| Revision as of 02:50, 8 June 2005 view sourceMustafaa (talk | contribs)14,180 edits try writing the summary _before_ deleting the quotes.← Previous edit | Revision as of 03:18, 8 June 2005 view source Guy Montag (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users4,116 edits I will, but I am not going to have an unacceptable version there for all to see. All the quotes are erased and i will take them to talk to work on consensus before anything is put up.Next edit → | ||
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| <blockquote>At the beginning of June 1974, the witness had visited the city of Quneitra, where he saw a large number of Israeli bulldozers destroying the town and the surrounding areas. | <blockquote>At the beginning of June 1974, the witness had visited the city of Quneitra, where he saw a large number of Israeli bulldozers destroying the town and the surrounding areas. | ||
| </blockquote> | </blockquote> | ||
| <blockquote>Speaking of the conditions prevailing in the Golan Heights before 1967, Mr.Chjair said that he used to teach in a town called Feiq, close to the truce line that existed before the 1967 war. During that time, the exchange of fire across the border was a daily matter because in its efforts to gain more land, Israel used to send its tractors to till the area in the no-man's land, which they then claimed as their own.</blockquote> | |||
| The testimony of this witness was later confirmed by Israeli general ], | |||
| <blockquote>It would happen like this: We would send a tractor to plow someplace of no value, in the demilitarized zone, knowing ahead of time that the Syrians would begin to shoot. If they did not start shooting, we would tell the tractor to keep going forward, until the Syrians in the end would get nervous and start shooting. And then we would start firing artillery, and later also the airforce, and this was the way it was. I did this, and Laskov and Tzur did it. Yitzhak Rabin did it when he was there , but it seems to me that it was Dado, more than anyone else, who enjoyed these games.</blockquote> | |||
| <blockquote>The witness said that he and many other inhabitants tried to return to their homes, but were prevented from doing so by Israeli troops. Israeli authorities stole many archaeological remains and stones. They destroyed the trees, the vineyards. They burned all the crops which had already been harvested.</blockquote> | |||
| <blockquote>The Israeli troops entered also the village of Mesehara where the witness had taken refuge. They used loudspeakers to urge the inhabitants to leave immediately if they did not want to be killed. The villagers were then gathered and expelled, with tanks following them. Some old people, however, remained behind. They have never been heard of since then.</blockquote> | |||
| <blockquote>After a few days of occupation, most of the inhabitants were gathered in a small part of the city. The Israelis prevented the inhabitants from going back to their homes on the pretext of security reasons and they started looting. Then the inhabitants were called to sign personal statements that they would leave Quneitra of their own free will. Finally, the Israelis took the inhabitants in trucks and dropped them outside the city boundaries. Police were warned not to return under threat of being shot.</blockquote> | |||
| <blockquote>The witness said that in 1967 he was living with his father, mother and children in the city of Quneitra. When Israel declared its war on the Arabs on 5 June 1967 1967, it wanted only to fulfil its dreams of swallowing up Arab territories without their inhabitants. The Israeli troops struck at the city of Quneitra on the first day of the war. They shot at trade shops and houses with people living in them. In the few following days after Israeli troops entered the city of Quneitra, most of the inhabitants were still living in it, but pressure mounted to compel inhabitants to leave. For instance, Israeli authorities used to gather the youth in one place and would accuse them of being in the military service; they also gathered the inhabitants in one spot and compelled them to kneel on the ground with their hands above their heads, with no consideration whatever for old people, women or small children. They also took away the wives, whose reputation is of great importance in Arab families.</blockquote> | |||
| Israel claims that the town was destroyed by Syrian artillary during and before the ]. | Israel claims that the town was destroyed by Syrian artillary during and before the ]. | ||
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| Tradition holds that ] passed through Qunaytirah on his way from Damascus to ]. The city was home to an important ] church until the Six Day war. Syria claims Israel destroyed and robbed the church . While Israel claims that the town, including the church, was destroyed by Syrian artillary during and before the ] . | Tradition holds that ] passed through Qunaytirah on his way from Damascus to ]. The city was home to an important ] church until the Six Day war. Syria claims Israel destroyed and robbed the church . While Israel claims that the town, including the church, was destroyed by Syrian artillary during and before the ] . | ||
| ⚫ | Al Qunaytirah is also the name of a governorate of southwestern Syria that includes the Israeli annexed ]. The legal status of the territories is discussed in ]. | ||
| ==Governorate== | |||
| ⚫ | Al Qunaytirah is also the name of a governorate of southwestern Syria that includes the Israeli |
||
| ] | ] | ||
| {{MEast-geo-stub}} | {{MEast-geo-stub}} | ||
Revision as of 03:18, 8 June 2005
Al Qunaytirah or Quneitra is a city of southwestern Syria that is now largely abandoned. It lies in the UN-monitored demilitarized zone between Syria and Israel. The city was a commercial and cultural hub for southwestern Syria until the Six-Day War, when Israel attacked the Golan Heights and captured it. Israel claims its attack on the Golan Heights was purely in self-defense as a response to Syrian shelling of the Galilee. The city was placed back under Syria's control for a short while in the Yom Kippur War, but Israel recaptured it. The Israelis withdrew from the city in 1974. Syria claims that Israel deliberately destroyed the city, and systematically stripped it of its usefullness. Israel claims that the city was destroyed in the fighting from both sides. The General Assembly of the United Nations condemned what it saw as Israel's role in the destruction of the city in Resolution 3240 dated 29/11/1974. Syria chose not to resettle the city and leave it as a testament to what it calls "Zionist brutality."
Since 2005, Syria has pledged to reconstruct the city. It has started construction projects which include a multi-million dollar hospital and a new highway from Damascus to Al Qunaytirah.
Destruction
In a "Report of the Security Council commission" established under resolution 446, witnesses testified about Israel's alleged destruction of the city before withdrawal:
At the beginning of June 1974, the witness had visited the city of Quneitra, where he saw a large number of Israeli bulldozers destroying the town and the surrounding areas.
Israel claims that the town was destroyed by Syrian artillary during and before the Yom Kippur War.
The New York Times on October 21 1973 referred to Quneitra as "a bombed-out military town the Syrians lost to the Israelis ..."
Religious importance
Tradition holds that Saint Paul passed through Qunaytirah on his way from Damascus to Jerusalem. The city was home to an important Greek Orthodox church until the Six Day war. Syria claims Israel destroyed and robbed the church . While Israel claims that the town, including the church, was destroyed by Syrian artillary during and before the Yom Kippur War .
Al Qunaytirah is also the name of a governorate of southwestern Syria that includes the Israeli annexed Golan Heights. The legal status of the territories is discussed in here.
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