I haven't posted on Steemit for quite a while but today after reading that Donald Trump has decided to recognise Israel's sovereignty over the Syrian territory of the Golan Heights I thought I would put it to all of you and ask how everyone feels about this?.
Me personally I feel it's a colonial attack on Syria and the middle east and and is by no means legal just because Donald Trump says so. As far as I can tell it's all about money as usual as recently oil has been discovered in the Golan Heights.
Some may accuse me of anti semitism but that's idiotic and I personally do not even believe in the word semitism, it's wasn't just Jewish that were persecuted by the Nazis in world war 2 and even so that was a long time ago give it a break, it was a terrible thing that was done but it's in the past, it's over.
I'm giving my view from a perspective of serving with the United Nations on both sides of the Golan Heights, Syrian and Israeli occupied. The Golan Heights was only occupied as a buffer zone between Syria and Israel to prevent further hostilities and was ALWAYS still part of Syria regardless of what the Israelis occupying the land believed. The land was the home of many Syrian people and they still hold the hope of one day returning home.
Israel and Donald Trump claim that Syria cannot govern the Golan Height in it's totality as their country is in ruin. Yes at present the state of Syria is still in turmoil due to the US, Israeli and Turkish proxy forces, "Free Syrian Army" who's revolution to remove Bashar Al Assad and place a patsy government in Syria to control it failed. That revolution is all but over now, the remnants of the FSA and other terrorist linked groups are now contained in the northern province of Idlib surrounded by Russian and Syrian army. Damascus is now a safe city and life goes on like any other global city.
When I was being deployed to Syria I had a view from the media that Syria was a dangerous place where everyone is out to kidnap you and kill you and that the government was a ruthless group of murdering, torturing criminals who the people of Syria despised. I WAS WRONG. Once I moved into the syrian side of the Golan Heights I found out the truth first hand and it shocked me.
First of all the people are the nicest most friendly and welcoming people I have met in the middle east so far and are by no means the evil terrorist loving people western media has implied.
Secondly Damascus itself is a bustling city full beautiful sights and ancient architecture, it felt like I was on holiday in any city in the world sampling the local cuisine in one of the many restaraunts, stopping off in the modern hotels and strolling through the winding back streets enjoying the view and sights to see. It felt very safe and very welcoming not the terrorist haven I was led to believe.
Thirdly the peoples view on the FSA, the government and the white helmets. The western media's view on everything in Syria is false. The people although they say Assad is no angel, he is the best the country has to rebuild the nation and he's actually quite loved by a lot of the people, he makes regular visits to the people and is considered quite down to earth and caring by the people. They admit he's not perfect (what politician is?) but he is a man of the people and a minority himself and therefore doesn't believe in the muslim or catholic way of thinking as such he believes in governing the people as a whole.
The FSA. They are not the free people of Syria rebelling against the evil Assad regime, the majority were actually foreigners and not Syrian at all and when they did control a lot of Syria they let it fall to ruin and lawlessness and persecuted the people and anyone who didn't fall in line with their beliefs. They were hated by the people, I heard many stories from the Syrian people of how the FSA used to bomb civilian neighbouroods relentlessly and not just hit military targets then try to blame Assad for the atrocities, do they sound like the kind of people you want to rule you?.
The white Helmets. This was a huge shock to me as the media paints a picture of these angels of mercy who save the people from Assads relentless attacks. FALSE. According to the locals they are considered terrorists and hated by the people of Syria. A prime example is the staged chemical attack in the Damascus district Ghoutta. This was an orchastrated pantomime. The white helmets forcefully dragged people from the streets threatening them and proceeded to hose them down with fire hoses, the people didn't know what was happening. Shortly after on cue the cameras came out and pictures were taken of children being carried out in distress after a "chemical attack" by Assad on the people of Syria. They were in distress because they has been threatened and dragged off the street and hosed down. I heard this story from a woman who lives near where the fake attack happened and said if there really was a chemical attack she would be dead and exactly what would Assad have gained from launching a chemical attack against a small group of rebels that were already beaten and losing the war, it makes zero tactical, military or political sense for him to use chemical weapons. She went on to tell me that have I ever noticed how everytime the white helmets do anything theres a camera and always a picture of them carrying a child. She said they are fake and only there for propaganda and most of the time are the ones who actually stage the attacks.
The people of Syria mostly don't care about politics and war they just want to live their lives in peace and enjoy the same freedom the rest of the world enjoys. This attempt to legitimise the Golan Heights as Israeli territory is only going to fuel the fires of war and further disrupt and destabilise the entire middle east even more than it already is. Just because you are illegally occupying a piece of land that belongs to another country doesn't mean you can claim sovereignty over it. If I buy a house and land in the United States does that mean I can announce that it is sovereign land of my country just because I occupy it? NO it does not. The same applys to the Golan Heights, they Illegally took the land in the first place and are now Illegally trying to claim it as Israel now. It's no surprise to me either though to be honest as Israel has done this from the moment the United Kingdom gave them a state. If you visit many middle eastern countries in the region they refer to the area Israel now occupies as Palestine.
It is Illegal under international law to acquire territory by force and in 1974 that is exactly what Israel did in the Golan Heights. The US and Israel just gave the rest of the world the middle finger and as usual the weak United Nations will do nothing about it. Not trying to say that I don't like the people of Israel and the US but for this latest Illegal move economic sanctions should be placed on both countries. If we start to ignore the law then what stops further groups from invading and using force to gain territory and saying well the US and Israel did it so why can't we?. Yet the US would be the first to jump in against Russia or any other country and condemn the use of force to gain territory.