excerpt from:
‘All options,’ even military ones, on the table
to push Israel out of Golan
(Press TV) ~ Syria will do whatever it takes to take back the occupied Golan Heights from the Israeli regime, says a high-ranking official.
Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad made the announcement on Sunday, in response to remarks made earlier by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who claimed “the Golan Heights will remain in the hands of Israel forever,” during the regime’s first a cabinet meeting in the occupied territory.
Noting that the occupied region belongs to Syria according to international law, Mekdad stressed that the Arab Syrian Golan Heights will be taken back from the Israelis.
“All options are on the table for getting back the occupied territory from Israel,” Mekdad said during an interview aired on the Lebanese television channel al-Mayadeen.
“We are prepared to do anything in order to return the Golan to the Syrian motherland, including using military force,” Mekdad (pictured below) asserted.
During the Sunday cabinet meeting, Netanyahu also demanded that the international community recognize Syria’s Golan as Israeli territory. He said, “Whatever happens on the other side of the border, the border itself will not move. Secondly, after 50 years it is time that the international community realized that the Golan will remain under Israeli sovereignty.”
Tel Aviv has portrayed the cabinet meeting as a symbolic gesture aimed at consolidating Israel’s sovereignty in the occupied region despite international pressure.
Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria after the 1967 six-day war and later occupied it in a move that has never been recognized by the international community.
The regime has built tens of illegal settlements in the area ever since and has used the region to carry out a number of military operations against the Syrian government.
Netanyahu also said that some 50,000 Israelis currently live there and “thousands of families… are supposed to join them in the coming years.”
RELATED:
Syria condemns Israeli occupation government’s holding of a provocative meeting in occupied Syrian Golan
[coinciding with Syrian Independence Day]
(by Hazem Sabbagh, SANA) ~ Syria condemned in the strongest of terms the holding of a provocative meeting in the occupied Syrian Golan by the Israeli occupation government.
In two identical letters to the UN Secretary-General and the head of the Security Council issued on Sunday, the Syrian Foreign and Expatriates Ministry said that the Syrian Arab Republic condemns in the strongest of terms the Israeli occupation government’s holding of this meeting which it stressed is null and void, calling on the UN and the Security Council to intervene immediately to condemn that irresponsible meeting and demanding that this reckless act is never repeated, particularly since the meeting was held on occupied Syrian territory.
The Ministry called on the UN to shoulder its commitments and duties of implementing the UN General Assembly and Security Council resolutions which did not recognize the Israeli occupation of Syrian territory, particularly Security Council resolution no. 497 for 1981 which rejects the Israeli Knesset’s decision of ill repute on annexing the Syrian Golan, a decision that not one state in the world recognized and that violates international law and human rights.
The letters pointed out that if UN resolutions no. 242 and 338 are considered the basis for resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict, then such Israeli policies prove that Israel has zero respect for the international community and its resolutions.
The Ministry stressed that Security Council resolution no. 497 states that the seizing of lands by force is unacceptable as per the UN Charter, and that the resolution considers Israel’s decision to annex the Syrian Golan and impose its laws, authority, and administration over it null and void and without legal effectiveness on the international levels, and in addition the resolution called on Israel as the occupying force to annul its decision immediately and stated that all the provisions of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 on protecting civilians in times of war are still effective in Syrian territories occupied by Israel.
The letters said that as Syria is determined to fight terrorism and defeat terrorist groups that are backed by outside forces, particularly by Israel, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia, it will not forget or relent in its determination to continue working to liberate the Syrian Golan from Israeli occupation and to resist this occupation and its illegal policies and practices which are represented by imposing its null procedures and laws on occupied Syrian and Arab territories.
The Ministry said that in this framework, the Syrian government salutes the heroic Syrian people in the occupied Syrian Golan who are standing fast in the face of Israeli occupation, lauding their sacrifices in their struggle against Israel and their decisive rejection of the Israeli annexation decision.
The letters added that as Syria is fighting terrorism, it emphasizes that terrorism is one of the principle tools employed by Israel in its bid to impose its occupation of Syrian and Arab territories.
The Ministry concluded the letters by asserting that the Syrian government calls on the UN and the international community to assume their responsibility of implementing relevant UN and Security Council resolutions and terminate the occupation of the Syrian Golan in accordance with Security Council resolution no. 497, in addition to calling on them to condemn all forms of Israeli terrorism against the Syrian people in the occupied Syrian Golan and against the integrity and unity of the Syrian Arab Republic’s territory and people, noting that Israeli policies pose a threat to security and stability in Syria, the region, and the world.
Earlier today, the Israeli occupation government held a meeting in the occupied Syrian Golan during which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to consolidate the occupation of the Golan in blatant violation of all international resolutions and agreements which demand that the Israeli occupation withdraw from the Golan.
Golan people defy Israeli cabinet upon occupation meeting
(SANA) ~ The people of the occupied Syrian Golan emphasized that the Golan has always been and will forever be part of the Syrian land and that this truth is firm no matter how the Israeli occupation authorities try to show otherwise.
The emphasis came in a statement issued Sunday in response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holding a cabinet meeting in the Golan.
“The Israeli occupation entity made its settlers promises that will fall flat on the first test when faced by the heroism of our homeland defenders,” said the statement, adding that this entity which has failed to realize its attempts at establishing a buffer zone through supporting the terrorists will fail to bring security to its settlers through its false promises.
The Golan people pledged to keep their firm stand in rejection of the occupation and being loyal to their homeland Syria.
“We stress to the whole world on Independence Day…that the visit of Benjamin Netanyahu’s racist government will not change the position and steadfastness of the people of the Golan,” the statement said.
Netanyahu held earlier an exceptional meeting in the Golan with the aim to consolidate Israel’s occupation of it since 1967, which has been considered null and void by a series of UN resolutions.
On the same occasion, the people of Golan organized a ceremony in Sultan al-Atrash Square in the occupied village of Majdal Shams attended by hundreds of people of the occupied Syrian villages in addition to delegations from the Palestinian territories occupied in 1948.
In a speech during the ceremony, the people of the occupied Golan emphasized their adherence to their Syrian Arab identity and the national principles in confronting the Israeli occupation.
Participants said that the Syrian people who defeated the French colonialism with modest capabilities are able to defeat the new colonialism represented in the Takfiri terrorist organizations due to the steadfastness, sacrifices and heroism of the Syrian Arab Army.
“The unjust terrorist war waged by the western colonial states in cooperation with the Zionist entity and their tools in the region, including the reactionary forces and takfiri mercenaries, seeks to undermine Syria due to its adherence to its sovereignty and independent decision, as well as its embracing the path of resistance which defends the nation’s causes.
The people of Golan pledged to preserve the Arabism and identity of Golan and to reject all plans of the Israeli occupation no matter how long the occupation lasts.
During the ceremony, participants waved the national flags and photos of President Bashar al-Assad.
RELATED:
Benjamin Netanyahu poses with ministers prior to the weekly cabinet meeting in the occupied Golan Heights, April 17, 2016. (Reuters)PM Netanyahu’s Remarks at the Start of the Weekly Cabinet Meeting
Excerpts from the speech of the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, at the weekly meeting of the Israeli government held for the first time in occupied Syrian Golan, 17 April 2016 [published on the Israeli Prime Minister website].
I chose to hold this festive Cabinet meeting on the Golan Heights in order to deliver a clear message: The Golan Heights will forever remain in Israel’s hands. Israel will never come down from the Golan Heights.River to Sea
… … …
I spoke last night with US Secretary of State John Kerry and I told him that I doubt that Syria will ever return to what it was.
… … …
The time has come for the international community to recognize reality, especially two basic facts. One, whatever is beyond the border, the boundary itself will not change. Two, after 50 years, the time has come for the international community to finally recognize that the Golan Heights will remain under Israel’s sovereignty permanently.
Uprooted Palestinian 
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