Al-Marsad
{{Short description|Human rights organization}}
{{pp-extended|small=yes}}
{{Infobox organization
| name = Al-Marsad - Arab Human Rights Centre in Golan Heights
| logo = Al-marsad logo.svg
| logo_size = 160px
| founded = 2003
| location = Majdal Shams
| key_people = Dr. Nizar Ayoub, Consultant, Legal Adviser{{cite web|url=http://golan-marsad.org/about/board-staff|title=Board & Staff|publisher=|accessdate=28 April 2017}}
| website = {{URL|https://golan-marsad.org/}}
| tax_id = 580424687 (Israel Non-Profit Registrar)
| method =
| area_served = Golan Heights
}}
Al-Marsad – Arab Human Rights Centre in Golan Heights is an independent, not-for-profit international human rights organization with no religious or political affiliation that operates in the Golan Heights.Humphries, Isabelle. [http://www.washington-report.org/archives/August_2006/0608016.html In the Ghost Towns of the Occupied Golan, Five Villages Defiantly Wave the Syrian Flag] Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, August 2006 The Golan Heights region is internationally recognised as Syrian territory occupied by Israel, although Israel asserts it has a right to retain control over the area.Y.Z Blum "Secure Boundaries and Middle East Peace in the Light of International Law and Practice" (1971) pages 24–46 The organisation was created in October 2003 and is run from Majdal Shams.Szerman, Nathalie and Feki, Masri. [http://www.desinfos.com/IMG/article_PDF/article_7672.pdf Les druzes du Golan] Israël Magazine, 9 July 2007 {{in lang|fr}}
Original: L'objectif révélé du centre est de «faire l'inventaire des graves violations de l'occupation israélienne contre les Arabes syriens du Golan afin de faire connaître à la communauté internationale la situation des. Droits de l'homme dans le Golan» et d'encourager une intervention internationale. L'un de ces abus serait le «nettoyage ethnique» des Arabes syriens du Golan effectué par Israël. Al-Marsad, fondé en octobre 2003 par un groupe d'avocats et de professions libérales est une organisation indépendante à but non lucratif.
Translation: The centre's explicit aim is to "draw up an inventory of the serious violations made by the Israeli occupation against the Syrian Arabs of the Golan," in order to both bring to the international community's attention and encourage intervention. One of the abuses is the "ethnic cleansing" of Syrian Arabs of the Golan carried out by Israel. Al-Marsad, founded in October 2003 "by a group of lawyers and professional people" is an independent, non-profit organization. It was the first human rights organisation founded in the Golan.Burghoorn, Alex. [http://www.volkskrant.nl/archief_gratis/article1056068.ece/Klem_tussen_bezetter_en_dictatuur Klem tussen bezetter en dictatuur] de Volkskrant 15 August 2008. {{in lang|nl}}
Original: Munir Fakher Eldin, een 36-jarige historicus, die in Majdal Shams drie jaar geleden betrokken was bij de oprichting van Al Marsad, de eerste mensenrechtenorganisatie op de Golan.
Translation: Munir Fakher el-Din, a 36-year-old historian, who three years ago in Majdal Shams was involved in the founding of Al-Marsad, the first human rights organization in the Golan
Al-Marsad is registered with the Israeli Registrar of Non-Profits,{{cite web|url=http://guidestar.org.il/Charity-Profile.aspx?CCReg=580424687|title=Al-Marsad Entry on Guidestar.org.il|accessdate=28 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425153740/http://guidestar.org.il/Charity-Profile.aspx?CCReg=580424687|archive-date=2012-04-25|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.justice.gov.il/MOJHeb/RasutHataagidim/RashamAmutot/BatzaBaatar/amuttview.htm |title=Search page for Israeli non-profits - enter Al-Marsad's #580424687 |access-date=2011-11-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111028030623/http://www.justice.gov.il/MOJHeb/RasutHataagidim/RashamAmutot/BatzaBaatar/amuttview.htm |archive-date=2011-10-28 |url-status=dead }} and is a member of the OPGAI (Occupied Palestinian and Golan Advocacy Initiative){{cite web|url=http://www.opgai.net/portal/?q=node/13|title=Al-Marsad Entry on OPGAI|accessdate=28 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130426125509/http://www.opgai.net/portal/?q=node%2F13|archive-date=2013-04-26|url-status=usurped}} and Convenio Palestina 2015.{{cite web|url=http://www.ongporpalestina.org/spip.php?article90|title=Al-Marsad Entry on OPGAI|accessdate=28 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130427124423/http://www.ongporpalestina.org/spip.php?article90|archive-date=2013-04-27|url-status=dead}}
Issues and campaigns
=Human rights and humanitarian law=
Al-Marsad has published detailed legal studies on behalf of affected individuals in the Golan Heights, concerning: forced evictions and internal displacement, the illegality of family separation, parallel reports to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, including advocacy before the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights concerning human rights abuses,{{cite web|title=Suggested issues for Consideration Regarding Israel’s Combined tenth, eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth Periodic Report to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination(CERD)|url=http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/docs/ngos/almarsad.pdf}} economic occupation,{{cite web|title=From Settlement to Shelf: The Economic Occupation of the Syrian Golan |url=http://www.internal-displacement.org/8025708F004CE90B/(httpDocuments)/D4F7F1E46A0DBAA8C1257727004F6D83/$file/almarsad_final_english_book.pdf |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121216131207/http://www.internal-displacement.org/8025708F004CE90B/%28httpDocuments%29/D4F7F1E46A0DBAA8C1257727004F6D83/%24file/almarsad_final_english_book.pdf |archivedate=2012-12-16 }} and Israeli violations of international law.{{cite web|title=Al-Marsad Publications |url=http://www.golan-marsad.org/view.php?span_cat=2 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130113015344/http://golan-marsad.org/view.php?span_cat=2 |archivedate=2013-01-13 }}
Al-Marsad has also voiced concern over what it deems Israel's "ethnic cleansing" of the Syrian Arab population in the Golan. 130,000 Syrian Arabs from the Golan Heights were expelled or fled to Syria following Israel's capture of the territory in 1967. Most villages were also destroyed by Israeli forces, leaving six villages and 23,000 Syrian residents remaining in the Golan.{{citation|title=The Challenge of Human Rights: Past, Present and Future|editor1-last=Keane|editor1-first=David|editor2-last=McDermott|editor2-first=Yvonne|publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing|year=2012|isbn=9780857939005|pages=142–143}}
Al-Marsad has reported that Israeli settlers receive five times the amount of water than the area's Syrian farmers do,{{cite web|title=Water is Life: A Consideration of the Legality and Consequences of Israeli Exploitation of the Water Resources of the Occupied Syrian Golan|url=http://golan-marsad.org/wp-content/uploads/Water_is_Life_2013.pdf}} and that land has been expropriated for Israeli settlements.{{cite web|title=ISRAEL-SYRIA: Could a new regime in Syria be good for the Golan Heights?|url=http://www.irinnews.org/Report/96146/ISRAEL-SYRIA-Could-a-new-regime-in-Syria-be-good-for-the-Golan-Heights}} Al-Marsad has also reported that Arab residents, moreover, pay more taxes to Israel than their Israeli counterparts while receiving fewer services.
=Israeli (de facto) annexation of the Golan Heights=
Al-Marsad campaigns against Israel's (de facto) annexation of the Syrian Golan Heights.http://www.golan-marsad.org/Images/022011/Dearabizing%20the%20golan.pdf{{Dead link|date=October 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}