Friday, January 02, 2015

The Golan Landgrab

The Golan Heights, a part of Syria has been occupied by Israel since the 1967 Middle East war. Israel claims to have unilaterally annexed the Golan Heights in 1981, as is the case of East Jerusalem. Most of the region's indigenous Syrians - an estimated 90,000 Christians, Muslims and Druze - were expelled from the 70 percent of the Golan Heights under Israeli control. Today, only some 20,000 Syrian Druze live in six villages still standing in the territory, while more than 21,000 Israeli settlers reside in dozens of Jewish-only colonies. Israel offered citizenship to the remaining indigenous Syrian population, the vast majority rejected that offer, and instead, hold Israeli-issued travel documents that classify them as "stateless".

John Quigley, an international law expert and professor at Ohio State University's Moritz College of Law, explained because the occupation of the Golan Heights is considered "unlawful", Israel "may not extract wealth for its own benefit" despite its long history of exploiting natural resources in the Golan Heights.

According to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the occupied Golan Heights control "the main water sources" of Israel. The BBC reported that the area accounts for a third of Israel's freshwater supply.  Rainwater from the Golan's catchment feeds into the Jordan River. Syria wants a full Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 border. This would give Damascus control of the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee - Israel's main source of fresh water. Israel wishes to retain control of Galilee and says the border is located a few hundred metres to the east of the shore.The land is fertile, with the volcanic soil being used to cultivate vineyards and orchards and to raise cattle. The Golan is also home to Israel's only ski resort.

Afek Oil and Gas, an Israeli company, has been granted exclusive license to conduct exploratory drilling for oil t 10 sites. Afek is a subsidiary of Genie Energy Limited, a New Jersey-based company for which former US Vice President Dick Cheney is an adviser. Condemnation from the Israli side has been voiced on nearly uniform environmental grounds, the threat of potential pollution of the Sea of Galilee. Aamer Ibrahim, a founding member of the Majdal Shams-based activist group Uploading Conscription, however, recognizes that  the drilling plans "is not about environmental protections as much as Israel's taking resources from the indigenous Syrian population" in the Golan Heights. "These plans should be seen in the broader context of economic projects in the region, which include its utilisation of both human and natural resources." He added, "The ongoing Syrian civil war and the world's focus on it have provided Israel with an opportunity to expand its presence here and continue violating international law publicly without much attention from the international community,"
Golan Heights-based activists and local human rights groups fear the decision to drill for oil is part of a broader trend of increased Israeli settlement activity and strengthening of Israeli institutions and businesses.

Israeli authorities intend to invest greatly in the Golan settlement of Katzrin. The funds will go to the Ohalo College, an Israeli academic institute, as well as encouraging "local tourism through 19 million shekels [more than $5.5m] worth of financial investments in museums and parks" and religious centres. In January 2014, Israeli authorities approved a plan to expropriate more than 7,400 acres of agricultural land in the Golan involving the establishment of 750 farming estates with a $108m investment from the Israeli government to provide agricultural training, water system upgrades.


There are always underlying economic reasons to the causes of war

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