- Title: SYRIA: Golan women allowed to visit Syria for first time since 1967
- Date: 29th August 2008
- Summary: DRUZE CLERICS FROM THE OCCUPIED GOLAN HEIGHTS CARRYING WALKING TOWARDS SYRIAN BORDER DRUZE CLERICS WALKING PAST ISRAELI SOLDIER DRUZE CLERIC GIVING PASS TO BORDER GUARD MORE OF DRUZE CLERICS WALKING TO BORDER ROAD SIGN READING (in English): "ATTENTION UN DRIVERS, STOP, REPORT TO MILITARY POLICE"/ CLERICS WALKING TO BORDER CLERICS BOARDING BUS CLERICS ON BUS CLOSE SYRIAN-BO
- Embargoed: 13th September 2008 13:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVA9SYSG6658DGDJK86LMUSFKNF8
- Story Text: A group of women living in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights are allowed to visit family in Syria for the first time since 1967.
Israel has allowed Syrian-born women living in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights to visit Syria for the first time since 1967.
Travel to Syria by residents of the occupied Golan heights is restricted by Israel, since Israel and Syria have no peace agreements.
The historic visit of a handful of women, about 14, was met with both exuberance and anger, as many others who were denied safe passage into Syria gathered at the Quneitra border crossing in protest.
There are some 200 Syrian-born women living under Israeli rule in the Golan Heights, many of them from the Druze denomination. They were allowed a "one-way ticket" into the Israeli-governed side in order to join a future spouse. None have been allowed to return to Syria since.
"I came here and got married. I thought I would see my parents within a year or two. But I haven't seen them for 11 years. I am dreaming. I came here today to make my dream come true. I thought since those women were crossing over, maybe I could too. I got there, saw the gate, saw the people on the other side. What can I say? What can I say?" a sobbing Wafaa al-Shaer told Reuters.
The fifty protesters carried placards reading "We demand our right to visit our families" and some even tried to force their way across the border, only to be turned away by Israeli police.
With facilitation by the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC), the women crossed over in UN buses along with a group of Druze clerics who are exceptionally allowed to visit Syria for an annual pilgrimage to the tomb of Abel, one of the most precious religious sites of the Druze confession.
"Our job here today is to be the neutral link between Israel and Syria. This means that we are the ones who get the list of people who are allowed to cross from the Israeli authorities. We transmit this to the Syrian authorities and we provide people with a document which is signed by the Red Cross both in Israel and in Syria and by both the Israeli and the Syrian authorities. You can say we are sort of the practical go-between the two countries," said ICRC spokesperson Helve Kvam.
Most of 18,000 Syrians still living in the occupied Golan, which Israel seized from Syria in the 1967 War, have refused Israeli citizenship.
"We told them we wanted to see our parents before they died. We just want to see them before they die. What are we doing anyway? We're just living on our land. We're not hurting anyone," a tearful Modallala Fares Huneidi said upon crossing the border for the first time in over a decade.
She was greeted by her nephew, Shawqi, and bent down to kiss the ground she had missed for so long.
"This is a crime against humanity and not just against individuals. It shows the aggression of the Zionist enemy and the degree of his racism and occupation of land," Shawqi Huneidi told Reuters.
"We hope for everything to be resolved and that there be peace. At least so that we can see our relatives. Imagine that you can't see your family, they live so close to you but you can't see them," said Sahar Safadi, who had arrived to collect her sister.
Syria launched indirect peace talks with Israel this year under Turkish mediation over the return of the Golan Heights.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said last week that indirect negotiations have not progressed enough to move to direct talks. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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