Al-Ahram Weekly 18 - 24 May 2000 Issue No. 482
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875

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Farms foreshadow withdrawal

By Ranwa Yehia

Lebanese officials are anxiously awaiting the UN Security Council's response, in a meeting scheduled for Friday, to the controversy over Shebaa Farms, a remote area bordering the occupied Syrian Golan Heights. Lebanon claims the area as its own. Israel says it lies in occupied Syrian territory.

Determining which country has sovereignty over the Shebaa Farms was the focal point of discussion between Lebanese officials and a United Nations envoy last week. UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen is due to present to the Security Council his report summarising the findings of his tour of the region which included visits to Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel and Egypt.

The Shebaa issue is so central to the Lebanese/Syrian track of the peace process that it almost eclipsed the news of Israeli air raids on 14 April that targeted Lebanese power stations. Although the return of the Shebaa Farms has been a long-standing demand of the Lebanese government, the recent elevation of the controversy to the forefront of the political agenda has sent geographers and political analysts scurrying to recheck their maps. The confusion mirrors the generally imprecise nature of the Lebanese-Syrian border.

The territory in question stretches about 16 kilometres from the village of Shebaa, in the foothills of Mount Hermon, near the border between Syria and Israel.

Part of the Shebaa Farms was occupied by Israel during the 1967 war. By 1989, Israel had occupied the whole area in stages.

On Friday, Lebanon sent a memorandum to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in which it declared that Israel's withdrawal from the areas it occupies in south Lebanon will be considered incomplete if it does not include the Shebaa Farms.

Included in the memorandum were seven documents that Lebanon considers proof of its sovereignty over the highly fertile, well-irrigated soil of the Shebaa Farms.

The government's case for the return of the Shebaa Farms rests on a number of considerations.

First, the land was ceded by Syria to Lebanon in 1951 when the borders were delineated by a joint Lebanese-Syrian committee. Also, Shebaa's residents have deeds of ownership for their individual farms issued and stamped by the Lebanese government.

The Lebanese government presented this evidence to United Nations Middle East peace coordinator, Roed-Larsen, during his visit to Beirut last week. He reportedly suggested that the government produce more substantial evidence to back its claim that the area of the Shebaa Farms is Lebanese territory. Failure to do so, Larsen predicted, would probably result in the UN Security Council rejecting Lebanon's claim.

The Lebanese government's arguments are not supported by the fact that Lebanese maps -- both military and civilian -- dating after 1951, indicate the border as following the line delineated in the 1920s by former colonial power France in agreement with Britain.

For a border to be internationally recognised, the usual procedure is that any two countries agree on the delineation of their common frontier and then register a copy of the agreement with the UN.

Lebanon and Syria never registered their agreement with the UN. However, what remains undisputed is that the Shebaa Farms are Arab territory occupied by Israel.

Nevertheless, Israel has stated firmly that it would not withdraw from the Shebaa Farms. This position was first expressed by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak during an audience with Roed-Larsen last week. On Saturday, Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy repeated his country's position by saying that there were no maps or other documents showing that the Shebaa Farms actually belonged to Lebanon.

"We should not allow a situation where this issue should delay the [withdrawal] process," Levy said. "Up to now, there is nothing in the hands of the [UN] secretary-general or his special envoy, Terje Roed-Larsen... any documents, proof or map of any kind that would indicate that this land belongs to Lebanon," Levy said.

The matter could be the subject of future trilateral talks among Israel, Syria and Lebanon, but it should not delay the withdrawal process, Levy added.

It is unlikely that Israel would easily let go of an area which has become a popular winter tourist resort, with ski slopes constructed at its northern end. Also, many of the farms now house Falasha Jews from Ethiopia, and about 20 per cent of Israel's wine production comes from Shebaa vines.

Observers believe that the issue is being pursued vigorously by Lebanon because both Lebanon and Syria prefer an Israeli withdrawal within the context of a peace agreement.

A political analyst, who asked not to be named, said that the Shebaa Farms case was a pressure card Lebanon and Syria are using in an attempt to prevent a unilateral withdrawal outside the context of a peace deal.

Hizbullah has repeatedly stated that it will continue to target Israeli soldiers until the "last inch of Lebanese territory is liberated."

According to Lebanese Prime Minister Selim Hoss, since his country views the Shebaa Farms as its territory, Hizbullah will use this as a justification to attack Israel.

Hizbullah leader Sayed Hassan Nasrallah said on Sunday that it was enough for the Lebanese government to consider the Shebaa Farms Lebanese.

"The government says that the Shebaa Farms are Lebanese and this is what concerns us. We are not concerned with what either Israel or the Security Council says," Nasrallah said.

In turn, Levy warned that if Hizbullah "continues to be a destructive force and tries to attack Israel [following a withdrawal], the accusing finger will be against them and against those who assist them."

The Shebaa Farms, therefore, has the potential to trigger violence in south Lebanon.

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