Forgotten Territory: The Political, Economic & Social Impact of the Israeli Occupation on the Golan Heights, Part 4: The Advantages of Being Golanese

This six-part series looks into the past and present of the Syrian Golan Heights, which have been under Israeli military occupation since the 1967 war.

by Andrea Dillon

Parts 2 and 3 of this continuing series on the Golan Heights examined the parallels between the Israeli government’s occupations of the Golan and Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). These territories, as well as Israeli policies towards them, are, however, remarkably different in several ways. Part 4 considers the unique circumstances of the Golan’s Arab population, particularly its material and political advantages over the Palestinians of the OPT. While Israel’s more favorable treatment of the Golanese may be driven by a historical desire to create a Druze state in the Golan, the relatively privileged circumstances of the Golanese Arabs may account for the limited attention they receive from the international community.