Kassioun Editorial 1052: The Syrian Golan, the Indicators of Complexity and a Solution

It is known that in 1981 the “Israeli Knesset” passed a “law to annex the Golan”, 14 years after its occupation. No country has since recognized this annexation, and the UN has annually issued resolutions rejecting this annexation. Even Washington itself did not officially recognize it for 38 years, until Trump brought on that recognition, from which the Biden administration has not retreated, of course.

In parallel, we have witnessed since this recognition, a feverish Zionist activity regarding the Golan, which has escalated dramatically in recent months. This included repeated statements by Lapid, Bennett, and other officials on the subject, which have become almost a daily occurrence in recent weeks. The activity also included an attempt to pass wind turbine projects, water projects, and projects for removal of landmines and remnants of war. The activity also includes recent announcement of an unprecedented settlement plan aimed at doubling the number of settlers by 2030, an addition of about 23,000 settlers to the current estimated 20,000 within the settlements built during the past 50 years, compared to more than 30,000 Syrians who are still on their occupied land and clinging to their identity.

One way to explain this Zionist behavior is using the words of Naftali Bennett himself last October about the plan to be approved regarding the Golan, which set the following objective: “We are currently working on completing the plan that will change the face of the Golan”. This reflects a deep conviction that the identity of the Golan has not changed despite during the more than 50 years that have passed since its occupation, and that “Israel”, after more than half a century, sets before it the task of changing Golan’s identity, and within a short period.

The more important explanation for this change starts exactly from both the Americans and the “Israelis” comprehension of the reality of the general American retreat, and the necessity of the American withdrawal from the entire region, the most affected by which will be the main American base that Washington will leave behind: “Israel”.

More specifically, the American withdrawal will be accompanied by a redrawing of the entire region on the basis of the new actual balances, including ending the Syrian dilemma and opening the door to a comprehensive political solution.

This imposes, from the “Israeli” point of view, a preemptive fortification towards the near future by complicating the conditions for moving towards it. That is, by complicating the terms and conditions of a political solution in Syria, which “Israel” knows very well will, at a specific stage, reach the point of ending the “Israeli” occupation of the Golan.

In other words, “Israel”, while working indirectly and sometimes directly with those who reject the political solution and those who reject UNSC Resolution 2254, is working on fortification against the possibility of its implementation by complicating and raising the cost of its exit from the Golan, with the hopes that this exit will turn into a bargaining chip over the future of Syria itself.

The full implementation of UNSC Resolution 2254 is no longer only a gateway to ending the crisis, but has also become a necessity in blocking the complications created by “Israel”, and in accelerating restoring the occupied Syrian Golan to Syrian sovereignty. The feverish Zionist activity regarding the Golan is itself one of the most important indicators of the stage we have reached with regard to the process of change due in Syria, beginning with a political transition through Syrian consensus and leadership.

(النسخة العربية)