ANKARA
U.S. President Donald Trump announced last week that it was time for the U.S. to "fully recognize Israel’s sovereignty" over the Golan Heights.
Although the announcement sparked huge condemnation and criticism from across the globe, including the UN Human Rights Council, EU, Turkey and many others, Trump will sign an official document lending support to Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights on Monday.
The United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCR) 242 (1967), 338 (1973) and 497 (1981) make U.S. decision illegal in terms of international law.
When Israel attacked Syria during the Arab-Israeli War and occupied the strategic Golan Heights in 1967, the UNSCR called for:
- The withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict;
- The termination of all claims or states of belligerency and respect for and acknowledgement of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every State in the area and their right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force;
In 1973, Syria launched a failed military campaign to recover the Golan. The following year, Israel and Syria agreed to withdraw their forces from the plateau, and the vacuum has since been filled by UN peacekeeping forces.
In a resolution released in 1973, the UN Security Council announced that it;
- Calls upon all parties to the present fighting to cease all firing and terminate all military activity immediately, no later than 12 hours after the moment of the adoption of this decision, in the positions they now occupy;
- Calls upon the parties concerned to start immediately after the cease-fire the implementation of Security Council resolution 242 (1967) in all of its parts;
- Decides that, immediately and concurrently with the cease-fire, negotiations shall start between the parties concerned under appropriate auspices aimed at establishing a just and durable peace in the Middle East.
Despite this, Israel unilaterally "annexed" the region in a move never recognized by the international community in 1981. Later the same year, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution declaring Tel Aviv’s presence in the area as "null and void".
UNSCR 497 asserts that;
- [T]he Israeli decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights is null and void and without international legal effect;
- Israel, the occupying power, should rescind forthwith its decision
- Provisions of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of the Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949, continue to apply to the Syrian territory occupied by Israel since June 1967;
The Globe Reacts
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan underlined that Tel Aviv had "no right" over the disputed territory.
"Under UN resolutions, Israel cannot lay claim even on a small bit of the Golan Heights," Erdogan said at an election rally in Turkey's central province of Konya.
Condemnations poured in last week from UN bodies, the EU and a large number of nations, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
The UN Human Rights Council on Friday passed a resolution opposing the Israeli occupation of the Golan Heights, urging Israel to comply with the UN resolutions currently in force.
The resolution also called on Israel to allow for Syrians in the occupied Golan to visit their families, for international institutions to access the region and for the release of all Syrian detainees, including many that Israel had imprisoned for decades.
"Our assessment of the illegality of Israel's decision to extend its sovereignty to the Golan Heights, adopted as a basic law in 1981, remains unchanged. Changing the status of the Golan Heights bypassing the Security Council is a direct violation of UN decisions," the Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman stated.
"In any case, such an idea itself in no way contributes to the goals and objectives of the Middle East settlement, rather on the contrary. So far it is nothing but a call, let's hope that it will remain a call," Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Tehran also slammed the U.S. decision.
"This decision regarding a sensitive region will lead to a fresh crisis," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi said in a statement.
"The Israeli regime has no right to Arab and Muslim territories," he added, calling for an "immediate end" to Israel’s decades-long occupation of Arab lands, including the Golan Heights.
While attending a meeting of Organization of Islamic Cooperation member countries in Istanbul, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif also touched on the matter via Twitter: "All [OIC countries] shocked by @realDonaldTrump continuing to try to give what is not his to racist Israel: first Al-Quds & now Golan."
Separately, the German government deputy spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer last week told a news conference in Berlin that Germany’s stance on the status of the Golan remained unchanged and based in international law, particularly in resolution 497 passed following Israel’s formal seizing of the region.
Stressing that Berlin rejected all "unilateral actions," she reiterated the international legal status of the occupation being "null and void".
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad also criticized the U.S. move and said his country enjoys friendly relations with every country in the world except Israel.
"We are not against Jews but we cannot recognize Israel because of [its] occupation of Palestinian land. You cannot seize others’ lands, and form a state. It’s like a state of robbers," he said.
President of the European Council Donald Tusk reiterated the EU’s stance not to recognize Golan Heights in Syria as Israeli sovereignty.
"The European Union's position is well known and has not changed," Donald Tusk told a news conference after an EU summit in Brussels when asked about Trump’s move to fully recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
Powerful pro-Zionist organizations in the U.S. such as the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) also voiced concern over Trump’s decision.
"Strongly disagree [with] Donald Trump; now NOT the time 4 US to recognize Israel sovereignty over Golan Hts. No Arab govt would make peace w Israel & would violate UNSCR 242 which rules out acquiring territory by war and serves Israel as it says all states have right 2 live in peace," head of the CFR Richard Haass said on Twitter.
From China, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang's also stressed the "clear" UN resolutions.
"It is China's consistent position that parties concerned should abide by relevant UN resolutions and norms of international law and properly handle territorial disputes through negotiations for comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East," he said.
The U.K. also voiced concern on the decision, with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office announcing: "The U.K. views the Golan Heights as territory occupied by Israel. Annexation of territory by force is prohibited under international law, including the UN Charter."
"We did not recognize Israel’s annexation in 1981 and have no plans to change our position," said a spokesperson for the office.
