The guns of Golan

Rob Buchanan 'Mad reign coming' wrote to Wellington's 'Post' referring to Israel: 'Grabbing the Golan Heights'. Buchanan seems unaware of the history of the Heights under Syrian control. Prior to 1967, when Israel took the hilltop positions from Syria, that country had operational artillery batteries installed. The Syrians contribution to peace was daily barrages of explosives into Israel. Random civilian targets? Of course! In a classic 'swords into ploughshares' move, Israel maintained a field hospital there during the Syrian Civil War and routinely treated wounded Syrians brought by their comrades. Syrians who were too badly wounded for treatment in the Golan military hospital, were transferred to specialist hospitals in Israel proper.

Such was the Israel-hatred on both sides of the civil war, that recovered Syrians pleaded with their Jewish benefactors to keep their identities secret and smuggle them back to their units.

It would be a 'mad' Israeli government that allowed Syria back onto the Heights.