More than 41 years of strict restrictions on the freedom of movement of Syrians between the Occupied Golan and Their Homeland Syria

The information which Al-Marsad has indicates that the Israeli occupation authorities continue to impose strict restrictions which ban the Syrian inhabitants from exercising their natural right to move between Occupied Golan and the rest of the Syrian homeland. This causes a continuing humanitarian sufferance since the occupation of the Golan in 1967 started. This sufferance affects the displaced families in particular, and therefore requires your immediate intervention to pressure Israeli occupation authorities to stop these restrictions and their elimination.

Current situation:
The sequences of the occupation have dramatically affected the civilian population of occupied Golan. This is due to Israeli authorities’ policy of forcible transfer of the civilian population, to which 95% of the residents of occupied Golan were subject, and who have forcibly moved into Syria leaving behind them their lands, homes and properties.

The Israeli authorities segregated the Golan from Syria since the first day it occupied the Golan. It issued the military order (Order Preventing the Infiltration) which banned the civilians, who were uprooted from their homes and properties, from returning. As well, it led to the rupture of all means of communications between the Arab Syrians, who were able to stay in the occupied Golan, and their homeland, families and relatives in Syria. Yet, at latter stages, the Israeli authorities accepted to unify some families, and accordingly some people came to the Golan and others left to Syria. After the launching of Madrid negotiations which aimed at finding a political settlement between the parties to the Middle East conflict in 1991, the Israeli authorities authorised some categories of the residents of occupied Golan to travel to Damascus, such as religion men were permitted to travel for religious reasons, and students were allowed to leave for the purpose of studying in Syrian universities. It is worth noting that the occupation forces discriminate against women in particular since it bans women from travelling to Damascus at all, unlike religious men and the students. As well, the rest of the population are deprived from travelling, even for humanitarian reasons such as death, marriage and other cases. In addition, the Israeli authorities absolutely reject the entrance of Syrians to the occupied Golan for humanitarian reasons .
Apart from this, the communication between the population is present in different forms, as gathering at the ceasefire line at an area called the Valley of Tears, and which is adjacent to the east side of Majdal Shams village, at 200 meters far from it, by using loud speakers. The communications between the families during the first years of occupation was limited to the mail sent via the International Commission for Red Crescent. Latter, and at the end of the seventies, there was a tent put at the area of the Valley of Tears, which was sponsored by the International Commission for Red Crescent, and the Israeli military governor of the occupied Golan was the one to decide who are the persons allowed to go to the tent to meet their family members and he used to deprive many people from this opportunity.

The Valley of Tears:
The Valley of Tears is the area near the east side of the occupied village of Majdal Shams, and it is a property of the people of the village. In this area, there are two hills which are separated by the ceasefire line, and the distance between them is 200 meters . The (displaced) population come from Damascus on semi daily bases to this area, and they gather at the eastern hill, and their relatives in the occupied villages come to the opposite hill to talk to them and know their news using loud speakers and viewers .
The name “Valley of Tears” is an indicator of the human tragedy which the Arab population of the Golan live. The scene which is repeated almost daily at the Valley of Tears represents the size of the tragedy which the civilian population of the area suffer from. This tragedy is due to the forcible migration policy which the Israeli occupation authorities exercised against them, and which led to their displacement and is considered a clear reflection to their continuous sufferance caused by the occupation policies, who cut all means of communication between them on purpose.

A Case:
The death of the young lady May Sha’lan is a striking evidence of the continuous sufferance of the civilian population of occupied Golan since 1967. May was twenty five years old, a mother of two kids and a resident of Ein Kinieh village, which is under occupation. She passed away on 5 March 2008 at a hospital in Damascus, without being able to see her kids and the rest of the members of her family.

May Sha’lan left occupied Syrian Golan to study at a university in Damascus and she got married there to Mr. Iyad Nimer Sha’lan, who is a son of a Syrian family who was subject to forced migration from the Golan. May suddenly had an infection in her liver, which led to a serious deterioration in her health condition. As she was dying she asked to see her mother, father and brothers who are all residing in occupied Golan. On 3 March 2008, May’s family members went to the Israeli authorities to get a permit to leave to Damascus for humanitarian reasons. But the Israeli authorities did not deal with the matter within needed time, and slowed the procedures by requesting a report from the Dr. treating May and the hospital where she being is treated. Unfortunately, May passed away two days later, on the 5th of March 2008. On 10 Mach 2008, the Israeli authorities informed the parents of May that they can pass to Damascus, from the terminal which is located at the Qunaitiera city. Only the parents of May were permitted to pass to Damascus and the rest of family members were banned from travelling.

The Israeli authorities’ policy banning Syrian citizens from moving between the occupied Golan and the rest of Syria is a violation of international humanitarian law and standards which are guaranteed in international conventions for human rights. It violates article 46 from the Fourth Hague Convention relevant to the Laws and Customs of War on Land, which stipulates that the Occupying Power must respect family honour and rights, and article 27 from the Fourth Geneva Convention for the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, 1949, and which stipulates: “Protected persons are entitled, in all circumstances, to respect for their persons, their honour, their family rights, their religious convictions and practices, and their manners and customs”, and article 49 of the same Convention which prohibits individual or mass forcible transfer, as well as deportation of protected persons from occupied territory, and obligates the Occupying Power not to separate members of the same family. As well, this policy violates international standards relevant to family unification and safety, as stipulated in article 12 of the International Declaration for Human Rights, 1949, and article 17 of International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, 1966, concerning the prohibition of ……………


Required Action:

Please write to the Israeli authorities and push it to do the following:
• Announce the reasons behind the continuous closure of Qunaitiera city’s terminal which is located at the ceasefire line between the Syrian and Israeli forces, and allow the citizens of Syrian Golan to travel to Damascus.
• Fulfil its commitments in accordance with international humanitarian law, and which are guaranteed by international treaties and conventions for human rights, and on the top of them the Fourth Geneva Convention, 1949, and the International Convention on Civil and Political rights, 1966, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, 1979.
• Lift the restriction which are imposed on the freedom of movement of the Golan residents, and allow them to move between the occupied Golan and the rest of their homeland Syria, which would put an end to the continuous humanitarian sufferance since 1967.
• Abolish the discriminative policy against women and allow women from Golan to travel to Damascus.
• Immediately halt the policy which the Israel security bodies exercises, and mainly the General Security Services (Shabak), and which seeks at blackmailing and abusing the civilian residents of the Golan, and conditioning their travel to Damascus on not showing their loyalty to their homeland Syria.

Addresses:

•         Mr. Ehud Olmert, Prime Minister, Office of the Prime Minister, 3 Kaplan Street, PO Box 187, Kiryat Ben-Gurion, Jerusalem 91919, Israel. Fax: + 972 2 651 2631 / 02-670-5475, E-mail: rohm@pmo.gov.il, pm_eng@pmo.gov.il
•         Mr. Ehud Barak, Minister of Defence, Ministry of Defence, 37 Kaplan Street, Hakirya, Tel Aviv 61909, Israel. Fax: +972 3 691 6940, Email: minister@mod.gov.il.
•         Mr.s  Tzipi Livni, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 9 Yitzhak Rabin Boulevard, Kiryat Ben-Gurion, Jerusalem 91035, Israel. Fax: +972 2 628 7757 / +972 2 628 8618 / + 972-2-5303367. Email: sar@mfa.gov.il
•         Mr. Daniel Friedmann, Minister of Justice, Ministry of Justice, 29 Salah al-Din Street, Jerusalem 91010, Israel. Fax: + 972 2 628 7757 / + 972 2 628 8618 / + 972 2 530 3367. Email: sar@justice.gov.il / tifereth@justice.gov.il
•         Ambassador Itzhak Levanon, Permanent Mission of Israel to the United Nations in Geneva, Avenue de la Paix 1-3, CH-1202, Geneva, Switzerland, E-mail: mission-israel@geneva.mfa.gov.il, Fax: +41 22 716 05 55
       •         Mr. Meir Shetrit, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Interior
                  . Fax: + 972 2 6701585 /  + 972 02-6701412/4.
                    Email: sar@moin.gov.il

Please also write to the Turkish government the mediator of indirect negotiation taking place in Turkey between Syrian and Israeli governments and to the diplomatic mission or embassy of Israel in your respective country as well as to the EU diplomatic missions or embassies in Israel.

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Occupied Syrian Golan, 7 September, 2008.

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken.

Al-Marsad-The Arab Centre for Human Rights in Golan
Majdal Shams 12438
Golan -via Israel P.O.Box: 9
Tel: + 972 -4-6870644
Fax: + 972 -4-6870645
E-mail: marsad@golan-marsad.org