Word: quneitra
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...testing diplomatic alternatives while keeping up his military guard. His brinkmanship act over the U.N. mandate last week was in part intended to show the world that Syria plans to regain all of the Golan Heights. Syria has refused to rebuild the ruined city of Quneitra, the ancient Golan capital given up by Israel in the 1974 disengagement agreement. Syrian officials delight in showing foreign visitors the remains of buildings bulldozed by the Israelis before they left...
...visit, even some dovish politicians in Jerusalem were coming round to the hawk point of view that the country gave up too much for what it received during previous negotiations. On the Golan Heights, for instance, many Israelis feel that they should have held onto the provincial capital of Quneitra instead of returning it to the Syrians. Officially, Premier Rabin was authorized by his Cabinet to conclude only what Jerusalem called a thirty-fifty deal-a military pullback in the Sinai (see box) of 30 kilometers in the south broadening to 50 kilometers in the north. This withdrawal would include...
...Israelis pull back farther on the Golan, moreover, he is unlikely to accede to another six-month renewal of the United Nations peace-keeping force that is separating the belligerents on the Heights when the present U.N. mandate expires in May. Israel already regrets giving back the provincial capital Quneitra in the first round of negotiations and is resisting the six-or seven-kilometer pullback that the U.S. has trial-ballooned as a second stage...
Buffer Zone. Quneitra's importance for the moment is primarily symbolic. The new buffer zone that runs through the territory from north to south has deprived the town of its old strategic position as a major crossroads and access point to both northern Israel and the Damascus plain. Economically, the city will be a burden on the Syrian government for some time to come, although in the long run the agricultural potential of a fertile, well-watered area-good land for growing fruit, wheat, barley and beans-should contribute significantly to Syria's economy...
...Quneitra-"an amputated city" in the words of its governor-is in no condition to house the refugees until water and power are restored and the ruins are certified as disease-free. For the moment, only inhabitants of less damaged surrounding villages are being allowed back to live. Even so, some determined Quneitrans have made it into town to look over their destroyed homes and figure out how to rebuild. Says Issa Dakdouk, 24, an electrician who set up camp in the shell of a ruined building with his wife and four children: "I've waited seven years...