Outrage in Syria As Israel Announces Two New Settlements To Be Built in Golan Heights
During Israel’s weekly Cabinet meeting, members voted to build new homes for settlers in Mevo Hama, Golan Heights. The project has $317 million in funding and will take up to five years. Technically, Israel’s control over Golan Heights is “not recognized by most of the international community,” and Syria has been furious.
The multi-million-dollar plan aims to double the Jewish population in Golan Heights by establishing two new settlements called, Asif and Matar. They are going to build 7,300 new homes, hoping to attract 23,000 settlers to Mevo Hama. Currently, in Golan Heights, there are 25,000 Israelis and 23,000 Druze.
Golan Heights: stolen from Syria
The Druze haven’t left the area since Israel captured two-thirds of Golan from Syria in the Middle East’s 1967 war. Since then, both Syria and Israel have been claiming the area as theirs. However, in 1973, Syrian forces tried to regain control over it and failed. Later on Dec. 14, 1981, Israel applied its laws to the area, which the international community did not acknowledge, except for the U.S.
In 2019, Trump recognized Israeli sovereignty over Golan. Syria thinks that is a “flagrant violation”, and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennet said, “The Golan Heights are Israeli. This is self-evident”. Bennett also stated that international calls to regain Syrian control over the area were muted. According to him, unity on the Golan plan showed that Israeli control of the area was a matter of “national consensus.”
Is this supposed to come off as news? Maybe, but technically it’s nothing new. That is what Israel does. That is what colonizers do; they take things forcefully no matter who gets hurt in the way. The novelty of Israel’s cruelty wore off way back. Israeli updates just get blood boiling now.
