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butz are mixed with regard to Is-
raeli withdrawal. Guarantees of
a permanent peace are enticing.
Kathy, kibbutz member and
mother of five, admits that she is
BY CARL ALPERT
prepared to take a chance - but,
SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
she adds, "Pm not ready to give
For years, every visitor to north- up the Golan until I can feel free
ern Israel has been taken to the and secure enough to go shopping
western slopes of the Golan in Damascus." That short sen-
Heights and shown the network tence encompasses more details
of bunkers and gun emplace- than can be written on dozens of
ments from which the Syrians pages of any treaty.
There are Druzes on the Golan
could, and did, rain gunfire on a
vast expanse of Israel's settle- as well, some 15-20,000 of them.
ments. Return all this to the Syr- When the Israelis first arrived,
ians and rely on pledges that all the Druzes greeted them warm-
ly; and almost the entire popula-
will be quiet?
We spent two days on the tion hastened to learn Hebrew.
Golan recently to ascertain how Then, with rumors that the area
the people who live there feel might some day be returned to
about it. Who are they? There Syria, they became reserved.
are 32 Israeli settlements of vary- They can't afford to take sides,
ing sizes and a town (Katzrin), when no one knows what's going
with a total population of about to happen.
Jamilla, who lives in Jajd el
17,000.
Jews are no strangers to the Shams, was willing to talk. She
Golan. When the Israelites first claims that deep in their hearts
came to this area half of the bib- three fourths of the Golan Druze
lical tribe of Menashe settled prefer Israel, but since many
there. Archaeological excavations have relatives in Syria they can't
and recorded history show that afford to show it. If the Syrians
Jews lived there during the times do return, she added, many
of both the First and Second Tem- would want to leave and join
ples. During talmudic times
there was a flowering of Jewish
commercial and cultural life
which have left their traces in the
ruins of some 25 synagogues.
When the British and the
French chopped up the old Ot-
toman Empire after World War
I, lines were arbitrarily drawn on
the map and the Golan was sev-
ered from Palestine. American
government archives show that
from his sick bed President
Woodrow Wilson sent a cable of
protest, pointing out that they
were irrationally mutilating a ge- their Druze brethren in Israel.
ographic entity without consid- Of course, every time there is a
eration of economic or military speech about returning "all or
factors. Events since then have part of the Golan, their loyalties
veer accordingly.
show how right he was.
A surprising reaction came
The argument is now made
that return of part or all of the from Shachar Blitz, who has lived
Golan would produce peace with in Katzrin for the past three
Syria. Joel Sheinfeld, who lives years. He began by informing us
on Kibbutz Kfar Haruv, up on the that the Golan provides the head
Heights, does not understand waters for one third of Israel's
that argument. For as long as supply of drinking water. Who-
the Syrians held the Golan the ever controls that has his hand
border was blazing, and a long literally on Israel's life line. Fur-
chain of Israeli villages and kib- thermore, the Golan has a great
butzim in the north suffered from potential for production of power
aggression. It was always war. form wind energy, and three
By way of contrast, during the 26 windfarms are already in opera-
years that Israel has dug in and tion. Millions of kilowatt hours
occupied, the area has been qui- can be produced with relatively
et. The difference is that instead small investment. He proceeded
of the Syrians dominating and to list the growing industries:
looking down on the Huleh val- dairy farms, world class wines,
ley and the Galilee, the Israelis bottled mineral water and more.
are now in a position where they Yes, he noted, 99 percent of the
can literally look down on Dam- people who live there are happy
ascus. It is the best form of de- and against any change. They
terrent; the best guarantee of are against any territorial com-
promise. He himself, however, is
peace, he says.
On the Israeli side is Kibbutz prepared to give up the whole of
Kfar Giladi, established in 1916. the Golan for a true peace. "I'm
The inhabitants no longer fear probably the only one here who
the flaming guns from the thinks that way," he added with
Heights, but feelings in the kib- a smile.
Archaeological
excavations and
recorded history
show that Jews lived
there during the
times of both the
First and Second
Temples.