They call it the shouting valley because families are separated by a fence, so they literally shout back and forth to one another with megaphones.
Syria occupied the Golan Heights in 1967, and Israelis have moved into most of the territory. But there are five villages—little enclaves—where Syrians still live. They are restricted going in or out except to go to college or to get married. And crossing the fence for marriage amounts to a one-way ticket. So families are divided, because some managed to leave those villages and others stayed back.
People from the Golan tend to keep close ties with extended members of the family—so they say they say big events like weddings and holidays are difficult.
Renua Shaalan lives in Damascus. Two of her sisters married men in the one of the villages Israel controls, Ayn Kynia.
“Part of the family is here and the other part is there. Part of your property is here and the other there. So you are living in two places at the same time and you also have to divide your emotions in two halves.”
The Golan Heights is green, fertile and a source of drinking water. It has always been called a strategic land. But in the age of satellites, this last issue has become moot, many say.
Syria demands the whole Golan back before peace can be made with Israel.
Sami Moubayed, editor of Forward Magazine said, “I can assure you that once the Golan issue is given top priority by the Obama administration, you will find a real strong and sincere thawing of relations unprecedented between the Syrians and the United States.”
Syria and Israel came close to coming to an agreement about land and borders. Some point out this goes to show how quickly things could be resolved if political will is there. The talks, which were conducted via the Turks, broke down in 2008 after the Israeli incursion into Gaza, its reponse to Hamas’ firing of rockets into Israel.
Syria won back a third of the Golan Heights in the 1973 war. The regional capital Quneitra remains a museum to war—with buildings in ruins. Not much has been rebuilt. Syria claims Israel destroyed Quneitra when it pulled out. Israel claims it was destroyed in war. It was a deliberate decision on the part of the Syrian government to leave Quneitra this way, until the land is returned. But some wonder why, if the land is so precious, Syria is not developing it in the meantime.
Attachment to the land is palpable, as you visit Quneitra, and see families picnicking amidst the rubble, walking around, enjoying the land in whatever condition it’s in.