Ghajar

Ghajar غجر
Gateway to the southern part of the village of Ghajar
Coordinates: 33°16′22″N 35°37′23″E / 33.27278°N 35.62306°E / 33.27278; 35.62306Coordinates: 33°16′22″N 35°37′23″E / 33.27278°N 35.62306°E / 33.27278; 35.62306
Country	On the border between Lebanon and the Israeli-occupied area of the Golan Heights (de jure Syria).
Area
• Total	246 ha (608 acres)
Elevation	310 m (1,020 ft)
Population (2015)	2,484

Ghajar (Arabic: غجر; Hebrew: ע'ג'ר‎‎ or רג'ר) is an Alawite-Arab village on the Hasbani River on the border between Lebanon and the Israeli-occupied portion of the Golan Heights, internationally considered to be de jure part of Syria. In 2015 it had a population of 2,484.

Control over Ghajar has changed hands many times. Three hundred years ago, the village was known as Taranjeh. It was renamed Ghajar under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, when the land was allegedly seized from the "villagers" by Kurds and forcibly sold. According to "local" legend, the Kurdish governor of Ghajar tried to ride his horse onto the tomb of a local holy man, Sheikh al-Arba'in. The horse refused and the following day a fire broke out, destroying the governor's shield and sword. The Kurds fled and quickly sold it back.

In 1932, the residents of Ghajar, predominantly Alawites, were given the option of choosing their nationality and overwhelmingly chose to be a part of Syria, which has a sizable Alawite minority. Prior to the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, Ghajar was considered part of Syria and its residents were counted in the 1960 Syrian census. When Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967, Ghajar remained a no-man's land for two and a half months. The Alawi villagers petitioned the Golan's Israeli governor to be attached to the occupied territory, as part of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, rather than Lebanon, because they considered themselves to be Syrians, like the majority of the native residents of the Golan at that time. Israel agreed to include Ghajar in its occupied territory of the Syrian Golan Heights and the residents accordingly accepted living under Israeli rule. In 1981, most Alawi villagers accepted Israeli citizenship under the Golan Heights Law which annexed the captured Syrian territory to Israel, but the unilateral annexation was not recognized by the international community. After Operation Litani in 1978, Israel turned over its positions inside Lebanon to the South Lebanon Army and inaugurated its Good Fence policy. The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was created after the incursion, following the adoption of Security Council Resolution 425 in March 1978 to confirm Israeli withdrawal from Southern Lebanon, restore international peace and security, and help the government of Lebanon restore its effective authority in the area. Ghajar expanded northward into Lebanese territory, subsuming the Wazzani settlement north of the border.