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?????????????????????????????????????????????????Friday, April 28, 2017
Lonely Planet erases Israeli occupation of Syrian Golan
The Lonely Planet website highlights sites in the occupied West Bank and Golan Heights as “Top experiences in Israel.”
Why has Lonely Planet – publisher of the popular travel guidebooks – erased Israel’s occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights?
Following the 1967 War, 66 percent of the Syrian Golan – a land mass
slightly smaller than Greater London – has been militarily occupied by
Israel.
Its mountainous terrain, forests and rivers means that it is an area of
stunning natural beauty, home to a variety of wildlife, including a species of wolf found
only in the region. As such, it is no surprise that the Golan has
attracted vast numbers of Israeli tourists since its occupation.
Indeed, the Golan has long been promoted by the Israeli government and
tourism industry that market it as “Northern Israel,” even referring to
it as the “Israeli Texas” due to its size. In 1968, just one year after
the occupation, the region received 150,000 visitors. By 2005 this
figure had reached approximately 1.5 million people.
Consequently, tourism represents
a major part of the Israeli settlement economy in the Golan. Promoted
activities include hiking, camping, biking, horse riding, wine tasting
and fruit picking, among many others. Visitors can choose from a range
of accommodation on travel websites that includes “rural guesthouses,”
boutique hotels, log cabins, bed and breakfasts and camping sites. Such
activities and accommodation are almost all found in settlements or are
owned by settlers.
Promoting tourism in settlements
International law makes it clear that the Golan is not part of Israel
and that Israeli settlements are illegal. However, given their continued
expansion and Israel’s efforts to
cement its hold on the Golan, it is not surprising that the government
and tourism industry market the Golan as “Northern Israel” and promote
tourism activities in Israeli settlements.
International travel companies such as Lonely Planet, Booking.com and Airbnb –
among others – also misleadingly describe the Golan as part of Israel
and promote accommodation and tourism in illegal Israeli settlements.
When Al-Marsad, a human rights group in the occupied Golan, came across
the Lonely Planet website last year, it was shocked to discover that
Majdal Shams, the largest of the five remaining Syrian villages in the
territory, was categorized as being in Israel.
Al-Marsad obtained a copy of the guidebook – Israel & the Palestinian Territories –
and found that the misrepresentation of the Golan was even worse. The
Golan features in a shared chapter with the Upper Galilee region of
Israel – “Upper Galilee & Golan” – that provides just two paragraphs
on its history and no contemporary information about its occupation by
Israel.
It does not explain that the United Nations Security Council has
condemned Israel’s unilateral annexation of the Golan in 1981 as an illegal act
under international law, a position reaffirmed by the UN General
Assembly each year. Further, there is no mention of the human rights
violations suffered by the remaining native Syrian population, and that
there are at least 23,000 Israeli settlers living in 34 illegal
settlements.
On the contrary, many of the recommended activities and places to eat
and stay provided in the chapter and on the website are located in these
illegal Israeli settlements, or as Lonely Planet describes them: “small, middle-class communities.”
One such suggested activity is skiing on Mount Hermon – “Israel’s only ski station” – following which visitors could stay in Neve Ativ, described as the “closest thing Israel has to a Swiss Alpine village.”
Although potential visitors are kindly warned by Lonely Planet that in
Neve Ativ “[bed and breakfast] prices rise in winter because of heating
costs,” there is no mention that Neve Ativ is an illegal Israeli
settlement built on the ruins of the Syrian village of Jubata al-Zeit.
Jubata al-Zeit fell victim to the development of Mount Hermon, an early
project in the Golan after the Israeli occupation began. Following advice from
Israel’s Nature Reserves Authority in January 1968 – just six months
after the 1967 War – that the mountain’s snow makes it “a unique site
for the citizens of Israel,” a new government body, the Hermon
Authority, was established under military jurisdiction and plans
initiated for the development of a ski resort.
This involved the destruction of Jubata al-Zeit, the main Syrian village
on the mountain’s slopes, whose at least 1,500 residents were forcibly
transferred and forbidden from returning after the village was designated a closed military zone.
340 villages and farms destroyed
Ultimately, Jubata al-Zeit would number among the 340 Syrian villages and farms in
the Golan destroyed by Israel following the 1967 occupation. These
would be replaced by Israeli settlements, often using the same stones
from the destroyed villages and farms. But this is not mentioned by
Lonely Planet.
Al-Marsad wrote to
Lonely Planet to express its concern and was very disappointed by the
company’s response. Lonely Planet’s explanation for its coverage of the
Golan is inconsistent and it would not commit to making simple changes
to address these issues.
Regarding its omission of basic facts about the Israeli occupation of
the Golan, Lonely Planet said that it that had provided “relevant
information in the introduction to the Golan Heights section to inform
travelers’ decisions, but to give further detailed political or
historical analysis wouldn’t be appropriate for a travel guidebook.”
However, this information is provided for the section of the guidebook
on the West Bank – explicitly stating that it is under military
occupation – which calls into question why Lonely Planet treats the
Golan differently.
Lonely Planet attempts to justify on its website categorizing the Golan
as being in Israel by stating that “since the Golan is annexed by Israel
and travelers can pass freely within this region, while they cannot
pass from Syria to the Golan, it makes more sense from a traveler’s
perspective to categorize the destination with Israel on our website.”
This is not a credible explanation, when the Golan could have an
independent section and website address on the Lonely Planet website, as
is the case for the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
The United Nations Security Council recently
reminded states to “distinguish, in their relevant dealings, between
the territory of the State of Israel and the territories occupied since
1967.” Despite this clear message that the Golan is not part of Israel,
many international travel companies such as Lonely Planet fail to make
this distinction.
Given the illegality of Israeli settlements in the Golan under
international human rights and humanitarian law, international travel
companies that promote accommodation and tourism in illegal Israeli
settlements for their own profit are – as a corollary – either involved
in or indirectly facilitating activities that result in the violation of
fundamental human rights.
Until Lonely Planet recognizes its responsibilities, many travelers to
the region will continue to be misinformed about the Golan and the
reality of its occupation by Israel.
Al-Marsad is a human rights organization based in Majdal Shams,
occupied Syrian Golan Heights. It is the only human rights organization
operating in the region.