Syria Yearns For Liberated Golan Heights
By Muin Abdul Majid
DUBAI, June 3 (Bernama) -- Eucalyptus and pine trees swayed in the gentle breeze as a Malaysian delegation led by Foreign Minister Datuk Anifah Aman recently made its way into Quneitra, a largely abandoned provincial capital in the contentious Golan Heights in southwestern Syria.
The city's flattened buildings and infrastructure bear testimony to the decades-old Syria-Israel conflict over control of the strategic territory.
A member of the delegation commented that Quneitra looked as if it had been hit by an earthquake, with collapsed or disfigured buildings including houses and places of worship dotting the otherwise pretty countryside.
"Our presence here is to give moral support that the people of Quneitra so deserve. We feel your pain; it's as if our own land is being occupied," Anifah told Riyad Hijab, the governor of Quneitra who accompanied him during the visit.
The minister's remarks struck a chord with the Syrian governor, who responded that "those words mean a lot to us".
Quneitra is the capital of the Quneitra Governorate, a district that incorporates the whole of the Golan Heights, according to Syria.
After the Golan was seized by Israel in the Six-Day War of 1967, the Syrians sought to regain the lost territory in the 1973 war. Following the Israel-Syria disengagement agreement in 1974, portions of the Golan, including the bombed-out city of Quneitra, were handed back to Syria.
Anifah took the opportunity to visit the place while representing Malaysia at the 36th Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) hosted by Damascus from May 23 to 25.
Also in the entourage was the Malaysian ambassador to Syria, Datuk Ibrahim Abdullah, who toured Quneitra a few days earlier in preparation for Anifah's visit.
In 1981, Israel unilaterally annexed the part of the Golan it held, a move that was not internationally recognised. The disputed area covers 1,260 sq km, according to the governor.
Besides being a strategic military location, the Golan is also an important source for water in the region.
Quneitra now lies in the United Nations-patrolled demilitarised zone between Syria and Israel, with special permission from Syrian authorities needed to visit the area.
The Malaysian convoy moved slowly around the city, stopping at the site of the former Golan Hospital, its bullet-ridden and crumbling walls a reminder of the grim chapter of its history.
The scene was repeated all across Quneitra, with former Syrian president Hafez Al-Assad having instructed that the city was to remain in its bombed-out state as testimony to the Israeli aggression.
Tangles of barbed wire could be seen snaking through the fields on the edge of town, demarcating areas under Syrian or Israeli control.
"No one should venture to the other side; the area is laden with landmines," warned a Syrian official, pointing towards the expansive fields on the other side of the barbed-wire coil.
But what lies on the mountaintop on the Israeli-claimed portion of the Golan caught the attention of the Malaysians -- the disconcerting sight of Israel's military installations.
"The Israelis may already know that the Malaysian foreign minister is here," said another Syrian official as Anifah alighted from his car to survey the sensitive area.
According to Governor Hijab, the Israelis destroyed 245 towns, villages and farms during their reign of terror, and that many Syrian captives were still languishing in Israeli prisons.
He said 80,000 Syrians currently lived in the liberated parts of Quneitra and another 30,000 in the five villages under Israeli occupation, while thousands of others were housed in temporary camps, anxiously waiting for the day they could go home.
"We have in general rebuilt the infrastructure in most of the liberated villages," said the governor, adding that Quneitra would welcome Malaysian investment in all sectors, including housing for the masses.
Noting that the goal of regaining the occupied Golan Heights from Israel was of utmost importance to the Syrian government, Hijab said: "We look forward to continuing support from Muslim countries like Malaysia in our quest for Golan."
He said Syria admired the Southeast Asian nation of 27 million for its achievements, describing it as a nation that should be emulated by other developing countries.
Anifah told his hosts that Malaysia would continue to voice out support at regional and international forums for the return of Arab lands occupied by Israel, including in Syria and Palestine.
The Malaysian minister was also brought to an orchard lined with olive trees of different sizes located in a little corner of Quneitra.
Armed with a spade, Anifah planted a small olive tree, joining other dignitaries who had done so during their visits to Quneitra, including former Malaysian prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
"God willing, peace will be restored in this part of the world," he said as he watered the olive plant, universally regarded as a symbol for peace.
BERNAMA
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