Since its occupation of the Syrian Golan in June 1967, the Israeli occupation has committed the worst crimes of ethnic cleansing, destroying 131 villages and establishing 35 settlements on their ruins.

The Israeli occupation was not satisfied with that, going all the way to drain all the natural resources of the Golan, as it gets a third of its water needs from the lands of the Golan, which are rich in rivers, springs, and groundwater.

For years, it has been conducting exploration operations for oil, which studies indicate is abundant.

During the last decade, the occupation developed an expansionist plan to increase the number of settlements and settlers in the occupied Golan, whose number is expected to reach 250,000 by 2030.

At the beginning of 2019, the occupation announced a project to invest in the air of the Golan to generate electricity from wind energy, by constructing giant wind turbines, on 6000 dunums of the lands of the Golanese farmers, which it seeks to usurp and seize.

What are the big risks that wind turbines will cause?

The wind turbines project comes in violation of international conventions for the protection of peoples under occupation and United Nations resolutions, foremost of which is Resolution 497 of 1981, which affirms that all occupation measures in the occupied Syrian Golan are null and void.

And before the eyes of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Forces operating in the Golan "UNDOF", the Israeli occupation is implementing the wind turbines scheme, which requires the construction of 46 turbines in three phases, of which the first and second phases were implemented on an area estimated at more than 2000 dunums of agricultural land.

Meanwhile, the third phase targets the villages of Majdal Shams, Masada, Buqatha, and Ain Qinya and includes the seizure of more than 4000 dunums of agricultural land, in which about 41 huge fans will be installed.

In view of the size of these turbines, their location, and the area in which they will be built, it can be said that they are the largest and most dangerous in the world, which will result in great social, health, and environmental damage.

These turbines will expose wildlife to great danger and may lead to the extinction of certain species, especially migratory birds that clean lands from harmful insects.

The establishment of turbines in the area located in the middle of the occupied Golan villages will exacerbate the housing crisis in the occupied villages and their dismemberment.

Related News

The economic, social conditions are deteriorating on the Syrian coast

Why the Israelis cannot win in Gaza or Yemen

In addition to limiting its urban expansion, for example, the village of Majdal Shams cannot expand to the north or east because of the minefields, nor can it expand westward due to the existence of two settlements and a camp for the occupation forces.

The only direction possible for urban expansion is the south, which is the site on which the occupation plans to build turbines.

On the other hand, most of the people of the Golan work in agriculture. The turbines will pose a great threat to their future and will eliminate their economic and food security, as the entire region will turn into an industrial zone controlled by the occupation through the "Energix" company.

This means forcibly expelling them from their lands and homes in the coming years and violating a wide range of human rights, including the right to health, housing, development, and others.

Popular protests are the master of the situation

The occupation's plans of Judaization did not stop over the past years, but the people of the Golan were able to thwart them.

They rejected the invalid "annexation" decision in 1981, refused to obtain an Israeli identity, prevented the occupation from holding "local council elections" in 2018, and burned "electoral cards".

The struggle of the people of the Golan has not stopped for years to thwart the project to build wind turbines, and they confronted it in two ways. The first is judicial, so they filed lawsuits, but the matter did not succeed because the occupation government issued a law stipulating that the project be considered "national", allowing the Minister of Finance to seize lands for construction.

As for the second method, it is resorting to international institutions through the Syrian state, in its capacity as the national authority authorized before these bodies.

The confrontation also involves holding seminars, lectures, and media campaigns to explain the extent of the damage from the project, in addition to organizing protests, strikes, and demonstrations to protect the land and stop work on the wind turbine project by force.

The Golan is a Syrian right that will not fall by statute of limitations

Last month, violent confrontations erupted between the people of the Golan and the Israeli occupation forces, who brought in large reinforcements to besiege the agricultural lands and prevent their owners from accessing them. However, hundreds of residents went to the area, affirming their categorical refusal to build turbines on it, and confronted the occupation forces that attacked them with bullets and poison gas bombs, which led to the injury and arrest of dozens of them.

Following these confrontations and the great popular anger, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to postpone the project for a specified period.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry issued a statement confirming that the occupied Golan is an integral part of its territory and is working to return it to the homeland by all available means as an eternal right that does not fall by the statute of limitations.

It also continued to support its people in their struggle against the Israeli occupation and their rejection of the occupation's policy of plundering lands and property, including the establishment of settlements and turbines with the aim of changing the demographic, geographical, and legal character of the region.