Dear NZ Herald – The Syrian Golan Heights are NOT in Israel

By
Leslie Bravery
-
15
12

evans-cartoon-300x216Above is the cartoon Malcolm Evans drew when at the Herald that cost him his job.
A news item in the NZ Herald published yesterday (14 September 2016), reporting on a missile that landed in the Golan Heights, commented: “The incident was the fifth case since last week in which fighting in Syria has spilled over into Israel.”

Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, stated at a Cabinet meeting in April that “after 50 years, the time has come for the international community to finally recognise that the Golan Heights will remain under Israel’s sovereignty permanently.” It looks as though the Herald got the message.

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Leslie Bravery
Leslie Bravery
http://www.thedailyblog.co.nz
Leslie Bravery is a Londoner with vivid World War Two memories of the Nazi blitz on his home town. In 1947/1948 His father explained to him what was happening to the Palestinians thus: “Any ideology or political movement that creates refugees in the process of realising its ambitions must be inhuman and should be opposed and condemned as unacceptable.” What followed confirmed this assessment of the Zionist entity a hundredfold. Now a retired flamenco guitarist, with a lifelong interest in the tragedy of what happened to the Palestinian people, he tries to publicise their plight. Because the daily injustices they suffer barely get a mention in the mainstream news media, Leslie edits/compiles a daily newsletter, In Occupied Palestine, for the Palestine Human Rights Campaign. These days, to preserve his sanity, he enjoys taking part in a drama group whenever possible!

15 COMMENTS

  1. Greetings Leslie 🙂

    I understood Israel wants the Golan Heights in order to improve its (Israel’s) access to water. Is this correct or is there more to it?

    • George, from wikipedia “Internationally recognized as Syrian territory, the Golan Heights has been occupied and administered by Israel since 1967.[8] It was captured during the 1967 Six-Day War, establishing the Purple Line.”
      “Construction of Israeli settlements began in the remainder of the territory held by Israel, which was under military administration until Israel passed the Golan Heights Law extending Israeli law and administration throughout the territory in 1981.[12] This move was condemned by the United Nations Security Council in UN Resolution 497,[13][14] which said 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.”
      However
      “In 2015, it was reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked US President Barack Obama to recognize Israeli claims to the territory because of these recent ISIS actions and the fact that modern Syria has likely “disintegrated” beyond the point of reunification.[19][20] The White House dismissed Netenyahu’s suggestion, stating that the president continues to support UN resolutions 242 and 497, and any alterations of this policy could strain American alliances with western-backed Syrian rebel groups.[21]”

    • Hi George,
      You understand correctly – and there is more to it. According to a BBC article [http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-14724842], the Israeli-Occupied Syrian territory provides a third of Israel’s water supply, enabling the Zionist state to use the fertile, volcanic soil to “cultivate vineyards and orchards and to raise cattle”. Tourism is a thriving Israeli enterprise in the Syrian territory, which is now home to Israel’s only ski resort. Websites promoting Israeli tourism advertise the Golan Heights as id they were inside Israel. But there is more than territorial ambition driving Israel’s criminal annexation of the Golan Heights — a WikiLeaks release [https://wikileaks.org/clinton-emails/emailid/18328#efmADMAFf] shows that it has been US policy to violently overthrow the Syrian Government by force.

  2. Golan Heights is NOT Israel and any moves to annex territory are not legal nor under international law..

    The people of Golan Heights are not even figured in Israel’s planned illegal expansion. They oppose the subjugation imposed upon then by force.

    If Israel has a Water problem then they should use less or restrict their population numbers and live within their borders.

    China has a water problem so does that give them a right to annex NZ.

    Isreali propaganda is a toxic base for any argument or justification.

  3. Agreed, John 🙂

    Leslie, I also understand that the overthrow of Syria features in the ‘Project for a New American Century ‘ (officially disbanded now it’s got a bit too well known but probably continued under another name).

    Are you able/willing to explain more how the Israeli occupation/blockade of Palestine fits into that plan?

  4. Quote from Herald article:
    “” The Israeli military struck artillery positions in Syria on Tuesday after a projectile from that country’s civil war hit the Israeli-controlled part of the Golan Heights, but denied a Syrian claim that Syrian forces shot down two Israeli aircraft.”

    Quneitra is the area near where this appears to have occurred, I suppose, much of which Israel still seems to occupy and once left again after destroying it (the city that is).

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quneitra_Governorate

    But then this seems to indicate the Golan Heights are largely still defacto ruled by Israel, i.e. occupied:

    Iranian reporting on incidents there:
    http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950624000232

    The UN has troops there observing a separation line, but nothing has been resolved, while Isreal continues to claim it illegally.

    The NZ journalist did present it as “conquered” land, so perhaps should have bothered checking Wikipedia. So some further explanations should have been warranted.

    This is what we get with a poorly resourced journalistic profession, employed on terms like working on the smell of an oily rag, so to say.

    They may not have studied much of relevance, simply pick up the odd report from overseas, do not check facts and details, and simply re-report the crap.

    Looking at the main news every evening, I note this all the time, and it shows in appallingly superficial reporting and bias.

    When “informing” the public like this, no wonder we have such ones as Donald Trump rise in the US and we have a spin and lie PM such as we have here.

    Indeed we now live in the “post truth” era, truth and facts no longer matter, perception and hearsay and tell tales seem to matter more.

  5. If you visit Israel you will find you can visit the Golan Heights from their side. So, yes the Golan Heights are now part of Israel.

    Let’s review the history: Israel was attacked by its neighbours and in order to defend itself, Israel assaulted the Golan Heights in order to push the Syrians off this strategic position. (I have met an Israeli who was part of that assault – a hero that ran into Syrian machine gun fire to take the hill).

    Trust me on this – they’re not handing it back!

    (From a moral perspective, you would wish Israel to hand it back because the Syrian government is so much better than Israel’s?

    Really?

    I think you’d find the average Syrian today would love to move to Israel!)

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