Israel’s land grab in Syria isn’t justified

The Globe and Mail– Via Archive.ph

The author of this piece is sure to include Turkey as the main instigator of the downfall of Syria- This is totally incorrect. The main instigator/s have always been, same as now, the US, UK, Israel and their PKK allies. Turkey has a role, yes, but it was a sideshow to to the main attraction. So, I’m just dropping the claim from this linked piece

During the tumult surrounding the downfall of the 53-year-long Assad family dictatorship in Syria, Israel is taking advantage of the instability to expand its territory at the expense of the newly freed Syrian people.

Although Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed the fall of Bashar al-Assad was “the direct result” of Israel’s war against Iran and its allies this year…

Israel played a direct role in the downfall of Assad and the destruction of Syria- From Day1

I absolutely agree with this observation below

“Ankara’s main goals are the repatriation of more than 3 million Syrian refugees on its soil and, probably, the demolition of the armed Kurdish movement in northern Syria. Turkey has not evinced any territorial ambitions in Syria, despite Israel’s unfounded accusations, and is unlikely to."

So, all the bullshitters I see on social media claiming Turkey’s trying to take territory- are in my opinion complete and total intentional disinformers. Obfuscating US/Israeli ambitions to demonize a nation this is presently and has been being targeted for destruction for decades.

Israel, however, may well. The Israelis decided to unilaterally destroy, through hundreds of air strikes, most of the major military assets and heavy equipment of the former regime that might have been inherited by the new government, on the grounds that it does not know how hostile the new Syria may prove to be.

This might be regarded as an extreme and unlawful, yet understandable, act of self-defence against a potential new antagonist with a radical pedigree, albeit with moderate words and professed intentions.

It’s much harder to justify the major new land grab around the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, a territory conquered from Syria in the Six-Day War in 1967. Israel effectively annexed the area in 1981, a move contrary to the UN Charter which categorically prohibits the acquisition of territory by war.

This claim was only internationally recognized by the first Donald Trump administration, and remains problematic for the West as it denounces Vladimir Putin’s efforts to “reclaim” supposed “Russian territory” in Ukraine.

Immediately following the downfall of Mr. al-Assad, Israel moved into an existing buffer zone between the Golan Heights and the rest of Syria, cutting deeply and strategically into Syrian territory. The new land grab includes Syria’s highest peak, Mount Hermon, which had previously been occupied by UN peacekeepers.

Israel has seized at least 400 square-kilometres of additional Syrian territory, claiming that a 1974 disengagement agreement was obsolete and that the areas had been “abandoned” by the former regime’s military.

Mount Hermon, in particular, is of tremendous strategic importance. From its commanding heights, it allows surveillance and control of key areas of Israel, Lebanon and Syria.

The new areas generally bring the Israeli military much closer to Damascus, and would put any Syrian regime at an incredible disadvantage in any confrontation.

And the new “regime” has remained silent as Israel advances.

Of course the new leader is Al-Golani

It’s especially noteworthy that he did not grandstand on the issue of the Golan Heights, particularly since his family hails from that area, as his nom de guerre, al-Jolani, indicates.

Al Golani made his way into Iraq to join ISIS.. making his way into Syria via Iraq- Who is Al Golani, really?

Israel has also pledged to rapidly double the Jewish settler population in the Golan Heights, which numbers around 31,000. This obvious determination to intensify control over this part of Syria is, among many other things, intended to secure Israel’s control over the crucial Yarmouk River, which eventually becomes the Jordan River as it runs southward.

Israel maintains that, although it has described the expanded occupation as “temporary,” it nonetheless intends to remain in these new areas for the foreseeable future. It’s hard to imagine U.S. pressure under Mr. Trump compelling them to pull back, and if they can remain in an expanded zone of occupation in Syria for four years, they can probably stay there for 40, and then into the indefinite future.