Page 10 - ARUBA TODAY

A10 WORLD NEWS
Saturday 23 March 2019
Golan Heights an area of beauty, strategic value

By ZEINA KARAM timated 26,000 Jewish set-
ISABEL DEBRE tlers living there as of 2019.
Associated Press Roughly the same number
BEIRUT (AP) — President of Arabs live there, most of
Donald Trump’s move to them members of the Dru-
recognize Israeli sovereign- ze sect of Shiite Islam.
ty over the Israeli-occupied Settlers have built wineries,
Golan Heights turns the boutique hotels and a ski
tables on decades of U.S. resort, transforming the pic-
diplomacy and interna- turesque area into a popu-
tional law and threatens lar region for Israel’s do-
to further inflame regional mestic tourism. The Sea of
tensions. Galilee is also Israel’s main
It is unlikely, though, to have reservoir.
much impact on the actual In contrast to the Palestinian
status of the territory, where territories captured in 1967,
Israel acts with full military the Golan has remained
control despite the lack of quiet under Israeli rule.
international recognition While most of the Golan’s
for its annexation 38 years Druze have chosen not to
ago. take Israeli citizenship, they
A look at the Golan Heights: hold Israeli residency status
___ In this April 17, 2018, file photo, Druze men carry Syrian flags during a rally marking Syria’s Inde- that gives them the right to
WHAT IS ITS POLITICAL AND pendence Day, in the Druze village of Ein Qiniyye, Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. travel and work freely. Resi-
STRATEGIC SIGNIFICANCE? Associated Press dents speak Hebrew.
The Golan Heights is a stra- el’s action as “null and void ing the territory has been ating the Golan, “using ev- Still, the community largely
tegic high ground at the and without international more of a rallying cry than ery possible means.” sees itself as inextricably
southwestern corner of legal effect.” a genuine concern. The WHO LIVES THERE? linked to Syria. Many of
Syria with stunning, broad For then-Syrian President civil war in Syria over the The Golan front has been the families living in the oc-
views of both Israel and Syr- Hafez Assad, the father past eight years has been mostly quiet since 1974, cupied Golan are sepa-
ia below. It is roughly about of current leader Bashar the priority and the areas a year after Hafez Assad rated from family in Syria.
1,200 square kilometers Assad, the loss of the Go- adjacent to the Golan mounted a failed attempt In past years, particularly
(460 square miles) and bor- lan Heights left a gaping nearly fell to the rebels at to retake the plateau. The before digital technology,
ders the Sea of Galilee. Isra- wound, and he held vari- one point . U.N. Disengagement Ob- they communicated with
el captured the territory in ous rounds of talks with the Having recovered those server Force, known as UN- their brethren on the Syrian
the 1967 Mideast War and Israelis aimed at recover- areas with Russia’s help, DOF, was established to side through megaphones
annexed it in 1981, a move ing the territory. The two Assad and his allies will like- monitor the cease-fire in placed on two opposite
that was never recognized sides appeared close to a ly seize on Trump’s move to May 1974 by a U.N. Security sides of a valley named
by any country in the world. deal in 2000, but disagree- renew its claims to the Go- Council resolution. the “valley of tears.” Before
U.N. Security Council reso- ment over its fate ultimately lan. The Syrian government Israel has built dozens of the war, brides would often
lution 497, issued after the foiled the talks. said in a statement Friday it settlements in the Golan cross at the border pass of
annexation, refers to Isra- For Bashar Assad, recover- is now more intent on liber- over the years, with an es- Quneitra. q

India bans pro-independence group in Kashmir

Associated Press a unilateral cease-fire in two wars over its control.
NEW DELHI (AP) — India on 1994. Since then, it has India accuses Pakistan of
Friday banned a pro-inde- challenged India’s sover- arming and training the in-
pendence group in its por- eignty in Kashmir politically. surgents, a charge that Is-
tion of Kashmir as part of a In February, the Indian lamabad denies. Pakistan
crackdown on separatist government declared an- says it provides only diplo-
organizations. other anti-India group, the matic and moral support
A government statement Jamaat-e-Islami, an unlaw- to the rebels fighting Indian
said it declared Jammu ful association. It said the rule. Tensions escalated last
Kashmir Liberation Front an group has been providing month after India launched
“unlawful association” as it recruits, funding, shelter an airstrike inside Pakistan,
tries to curb the activities and logistics to a Pakistan- targeting militants blamed
of secessionist organiza- backed rebel organization, for the Feb. 14 suicide
tions posing a threat to the Hizbul Mujahideen. bombing on Indian para-
country’s unity and integ- Insurgent groups have military soldiers in Indian-
rity. In this Thursday, Nov. 10, 2016, file photo, Jammu Kashmir been fighting for Kashmir’s controlled Kashmir.
The group’s leader, Yasin Liberation Front (JKLF) Chairman Yasin Malik, center, walks independence from India Pakistan retaliated by
Malik, was arrested recent- outside his home after he was detained by Indian police in or its merger with Pakistan shooting down two Indian
ly in a counteroffensive Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir. Associated Press since 1989. planes and capturing a pi-
against dissent following a Kashmir has been divided lot, who was later returned
Feb. 14 suicide attack that the group of raising money statement. between India and Paki- to India. India says it lost
killed 40 Indian soldiers in and distributing it to sepa- It was one of the pioneers of stan since they won inde- one plane.
Kashmir. Over a thousand ratists to fuel unrest and armed struggle in Kashmir pendence from British co- International pressure has
people have been arrest- subversive activities in the and was banned in 1990. lonialists in 1947. Both coun- helped prevent the situ-
ed since then. Kashmir Valley. The group The ban wasn’t extended tries claim the region in its ation from worsening be-
The government accused didn’t immediately offer a after the group declared entirety and have fought tween the two countries.q