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Fayez Sarah
Introduction:
Thirty-four years ago, on
As a result of this aggression,
Many researches, studies and books
discussed the policies and practices of
Since
In fact,
Golan is located at the southwestern
corner of
The aggression of 1967 was destructive and
evacuating, where most of the inhabitants were expelled from their
lands. Only 6000 thousand Syrians (4.5 percent) remained in five
villages: Majdal Shams, Masadeh, Ain Khanieh, Baka'ata and Al Gajar,
most of them are Syrian Arab Druze. Among the expulsion operations,
The Israeli aggression had violations on two levels, the first related to the expelled inhabitants of Golan, the second related to the inhabitants of Golan who remained under occupation. 1 - The transgressions against the expelled inhabitants of Golan:
The Israeli violation started by expelling
the inhabitants, then, confiscating their properties and lands, and
ruining their social and economical life types. Those expelled
inhabitants were forced to start a new ambiguous life with weak
capacities or with lack of any capacity to live through non-human
conditions. Their first and second generations were born in the same
hard conditions. Until today, we can witness their sufferings in their
gatherings in Hajar Aswad, south of The assistance, which the expelled inhabitants received to renew their living away from their own lands and properties, was very limited to substitute their psychological, social and economical losses. The Syrian government afforded them with simple and cheap supplements, little food and limited amounts of money. Very few inhabitants were able to overcome the destructive effects of their expulsion and immigration.
The expelled people have hope that their
suffering would terminate by going back to their own lands and receiving
compensations. This is a mutual responsibility of 2 - The transgressions against the Syrian inhabitants who remained under the occupation:
The inhabitants who remained in the
occupied part of Golan were exposed to other forms of transgressions
that related to the Israeli attempt to Jewishize
the inhabitants and the land. This was declared in the decision of
Israeli Knesset in 1981 that indicated the application of Israeli
sovereignty and law in Golan and its inhabitants. This decision was a
continuation of the Israeli policies and practices of occupation that
ignored the international decisions and violated the fundamental human
rights. The Israeli violations included all fields, the political, social, economical and cultural, which add more suffering to the daily life of the inhabitants in Golan and their future too. These violations created new actual conditions, which were mainly the following: - First - political violations: The authority of the occupation tended to change the legal and political position of Golan from an occupied land, according to the international law, into an Israeli land, according to the decision of Knesset. Besides, imposing the Israeli nationality on the Syrian inhabitants of Golan, which is another violation of law, the international legitimacy and human rights. In addition, the Israeli authority prohibited the inhabitants to establish any organization or charity association by the vindication of fear from transforming that into political organizations. At the same time, since the decision of 1981 to include the land, the Israeli government opened a wide range for the Zionist parties and organizations' activities in the villages of Golan. Also, the Arab Sports' Leagues were obliged to be affiliated with the Israeli Labor Association to prevent the Arab inhabitants of any independent and national activities.
Furthermore, the authority of occupation
accused the resistance of the Syrian inhabitants in Golan and considered
them espying to the benefit of The long period of imprisonment with all its accompanying health and social effects is not the only imposed penalty against the inhabitants who practice national activities in Golan. There are other penalties like, temporary detention, house arrest and dismissal from work. These punishments happened and still happen to the teachers of Golan, who were accused of practicing antagonistic activities against the occupation. Moreover, contrary to the desire of the inhabitants, the Israeli military authorities appointed local and sectarian councils by military orders, which were issued by the military governor of the region. Thus, the Syrian inhabitants are obliged to yield to Israeli courts and are judged according to Israeli law in Tiberias and Nasera. - Second - economical violations:
The Israeli authority tended to destroy
the life of the inhabitants by dominating their lands and resources.
Accordingly, the occupation took possession of three-fourth the total
occupied area in Golan, more than 350 thousand Dunems (each Dunem equals
1000 square meters). In the town of
Also, the Israeli authorities prohibited
the Syrian inhabitants to reach wide areas of their lands in the north
of Al Sheik Mountain, plus, taking over the
The violation of the proprietorship of
lands and investment is accompanied by controlling the groundwater too.
The Israeli authorities control the groundwater of Ya'furi and Al
Mushairefah regions, the
According to the estimations of Syrian
sources, Some occupied villages were deprived of drinking water, thus, in March 1987, the Syrian government established a project to provide Baka'ta village with water.
Furthermore, the Israeli occupation tried
to confiscate the right of the Golan farmers to export their agrarian
production. The authorities imposed political provisions to bargain with
the farmer about the Israeli identity and nationality in return for
exporting the production. Also, they obliged the farmers to deal with
Israeli merchants or the occupation agents who have licenses for export.
In all cases, the Israeli authorities imposed that the production of
Golan was to be described as the production of
On the other hand, These policies led into economical devastation, which affected many farmers in the occupied Syrian villages. Thus, they were obliged to travel outside their villages to work in the occupied lands of 1948 and in the Jewish settlements through non-human conditions of work. - Third - social violations:
Also, as the other violations, the social
ones were imposed by force and by denying the natural rights of the Arab
inhabitants to practice their traditions and heritage. Arab families are
prevented from contacts with their families and relatives in other
villages, plus, their families in
Against their desires, the Syrian laborers
and employees of Golan were obliged to affiliate with the Israeli Labor
Association. The inhabitants were also obliged to participate in the
Health box, which is attached to the labor association. Actually, the
health conditions are very bad in Golan; there are lack of doctors, lack
of emergency and health centers, lack of laboratories and pharmacies,
lack of gynecologists and obstetrical clinics. The Israeli authorities
refused giving licenses for graduated Syrian doctors and pharmacists to
work in their own villages, also, prohibited the patients to go to
In addition, the occupation authority prohibits the inhabitants to build houses outside the villages, besides, it is obligatory to obtain an anticipated permission to build inside their own villages. The population of Golan occupied area increased, however, the present housing is not enough for their actual needs. All this is accompanied by imposed taxes, which exceeds three dollars per each square meter of the built area, with a yearly augmentation. - Fourth - cultural and educational violations: These violations included history, present and future. Many historical sites in Golan were desecrated and stolen. The students were prohibited of Arabic education and were obliged to study the Israeli curriculums instead of the Syrian books. Many teachers were expelled because the Israeli authorities claimed that they have antagonistic activities against the occupation. In spite of rejection, the Druze heritage was imposed for studying at schools, which the inhabitants believe it untrue because they have Arabic-Islamic heritage instead. The Israeli government employed a number of Israeli teachers in Arabic schools.
The children of Golan have less rights of
education. The five mentioned villages suffer from lack of schools.
Besides, the occupation authorities prevented the students for long
years from attending Syrian universities and institutes. Nowadays, a
limited number of students are allowed to continue their studies at the
Syrian universities, but they are exposed to a lot of annoyance and
inquiries at the frontiers of Golan. The Israeli universities take about
15% of Golan students only, most of them are
in
Finally, since the occupation of Golan in
1967, the expelled or the remaining inhabitants are both exposed to real
and serious violations. These violations uncovered the Israeli disregard
of international laws and treaties, especially, the Declaration of Human
Rights and __________ Sources: This research depended on the following sources: 1) 'Golan: testimonies of emigrants about the days of war and the present', prepared by Saker Abu Fakher, Magazine of Palestinian Studies, No. 42, spring of 2000. 2) 'The racist Zionism and its practices in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights', Fayez Sarah, Al Wahda Magazine, No. 40, January 1988, p. 163 - 171.
3) The annual report of year 2000 about
the positions of Syrian Arabs in the occupied Arab territories, Ministry
of Social Affairs and Labor, 4) The Israeli general Guide, a group of writers, edited by Sabri Jrais and Ahmed Khlifah, The Organization of Palestinian Studies, Beirut, 1st edition, 1997, p. 370 - 398.
5) Dialogues carried out by Madhat Saleh
Al Saleh, a struggler from Golan and a previous prisoner in
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