Describing what led him to write this book, the author Yigal Kipnis writes, In 1999, I completed my service in the IDF Air Force Reserves. I had been a pilot for 31 years, 26 of which were spent in the Reserves, and this service had been part of my weekly routine. When it ended, at least one day a week was now open in my schedule. I decided to take advantage of this time to return to university study. More than twenty years after I had completed an engineering degree at the Technion in Haifa, I returned to study at the University of Haifa in the Department of Land of Israel Studies. At about the same time, a long chapter in the political process between Israel and Syria was drawing to a close without having achieved a peace agreement. Like all of the Golan inhabitants, I too, as a farmer actively engaged in agriculture, was surprised to discover that my contentment, and the way of life that I had chosen with my family and my friends, were now threatened by new political realities. When, considering the circumstances, I investigated the political and military events in past relations between Israel and Syria in my studies, I discovered to what extent my memories as an individual and those of most of our society do not accurately represent what actually occurred. I understood that this gap has played a central role in the inability to lessen the suspicions on both sides, and that it has had decisive psychological effects on the political process. This directed me to focus on a learning program involving research on the historical-settlement geography of the Golan and its political processes. The topics of my research studies included The Settlement Landscape of the Golan on the Eve of the Six Day War for my Master s Degree, and The Jewish Rural Settlement Process on the Golan, 1967-1992 for my doctorate. This book attempts to share the findings of my research with the public.