Syrians in the Golan celebrate Evacuation Day
Hundreds of Syrian citizens on Tuesday went to Ein al-Tineh position to take part with the people of the Golan in their celebration on the occasion of the Evacuation Day on April 17.
People of the villages of the occupied Golan and others from occupied Palestine gathered to celebrate this occasion, defying the Israeli soldiers deployed in their armored vehicles in the streets of Majdal Shams town. They raised the Syrian flags and President Bashar al-Assad's pictures and chanted the Syrian anthem and national songs.
In a statement they released on this occasion, the people of the occupied Golan stressed their commitment to their national identity under the leadership of President Bashar al-Assad. They stressed continued struggle against the Israeli occupation and aggressive schemes and settlement and expansionist policies.
Every year some half a million of Syrians avail themselves of the anniversary of the Evacuation Day, when the French forces evacuated Syria as it is the only day when the Syrians are permitted to go to the Golan without prior licensing from security authorities, as stated in the disengagement agreement signed in 1974 after the October war of 1973.
By their turn the Syrian evacuees from the Golan who are living in Damascus and other Syrian cities wait this very day with great patience. They collect their families and friends, relatives and neighbors take buses, cars and bicycles carrying national flags and loudspeakers and head for the south towards the Golan.
In the June 1967 war, Israel had occupied an area of 1250 square kilometers from the Golan's total area of 1860 square kilometers.
While five Syrian villages in the Golan stayed under occupation of a population of 20,000, some 53,000 Golanese evacuated the Golan leaving behind some 157 villages and 167 farms. They have become now more than half a million persons.
The Israeli forces reinforced its presence around hundreds of citizens who approached the separating line to greet their relatives and exchange the promise that their " meeting " is very close despite Sharon's nose."
