A/HRC/43/69
Jerusalem. Furthermore, in addition to imposing limitations on access to health, the Israeli
occupying authorities had also imposed a series of other obstacles to the establishment of
new medical centres, compelling the population of the occupied Syrian Golan to seek
medical services in the occupied Palestinian Territories. Despite the lack of services in the
occupied Syrian Golan, taxes continued to be imposed on the population, including through
the patients’ fund and medical centres taxes. The Israeli occupation authorities exploited the
refusal of the population of the occupied Syrian Golan to obtain Israeli citizenship as an
excuse not to grant it access to health services.
23.
The Syrian Arab Republic added that the Israeli occupation authorities had, as part
of their “cultural war” and specifically their attempts to obliterate Arab culture, continued
to impose Israeli curricula and teaching in the Hebrew language instead of teaching in the
Arabic language on the population in the occupied Syrian Golan. They also imposed the use
of study materials that promoted sectarianism, aimed to sever any links that Arab Syrian
students may have with their Arab culture and their religion (Islam) and, ultimately, to
undermine Arab Syrian students’ identity. Such attempts were facilitated by the
appointment of incompetent teachers to further entrench control of the educational process
and undermine the national sentiment of the Arab Syrian students. Moreover, the Israeli
occupation authorities continued to prevent young Arab Syrian students from completing
their university education, including by restricting their travel and access to Syrian
universities.
24.
The Syrian Arab Republic stressed that the detention conditions of Syrian Arabs in
Israeli prisons had continued to worsen and were in blatant violation of international
conventions and the relevant United Nations resolutions. Specifically, detained Syrian
Arabs were denied access to adequate medical care and were subjected to solitary
confinement, administrative detention and torture. The very location of the detention
centres in Nagev and Nafha complicated visits by relatives due to their remoteness. Reports
had been received of mock trials, such as in the case of an Israeli military court sentencing
“the dean of Syrian detainees”, Sidqi al-Maqt, to 14 years of imprisonment in April 2017
for his opposition to Israeli occupation and his condemnation of the support provided by the
Israeli occupation authorities to terrorist groups in the occupied Syrian Golan, including the
Nusra Front. The Israeli occupation authorities had continued to prevent the family of Sidqi
al-Maqt from visiting him, a clear violation of his basic rights.
25.
The Syrian Arab Republic noted that the deliberate policy of medical negligence in
Israeli detention centres had resulted in several deaths resulting from diseases that were
difficult to diagnose. Moreover, a number of detainees, including Hayel Abu Zeid, Seitan
al-Wali and Fares Assad Abdel Wali, had died shortly after their release from Israeli
prisons.
26.
The Syrian Arab Republic stressed that the policies and practices of the Israeli
occupation authorities were in blatant violation of the economic, social and cultural rights
of the Syrian Arab population of the occupied Syrian Golan, including the right to work, the
right to education, the right to property, the right to freedom of movement, the right to
preserve cultural and historical heritage and the right to the highest attainable standard of
health. The racist and discriminatory practices of the Israeli occupation authorities were a
threat to the future existence, growth and development of the population of the occupied
Syrian Golan.
27.
The Syrian Arab Republic called upon the international community not to remain
silent in the face of the systematic violations that the Israeli occupation authorities
continued to commit, adding that those policies aimed at legitimizing the occupation of the
Syrian Golan and at changing the demographic, geographic, cultural, security and political
composition of the occupied Syrian Golan.
28.
The Syrian Arab Republic reiterated its long-standing position and called upon the
United Nations and Member States to put pressure on Israel to end its occupation of the
occupied Syrian Golan, in line with international law. It also urged Member States not to
recognize any legal status resulting from clear violations of international law and not to
provide any support to the Israeli occupation authorities, specifically in terms of
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