Nadene Goldfoot
We see that Trans-Jordan is today's Jordan. One resource above said it is made up of 92,300 sq. Km, and another said 80,342 sq.Km. Other countries of comparable size are UAE of 83,600 sq Km, Israel is made of 20,770 sq Km or 28,766 sq.Km; an Lebanon is made of 10,452 sq Km.
Rhode Island is the smallest of the 50 states making up the USA and has only 1,034 sq. miles or 26.04 sq. Km. Israel has often been compared in size to Rhode Island.
Golan Heights
The Golan Heights is a rocky plateau in south-western Syria, about 60km (40 miles) south-west of Damascus and covers about 1,000 sq km. It has a political and strategic significance which belies its size. An armistice line was established and the region came under Israeli military control. Almost immediately Israel began to settle the Golan. Syria tried to retake the Golan Heights during the 1973 Middle East war. Despite inflicting heavy losses on Israeli forces, the surprise assault was thwarted. Both countries signed an armistice in 1974 and a UN observer force has been in place on the ceasefire line since 1974.
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Israel unilaterally annexed the Golan Heights in 1981. The move was not recognised internationally, although the US Trump Administration did so unilaterally in March 2019.
There are more than 30 Israeli settlements in the Golan, which are home to an estimated 20,000 people. The settlements are considered illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this.
The settlers live alongside some 20,000 Syrians, most of them Druze Arabs, who did not flee when the Golan was captured.
Syria has always insisted that it will not agree a peace deal with Israel unless it withdraws from the whole of the Golan.
The Golan Heights were until 1967, under Syrian administration. The status of the administered areas has not changed since June 1967. That's when Israel was attacked by all the Arab nations and lost and Israel surprised them all by winning in 6 days, so the war was called the Six Day War. Pending a peace settlement in which the borders between Israel and its neighbors will be decided, it is that of territories occupied during a war. East Jerusalem was re-unified in June 1967 with West Jerusalem. Israel had not annexed any part of the areas, and this was declared in 1973.
Druze sectorThere are approximately 26,500 Arabs, including at least 24,000 and 2,000 Alawites, living in the Golan Heights today. In contrast to 1948-1967, when civilian infrastructure and services were almost completely neglected by successive Syrian governments, Israel has invested substantial sums in either installing or upgrading electric and water systems, in agricultural improvements and job training, and in building health clinics, where none had existed previously. The inhabitants also enjoy the benefits of Israel's welfare and social security programs. Israel has built or refurbished schools and classrooms, extended compulsory education from seven years to ten, and made secondary education available to girls for the first time. The Golan's Druze residents enjoy complete freedom of worship; the Israeli authorities have made financial contributions and tax and customs rebates to the local religious establishments.
Jewish sector
Today, there are approximately 27,000 Jewish residents in 33 communities (27 kibbutzim and moshavim, 5 communal settlements and the town of ) on the Golan Heights and the slopes of . (Katzrin has its own mayor and local council; the other 32 communities form the Golan Heights Regional Council.) There are also parts of the Golan Heights that are uninhabitable because of minefields planted prior to the Six-Day War.
In Biblical times, the was referred to as “Bashan;” the word “Golan” apparently derives from the biblical city of “Golan in Bashan,” (, ). The area was assigned to the tribe of (). In early times (953-586 ), the area was contested between the northern Jewish and the based in . of Israel (reigned c. 874-852 BCE) defeated Ben-Hadad I of Damascus near the site of Afik in the southern Golan (), and the prophet prophesied that of Israel (reigned c. 801-785 BCE) would defeat Ben-Hadad III of Damascus, also near Kibbutz Afik ().
At the end of 2021, the government plans to double the population of the Golan Heights in the next decade and invest in its development. Approximately $324 million was earmarked to build 7,300 apartments and houses for 23,000 new residents of the Golan Heights. In addition, two new villages (Asif and Matar) will be built with a total of 4,000 apartments. More than $50 million will be spent on improving roads and public transport. Another $53 million was alloctaed for regional development, including tourism, which was expected to generate about 2,000 jobs in the tourism industry, agriculture, hotels and the commercial sector. Additional funds are being invested to turn the Golan Heights into the technological capital of renewable energy in Israel.
- In the early 1920s, British and French control of these territories became formalized by the League of Nations' mandate system, and on 29 September 1923 France was assigned the League of Nations mandate of Syria, which included the territory of present-day Lebanon and Alexandretta in addition to modern Syria.
- 1923
- Britain gives the Golan Heights to the French Mandate of Syria. Arab immigration is allowed; Jewish immigration is not.
- The First World Congress of Jewish Women is held 6–11 May in Vienna.
In June 1940, after the Franco-German armistice, the French in Syria announced that they would cease hostilities against Germany and Italy and recognize the Vichy government. Political uncertainty and the growing scarcity of goods and rising prices caused unrest, which was led by one of the prominent nationalists, Shukri al-Quwatli. In May 1941 the Vichy government allowed German aircraft to land and refuel en route to Iraq, and in June, British, Commonwealth, and Free French forces invaded Syria. French troops resisted for a month, but Damascus was occupied on June 21, and hostilities ceased at midnight on July 11–12.
From then until 1946, Syria was jointly occupied by British and French forces. At the moment of invasion, the Free French had proclaimed Syrian and Lebanese independence, and this was underwritten by the British government, which recognized French predominance in Syria and Lebanon, provided France carry out its promise of independence. In the interests of its Arab policy, Britain used its position of strength to persuade the Free French to carry out their undertaking. Elections held in 1943 resulted in a nationalist victory, and Shukri al-Quwatli became president of the republic.
There followed two years of disagreement about the transfer of authority from the French administration to the Syrian and Lebanese governments. A crisis took place in 1945, when the French refusal to transfer control of the local armed forces led to disorders, culminating in a French bombardment of Damascus and British intervention. After long negotiations and discussion in the UN Security Council, agreement was reached on simultaneous British and French withdrawal from Syria and Lebanon. Withdrawal from Syria was completed by April 1946. Syria had already become a founder member of the UN and of the Arab League.
It was 100 years ago that England gave 77% of the promised Jewish Homeland to Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. "Germany entered World War I on August 1, 1914 when the country declared war on Russia. 11 million German soldiers were mobilized, 100,000 of whom were Jewish. A number of these Jewish soldiers were honored for their service with the Iron Cross. In addition, many German Jews supported the war effort at home along with their neighbors. This service and dedication were soon disregarded, but World War I efforts are an essential part of the German Jewish story."
This was a time when our Jewish leaders discussed the end of WWI, hoping to gain back their own lost land that had been held by the Ottoman Empire for the past 400 years. That land was the original homeland of the Jewish people, as told about in the Bible. (Old Testament). Jews had been waiting for the past 2,000 years to return. Now was the time, a first since losing the land to the Romans in 70 CE.
- Resource:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Jewish_history
- https://israelforever.org/state/Mandate_for_Palestine_Jewish_State/
- https://www.titlemax.com/discovery-center/lifestyle/the-100-smallest-countries-in-the-world/
- https://www.britannica.com/place/Syria/The-French-mandate
- https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-14724842
- Facts About Israel, from Jerusalem
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