Page 4 - TORCH Magazine #13 - April 2019

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A Biblical Connection
Archaeology reaffirms an undisputable Jewish presence in the area known today as the Golan Heights going back thousands of years. From ancient synagogues to Jewish towns,
this elevated land with its hills, mountains
and plateau was part of the ancestral home
of the Jewish people, promised by God as an everlasting possession for the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
The place “Golan”, meaning “their captivity: their rejoicing” in Hebrew, is mentioned in the Bible as one of the “refuge cities” in a region called Bashan (Deut 4:43; Josh 20:8; 1 Chron 6:71). Bashan was located in land settled by the half tribe of Manasseh situated east of the Jordan River and Sea of Galilee.
Throughout the Old Testament, the Golan was the focus of a power struggle between the Kings of Israel and the Aramaeans who were based near modern-day Damascus.
A History of Attack
A Jewish presence in the Golan continued during the time of Jesus and for hundreds of years later until Muslim Arab armies conquered the region in 636 AD, violently adding it to the first Caliphate and severing the more than 1,600 years of continuous Jewish residence.
When the Ottomans conquered Syria, the Golan was described as being "almost entirely desolate”. This led the Ottomans to encourage refugees from the Russo-Turkish war to settle there. The Jewish presence was restored in Golan in 1886 when land was purchased by the Bnei Yehuda Jewish community.
After the fall of the Ottoman Empire, during which there was no such border, the Balfour Declaration and the San Remo Conference resolution designated the Golan Heights as
part of the British Mandate for Palestine in preparation for a national homeland for the Jewish people. However an Anglo-French negotiation that followed saw the transfer of the Golan from the British Mandate of Palestine to the French Mandate of Syria in 1923, at about the same time as Britain divided its Mandate
to create Transjordan, later known as Jordan. France didn’t give the Golan Heights to Syria until 1946 when it gained independence.
Assembly of “Deutshe Christen”, 1933
The Katzrin Synagogue in the Golan Heights built in the 6th century and later converted into a mosque after the Muslim conquest. It is one of 23 synagogues discovered in the Golan Heights.
A Strategic Necessity
The Golan Heights were used in June 1948 by Syrian forces who invaded Israel when Arab states launched an attack in objection to the creation of the State of Israel.
The territory was used again against Israel in the Six Day War of 1967 when Israel first took the territory in defence after being attacked. It was used again in the 1973 Yom Kippur War by Arab states, with Israel miraculously pushing back the onslaught against all odds.
Now under Israel’s control, Israel annexed the Golan Heights in 1981.
It continues to be a vital strategic stronghold for the Jewish state, which over the years has continued to experience the targeting of Israeli civilians living in the region.
In this context, the Golan Heights provides Israel with crucial military advantages to defend itself from any future attack.
LEBANON
GOLAN HEIGHTS
ISRAEL
SYRIA