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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.