had completely withdrawn its forces from Lebanon, thereby indirectly designating the farms as part of the Golan, and therefore Syrian territory.

The reason behind this diplomatic imbroglio may be that Syria fears that recognizing the Shebaa Farms territory as Lebanese will allow Lebanon to negotiate a separate deal with Israel. It has also been suggested that Syria regards all of Lebanon as fundamentally part of Syria, and avoids taking any step that would imply formal recognition of Lebanese independence. At the same time, Syria would prefer the Shebaa Farms area to be under Lebanese rather than Israeli control, so it informally supports the Lebanese claim.

Maintenance of the Ceasefire

UNDOF (the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force) was established in 1974 to supervise the implementation of the disengagement agreement and maintain the ceasefire with an area of separation known as the UNDOF Zone. Currently there are more than 1,000 UN peacekeepers there trying to sustain a lasting peace. Details of the UNDOF mission, mandate, map and military positions can be accessed via the following United Nations link [10]. Syria and Israel still contest the ownership of the Heights but have not used overt military force since 1974. The great strategic value of the Heights both militarily and as a source of water means that a deal is uncertain.

Members of the UN Disengagement force are usually the only individuals who cross the Israeli-Syrian border, but since 1988 both Israel and Syria have taken measures to relieve the problems being encountered by the Druze population of the Golan Heights. Since 1988 Israel has allowed Druze pilgrims to cross the border to visit the shrine of Abel in Syria. In 2005, Syria allowed a few trucks of Druze-grown Golan apples to be imported. The trucks themselves were driven by Kenyan nationals. Since 1967, Druze brides have been allowed to cross the Golan border into Syria, but they do so in the knowledge that the journey is a one-way trip. This phenomenon is shown in the Israeli film The Syrian Bride.

Negotiations

Syria insists that Israel will withdraw from the Golan Heights as part of any peace deal. During US-brokered peace talks in 1999–2000, Prime Minister Ehud Barak allegedly offered to withdraw from most of the Golan in return for a comprehensive peace structure and security arrangements. The disagreement in the final stages of the talks was on access to the Sea of Galilee.

According to media reports, the main sticking point was that Syria wanted Israel to withdraw to the pre-1967 line, while Israel wanted to use the 1923 international border. The dispute centers on the place where the old international border lies ten meters to the east of the shore of the Sea of Galilee, completely enclosing it within Israel. The 1967 line gives Damascus control of this northeastern shore. Neither line is identical to the 1949 armistice lines. While Israel under Rabin and Peres had earlier taken steps toward accepting the 1967 line, Israel wishes to retain control of the Sea of Galilee, its main source of fresh water.[28]

In June 2007, it was reported that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had sent a secret message to Syrian President, Bashar Assad saying that Israel would concede the land in exchange for a comprehensive peace agreement and the severing of Syria's ties with Iran and militant groups in the region.[29] Former Prime Minster, Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the former Syrian President, Hafez Assad had agreed that Mount Hermon will be in Israeli territory in any agreement.[30]

In April 2008, Syrian media reported Turkey's prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has told President Bashar al-Assad that Israel would withdraw from the Golan Heights in return for peace.[31] Prime Minister Ehud Olmert responded "I can assure you that on matters concerning Israel and the Syrians, they are well aware of what I want from them, and I know very well what they want from us." [32] Israeli leaders of communities in the Golan Heights held a special meeting and stated: "all construction and development projects in the Golan are going ahead as planned, propelled by the certainty that any attempt to harm Israeli sovereignty in the Golan will cause severe damage to state security and thus is doomed to fail". [33]

History

Landscape in the Golan
The Hermon stream

Ancient history

The area has been occupied by many civilizations. During the 3rd millennium BC the Amorites dominated and inhabited the Golan until the 2nd millennium, when the Arameans took over. Later known as Bashan, two Israelite tribes were associated with the region during the time of Joshua, the tribe of Dan — Dt 33:22: "And of Dan he said: Dan is a lion's whelp, that leapeth forth from Bashan" and Tribe of Manasseh. The city of Golan was used as as a city of refuge. King Solomon appointed 3 ministers in the region — 1 Kg 4:13: "the son of Geber, in Ramoth-gilead; to him pertained the villages of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead; even to him pertained the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, threescore great cities with walls and brazen bars". After the split of the United Monarchy, the area was contested between the Kingdom of Israel (the northern of the two Jewish kingdoms existent at that time) and the Aramean kingdom from the 800s BC. King Ahab of Israel (reigned 874–852 BC) defeated Ben-Hadad I in the southern Golan. According to Jewish law the Golan is regarded as part of Canaan which is holier than the parts east of the Jordan river.[34]

In the 700s BC the Assyrians gained control of the area, but were later replaced by the Babylonian and the Persian Empire. In the 5th century BC, the Persian Empire allowed the region to be resettled by returning Jewish exiles from Babylonian Captivity.

The Golan Heights, along with the rest of the region, came under the control of Alexander the Great in 332 BC, following the Battle of Issus. Following Alexander's death, the Golan came under the domination of the Macedonian noble Seleucus and remained part of the Seleucid Empire for most of the next two centuries. It is during this period that the name Golan, previously that of a city mentioned in Deuteronomy, came to be applied to the entire region (Greek: Gaulanitis).

The Maccabean Revolt saw much action in the regions around the Golan and it is possible that the Jewish communities of the Golan were among those rescued by Judas Maccabeus during his campaign in the Galilee and Gilead (Transjordan) mentioned in Chapter 5 of 1 Maccabees. The Golan, however, remained in Seleucid hands until the campaign of Alexander Jannaeus from 83–80 BC. Jannaeus established the city of Gamla in 81 BC as the Hasmonean capital for the region.

Following the death of Herod the Great in 4 BC, Augustus Caesar adjudicated that the Golan fell within the Tetrarchy of Herod's son, Herod Philip I. After Philip's death in 34 AD, the Romans absorbed the Golan into the province of Syria, but Caligula restored the territory to Herod's grandson Agrippa in 37. Following Agrippa's death in 44, the Romans again annexed the Golan to Syria, promptly to return it again when Claudius traded the Golan to Agrippa II, the son of Agrippa I, in 51 as part of a land swap. Although nominally under Agrippa's control and not part of the province of Judea, the Jewish communities of the Golan joined their coreligionists in the First Jewish-Roman War, only to fall to the Roman armies in its early stages. Gamla was captured in 67; according to Josephus, its inhabitants committed mass suicide, preferring it to crucifixion and slavery. Agrippa II contributed soldiers to the Roman war effort and attempted to negotiate an end to the revolt. In return for his loyalty, Rome allowed him to retain his kingdom, but finally absorbed the Golan for good after his death in 100.

In about 250, the Ghassanids, Arab Christian immigrants from Yemen, established a kingdom which encompassed southern Syria and the Transjordan, building their capital at Jabiyah on the Golan. Like the later Herodians, the Ghassanids ruled as clients of Byzantine Rome; unlike the Herodians, the Ghassanids were able to hold on to the Golan until the Sassanid invasion of 614. Following a brief restoration under the Emperor Heraclius, the Golan again fell, this time to the invading Arabs after the Battle of Yarmouk in 636.

After Yarmouk, Muawiyah I, a member of Muhammad's tribe, the Quraish, was appointed governor of Syria, including the Golan. Following the assassination of his cousin, the Caliph Uthman, Muawiya claimed the Caliphate for himself, initiating the Umayyad dynasty. Over the next few centuries, while remaining in Muslim hands, the Golan passed through many dynastic changes, falling first to the Abbasids, then to the Shi'ite Fatimids, then to the Seljuk Turks, then to the Kurdish Ayyubids. During the Crusades, the Heights represented a formidable obstacle the Crusader armies were not able to conquer. The Mongols swept through in 1259, but were driven off by the Mamluk sultan Qutuz at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260. Ain Jalut ensured Mamluk dominance of the region for the next 250 years.

In the 15th and 16th centuries, Druze began to settle the northern Golan and the slopes of Mount Hermon. In the 16th century, the Ottoman Turks came in control of the area and remained so until the end of World War I. During the Ottoman Empire (1517-1917), the Golan was considered a part of the Syrian (Southern) district of their empire.

In 1886, the Jewish B'nei Yehuda society of Safed purchased a plot of land four kilometers north of the present-day religious moshav of Keshet, but the community, named Ramataniya, failed one year later. In 1887, the society purchased lands between the modern-day Bene Yehuda and Kibbutz Ein Gev. This community survived until 1920, when two of its last members were murdered in the anti-Jewish riots which erupted in the spring of that year. In 1891, Baron Rothschild purchased approximately 18,000 acres (73 km²) of land in the Hauran, about 15 km east of modern Ramat Hamagshimim. Immigrants of the First Aliyah (1881–1903) established five small communities on this land, but were forced to leave by the Ottomans in 1898. The lands were farmed until 1947 by the Palestine Colonization Association and the Jewish Colonization Association, when they were seized by the Syrian army.[35]

Between World War I and the Six-Day War

Golan Heights boundary changes in the twentieth century.
Majdal Shams, a Druze village in the Golan Heights; the northernmost inhabited point in Israel
Ein Qinya, c. 1978

Great Britain accepted a Mandate for Palestine at the meeting of the Allied Supreme Council at San Remo, but the borders of the territory were not defined at that stage.[36][37] The boundary between the forthcoming British and French mandates was defined in broad terms by the Franco-British Boundary Agreement of December 1920.[38] This initial boundary placed a small portion of the Golan Heights within the British territory, while the eastern third of the Sea of Galilee was placed within the French territory. The treaty also established a joint commission to settle the precise details of the border and mark it on the ground.[38] The commission submitted its final report on February 3, 1922, and it was approved with some caveats by the British and French governments on March 7, 1923, several months before Britain and France assumed their Mandatory responsibilities on 29 September, 1923.[39][40] In accordance with the same process, a nearby parcel of land that included the ancient site of Tel Dan was transferred from Syria to Palestine early in 1924. The Golan Heights thus became part of the French Mandate of Syria, while the Sea of Galilee was placed entirely within the British Mandate of Palestine. American President Woodrow Wilson protested British concessions in a cable to the British Cabinet.[41] When the French Mandate of Syria ended in 1944, the Golan Heights became part of the newly independent state of Syria.

View from an old Syrian bunker overlooking Israeli territory

After the 1948–49 Arab-Israeli War, the Golan Heights were partly demilitarized by the Israel-Syria Armistice Agreement. Over the following years the Mixed Armistice Commission (which oversaw the implementation of the Israel-Syria Armistice Agreement) reported many violations by each side. The major causes of the conflict were a dispute over the disposition of the demilitarized zone between Israel and Syria, competition over water resources, and the Israel-Palestinian conflict.[42] Israel attempted to take water from the Jordan River in the demilitarized zone, to which Syria responded with a plan to divert water from the Jordan's tributaries. Israel ceased its project in the mid 1950s due to UN and US pressure but resuscitated it in the 1960s. Syria's plan, which it started implementing in 1965 with help from Lebanon and Jordan, sparked a series of military exchanges culminating in an Israeli attack in July 1966 which effectively destroyed it.[42] The Palestinian organization Fatah began raids into Israeli territory in early 1965, with active support from Syria. At first the guerillas entered via Lebanon or Jordan, but those countries made concerted attempts to stop them and raids directly from Syria increased.[43] Israel's response was a series of retaliatory raids, of which the largest were an attack on the Jordanian village of Samu in November 1966,[44] and in April 1967, after Syria heavily shelled Israeli villages from the Golan Heights, Israel shot down six of Syria’s MiG fighter planes, provided by the Soviet Union. Israel warned Syria against future attacks.[43][45]

The Golan Hospital in Quneitra as it appears today.

Before the Six-Day War, the strategic heights of the Golan, which are approximately 3,000 feet (1,000 m) above the bordering Hulah Valley in Israel, were used to frequently bombard civilian Israeli farming communities far below them, although Moshe Dayan (Israeli Defense Minister during the 1967 war) would later state that it was often the result of Israeli provocations in the demilitarized zone.[46] According to the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, former Israeli General Mattityahu Peled claimed that more than half of the border clashes before the 1967 war "were a result of our security policy of maximum settlement in the demilitarized area".[47] Syrian attacks killed 140 Israelis and injured many more from 1949 to 1967.

In May 1967 before the Six-Day War of 1967, Hafez Assad, then Syria's Defense Minister declared: "Our forces are now entirely ready not only to repulse the aggression, but to initiate the act of liberation itself, and to explode the Zionist presence in the Arab homeland. The Syrian Army, with its finger on the trigger, is united... I, as a military man, believe that the time has come to enter into a battle of annihilation."[48][49]

During the Six-Day War of 1967 Syria's shelling greatly intensified and the Israeli army captured the Golan Heights on 9–10 June. The area which came under Israeli control as a result of the war is two geologically distinct areas: the Golan Heights proper (413 sq mi; 1,070 km²) and the slopes of the Mt. Hermon range (39 sq mi; 100 km²). The new border between the two forces was called the Purple Line.

History since the Six-Day War

Panorama showing The upper Golan Heights and Mt. Hermon with the Hula Valley to the left.
Panorama looking west from the former Syrian post of Tel Faher.

Between 80,000 and 109,000 of the Golan's inhabitants, mainly Druze Arabs and Circassians, fled or were driven out during the Six-Day War.[50][51] For various political and security reasons, Israel has not allowed those who fled to return.[47]

Israel began settling the Golan almost immediately following the war. Kibbutz Merom Golan was founded in July 1967. By 1970 there were 12 Jewish settlements on the Golan and in 2004 there were 34 settlements populated by around 18,000 people.[52] Today the Golan is firmly under Israeli control.

Abandoned Centurion tank in the Golan Heights.

During the Yom Kippur War in 1973, Syrian forces overran much of the southern Golan, before being pushed back by an Israeli counterattack. Israel and Syria signed a ceasefire agreement in 1974 that left almost all the Heights in Israeli hands, while returning a narrow demilitarized zone to Syrian control.

The Syrian citizens who remained in the area after it was captured by Israel in 1967 were required to carry Israeli military identity papers. In the late 1970s, the Likud government of Israel began pressuring them to request Israeli citizenship by tying it to privileges such as the right to obtain a driver's license or to travel in Israel. In March 1981, the community leaders imposed a socio-religious ban on Israeli citizenship. Protests came to a head after the November 1981 effective annexation of the Golan Heights by Israel. They included a general strike that lasted for five months and demonstrations that sometimes became violent. The Israeli authorities responded by suspending habeas corpus, imprisoning the protest leaders and imposing curfews and other restrictions. On April 1, 1982, a 24-hour curfew was imposed and soldiers went from door to door confiscating the old ID cards and replacing them with cards signifying Israeli citizenship. This action caused an international outcry including two condemnatory UN resolutions.[53][54] Israel eventually relented and permitted retention of Syrian citizenship, as well as agreeing not to enforce the mandatory draft.

Syria has always demanded a full Israeli withdrawal to the June 4, 1967 borders, including a strip of land on the east shore of the Sea of Galilee that Syria captured during the 1948–49 Arab-Israeli War and occupied from 1949–67. Successive Israeli governments have considered an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan (of an unspecified extent) in return for normalization of relations with Syria, provided certain security concerns are met. Prior to 2000, Syrian president Hafez al-Assad rejected normalization with Israel.

Warning of minefield in the Golan originally deployed by Syrian army but still active.

During United States–brokered negotiations in 1999–2000, Israel and Syria discussed a peace deal that would include an Israeli withdrawal in return for peace, recognition and full normalization of relations. Israel insisted on the pre-1948 border (the 1923 Paulet-Newcombe line), while Syria insisted on the 1967 frontier. The former line has never been recognized by Syria, claiming it was imposed by the colonial powers, while the latter has been rejected by Israel as a result of Syrian aggression during 1948–67. The difference between the lines is less than 100 m for the most part, but the 1967 line would give Syria access to the Sea of Galilee, Israel's only freshwater lake and a major water resource.

In late 2003, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said he was ready to revive peace talks with Israel. Israel demanded Syria first disarm Hezbollah, who launched many attacks on northern Israeli towns and army posts from Lebanese territory and cease to host militant Palestinian groups and their headquarters. Peace talks were not initiated.

After the 2006 war between Israel and Syrian–Iranian-backed Hezbollah guerrillas, the issue of the Golan Heights arose again. Israel heightened its alert over a possible war with Syria after Israeli intelligence assessed that Syria was "seriously examining" military action. Syria reinforced its forces on the Golan while remaining in a defensive position. President Assad stated that Syria was prepared to hold peace talks with Israel but said that if hopes for peace dissolve then "war may really be the only solution". Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert dismissed calls within his coalition to consider peace talks and proclaimed that "the Golan Heights will remain in our hands forever".[55][56][57] Others, including cabinet minister Shimon Peres and Ehud Olmert's spokesman Assaf Shariv doubted Assad's sincerity and suggested that Assad's statements were a bid at deflecting international criticism of his regime and specifically explaining that the alleged approach by Assad "is coming in the weeks before the decision on Rafik Hariri", referring to the international inquiry on the murder of the former Lebanese prime minister, a harsh critic of the Syrian presence in Lebanon.[58][59]

In June 2007, approximately 40 years following the Six Day War in which Israel took over the Golan Heights, it was reported that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had sent a secret message to Syrian President, Bashar Assad, saying that Israel would return the land in exchange for a comprehensive peace agreement and the severing of Syria's ties with Iran and terror groups in the region.[60] Meanwhile, on the same day, former Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the former Syrian President, Hafez Assad, had promised to give him Mount Hermon in any agreement.[61]

Towns and villages

See also: Golan Regional Council

The Golan Heights' administrative center, which is also its largest Israeli community, is the town of Katzrin, built in the 1970s. There are another 19 moshavim and 10 kibbutzim.

There are also four Druze villages in the Northern part of the Golan Heights including Majdal Shams, and an Alawite village called Ghajar that stretches on both sides of the Lebanese-Israeli border.

Attractions

Katzrin

Main article: Katzrin

Katzrin is regarded as "the capital of the Golan Heights" and as such hosts a large number of attractions. The ancient Talmudic village of Kisrin is fully excavated and one can tour the different houses in the village as well as the remains of a large synagogue. There is also an interactive movie experience about the Talmudic time within the compound. The Museum of Golan Antiquities hosts archaeological finds uncovered in the Golan Heights from prehistoric times. A special focus concerns Gamla and excavations of synagogues and Byzantine churches. Throughout the Golan Heights 29 ancient synagogues were found dating back to the Roman and Byzantine periods. Katzrin is home to the Golan Heights Winery, a major winery of Israel and the mineral water plant of Mey Eden which derives its water from the spring of Salukiya in the Golan. One can tour these factories as well as factories of oil products and fruit products. It also has two open air strip malls one which holds the Kesem Hagolan or the "Golan Magic" a three-dimensional movie and model of the geography and history of the Golan Heights [11] [12] [13].

Gamla Nature Reserve

Main article: Gamla

The Gamla Nature Reserve is an open park which holds the archaeological remains of the ancient city of Gamla — including the tower, the wall and the synagogue. It's also the site of a large waterfall, an ancient Byzantine church, and a panoramic spot to observe the nearly 100 vultures who dwell in the cliffs. Israeli scientists study the vultures and tourists can watch them fly and nest.[62]

Gilgal Refaim

Main article: Gilgal Refaim

A large impressive circular stone monument, similar to the famous Stonehenge. This monument can best be seen from the air due to its size. A 3D model of the site exists in the Museum of Golan Antiquities in Katzrin.

Um el Kanatir

Um el Kanatir is another impressive Byzantine archeological site. The site includes a very large synagogue and two arcs next to a water source.[63] The arcs have been dubbed Rehavam Arcs after Rehavam Zeevi.[19][64]

Nimrod Fortress

Main article: Nimrod Fortress

An ancient fortress used by the Ayyubids, Crusaders, the Mongols and Mamluks in many fierce battles. This is now a nature reserve open for exploring.

Mount Hermon

Main article: Mount Hermon

The slopes of Mount Hermon in the Golan Heights house an Israeli ski resort including a wide range of ski trails at novice, intermediate, and expert levels. It also offers additional winter family activities such as sled-riding and Nordic skiing. Those who operate the Hermon Ski area live in the nearby moshav of Neve Ativ and the town of Majdal Shams. The ski resort has a ski school, ski patrol, and several restaurants located on both the bottom and the peak of the area. Near the mountain resides the crater lake of Birkat Ram.

Hamat Gader

Main article: Hamat Gader

A site of hot mineral springs with temperatures up to 50°C used for recreation and healing purposes. Hamat Gader was already widely known as a recreation site in Roman times. The site includes a Roman theatre, which was built in the 3rd century CE and contained 2,000 seats. A large synagogue was built in the 5th century CE.

Hippos

Main article: Hippos

An ancient Greco-Roman city, known in Jewish Aramaic as Susita סוסיתא, now an Israeli archaeological site, the excavations include the city's forum, the small imperial cult temple, a large Hellenistic temple compound, the Roman city gates, and two Byzantine churches. Both the Greek and Aramaic names are derived from the words for "horse".

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "Golan Heights" World Encyclopedia. Philip's, 2005. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.
  2. ↑ Peter Caddick-Adams "Golan Heights, battles of" The Oxford Companion to Military History. Ed. Richard Holmes. Oxford University Press, 2001. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.
  3. ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/country_profiles/3393813.stm BBC - "a Rocky plateau in South-Western Syria"
  4. ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/country_profiles/3393813.stm Golan Heights (BBC) see second bullet point under "Golan heights facts"
  5. ↑ UN Security Council Resolution 497
  6. ↑ UN General Assembly, The occupied Syrian Golan : resolution / adopted by the General Assembly, 15 January 2007.
  7. ↑ Different accounts on whether Golan inhabitants were expelled or whether they fled (1997–2002)
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 "Golan Heights" A Dictionary of Contemporary World History. Jan Palmowski. Oxford University Press, 2003. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.
  9. ↑ Y.Z Blum "Secure Boundaries and Middle East Peace in the Light of International Law and Practice" (1971) pages 24-46
  10. ↑ [1] International Boundary Study Number 94, December 30, 1969. Jordan--Syria Boundary. US Department of State, p. 12
  11. ↑ Haim Gvirtzman, Israel Water Resources, Chapters in Hydrology and Environmental Sciences, Yad Ben-Zvi Press, Jerusalem (Hebrew) [2] indicates that the Golan Heights contributes no more than 195 million m³ per year to the Sea of Galilee, as well as another 120 million m³ per year from the Banias River tributary. Israel's annual water consumption is about 2,000 million m³.
  12. ↑ Country Profile, BBC News Middle East.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 CBS.
  14. ↑ Golan Heights Law, MFA.
  15. ↑ Ghajar: 773 [3]; Majdal Shams: 228 [4]; Buq'ata: 279 [5]; Mas'ada: less than 100 [6]; Ein Qinya: less than 100 [7]
  16. ↑ Susan Taylor Martin (February 18, 2007). "Golan families dream of reunion", St. Petersburg Times. 
  17. ↑ Ghajar says `don't fence me in'
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Diaa Hadid. Golan's Druse Wary of Israel and Syria June 3, 2007
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Ynet
  20. ↑ Fear and tranquility on the Golan
  21. ↑ The Independent
  22. ↑ The Golan’s Druze wonder what is best
  23. ↑ Y.Z Blum "Secure Boundaries and Middle East Peace in the Light of International Law and Practice" (1971) pages 24-46
  24. ↑ MEPC Journal vol. 5.
  25. ↑ JAfI.
  26. ↑ Golan Heights, Netanyahu.
  27. ↑ Press Release, UNO 2006-06-18.
  28. ↑ Moshe Ma'oz (March 2005). "Can Israel and Syria Reach Peace?: Obstacles, Lessons, and Prospects" (pdf). Retrieved on 2008-04-06.
  29. ↑ "Olmert to Assad: Israel willing to withdraw from Golan Heights". Ynet News (2007-06-08). Retrieved on 2007-06-08.
  30. ↑ "Hafez Assad conceded Mt Hermon, says Netanyahu". Ynet News (2007-06-08). Retrieved on 2007-06-08.
  31. ↑ BBC
  32. ↑ Nahmias, Roee. "Syrian report: Olmert agreed to concede Golan Heights", Ynet. Retrieved on 2008-04-23. 
  33. ↑ Einav, Hagai. "Attempt to cede Golan doomed to fail, say local leaders", Ynet. Retrieved on 2008-04-24. 
  34. ↑ Golan.
  35. ↑ Golan, JVL.
  36. ↑ Biger, 2005, p. 173.
  37. ↑ Chaim Weizmann, subsequently reported to his colleagues in London: "There are still important details outstanding, such as the actual terms of the mandate and the question of the boundaries in Palestine. There is the delimitation of the boundary between French Syria and Palestine, which will constitute the northern frontier and the eastern line of demarcation, adjoining Arab Syria. The latter is not likely to be fixed until the Emir Faisal attends the Peace Conference, probably in Paris." See: 'Zionist Aspirations: Dr Weizmann on the Future of Palestine', The Times, Saturday, 8 May, 1920; p. 15.
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 Franco-British Convention on Certain Points Connected with the Mandates for Syria and the Lebanon, Palestine and Mesopotamia, signed Dec. 23, 1920. Text available in American Journal of International Law, Vol. 16, No. 3, 1922, 122–126.
  39. ↑ Agreement between His Majesty's Government and the French Government respecting the Boundary Line between Syria and Palestine from the Mediterranean to El Hámmé, Treaty Series No. 13 (1923), Cmd. 1910. Also Louis, 1969, p. 90.
  40. ↑ FSU Law.
  41. ↑ "The Zionist cause depends on rational northern and eastern boundaries for a self-maintaining, economic development of the country. This means, on the north, Palestine must include the Litani River and the watersheds of the Hermon, and on the east it must include the plains of the Jaulon and the Hauran. Narrower than this is a mutilation… I need not remind you that neither in this country nor in Paris has there been any opposition to the Zionist program, and to its realization the boundaries I have named are indispensable". Abelson, Meir, Palestine: The Original Sin.
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 M. Shemesh, Prelude to the Six-Day War: The Arab-Israeli Struggle Over Water Resources, Israel Studies, vol 9, no. 3, 2004.
  43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 M. Shemesh, The Fida’iyyun Organization’s Contribution to the Descent to the Six-Day War, Israel Studies, vol 11, no. 1, 2006.
  44. ↑ M. Shemesh, The IDF Raid On Samu: The Turning-Point In Jordan’s Relations With Israel and the West Bank Palestinians, Israel Studies, vol 7, no. 1, 2002.
  45. ↑ "Six-Day War", Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2007.
  46. ↑ AP 11 May 1997 on Wikiquote.
  47. ↑ 47.0 47.1 Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, 1991-11.
  48. ↑ Louis Rene Beres, Professor Department of Political Science, Purdue University
  49. ↑ Bard, 2002, p. 196. (in Bard the quote is shorter than in Beres, it appears as: "Our forces are now entirely ready...to initiate the act of liberation itself, and to explode the Zionist presence in the Arab homeland....The time has come to enter into a battle of annihilation")
  50. ↑ Morris (2001) , p. 327: "Another eighty to ninety thousand civilians fled or were driven from the Golan Heights."
  51. ↑ Report of the UN Secretary-General under GA res. 2252 (ES-V) and SC res. 237 (1967), p. 14: "The original population, assumed to have been some 115,000 according to Syrian sources, and some 90,000 according to Israel sources, included 17,000 Palestinian refugees registered with UNRWA. At the time of the Special Representative's visit, this entire population had left the area, except for some 6,000 Druses living in agricultural villages and for some 250 other civilians living mainly in the town of Kuneitra".
  52. ↑ Golan Facts.
  53. ↑ UN.
  54. ↑ UN.
  55. ↑ The Telegraph, London: 2006-09-30.
  56. ↑ BBC News Middle-East.
  57. ↑ Jerusalem Post.
  58. ↑ Jerusalem Post.
  59. ↑ Jerusalem Post.
  60. ↑ "Olmert to Assad: Israel willing to withdraw from Golan Heights". Ynet News (2007-06-08). Retrieved on 2007-06-08.
  61. ↑ "Hafez Assad conceded Mt Hermon, says Netanyahu". Ynet News (2007-06-08). Retrieved on 2007-06-08.
  62. ↑ Antiquities.
  63. ↑ Kanatir, TAU.
  64. ↑ Focus.

References

External links