Al Jazeera World

The Golan: A Battle For Power

Syrian farmers in the occupied Golan Heights oppose an Israeli energy company’s plans for wind turbines on their land.

A battle over land, natural resources and wind energy in the occupied Golan Heights – a microcosm of the wider Arab-Israeli conflict.

This documentary is about a group of Syrian fruit farmers taking on an Israeli energy company over the right to build wind turbines on land they’ve been farming for several centuries.

The farmers are Syrian Druze from the northern Golan, which has been illegally occupied by Israel since the June 1967 War.

The Druze object to what they see as a social and environmental threat to their community – and what they also see as an Israeli attempt to build permanent infrastructure on illegally occupied land, in violation of international law.

This is a powerful story in which global politics and a simple farming way of life collide, creating a standoff that resonates beyond the fruit orchards of the Golan Heights.

Published On 3 Jun 20253 Jun 2025