War and Settlement Change

The Golan Heights and the Jordan Rift, 1967-77

Bibliographic Data

ID8964127
AuthorsWilliam W Harris (0009-0004-0979-3841, corresponding author)
Year1978
Volume3
Issue3
Pages309-309
Publication date1978-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueTransactions of the Institute of British Geographers (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0020-2754 • E-ISSN: 1475-5661
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.2307/622159
OpenAlexW2315384486
LanguageEN
Citations received13
References cited3

The Arab-Israeli War of June 1967 inaugurated a period of catastrophe and transformation for the settlement geography of the affected territories. This article analyses events on the Golan Heights and in the Jordan Rift, considering both the out-movements of Arab residents and the subsequent infusions of Jewish settlers. FOR three decades the Arab-Israeli conflict has been the central feature of Middle East politics. Since the 1948-49 War, when Israel was established and when large numbers of Palestine Arabs fled to neighbouring territories, including the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the rival claims of Israeli and Palestinian nationalism have produced a climate of bitter enmity which has occasionally erupted into further fierce fighting. As regards implications for human settlement patterns the Six Day War of June 1967 has proved the most significant of the post-1949 confrontations. In June 1967 Israel captured territories amounting to three times her pre-war size-65 ooo km2 including Sinai, Gaza, the West Bank and the Golan plateau. Demographic effects of the war and the boundary shifts were of two types: further large-scale out-movements of Arab residents and, over the subsequent decade, gradual infusions of Israeli colonists into the occupied territory. Two areas are selected for a detailed analysis of the settlement change: the Golan Heights and the Jordan Rift Valley. The Golan (Fig. i), which Israel captured from Syria on 9-10 June 1967, comprises a basalt plateau rising from about 300 m above sea level in the vicinity of Lake Tiberias to over 1200 m in the far north, where it is crowned by the Hermon massif. In the north the plateau watershed, marked by volcanic hills, offers downhill access to both Galilee in the west and Damascus in the east, though much more steeply towards Galilee. This is the crux of the Golan's strategic significance for both Israel and Syria. Before 1967 Israel was particularly sensitive regarding her inferior topographic position. In both the Hula and Tiberias sectors the Golan scarp rises 300 m or more above metropolitan Israel. Syrian artillery, whether initiating activity or responding to Israeli moves in the demilitarized zones, never lacked easy targetsIsraeli towns and agricultural settlements arrayed below in the Hula Valley and the Tiberias basin, all within 10 km. Because of this, and because of her suspicion of Syria's long-term intentions, Israel is extremely reluctant to surrender the strategic advantage conferred by her post-1967 occupation of the plateau watershed. Conversely, Syria regards an Israeli presence almost within artillery range of Damascus as completely unacceptable. The area under Israeli control, as set by the Disengagement Agreement of June 1974, covers i 150 km2, with a north-south length of approximately 65 km and an east-west dimension varying from 12 to 25 km. The average annual precipitation is 800 mm, though this is concentrated in the period November-March, run-off is rapid and above i ooo m winter snowfall can be heavy. Soils include some rich alluvial, grumosol and terra rossa pockets, but over much of the

Ancient history · Archaeology · Geography · Rift · Rift valley · Settlement (finance · Tectonics · Archaeology and Historical Studies · Geology · History · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies · Paleontology

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub