Golan Heights: Israel’s Occupation, US’s Silence, Al Jazeera’s 'Breaking' News
In a bold move, Al Jazeera today reports on Israeli incursions and abductions stoking fear in Syria's occupied Golan Heights. The headline implies this is some new development, rather than a continuation of an illegal occupation that began in 1967. The US, meanwhile, 'recognized' Israeli sovereignty over the Golan in March 2019, a move widely condemned by the international community. This
diplomatic fiat by the Trump administration effectively greenlit further expansion, proving that if a US administration says 'it's theirs,' international law is merely a suggestion. One might charitably consider Al Jazeera's reporting as a reminder of ongoing injustices, but calling decades of systematic oppression 'incursions' skirts the larger truth. While the US State Department issues its
boilerplate condemnation for Russia's actions in Ukraine, the same moral outrage is conspicuously absent for Israel's prolonged seizure of Syrian land—land that many a US politician, funded by lobbying groups like AIPAC (which funneled over $24 million to congressional candidates in 2022 alone, according to OpenSecrets.org), will happily defend as 'Israel’s security.'