Arab group urges UK to extend settlement sanctions to Israeli Golan Heights, citing 34 illegal sites
Caabu has formally requested the British government to broaden its existing sanction ban to cover the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, noting that 34 settlements there house around 30,000 people.
The Council for Arab-British Understanding, operating as Caabu, submitted a letter to Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband seeking clarification on whether recent sanctions targeting illegal Israeli settlements apply to the Golan Heights. Chris Doyle, director of Caabu, argued that the 34 settlements in the occupied territory are equally unlawful as those in the West Bank. He described them as a flagrant breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, noting their significant impact on local Syrian residents. Doyle mentioned raising this point orally with Foreign Office Minister Stephen Doughty on September 7, insisting that if Britain acts consistently, its ban must cover all territories Israel occupied in 1967. The group confirmed knowledge that wines produced in the Golan Heights are currently sold and marketed in the UK, urging an end to this trade. Caabu welcomed the new sanctions as a major shift from previous declaratory statements to tangible measures. In December of the previous year, Israel announced plans to increase the settler population in the Golan to 100,000 by 2030. Doyle noted that the predominantly Druze Syrian population remains confined to four villages and faces restricted access to water resources.
