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Last update - 08:21 18/06/2007
The Golan is Israeli
By Nadav Shragai

It is almost politically incorrect, practically heresy, to claim today that the Golan is not Syrian in the least nor a deposit or bargaining chip for negotiations. But it is precisely time to say so to the Israeli leaders who are trying to blunt the public's awareness.

The Golan is a lot more "Israeli" than "Syrian." It has been Israeli for 40 years, double the time it was in Syria's hands. It has been under Israeli sovereignty for 26 years. It has neither a foreign people nor a demographic problem. The Golan has become a part of Israeli life. It is the most frequently visited part of the country, dotted with dozens of Jewish communities, agricultural fields, industrial areas and tourist resorts, nature reserves and wild landscape.

The roots laid down there are no mere cliche. For the past two generations at least, the Golan became ingrained in our consciousness as an inseparable part of the state. It is not only part of the national home. Most of us also consider its vistas, and even its produce, as components of our Israeliness, whether we're talking about Eden mineral water, Golan wines or bed-and-breakfast accommodations, or whether it's the trip itineraries for schools and youth movements. It doesn't take a poll to know that the Israeli public is tied to the Golan, loves it and senses through healthy intuition that it is part of it.
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Whoever talks about "returning" the Golan to Syria is being misleading. The Golan was placed under a French mandate in the colonialist agreement that divided the region; Syria won independence only in 1946. In the brief period it was in the Golan - 0.5 percent of its territory - Syria turned the region into a launching pad for its attempt to conquer and decimate Israel. The Syrian army shelled the Israeli communities along the border, attacked the Lake Kinneret fishermen, tried to divert the course of its waters and made life "down below" a Sderot-style hell. The Golan was conquered in a justified defensive war. We paid for it with blood. The Syrians lost it fair and square.

In previous eras as well, the Golan was not considered a part of Syria, and it is replete with findings of Jewish heroism and sovereignty, starting with the reign of Solomon, through the Second Temple period, the heroic battle of the city of Gamla and the Talmudic period. It was no foreign land that we conquered. Our ties to the Golan take precedence over its necessity for security purposes or the need to safeguard the water sources, and other excellent arguments.

Whoever now treats the ultimate Syrian demand for a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights and evacuation of every last community there as a decree of Heaven is misguided and misleading. The "price label" convention must be shattered. The approach needs to be completely different. The Golan is not Syrian. It is Israeli. Syria can get a great deal from peace, not necessarily territory. Israel is faced with a rare window of opportunity to explain this to the world, without getting flustered. Syria is now known throughout the world as a supporter of terrorism, as part of the "Axis of Evil," and this is precisely the time to try to leverage the Israeli narrative on the Golan to shatter the "price label" convention.

It is possible that in the end, in another generation or two, there will be a compromise on the Golan as well, but it would be immeasurably better if the starting point were different: When both parties agree in advance that the Golan belongs to one side, the results of the negotiations are known ahead of time. When both parties claim ownership of it, the mediators, too, will treat it differently.

The results of the Second Lebanon War greatly increased the Syrian appetite and led it to threaten a war against Israel unless the Golan is handed over. Alongside the deterrence that incoming defense minister Ehud Barak talks about, this is exactly the time to tell the Israeli story of the Golan Heights.
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  1.   THE GOLAN IS ISRAEL SINCE 1920 08:43  |  paul harris 18/06/07
  2.   Funny logic 08:46  |  Pee 18/06/07
  3.   Golan Heights 08:47  |  Edifice 18/06/07
  4.   Give nothing back! 08:52  |  Ariya Gothelf 18/06/07
  5.   Only w/Israel does the West demand return 08:54  |  david Teich 18/06/07
  6.   Peace for Peace 08:56  |  David G 18/06/07
  7.   #2 Read it again. Jews were in Golan also first. 09:08  |  AK 18/06/07
  8.   Sympathetic nonsense. 09:11  |  M. Franks-Lhermann 18/06/07
  9.   Why stop with the Golan ... go for Boca Raton as well 09:21  |  Natallie Durson 18/06/07
  10.   Good point 09:25  |  Beni 18/06/07
  11.   The 2 pearls of nature conquered 09:28  |  S 18/06/07
  12.   Well-spoken! 09:35  |  Andi 18/06/07
  13.   I TOTALLY AGREE 09:37  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 18/06/07
  14.   David G-# 6-Land for peace works 09:40  |  Daniel Leopold 18/06/07
  15.   NEVER GIVE IT BACK -AND TEACH SYRIA A LESSON IF THEY TRY 09:48  |  don 18/06/07
  16.   Daniel Leopold-- The exception proves the rule 09:54  |  David G 18/06/07
  17.   david Teich-#5-Land for Peace 09:57  |  Daniel Leopold 18/06/07
  18.   Hey nadav, you, and Israel, need to explain this to the world 10:01  |  Steve Holden 18/06/07
  19.   Lo Nazuz MiGolan! 10:04  |  Vittorio 18/06/07
  20.   Cipora Juliana Kohn-#13-I agree only partially 10:06  |  Daniel Leopold 18/06/07
  21.   Good principle 10:12  |  Bill 18/06/07
  22.   All in all, California is stolen goods; Natalie bad news 10:26  |  Shlomo 18/06/07
  23.   A piece of real estate 10:34  |  Yonatan 18/06/07
  24.   David G-#16 Land for peace in Gaza? 10:35  |  Daniel Leopold 18/06/07
  25.   The Golan-Welcome to Israel 10:37  |  Michael Gorinsky 18/06/07
  26.   It will not work 10:49  |  Indrajaya 18/06/07
  27.   # Fact is stranger than Fiction 11:01  |  Kate 18/06/07
  28.   Keep it 11:06  |  bill 18/06/07
  29.   Newsflash for Shlomo 11:07  |  Natallie Durson 18/06/07
  30.   Again, the only thing I can say ... 11:21  |  Andreas 18/06/07
  31.   Indrajaya # 26 11:28  |  ChanahS 18/06/07
  32.   #5 Thanks for the potted history lesson, David Teich 11:32  |  Johnboy 18/06/07
  33.   who cares? 11:37  |  christoph 18/06/07
  34.   the arguments for keeping the golan are fallacious 11:38  |  A.M. 18/06/07
  35.   #29 Newsflashing Back at ya 11:43  |  Kate 18/06/07
  36.   I totally agree with you Nadav,Thanks 11:43  |  trumpeldor 18/06/07
  37.   Peace in Europe between the arch foes like... .... 11:43  |  Karl 18/06/07
  38.   Man, this is one bad article. Jingoism writ large. 11:45  |  Johnboy 18/06/07
  39.   20: Daniel, you need to look at more facts 11:46  |  David Teich 18/06/07
  40.   GIVE ME A BREAK 12:28  |  Danny 18/06/07
  41.   #39 The Piece for Peace Facts with Egypt 12:38  |  Kate 18/06/07
  42.   to ChanahS #31 12:39  |  zeev 18/06/07
  43.   Germany also lost fair and square y not demand part of Germany? 12:40  |  Tupac 18/06/07
  44.   Right on! 12:41  |  thank you 18/06/07
  45.   5 David Teich: Thats because the World put Isreal on the map. 12:47  |  Tupac 18/06/07
  46.   The Golan and International Law 12:49  |  Anthony Podesta 18/06/07
  47.   343 BECAUSE TUPAC YOU ARE TOTALLY IGNORANT 12:51  |  paul harris 18/06/07
  48.   27 Kate: UN resolutions say so; the same UN that created Israel. 12:55  |  Tupac 18/06/07
  49.   IMAGINE WHAT THE THUGS WOULD DO WITH THE GOLAN 12:58  |  LENNY 18/06/07
  50.   Tupac Germany Lost Land to Poland 13:00  |  Zebulonguy 18/06/07
  51.   Zeev # 42 13:05  |  ChanahS 18/06/07
  52.   #9 Natallie Durson 13:05  |  Michael 18/06/07
  53.   #32 Johnboy 13:11  |  Michael 18/06/07
  54.   Danny # 40 13:12  |  ChanahS 18/06/07
  55.   Lest we forget the Kurds 13:15  |  FOX 18/06/07
  56.   SYRIAN PEACE: APPLY SYRIAN-TURKISH MODEL, NOT EGYPT-ISRAEL MODEL 13:16  |  MG 18/06/07
  57.   Fair is fair - Syria annexed Israeli territory on the Jordan... 13:23  |  Scott 18/06/07
  58.   Paul: Jews can live Golan or Pal just like in Germany 13:28  |  Tupac 18/06/07
  59.   The Golan Hts. Belongs to the Druze 13:28  |  Rebel INS 18/06/07
  60.   Israel`s claims to Golan 13:30  |  michael3k 18/06/07
  61.   #46 INCORRECT ANTHONY YOU QUOTE THE WRONG LAW 13:32  |  paul harris 18/06/07
  62.   #44 Completely incorrect 13:37  |  Kate 18/06/07
  63.   #59 The Golan Druze 13:49  |  Kate 18/06/07
  64.   #56 AND DO NOT FORGET THE TURKISH CYPRUS ANNEXATION 13:53  |  paul harris 18/06/07
  65.   a window 13:56  |  Axel 18/06/07
  66.   #45 TUPAC TAKE YOUR FOOT OUT OF YOUR MOUTH 13:58  |  paul harris 18/06/07
  67.   Syria must withdraw from Hauran Region 14:01  |  Joseph E . 18/06/07
  68.   Tell it to the Syrians 14:02  |  Murray 18/06/07
  69.   GOLAN PART OF G-D`S LAND INHERITANCE FOR JEWISH PEOPLE ?? 14:19  |  Bill. 18/06/07
  70.   Golan Heights 14:22  |  Ruba 18/06/07
  71.   #14 Daniel L. 14:31  |  itsik 18/06/07
  72.   #38 Jonnyboyyou`rewrong... 14:38  |  itsik 18/06/07