Golan Heights: A Storied Past, An Unpredictable Future

Golan Heights: An unpredictable future in the north of the legendary past, Lake Kinneret, overlooking the Hull Valley in Israel at the height of the Al Lakwad Valley in Cinea, 700 to 1400 feet above sea level. According to my point of view, it is probably the most strategic land in the Middle East. (Jewish Virtual Library, 2001) The name of the conquistador of this region's empire left by Romans, Turks, Greeks, Mongolians has been centuries.

Golan Heights is located in the northern part of the Israeli nation, with breathtaking views, historic sights and mountainous areas with wonderful nature reserves. The Golan area is an ideal place for hikers and there are various trails. Golan Heights is considered one of the most beautiful spots in Israel with the most spectacular waterfall - Saar Falls. Individual travel is the perfect way to explore this place in Israel without losing its beauty.

In the Bible era, the area now known as Golan Heights is known as Bashan. The name Golan comes from the reference to "Bashan Golan" in "Atonement." This area was suspected during the first Temple Empire era between the kingdom of northern Israel and the Alames who ruled Damascus. Judah Maccabi and his brothers formed the Hasmonean dynasty in the second graveyard of BC. Hasmonean's Alexander Yannai added Golan Heights to his kingdom. The Greeks called the area "Gaulanitis" later adopted by the Romans. The name eventually turned out to be Golan. Gamla City is the main settlement in the Golan Heights and is the last Jewish fortress to resist the Roman corps in the Great Revolt. Nevertheless, the Jewish settlements of the Golan Heights are constantly evolving, and about 25 synagogue ruins are discovered and trace back to the era between 636 uprisings and Islamic conquests.

After the war in 1967, Israel started a preemptive strike against Egypt and Syria and annexed the Golan Heights. Israel destroyed 139 Syrian villages in the occupied land of the Golan Heights, and 130 thousand of their residents escaped from their lands or were expelled. About 9,000 Syrians, members of Druze ethnic religious groups, were allowed to stay on their lands. It is estimated that during the invasion of Turkey into Cyprus in 1974, more than 40% of Greek population in Cyprus and more than half of Cyprus in Turkey evacuated. The number of internally displaced Cyprus varied and the Cypriot joint peacekeeping force (UNFICYP estimates an estimated 165,000 Greek Cyprus and 45,000 Turkish Cyprus, the number of UNHCR is slightly more than 200,000 and 65,000 respectively According to official statistics of Cyprus, refugee children are refugees