The Golan Heights : Political History, Settlement and Geography Since 1949

Presenting the settlement landscape of the Golan before and after June 1967, The Golan Heights deals with the issue of the border between Israel and Syria, and with the Israeli settlement process in the area following the Six Day War. The story of the Golan Heights and its position between Syria and Israel does not belong only to the past; it is still interwoven in the political present of the two countries. Public discourse in Israel on the political future of the Golan, and the direct and indirect political discussions between Israel and Syria, rest to a great extent on personal and collective memories, and these, by nature, are based on the past. The perceptions of the Israeli public were constructed upon the image of a mountain that became a monster. This image reached its peak on the eve of the Six Day War in June 1967, but continued to be consolidated and preserved in the Israeli collective memory, and so it has remained until the present. Addressing the question of the political future of the Golan, a central issue for both Israel and the wider Middle East, this book will be an invaluable resource for students and scholars of Political History, Settlement Geography and Geopolitics. Dr. Yigal Kipnis teaches International Relations at Haifa University. He received a BS in Civil Engineering from the Technion in Haifa and an MA and PhD in Land of Israel Studies from Haifa University. His first book, The Mountain That Was as a Monster: The Golan Between Syria and Israel, was published in 2009. His second book, 1973: The Way to War, published in 2012, immediately became a bestseller. It reveals the continuing political process which led to the Middle East war of October 1973.