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US Secretary of State Visit to the Occupied Syrian Golan

November 20, 2020

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Israeli Occupation State, arrived yesterday by helicopter to the occupied Golan, after concluding his visit to the settlement of "Psagot" located in “Jabal al-Tawil” east of Ramallah, Palestine. Pompeo reiterated the current US government’s position that recognizes Israel’s claim to sovereignty over the Golan, declaring that the Golan "... is part of Israel and that Israel has the right to defend its sovereignty”.

 

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In 2017, for the first time, the number of Israeli settlers (26,000) overtook the number of Syrians (25,000) living in the occupied Golan. Note - this is a revised figure since the submission was made. In 2016, the Israeli government approved the construction of 1600 new settlement units in the illegal Israeli settlement of Katzrin. This follows announcements by Israeli government ministers in 2015 to encourage 100,000 new settlers to move to the occupied Golan. In 2015, an Israeli company, Afek Oil & Gas, commenced oil exploration in the occupied Golan. In addition to natural resource exploitation, tourism is a staple of the settlement economy. Tourism to illegal settlements is promoted by the Israeli government and tourism industry, which market the occupied Golan as ‘Northern Israel’. Discriminatory housing and planning policies, and home demolition Discriminatory land and housing policies have led to severe overcrowding in the remaining Syrian villages in the occupied Golan. 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