The UN Security Council has today issued a statement blasting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for recent comments on the Golan Heights, reiterating that “the status of the Golan remains unchanged,” and that it doesn’t belong to Israel despite being occupied by them since 1967, and being illegally annexed by Israel in the 1980s.
Officials noted UN Security Council resolution 497, way back in 1981, made it clear the UN considers Israel’s annexation to have no legal effect internationally. In today’s comments, officials also expressed concern about Israel’s establishment of cities and towns in what is effectively occupied territory.
Last week, Netanyahu declared that Golan was “forever” Israeli, and demanded the international community formally recognize the annexation, saying the Syrian Civil War proved the land could never be returned to the Syrians.
Netanyahu’s predecessors, however, had attempted to negotiate a peace deal with Syria, and returning the heights could’ve been a big part of that peace, which Netanyahu opposed at the time. His comments, then, seem centered around trying to cement the current far-right coalition’s desire to keep occupied territory as part of established international law.
Yet even the US and Germany, nations that are often attacking the UN for criticizing Israel’s behavior in the occupied territories, were quick to reject Netanyahu’s comments, noting that the annexation is a violation of the UN charter.
The United States continues to support Israel and virtually
everything it does….What International Law?
The UN (USA) would love to have Israel claim Golan Heights but might set a precedent else where. So why doesn’t UN demand that the Isrealies leave and hand it back?
When Syria controlled the Golan Heights, it continually fired on Israeli civilians down in the valley.
Since when, Gary? Syrians in the Golan Heights never targeted and/or deliberately fired on Israeli civilians in the valley; but, rather, fired on IDF soldiers. Some rockets most likely landed in or near civilian areas by mistake; rockets do that, especially, when they’re not equipped with guidance systems.
When Syrians did own the Golan Heights, they only fired their rockets in self-defense. Israel only gained the Heights and occupied it for a certain length of time, before returning the region to Syria – minus the Bekaa Valley. So, why is Israel occupying the entire Golan Heights now?
The UN Security Council unanimously stated that the Golan Heights don’t belong to Israel, but to Syria, and must be given back.
Syrian forces often fired on Israeli tractors attempting to farm
http://www.historyguy.com/israel_syria_wars.htm#.VyEdM7Amxca
Until 1920 there was no border in the area . No Syria and no Israel .
The British and the French , who had just defeated the Ottoman Turks , created the borders . The French wanted access to the Sea of Galilee , so the area was added to their section where they wanted to create the state of Syria .
After Israel declared independence, the Golan Heights became one big Syrian military base filled with artillery batteries and minefields , a lot of which still exist to this day . The inhabitants are Druze Arabs who still live there today and are very lucky they live in peaceful Israel and not war-torn Syria .
Except that the Druze there hate Israel’s behaviour of fueling the war by providing medical assistance to Al-Qaeda so much that they attacked ambulances and killed their patients.
Israel’s a tinderbox just like all it’s neighbours. They just have more money and weapons. When Syria’s war ends, it will be at peace. But even when Israel is at peace, it is always at war because it hates itself.