Occupied Syrian Golan, SANA- All the way, from Baqatha to the slopes of Mount Hermon, the apple picking season has begun in the Occupied Syrian Golan, despite the difficulties our people there face owing to the aggressive Israeli occupation practices.
In addition to its high quality and being distinctively sweet, Golan’s apple that mostly grows in mountainous and cold areas, is an icon and has its own symbolism as the crop has a spirit full of belonging to the homeland and steadfastness exactly like the people of the area.
Despite the late severe cold wave, and the high temperatures over the past months, the crop’s quality is still good nonetheless.
“The occupation’s measures prevent marketing the crop at affordable prices, which constitutes another economic siege on the people of the occupied Golan, especially in light of the settlement’s continued closure of Quneitra crossing since 2014, and preventing people from marketing their crops to the homeland; Syria.” Head of the Apple Import Committee Youssef Shams told SANA reporter.
The people of Golan plant about 15,000 dunums of apple trees at a rate of 30,000 tons annually, amid increasing difficulties, especially in Shayta and al-Hafayir areas, in which the Israeli settlement has been trying to seize more than 4,000 dunums, to establish the wind turbine on.
Last June, our people there wrote a new heroic epic, as dozens of them were injured in the apple and cherry groves and others were arrested when they foiled the Israeli plan to establish such turbines.
Syria constantly calls on the international community to put pressure on Israel to open Quneitra Crossing that represents the artery connecting our people in the occupied Golan to their homeland.
Nisreen Othman / ALI,Baraa
