After the end of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, the Israeli army has made further advances in the Golan and captured more territory. The Golan Heights is the source of fresh water supply to Syria and lower Israel, and agriculture is sustained by this water. These hills of Golan are 67 kilometers away from Damascus.
These hills connect four Arab countries. Lebanon is 25 kilometers from Golan, Palestine is 30 kilometers, Jordan is 60 kilometers and Damascus, the capital of Syria, is 67 kilometers. During the 2003 US-Iraq war, I had the opportunity to report from this area.
Special permission must be obtained from the Syrian government to go to the Golan. This permission was given to the PTV team by Sabat Yahya Naqvi, the ambassador of Pakistan residing in Syria. The journey from Damascus to Golan consists of green valleys.
To the right of these valleys is the white mountain range. There is snow on this mountain all year round. Beyond the city of “Khan Urbana” the United Nations operation begins. The system of this area of 10 miles to the border of Israel is under the control of the United Nations army. Golan is a province called a governorate.
Al Qantira is the headquarters of the governorate. Locally, the Golan means an echo that is created by the sound of the wind rotating in the mountain valley, i.e. CIRCULAR MOVEMENT OF THE WIND. One has to go through four seasons in one day. Fresh fruits of four seasons can be eaten during the two-hour journey.
The Golan Heights are particularly important to Syria, Israel, Jordan and Palestine. There is plenty of water here. JORDAN RIVER also originates from here. Banias River and Aldan River also have their source here. These two rivers are now in the possession of Israel.
The confluence of these two rivers forms the Jordan River. Rainfall is very high in this area. There are more than 100 sweet springs here. The land is fertile and green. In the Golan, we also had the opportunity to visit the historic city of Al-Quntira.
In Syriac, al-Qantirah means a bridge that connects different regions. Samar Qut, director of public relations of Al-Quntira province, also gave us a briefing. Israel occupied 1260 square kilometers of Syria in the 1967 war. In 1973, Syria took back 600 square kilometers of land from Israel. During the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, when Israel captured the Golan Heights, the city of Al-Quntira was also taken over by Israel.
The Israelis expelled more than 250,000 Syrians from the area and declared the city of Al-Quntira an Israeli camp and demolished the city. The United Nations considered the destruction of the Golan area and Al-Quntira to be war crimes. The United Nations called the destruction of the city an open barbarity and declared it to be preserved in its state.
This town has become a museum. In this desolate city of two and a half million people, one house is still inhabited and this house belongs to Zaid Jan Karisatai. We stayed in this house for an hour. Zaid Jan is a person who was born in 1936 in Al-Quntira. He saw the destruction of Israel with his own eyes.
Dear relatives and friends saw being killed but did not agree to leave the city. The representatives of the United Nations also encouraged him to leave here, but he said that he would die on this soil. The wife of this old man of more than seventy years of age also lives here with him.
Seeing his words and passion, one realizes how much dearer the soil of the homeland is. The sparkle and passion of his eyes is a symbol of life. He is still hopeful that the territory will be returned to Syria and that one day the Golan Heights, now occupied by Israel, will be liberated and he will have his fields back. He was saying that when I go to my independent fields in the foothills, I will cultivate crops and remember my martyred children by sitting by the springs.
