Sinister Schemes!

The Israeli occupation of the Syrian Golan should end either by peace or otherwise. Israel has been exploiting the crisis and has contributed as a pro-terrorist groups backer to this war.

Unfortunately, the USA, a co-sponsor of Madrid Peace Process, has blindly followed and served occupation greed and schemes. Mr. Trump’s March 2019, proclamation that he “recognizes that the Golan Heights are part of the State of Israel.” is indeed a flagrant violation of all international laws and norms. The US government redrawing of maps not to mention Netanyahu’s plans to name a settlement in Golan after Trump, would never change the reality nor would diminish the Syrians’ determination as to liberate their Golan.

The world at large almost stood against such a sinister move by US Administration. The Five EU members of the UN Security Council underscored their rejection to recognize Trump’s illegal proclamation. “Annexation of territory by force is prohibited under international law,” and goes against “the rules-based international order and the U.N. Charter,” they asserted.

Israel occupation, earlier, permitted a U.S. company to drill for oil and gas in the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan. The Israeli Energy Ministry reportedly gave the first oil-drilling permit in the occupied Golan Heights to the New Jersey-based Genie Energy Company after halting the drilling works in the heights for 20 years because of then-peace negotiations with some Arab countries.

The US former Vice-President, Dick Cheney, is the Advisor of the U.S. company whose most shares are owned by Rupert Murdoch, according to the Israeli “Glob” paper. Drilling works are to cover half of the Golan’s area, specifically the area between “Ketsarin” settlement in the north and “Tzemakh” settlement located south Tiberias Lake, according to Arabian business website.

In fact, the Zionism’s greediness in the Golan precedes the foundation of Israel in 1948 and the 1967 occupation of the Golan. Some supporting examples are listed hereunder:  The World Zionist Organization’s memo addressed to the Paris Peace Conference on February 3, 1919 specified that:

“Hermon is the true father of Palestine’s water. It is inseparable from Palestine unless a crucial blow is inflicted, on Palestine’s life. It has, therefore, to be kept dominated by those who are better capable and more desiring to restore it to its maximum profusion”.

It is astonishing that Zionists spoke in 1919 of Palestine when they had constituted less than 8% of its population as if they had actually occupied it. Louis Brandes, the American Zionism representative, cabled Wizemann on February 16, 1920, that “It is necessary, in order to secure economic development in the north, that Palestine should include Litany River resources at Hermon and the Golan and Hoaran Plains in the east.”

Cabling Saint Rimmo Conference on 29.12.1919 Wizemann said: “The Sykes-Picot Line isn’t meeting its minimum demands because it cuts off water resources and deprives the National homeland of some of the very best settlement fields in the Golan and Hoaran upon which the success of the whole project depends”.

In 1920, Ben Gorion said in a Memo, on behalf of the Zionist Labor Union: “We have permanently requested that Israel should include the southern banks of Litany River and Hoaran Region, south of Damascus”. He continued; “The Country is in need of such water”. It is strange that Ben Gurion was then planning to dominate the whole of Palestine, when Jews had constituted less than 8% of its population, and to usurp not only Palestine, but also the Golan and Hoaran. This expansionist logic is renewing the alleged pleas to justify its plans. It wanted to seize lands of others in order to dominate the water resources. Would the World Opinion accept that Egypt occupies the Nile Resources in Ethiopia and Sudan in application of such logic? What if Zionists had chosen Romania for their State and decided thereafter to occupy the Danube Resources through Austria?

After signing the Syrian – Israeli Armistice Accord on July 20, 1949, Israel initiated a series of brutal actions, summarized as follows:

Israel started in 1950 drying Up Project of Alhouleh Lake that surrounds it from the north. This enabled it to dominate 45,000,000 Km2 of arable land in the Buffer Zone, breaching the so called Syrian-Israeli Armistice Accord.

The natural military barriers were eliminated by Alhouleh Lake drying up operation which jeopardized the Arab Citizens rights inside the Buffer Zone. When Syria complained to the Mixed Armistice Committee, Israel resorted to terrorism and pounded with guns, on April 5, 1951 Alhimmeh, the Syrian City, and its outskirts aiming thereby to subdue Syria. The Security Council issued its Resolution N° 2157/S on May 18, 1951 ordering Israel to repatriate the Arabs it had expelled from the Buffer Zone and to allow the UN Observers free inspection of the mentioned Zone.

The Israelis completed by January 1953 the construction of Alhouleh Lake, as to fraudulently divert its water so that it would dry up completely. Thus imposing their domination on all the demilitarized zones, except the village of Alhimmeh, Mitjahou, an ex-military official admitted that the drying up work would deprive Syria of the secured borders. Syria then anxious to preserve its right continued to claim the restoration of their offs. Therefore, it was entitled to request that its stance be taken into consideration. Furthermore, Moshe Dayan, twenty years later, confessed such fact; “Yes, we have deleted from our side the special status of the Buffer Zones and acted as if they were inside Israel”.

The Israelis began on November 2, 1953 to build up a power station on Banat Yacoub Bridge to the north of Tiberius Lake. This compelled the Israeli constructing company to work inside the Buffer Zone and partially transfer Jordan River water. The Israeli Authorities rejected a request from General Van Beneke , then the UNTSO Chief-Of-Staff, to stop such work. Israel stopped said work for a short period, from October 28,1953 to early 1955.  The Israelis launched in December 1955 an immense raid on the Syrian positions east of Tiberius Lake in order to completely dominate it. Israel commenced in 1956 its greatest water project, known as “The National Project” whose objective was to transfer the Jordan River water to the coastal area and Tel Aviv. The Arabs retaliated by an adverse project of transferring the Jordan River tributaries, but Israel bombarded the practical project facilities.

The commonly-known Israeli Commentator, Uri Afgeari, linking between the Jordan River transfer projects and the Golan occupation, said that “We must not forget that there had been no way to impede the transfer works except by using the air force. We might say that we could have been eventually obliged to wage a war (against Syria) if the Jordan River tributaries transfer project had been complemented, even if the 6-day War has not erupted due to the siege in Sinai”.

Thus, the Golan water resources constituted a major cause of the Arab-Israeli conflict on the Syrian Front and a Zionist basic strategy factor or base towards the Golan, which was based not only on economic and security reasons, but also on political ones. By dominating the Golan water resources, Israel had imposed itself as a partner in the issues and events of the Area. The other factor was the Golan geographical site and its strategic importance, highlighted by Maarev Daily’s remark: “The Syrian Hill was one of the causes that led to the war, because life, which was not bearable at the foot of the Syrian Fortress, had increased the severity of the Arab-Israeli conflict and eventually led to the 6-day War”.  Life, according to Maarev, was unbearable on the foot of the Fortress, because Israel was constantly thinking of breaching the armistice and expanding. The Syrian Fortress was an agony to Israel being an impediment that hindered its plans and greediness. All national documents evidence that Israel was always the war initiator and aggressor despite what it alleged before 1967 as regards Syria’s strategic site, not to mention that most of UN resolutions during that period condemned Israel and its actions which breached the Armistice Accord.

Consequently, Israel Launched in June 1967 another aggressive war against Egyptian, Syrian and Jordanian forces, occupying more Arab land then what was already under her domination (The Golan, Sinai, West Bank and Gaza) . About 89395 km2, four time then it already illegally occupies, 20700 km2. When Israel realized that the Arab Nations began consolidating their ranks (The revolution of 14 July 1958 in Iraq, the victory of the Algerian revolution in 1962, the creation of the Palestinian Liberation organization in May 1964, etc.. ), It though to eliminate any hope of Arab redress. The creation of the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the outburst of the Palestinian fedayeen activities with 35 operations in 1965, rising to 41 within the first five months of 1965 were the most important and dangerous reasons.

Thus, Israel escalated its provocative actions against Syria by shelling the means and equipment working in the Arab project of transferring the Jordan River tributaries. Attacking the Syrian farmers and increasing the impact of challenges against the Syrian Forces led to more vehement clashes that reached their peak by the air battle of April 7,1967. News were spreading of Israeli military arrangements; particularly its deploying a force of 11-13 brigades along the Syrian Borders. Motivated by such news, Egypt met its obligations under the Syrian-Egyptian Common Defense Accord signed on November 4, 1966, and delegated its Chief-of-Staff, Lt. General Mohammed Fozi, to Damascus to study the matter on the ground and coordinate the cooperation. When he returned to Cairo, Egypt declared utmost mobilization, and the Egyptian Forces were paraded on May 15, 1967 in a military march through Cairo streets heading for Sinai. On May 16, 1967 the Egyptian Command-in -Chief requested the UNDOF Commander-in-Chief in Sinai to withdraw his forces. After hasty consultations, the UN Secretary General, U. Thant, decided to meet Egypt’s request and ordered such forces withdrawal on May 19, 1967.

President Nasser announced on May 23, 1967 the blocking of The Strait of Tiran in the face of Israeli navigation, removing thereby the last trace of the 1956-Triple Aggression against Egypt. The blocking of the Traits was considered by Israel as a declaration of war. It expedited the arrangements to launch the aggression taking for granted the USA support to its plan. The UN Secretary General exerted efforts in Cairo and Tel Aviv to limit the deterioration. It was clear that the ghost of war was dominant. Syrian and Egyptian Forces began heading for the battle fronts. On the other side Israel was taking many measures that revealed the intentions of the Zionist leaders to wage aggression. The Cabinet was re-shuffled and General Moshe Dayan was brought in to as Defense Minister. It was only a few hours later that the Israeli forces initiated the war.

Dr. Mohamad Abdo Al-Ibrahim

alibrahim56@hotmail.com