Golan Heights
4
7.4
- proper noun
:
Altos del Golán
- Syria has been pressuring for the return of the Golan Heights, which Israel captured in the 1967 war.
- control of the Golan Heights
- Syrian Golan Heights
Examples
-
In the past, the Israelis sought to trade the Golan Heights for peace but doubted the depth of Syria's commitment to normalizing relations.
Academic text (2009) -
Both sides spread rumors that the other side mobilized in the Golan Heights in the summer of 2007.
Academic text (2008) -
Israel once sought to trade the Golan Heights for peace.
Academic text (2009) -
Then again, Israel pays little price for keeping the Golan Heights.
Academic text (1991) -
At the same time, the Israelis would rather not take the military risk of giving up the Golan Heights.
Academic text (1991) -
Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria during the Six-Day War in 1967.
Blog text (1) -
Israel annexed the Golan Heights in 1981 and has declared the southern border of Lebanon a security zone.
Academic text (1991) -
Currently, most of the party's efforts concentrate on mobilizing public pressure against full withdrawal from the Golan Heights.
Academic text (1996) -
Any peace agreement would entail an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights, experts agree.
-
Israel once sought to trade the Golan Heights for peace.
Surface Forms
Morphology
Golan + height
The element 'Heights' transparently signals an area of higher elevation, so a learner who recognises 'Golan' as a place-name and knows 'height(s)' would infer this refers to a highland region. However, the specific geopolitical, strategic and disputed connotations and the exact location are not derivable from the constituent words alone, so the full meaning is only partially predictable.
Etymology
Golan Heights likely comes from the old name Golan, a town mentioned in the Bible, plus Heights, meaning 'high land' or 'hills'. So the name creates the image of a high, hilly area and explains why it refers to the high ground between Israel and Syria today.