Dande thanks UNGA for adopting a resolution calling for Israel’s withdrawal from occupied Syrian Golan

The UN General Assembly on Tuesday adopted a resolution by majority of member states, demanding that the Israeli occupation entity completely withdraws from the occupied Syrian Golan to the June 4, 1967 line in implementation of the relevant Security Council resolutions.

In a statement following the vote, the Acting Chargé de Affaires of Syria’s delegation to the United Nations, Dr. Al-Hakam Dandi, expressed his thanks to all member states that voted in favor of the draft resolution, which affirms their commitment to international law, the Charter of the United Nations, and their keenness on supporting peoples who are under occupation to achieve liberation.

Dandi pointed out that the General Assembly, for more than five decades, has called on Israel, in every session, to end its occupation of the Syrian Golan, and affirmed that any measures Israel takes to impose its laws and jurisdiction on the occupied Syrian Golan are null and void and have no legal effect at all.

The Syrian diplomat said “The fourth preambular paragraph of the draft resolution provides  that “the General Assembly decides once again that the continued occupation of the Syrian Golan and its  annexation constitute a stumbling block to achieving a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in the region.”

He pointed out that the criminal practices carried out by the Israeli occupation in the occupied Palestinian territories, especially in the besieged Gaza Strip, whose number of victims has reached its highest level, are pushing the region to unprecedented levels of tension and instability, through committing more massacres against the brotherly Palestinian people, and escalating its attacks on Syrian cities, ports and civil airports.

The Acting Chargé de ‘Affairs renewed Syria’s call on the United Nations to take immediate measures to put its decisions under implementation, end the Israeli occupation of the occupied Arab territories, including the occupied Syrian Golan, stop the Israeli occupation’s attacks on Syrian lands and the Israeli crimes and systematic oppressive practices against the Syrian people in the occupied Golan, including killings, detentions   and torture acts.

He referred also to Syria’s call to stop seizing land and property, expanding settlement operations, plundering the Golan’s natural resources, and trying to change the existing historical, legal, and demographic reality.

Dandi stressed Syria’s legitimate right to restore the occupied Golan up to the line of June 4, 1967, which  is an established right that is not subject to bargaining or pressure, and guaranteed by international law and relevant United Nations resolutions, especially Security Council Resolution No. 497.

He addedthat Syria will exercise its legitimate right to defend its land and people by all necessary means, and to ensure that the Israeli occupation authorities are held accountable for all their crimes.

The Syrian diplomat reiterated Syria’s firm and principled stand  in supporting  the right of the Palestinian people to achieve  self-determination, the establishment of their independent state with Jerusalem as its capital, and guaranteeing the right of refugees to return to their homes from which they were displaced in accordance with international law and relevant United Nations resolutions, most notably Resolution No. 194 of 1948.

 The United Nations General Assembly annually adopts resolutions by a majority of member states, confirming that the Golan is Syrian-Arab, and that the Israeli  practices are invalid, and that it must completely withdraw   up to the line of June 4, 1967, and the necessity of implementing the relevant Security Council resolutions.

Rawaa Ghanam