Have the indigenous people of the Golan Heights accepted Israel’s annexation?
The indigenous people of the Golan Heights have never accepted Israel's annexation of their land.
The Golan Heights (Alternative Information Centre)
"The Knesset decision in December 1981 to annex the Golan to Israel and to force the inhabitants to change their Syrian citizenship to Israeli citizenship ignited opposition from the whole community, and on 14 February 1982 the inhabitants decided on an open-ended general strike. The strike lasted over half a year, and was accompanied by a long chain of non-violent actions that sparked support and solidarity throughout the country and the whole world. Thousands of soldiers were unable to end the strike and the unity of the inhabitants; and, the few collaborators that received Israeli citizenship were outcast. The identity cards that were passed out by the military were burned in protest in the village squares. Finally, Israel was forced to retract its decision, and the inhabitants of the Golan Heights kept their Syrian citizenship."
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The Reality of Israeli Occupation: A Syrian Golani Perspective
by Bashar Tarabieh
"Israel stationed some 15,000 soldiers in the villages to enforce the imposition of citizenship-thereby outnumbering the local population, then amounting to some 12,000 persons. During the strike, Israel cut the villages off from the rest of the world and prevented food supplies from entering the Golan for several months."
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