'}}

Names of the Syrian villages in the Occupied Syrian Golan destroyed by Israel

August 10, 2016

Following condemnation of Google for the disappearance of the names of the Occupied Palestinian Territories from Google Maps, Al-Marsad reiterates its call for Google Maps to show the names of the Syrian villages in the Occupied Syrian Golan destroyed by Israel.

In June this year, Al-Marsad wrote to Google requesting that it amend Google Maps to show the names of the Syrian villages destroyed by the Israeli military in the Occupied Syrian Golan since Israel’s occupation in 1967.

Al-Marsad has been informed that Google Maps previously showed the names of the destroyed Syrian villages in the Occupied Syrian Golan - however, this is no longer the case and Google Maps now only shows the names of the illegal Israeli settlements built on their ruins.

By only showing the names of illegal Israeli settlements, Google has become complicit in Israel’s attempts to delete the existence of these villages from history. Instead, Google must take an objective approach, in line with international human rights law and international humanitarian law, and stop supporting Israel’s narrative of the landscape of the Occupied Syrian Golan.

Al-Marsad has not yet received a response from Google.

During the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, Israel captured 70% of the Syrian Golan. Consequently, an estimated 130,000 native Syrian inhabitants were forcibly transferred or displaced from their homes and forbidden from returning. The Israeli military then began a widespread campaign to demolish their homes that resulted in the destruction of two cities, and over 300 villages and farms.

Israeli settlements – illegal under international law – were then built over destroyed Syrian villages and farms, in so doing, control was taken of the land and natural resources.

These actions by Israel violate multiple rules of international law and have been strongly condemned by the international community.

Today, there are at least 20,000 Israeli settlers in the Occupied Syrian Golan, living in over 32 illegal settlements – often built using the stones from destroyed Syrian villages.

Dr Nizar Ayoub, Director of Al-Marsad, commenting, said:

“Google must take immediate action so that its maps include the names of the destroyed Syrian villages. Google and other businesses have an obligation to ensure they are not complicit in Israel’s illegal occupation of the Syrian Golan.”

ENDS
Al-Marsad is an independent, not-for-profit, legal human rights organisation – it is the only human rights organisation operating in the Occupied Syrian Golan.
For additional information, please contact marsad@golan-marsad.org or researcher.almarsad@gmail.com

Releated Posts

'}}
Press release regarding the deterioration of the situation in Syria and attacks on civilians
Al Marsad condemns the attack by the Al Nusra front on June 10 against the Druze community in the village of Qalb Luza in Idlib province which resulted in the deaths of 23 civilians including children, and the wounding and enforced disappearance of many others.
READ MORE
'}}
ACTION ALERT: The International Community Must End Israel’s Collective Punishment of the Civilian Population in the Gaza Strip
As international and criminal law scholars, human rights defenders, legal experts and individuals who firmly believe in the rule of law and in the necessity for its respect in times of peace and more so in times of war, we feel the intellectual and moral duty to denounce the grave violations, mystification and disrespect of the most basic principles of the laws of armed conflict and of the fundamental human rights of the entire Palestinian population committed during the ongoing Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip.
READ MORE
'}}
Israeli Agricultural Settlement Expansion in the Occupied Syrian Golan During the Syrian Conflict
In January 2014, the Israeli cabinet approved a proposal to develop 30,000 dunams (7,400 acres) of land in the Occupied Syrian Golan for agricultural use.
READ MORE
'}}
Oil and natural gas in the Occupied Syrian Golan, illegal exploitation by Israel as occupying power
According to the Law of Occupation, Israel being the occupying country, has the legal obligation to act as just administrator of public property and natural resources. Nevertheless, at the beginning of 2013 Israel's Energy and Water Resources Ministry granted Genie Energy, an American-Israeli company, an exclusive licence to explore for oil and gas in a 153-square miles radius in the southern part of the Golan.
READ MORE
'}}
NEW PUBLICATION: EU’s guidelines on labelling of settlements products, situation in the EU and in some States Parties
Since the occupation began, the Israeli authorities have aimed to implement policies which control the valuable resources in the region, in particular the land and the water.
READ MORE