Al-Marsad welcomes statements from the United States, the European Union and other members of the international community rejecting Israel’s illegal claims to the Occupied Syrian Golan, however, Al-Marsad calls on the international community to go further in its condemnation of Israel’s illegal attempts to obtain sovereignty of the Occupied Syrian Golan.

 

•           In response to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s comments during a recent Israeli government cabinet meeting held in an illegal settlement in the Occupied Syrian Golan, that “the Golan Heights will always remain under Israeli control”, the United States and the European Union made strong statements.

 

•           U.S. State Department spokesperson, John Kirby, stated on Monday “that the U.S. position on the status of the Golan Heights is longstanding and is unchanged. Every administration on both sides of the aisle since 1967 has maintained that those territories are not part of Israel”.

 

•           European Union High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini followed these comments on Tuesday, stating that “the EU recognises Israel within its pre-1967 borders, whatever the government's claims on other areas, until a final settlement is concluded. And this is a common consolidated position of the European Union and its Member States”.

 

•           During the 1967 Arab Israeli War, Israel seized and occupied 1,250 km2 of the Syrian Golan (roughly 70% of the Golan, containing 344 villages and farms) resulting in the expulsion of over 130,000 native Syrian inhabitants, the large scale destruction of their homes, and the establishment of Israeli settlements. In 1981, Israel annexed the Occupied Syrian Golan - an illegal action, overwhelmingly condemned and rejected by the international community.

 

•           Israel is now cynically taking advantage of the ongoing conflict in Syria to launch a new bid to obtain international acceptance of the occupation and annexation of the Occupied Syrian Golan. Meanwhile, it is seeking to create ‘new facts on the ground’ by rapidly increasing the settler population and the extraction of natural resources, to strengthen its control. Indeed, plans have been announced to increase the number of Israeli settlers by 100,000 over the next five years.

 

•           Amid reports that Prime Minister Netanyahu is due to raise the issue of the sovereignty of the Occupied Syrian Golan with President Putin, Al-Marsad calls on the international community to step up its condemnation of Israel’s illegal occupation of the Occupied Syrian Golan; the ongoing construction of illegal settlements and continued human rights abuses of the native Syrian population. The international community must reiterate that the Occupied Syrian Golan is part of Syria and that Israel end its illegal military occupation. Furthermore, Al-Marsad condemns Prime Minister Netanyahu for his inflammatory comments made in a cabinet meeting held in an illegal settlement in the Occupied Syrian Golan.

 

 

 

 

Al-Marsad | Arab Human Rights Centre in Golan Heights is an independent, not-for-profit, international legal human rights organisation that operates in the Occupied Syrian Golan. The organisation was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Majdal Shams.