baroud_8-9r.qxp_From the Diaspora 2/2/22 4:48 PM Page 8
From the Diaspora
As Israel Plots Endgame in Occupied Golan, Bennett Must Remember Lessons of the Past
PHOTO BY MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
By Ramzy Baroud
Farm workers harvest Cabernet Sauvignon grapes for the Bazelet HaGolan Winery near the El Rom settlement in the Israeli‐annexed Golan Heights by the border with Syria, on Oct. 5, 2020. WITH SYRIA STILL embroiled in its own war, Israel has been actively rewriting the rule book regarding its conduct in this Arab country. Gone are the days of a potential return of the illegally occupied Golan Heights to Syrian sovereignty in exchange for peace, per the language of yesteryears. Now, Israel is set to double its illegal Jewish settler population in the Golan, while Israeli bombs continue to drop with a much higher frequency on various Syrian targets.
Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and editor of Palestine Chronicle. His forthcoming book , co‐edited with Ilan Pappé, is Our Vision for Liberation: Engaged Palestinian Leaders and Intellec‐ tuals Speak Out. Dr. Baroud is a non‐resident senior research fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA) and also at the Afro‐Middle East Center (AMEC). His website is <www.ramzy‐ baroud.net>. 8
Indeed, a one-sided war is underway, casually reported as if a routine, everyday event. In the last decade, many “mysterious” attacks on Syria were attributed to Israel. The latter neither confirmed nor denied. With the blanket support given to Israel by the Donald Trump administration, which recognized Israel’s illegal annexation of the Syrian Golan Heights of 1981, Israeli reluctance to take credit for the frequent and increasingly destructive and bloody air raids has dissipated. Briefly, some in the Israeli government were concerned by the possible repercussions of the advent of Joe Biden to the White House in January 2021. They worried that the new president might reverse some of the pro-Israel decisions enacted by his predecessor, including the recognition of the “sovereignty over the Golan Heights,” due to the “strategic and security importance to the State
WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
MARCH/APRIL 2022
