ISRAELI SETTLEMENT
The Israeli settlements in the Golan constitute an important part of the Israeli regional defensive system of the Occupied Golan. Settlement there were established in accordance with a strategy based on their participation in the Israeli military plans for defense and attack. There are three conditions that must be taken into consideration while Israel continues settlements construction, namely: availability of arable land, abundance of water resources and a suitable strategic site. The Golan settlements are situated within two zones. The first is stretching as an arch that starts at the foot of Mt. Hermon near Banias Town in the North, following the cease fire line along the Mas’adeh - Alqunaitra Road then Alqunaitra - Alrafeed - Alhimmeh Road . Three settlements, established after 1973, closed the gap of Alkhushniyeh in the mid of the Heights. The second is situated to the south-west of the Golan in Albtaiha plain along the eastern coast of Tiberias. The aforementioned settlement lines conform, to a large scale, with those of the 1967- Axon’s settlement project which calls for annexation of the greater part of the Golan to ‘Israel’ under the pretext of securing a defensive line which secures the control of the water resources and the springs of Jordan River besides establishing the "security" Wadi Alhouleh and Hebron settlements. The "Alme’rakh’s" Israeli Government adopted , until 1977, the principle of "not to withdraw from the Golan", even if a settlement is reached with Syria.
Thus, Immediately after the 1967-aggression, the Israeli Forces started to expel Golan inhabitants from the occupied areas of the Golan, destroyed 133 out of 139 villages, many towns and 61 farms, only 5 inhabited villages survived in the north-west of the Golan; and only 6,000 inhabitants remained there, besides about 25 people in Al-Qunaitra. Israeli objective was to empty the Region of its Arab population, have them replaced by Israelis and provide such Israelis with land sufficient for their agricultural activities. Before the Israeli withdrew from the area in 1974, they destroyed the place completely.
The Israeli settlement policy in the Golan, after 1967-aggression, had two characteristics; condense agricultural settling in the strategic zones with the objective of creating facts on the ground as a political demand, and constructing advanced defensive lines for the 1948-occupied territories. This was very much reflected by Alon Project which appeared early in June 1967. It mixed the early Zionist theoretical principles of creating material events on the ground as a political objective and provided a defensive wall to the east of ‘Israel’ by means of annexing the Golan and the Jordan River stream.
SETTLING AFTER THE JUNE 1967-AGGRESSION
In the aftermath of June 1967-Aggression ‘Israel’ occupied 80% of the Golan and planned for settlement there But it was impossible to fully implement such plans due to many reasons, among which were the Limited Jewish immigration and that most immigrants prefer living in cities to dwelling on the borders. But the Jewish Agency Settling Department prepared schemes to have 50,000 settlers settled in the Golan before 1979. 30,000 to inhabit a city to be built-up as a future tourist and industrial center whereas the other 20,000 will settle in rural settlements. The settlements were planed to be set up in the southern sector of the Golan, where the better agricultural villages lie
It is remarkable that the Israeli settlement activities in the Golan came to a halt in 1969, perhaps because Israelis were occupied with complementing the construction of the 13 settlements initiated during the previous two years. Only one Settlement ;"Nahal Golan", was completed in 1970, but the settling tone was enhanced during the following years. Four settlements in 1971, two in 1972, the cornerstone of one of which was laid the year before, three in 1973, two in 1974, two in 1975, three in 1976, one in 1978, making up a total of about 17 settlements in the 1970’s. The Likud Government resumed settlement activities in the Golan in the 1980’s. It built in 1980 two Settlements;and four others in 1981; "Mitser Kadmat Tsfee, Kil’a, Alloani Heasha", two in 1982; "Tamroud" in the north and one in 1984. A total of nine in the 1980’s; namely; four in the south, two Kibbutz type, one Moshav type and one Kibbutz in the middle area. The construction of the ninth in the north can not be defined due to lack of information. Settling activities came to a halt from 1984 to 1991 during the tenure of the National Unity Government which was formed from the two big Parties; Labour and Herut. The successive governments continued, in the 1990’s, the policy of annexation of, and settlement in, the Golan. The Likud Government under Ytzhak Shamir implemented the scheme of Ariel Sharon, the then Minister of Housing, announced in 1990 with the aim of settling 22,000 Israeli Jew inhabitants by 1992. In June 1990 ‘Radio Ysrael’ announced that 32,000 new apartments were being constructed in the Golan, which double the 12,000 inhabitants there. As estimated by the Israelis, the settling immigration organized by the Israeli government in the Golan meant that "Israel" would not return the Golan to Syria. The Ministry of Housing, headed by Sharon, released budget allocations of constructing three roads and a local airport in South Golan. In May 1993, the Israeli Daily Ma’arev said that the Golan Settlement Committee had decided to build two new settlements in the Golan. Uri Hunter, the Committee’s Spokesman, said, "The settlements will be continued in the Heights because the Golan is vital for Israel’s security and safety even at times of peace". According to the "Israeli Settlement Department" statistics published on 22 December 1994, the Golan Jew population rose in 1994 10% reaching to 16,500 settlers by 1994. A new Movement called "The Golan belongs to Israel", was formed among the settlers. It practiced its activities in Israel and among the settlers with the aim of continuing the seizure of the Golan. When the Likud came to office in "Israel" on 5 May 1996, the Settlement Council set a detailed scheme for the settlement in the Golan and other occupied Arab territories, which stated that:
• The settlement authorities in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Golan should be approved under a governmental decision and that the current schemes already established on ground be taken into account.
• The laws and regulations that froze the settlement activities should be cancelled.
• Schemes for settlement purposes should be announced by the Ministry of Infrastructures and necessary financial resources should be allocated.
• Necessary action, such as organization plans, land surveillance and it under municipal jurisdiction should be immediately initiated.
In the 1990’s, the Israelis built tourist resorts on Tiberius eastern coast between Alhassel, the Arab village, and "Damott" Settlement, and another one near Tel Albarook. Such resorts appeared as temporary settling centers for population working there.
In the aftermath of a meeting held between Shimon Peres, then Israel’s Premier, and Ihoud Korkan, then Head of the Golan Settlement Council, Lormann declared that "Peres undertook to complement the construction of 40 settlements in the Golan along with the infrastructures of the two other settlements inside the Golan.
Within the framework of the Israeli anti-peace process policy, Benjamin Netanyahu’s government took another provocative step allowing private companies to build up new settlement units in Kinsreen Settlement located in the occupied Syrian Golan. Companies initiated the construction activities of a settlement quarter containing 69 housing units, as declared by "Sami Parlev" the Head of Kinsreen Settlement Council. Such new trend of Israeli government that allows the contractors to build in the occupied Golan represents a perilous step within the settling Israeli policy and clear defiance to the international laws and treaties.