- Title: GOLAN HEIGHTS/SYRIA: Golan apples cross Israel-Syria frontier
- Date: 5th March 2010
- Summary: QUNAITERA CROSSING POINT BETWEEN GOLAN HEIGHTS AND SYRIA, GOLAN HEIGHTS (MARCH 2, 2010) (REUTERS) WIDE OF UNITED NATIONS (UN) ZONE / MOUNT HERMON IN BACKGROUND TRUCKS MARKED WITH INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF RED CROSS (ICRC) LOGO FILLED WITH BOXES OF GOLAN APPLES WAITING AT QUNAITERA BORDER RESIDENT OF GOLAN HEIGHTS CARRYING BOX OF APPLES VARIOUS OF FORK-LIFT UNLOADING B
- Embargoed: 20th March 2010 12:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVA5HDPCEPNS0BJXQOB45SDIT8TV
- Story Text: International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) trucks began ferrying almost 10,000 tonnes of apples across the Syrian-Israeli frontier, a 70-km (44 mile) stretch of road, on Tuesday (March 2) in an ICRC and United Nations-supervised operation designed to help Syrian farmers in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights market their produce.
The ICRC spokesperson in the Golan Heights, Andrea Barsony, said the transfer of apples produced by local Syrian Druze farmers, a project dubbed "apple diplomacy", would take approximately eight weeks to complete.
"Today we are transferring up to...starting to transfer, up to ten thousand tonnes of apples from the Golan to Syria proper and the International Committee of the Red Cross is now doing all the logistics with...we have three trucks crossing back and forth for up to eight weeks," Barsony said.
Such transfers began in 2005 because restrictions placed by Israel on produce from the Golan, which it occupied in 1967, meant many apples were going to rot unless Syria bought them.
Thousands of Syrians live in five villages and towns in the Israeli-occupied Golan, an area famous for grapes, cherries and apples.
"We consider today a festive day for the farmers of Golan and residents of Golan in general. This is because, first of all, our harvest is being marketed in Damascus, and secondly, because the financial return will support the people of Golan and the farmers of Golan. Between 85 to 90 percent of the income of farmers in Golan is from apples," said Muhammad Abu Rafee, spokesperson for the Golan Farmer's Committee.
The ICRC is acting as a neutral intermediary at the request of farmers in the Golan Heights and with the approval of both Syrian and Israeli authorities. The process is among humanitarian activities carried out by the ICRC in the Golan since 1967, which include facilitating the travel of certain categories of people like students and pilgrims.
"It's the transfer of apples from the occupied Golan, so these are apples who are grown by the Golani-Syrian farmers in the Golan and they're having trouble getting the apples to the markets. So what we do as a form of assistance to people living under occupation, which is part of the mandate of the ICRC, is we help transfer these apples across," said ICRC delegate, Kate Burton, in Qunaitera on the Syrian side of the crossing point.
The first day of the process started with three trucks of apples crossing to the Syrian side.
The Golani apple is known as one of the best types of apple because it grows in cold weather which makes it fresher and firmer.
Apple cultivation is considered one of the main aspects maintaining the economy for Golani farmers who basically live off of its cultivation.
"Apples are their only source of income [for Golani farmers], pretty much, and this is a primary and strategic harvest in Golan. All this pours into their economic and social stability, as well as their commitment to their Syrian identity and land," said Nader Abdallah, Director of the General Association for Storage and Marketing.
This is the fifth time such a process took place, the first being in 2005 where 4,000 tonnes of apples crossed the border -- the transfer did not take place in 2008 due to poor harvest.
Israel captured the Golan Heights in the 1967 Middle East War and Syria wants it back as a condition to establish peace with Israel.
Israel and Syria held four indirect rounds of peace talks under Turkish mediation in 2008, but they were suspended following the resignation of then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in September of that year.
During the height of the Israeli offensive on Gaza in 2008, Syria said it ruled out any resumption of talks.
But more recently, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has expressed interest in renewing negotiations with Israel.
The Syrian government wants an Israeli commitment to withdraw from the whole of the Golan Heights. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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