A/HRC/28/46 8. In its response, the Syrian Arab Republic condemned the continued violation of the cultural rights of Syrian citizens in the occupied Syrian Golan. It stated that the Israeli authorities of occupation had recently organized its third archaeological conference in the Israeli illegal settlement of “Katzrin” in the occupied Syrian Golan on the theme “The Golan and Galilee, the nucleus for settlements”, which concluded that the preservation of a Jewish presence in the Golan depended on the “excavation of ancient Jewish history”. According to the Syrian Arab Republic, the conference and similar activities were used as a pretext to erase Syrian and Arab culture in the occupied Syrian Golan by falsifying facts about archaeological findings. The Syrian Arab Republic stated that a case in point was the attempt to erase the identity of the Syrian village of Um al Qanater in the south of the occupied Syrian Golan by illegally changing its name to “Kshatot Rehavam”, and had issued in April 2014 an Israeli stamp with the Israeli name illegally given to the village. 9. The Syrian Arab Republic condemned Israel, as the occupying Power, for illegally imposing its law, jurisdiction and administration on the occupied Syrian Golan, and for disregarding all relevant United Nations resolutions pertaining to the illegal occupation of the Syrian Golan. 10. The Permanent Mission of Denmark, in a note verbale dated 17 September 2014, stated that the Government of Denmark was pursuing a peaceful settlement of the IsraeliArab conflict, including between Israel and the Syrian Arab Republic. The conflict contributed to the destabilization of the overall security situation in the Middle East and had to be resolved. As a member of the European Union, Denmark associated itself fully with the policies and initiatives undertaken by the European Union as a whole and the various efforts made by the European External Action Service and the Commission of the European Union with regard to furthering peace and justice in the conflict. In July 2014, Denmark introduced to the members of the public common messages from the European Union aimed at raising awareness among European Union citizens and businesses regarding involvement in financing and economic activities in the settlements, including in the occupied Syrian Golan. 11. On 15 September 2014, the Permanent Mission of Cuba addressed a note verbale to OHCHR in which it expressed its full support for Human Rights Council resolution 25/31. It reiterated that all legislative and administrative measures and actions taken by Israel in the past 46 years were null and without juridical validity. 12. Cuba also referred to attempts made by Israel to modify the legal status, physical character, demographic composition and institutional structure of the occupied Syrian Golan. 13. In its note verbale, Cuba called upon Israel to withdraw immediately from the Syrian Golan to the lines existing on 4 June 1967, in compliance with Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973). It also noted that Israel should renounce its unrestrained attempts to take over the occupied Syrian Golan. According to Cuba, foreign occupation, policies of expansion and aggression, the creation of settlements and of facts on the ground and the acquisition of territory by force were practices that violated international instruments and norms. 14. Cuba vehemently condemned violations of international humanitarian law committed by Israeli authorities in relation to Syrian detainees in the occupied Syrian Golan, reiterated its profound concern at the continuing brutal practices, expressing also its concern at the inhumane conditions created by the State of Israel. 15. Cuba rejected the Israeli practices aimed at the control and exploitation of natural resources of the Syrian Golan in what it described as the flagrant violation of Security Council and General Assembly resolutions in relation to the sovereignty of the Arab population in the Syrian Golan. 3