Golan Heights: Encyclopedia II - Golan Heights - Current status

Golan Heights - Current status

The Israeli army captured the Heights and put them under military administration from 1967 until 1981, when the Knesset passed The Golan Heights Law[4], similar to its 1967 measures concerning Jerusalem. It permitted the distribution of Israeli identity cards in January 1982 to the mainly Druze Syrians who remained there and allowed them to acquire Israeli citizenship, but most chose to retain their Syrian citizenship [5]. The Syrian government wants the Arab residents of the Golan Heights to retain their loyalty to Syria. To foster Syrian loyalty, Syria offers Golan residents free university tuition.

Israel's measures are frequently termed "annexation" but the real status of the Golan is very far from legally clear - the word "annexation" or equivalent concepts, like "extending sovereignty," are not used in the law itself. In any case, the result of the extension of sovereignty/annexation has been an end to the application of military regulations to the populace. It has also been noted that the Golan Heights may return to Syria as part of a peace settlement.

When 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." [6] The governmental Jewish Agency for Israel states that "Although reported as a annexation, it is not: the Golan Heights are not declared to be Israeli territory."[7] On the other hand, the 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."[8] Neither the UN nor any country has recognised the "annexation" and they officially consider the Heights to be Syrian territory under Israeli military occupation. 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."

Additionally, Lebanon claims a small portion of the area known as Shebaa Farms on Mount Dov in the area of Mount Hermon. Syria's official position is that the farms are Lebanese territory. UN Security Council Resolution 425 confirmed ([9]) 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.

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. Currently there are more than 1000 U.N peacekeepers there trying to sustain a lasting peace. 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, 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, brides have been allowed to cross the Golan border, but they do so in the knowledge that the journey is a one-way trip. This phenomenon is shown in the Israeli-Arab film "The Syrian Bride." The Golan Heights contains the only ski resort under Israeli control[10] [11], and the extreme-weather unit of the IDF, the Alpinistim, train there.

Some Jews and Zionist organizations consider the Golan Heights to be liberated Jewish land; this view has very little support internationally. No other country has accepted the legality of the Israeli settlements in the Golan Heights.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Current status", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki