syriastew.com

The AP gave a great run-down on the dispute between Israel and Syria involving the Golan Heights.  Syria hopes that the issue will be addressed at this week’s Annapolis Peace Conference.  So for those of you who don’t know, here are the basics:

Location: Plateau at southwestern corner of Syria overlooking Sea of Galilee and northern Israel.

Approximate size: 65 kilometers (40 miles) long, 25 kilometers (15 miles) wide, 1250 square kilometers (485 square miles).

History: Syrian soldiers shelled northern Israel from the Golan Heights between 1948 and 1967. Israel captured the territory in 1967 Mideast war. Israel annexed it in 1981 but no country recognized that.Population: Most of the 100,000 Syrian residents of the Golan Heights fled during the 1967 war and were not allowed to return. About 17,000 remain. A few have accepted Israeli citizenship, but most retain Syrian nationality. About 18,000 Israelis live in 32 settlements built since 1967.

Dispute: In 2000, Israel-Syria peace talks broke down. Israel offered to withdraw from all of the Golan Heights down to the international border in exchange for full peace. Syria insisted on recovering land across the border that it captured in 1948, including the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. Israel was not satisfied with Syria’s peace proposals.