Syrians Protest Countrywide Over US Golan Move (+Video)
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Thousands of Syrians staged protests across different cities to denounce US President Donald Trump’s formal recognition of Israel’s “sovereignty” over the occupied Golan Heights, a move that has sparked global concern.
Men and women carrying Syrian and Palestinian flags and banners reading “Golan is Syrian” marched through the southern city of Sweida on Tuesday, according to SANA news agency
Imad Sara, the country's information minister, called for a “strong response” and at a similar rally in Damascus.
Protests also took place in southern Daraa, about 20 kilometers from the Golan Heights, and in northern Aleppo, as well as Homs and Hama in the country's center.
People also took to the streets is Quneitra, Deir Ezzor, and Hasaka provinces as well as the cities of Qamishli, Salamiya, al-Seqailibiya, and Lattakia.
“We are here to condemn Trump's Golan decision,” said Mohammad Shaaban, a protester in Aleppo. “The Golan is Arab and Syrian whether they like it or not.”
Breaking with decades of international consensus, Trump on Monday formally recognized Israeli “sovereignty” over the occupied Golan Heights, a border area the Tel Aviv regime seized from Syria in 1967.
Syria has called the move “blatant aggression”.
Amid growing condemnation, including from a number of US's European allies, the leader of Hezbollah resistance movement said the decision proves “resistance, resistance, and resistance” was the only way to retake lands occupied by Israel.
In a televised speech on Tuesday, Seyed Hassan Nasrallah described Trump's move as “a crucial turning point in the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict”, which “deals a knockout punch” to peace in the region, according to Al-Jazeera.
