Wind turbines in the occupied Syrian Golan

Wind turbines in the Golan wreaking havoc on nature destroying the picaresque beauty of the villages and most importantly seizing farmlands and so depriving the farmers of the Golan from cultivating their land.

The company that will set up the wind turbines is called Energix Renewable Energies which of course is an Israeli company. No amount of protesting or demonstrating that the people of the Golan did had any effect on the Israeli decision

Lawyers, activists and human rights organizations all signed a petition of over 5000 names in protest against the implementation of the project.

 Up to 25 huge wind turbines will be erected in the occupied Syrian Golan on an area of approximately 3674 Dunums.

Each turbine is about 200 meters in height with a base that covers 600 M2.

The turbines will be positioned roughly between the villages of Majdal Shams and Mas’ada, so obstructing any kind of construction in these villages and effectively cutting off the life line to these villages. Interaction between the villages will be difficult and farming the land will become almost impossible especially during the period of erecting the wind turbines-this will result into turning the land from farmland to an industrial zone and badly damaging the environment, bearing in mind the adverse effects that this will have on the birds and insects that in turn pollinate the plant cover.

The erection of wind turbines might effectively lead to the extinction of many birds that make the Golan their habitat like eagles of which only eight remain in the occupied Golan.

In Canada a similar project was revoked and the minister of environment cancelled a wind farm near Ottawa due to concerns over negatively impacting the population there.

Sadly, the project of wind turbines is not the only project that Israel has in mind.

Taking advantage of the situation in Syria (the war carried out by terrorists on Syria-a country that was on the up-rise) Israel has expanded more in the Golan. It has decided to increase the number of settlers from twenty thousand to two hundred and fifty thousand in the year 2048. This plan was revealed after Trump recognized Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights. (As a thank you Israel named a settlement Trump Heights). The plan also includes a road network linking up the occupied Golan to the Israeli entity.

It is to be remembered that Israel occupied the Golan in 1967 and annexed it illegally in 1981. This annexation was not recognized by any country until Trump in 2019 proclaimed that the U.S recognizes Israeli sovereignty over the Golan. This proclamation was immediately followed by the declaration of the high representative of the EU on behalf of the European Union on the Golan Heights.
“The position of the union as regards the status of the Golan Height has not changed. In line with international law and UN security Council resolutions 242 and 497, the European Union does not recognize Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights”.

Editor In Chief

Reem Haddad