The Hidden Killers s in the occupied Golan Heights

Since the occupation of the Golan Heights (Syrian land) on Jun 1967, by the Israeli forces the landmine were and still one of the hard problems facing the remaining Arab population in the area. Civilians were killed or wounded, land was confiscated and houses were evacuated from their inhabitants for the sake of so-called “security of the Israeli army”.

The Israelis authorities have planted landmines not only on the cease-fire line to protect its army, as they clam, but surrounding the civilian population and the agricultural land. From other side the authority has systemically ignored any responsibility and refused to clean the land mines from the populated areas. However it is not rare to find fenced off landmine areas near schools and or in the backyard Arab resident's homes. No precise information is available regarding the types of these mines or their exact location, and the children become the main victims of these “back yard mines. An example of this is 4-year-old Amir Abu-Jabel, who was killed by a landmine in 1989 while playing less than ten meters away for his house.
Human rights organizations or the UN has taken almost no action and the issue is completely ignored. As occupied people we have the right to be protected under Geneva Convention and other international treaties. The applicability of the forth Geneva convention to the Golan Heights is not questioned by the international community and has been reaffirmed by UN security council resolutions as well as other resolutions from the General assembly.
The occupational authorities not only has refused to implement these resolutions on the Arab population in the Golan, but failed to fulfill its obligation to protect them and it actions endanger the local civilians. Since June 1967, most of the hilltops in the Golan Heights, including those surrounding and inside the remaining Arab villages were controlled by the army and used as military bases. Some of these bases are located inside the civilian population, and surrounded by their houses. (Few meters distance). During wars, (1973 for example), these camps have been used intensively against the Syrian army, while the nearby Arab residents provided human shelled to Israeli military bases.
The Israeli army has planted antipersonnel mines surround these bases. In most of these cases the mines are not properly marked or fenced and easily, children can enter these fields. In addition and during the wintertime, heavy rain causes erosion of the minefield on the hillside. The landmines move downhill to the backyard of the houses.
The Israeli army claims that the risk for the soldiers while clearing mines far outweighs the risk of injury to civilians. From other side Israel provides mine clearance assistance to other countries.
During the summertime, when it gets hot (up to 40 cilices degrees) mines become very dangerous. It is nor rare that fire breaks out in dry grass and mines explode in one meter distance from the houses.
A field research carried by Al-Haq ( a Palestinian human right NGO) shows that there are 66 Arab Golani landmine victims since the beginning of the Occupation in 1967, of whom 16 died and 50 were injured. The data indicates that among the 50 victims who survived, 86% (43 victims) were under the age of 18. Eight of the 16 fatally wounded were under the age of 18.
Currently, there are no governmental or local programs or initiatives to teach school children in Golan or the residents in general about the dangers of mines. Furthermore, there is not a landmine policy in place should the Israeli withdrawal of the Golan occur in the future. Education in schools, lectures to community leaders and pamphlet distribution is a minimum that could be done for the Golani people. In addition, mine awareness, clearance, rehabilitation and compensation is something that Israel should provide.
For more information and cooperation
Contact :Dr. Taiseer Maray
Golan For Development, Golan-Media and publication
Majdal Shams 12438, P.O.Box 1203, Golan Heights, via Israel
Tel: 972 (0)4 6982825 Fax: 972 (0) 4 6870549
Mobile: 972 (0) 50 8316174
e-mail: taiser@jawaln.org