Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has joked that the President of the United States (US) Donald Trump should give New Jersey to Israel instead of the Golan Heights, saying Trump does not own the occupied Syrian territory to hand it over.
Recalling a meeting with Trump at the White House, al-Sharaa said that he made the remark after the US president referred to Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
Al-Sharaa was recalling a visit to the White House where he spoke to Trump.
Al-Sharaa said that he responded by pointing out that Trump does not own the Golan Heights but does own New Jersey.
“I said, ‘Why don’t you give New Jersey to the Israelis? You don’t own Golan Heights to give it to them, but you own New Jersey. And I believe that New Jersey is full of Democrats and they are not voting for Trump, so it will be good to give it to the Israelis.’”
Al-Sharaa then used the joke to make his position on the Golan Heights clear, saying the territory does not belong to either the Syrian or US president to give away.
“So at least this is something that you own, but President Trump doesn’t own the Golan Heights.”
He added that the Golan Heights belongs to its own people and said neither he nor Trump nor any other person has the authority to abandon the territory or hand it to someone else.
“So, regardless of this joke, Golan Heights, it is owned by its own people, so it’s neither the Syrian president nor the American president nor any other person to abandon them or to give them up to others.”
The Golan Heights is Syrian territory that has remained under illegal Israeli occupation since 1967. The United Nations (UN) considers it occupied Syrian territory and does not recognise Israel’s 1981 decision to impose its laws and jurisdiction there.
