One area of issue in the Israel/Lebanese Conflict is "Shaba Farms"...

[misternormal]

The dispute over the Shaba Farms, the narrow 14 kilometer-long, and 2 kilometer-wide strip near Mount Dov is a microcosm of the Israeli-Arab dispute. That's what sent Dr. Asher Kaufman from the Truman Institute at the Hebrew University all the way to the archives and Cartographic Institute in Paris, where he found documents that buttress Lebanon's claims to the land.

"Many Israelis view this conflict as yet another indication that the Arab world has no intention to reconcile with Israel's existence in the region," writes Kaufman in an article about his research, meant for publication in a journal on the Middle East. "The Israel Defense Forces have left the last grain of Lebanese land, it is believed, and yet Syria and its proxy, Hezbollah, found a pretext to continue the armed struggle against Israel. The zero-sum game rhetoric of Hezbollah combined with its fundamentalist Islamic ideology only strengthens this belief among Israelis."

more...

http://www.bintjbeil.com/articles/en/020625_eldar.html

[DemocratSinceBirth]

1. The UN Had Ratified The Israel-Lebanon Border

Seems like a red herring to me.

[Behind the Aegis]

2. It is a red herring.

It is an "excuse" used by Hizb'allah.

[misternormal]

5. Perhaps, but enough to still cause problems...

This was an interesting statement that ended the article... It sounds more like children fighting over a particular piece of playground equipment. Unfortunately, it costs lives.

"Beirut never showed any particular interest in the dispute regarding its southern periphery - unless Israel showed interest."

[DemocratSinceBirth]

6. This Is Interesting

Despite verbal pronouncements by Syria that the area does belong to Lebanon, Syria has so far refused to cooperate with the UN's and Lebanon's request to officially delimit and demarcate the border, not just in the Shebaa area but over its entire length. The Syrian government does not recognize the independence of Lebanon, Jordan, or Israel de jure, believing them to be properly part of Greater Syria.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheeba_Farms

[misternormal]

7. Even if it were resolved, the fighting would continue...

... for one reason or another

[maxsolomon]

3. must be some really fertile lands

the ME makes me sick

[The Magistrate]

4. An Interesting Bit Of Research, Sir

Thank you for bringing it to our attention here.

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[alfredo]

9. I remember back in the sixties talking with an Israeli border guard

and he said that Israel is growing "one furrow at a time." It didn't matter if the land belongs to a Palestinian, it became Israel by default. It didn't matter if a home had belonged to a Palestinian family for centuries, their deed to the land was void if Israel wanted it. If the family tried to hold on to their land, the dispute was settled by bull dozers. Of course the offended parties will get revenge. Their pain becomes Israel's pain.

Life is never good for the occupier, or for the occupied.

The European Jews were in a real fix after the war. They needed our help, but the solution has caused so much sorrow. There may not have been a better solution. The Palestinians will always see the Jews as European occupiers. And they will always be treated as such. The only way Israel can hold onto the land and stop challenges is to do what America did to the native Americans. Do the Israeli's have the stomach for wholesale slaughter? Are they willing to bring their neighbors to the brink of extinction? Would the world stand for it?

I have heard the Israeli's say that God gave them that land, but was it his to give?


To tell the truth, I am disgusted with both sides of the conflict.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

11. How About The 850,000

How about the 850,000 Jews and their progeny who were expelled from Arab countries after Israel declared their independence in 1948.

Are they seen as European colonialists too?

[alfredo]

12. That's what I was saying, both side disgust me.

Both sides were victims, both sides were villains over the years. Both know it, but both are convinced of their rightness.

In the end, the fact that they have both been handed a pile of shit doesn't mean they must continue fighting the old fight over and over again. It has to end, they have to make the decision to live in peace. And because neither side has made the commitment to a lasting peace even though they know it is in the best interests of all parties, they can go fuck themselves. I'm tired of their shit.

[allemand]

10. The Shebaa Farms belong to Lebanese citizens, but some French colonial

cartographer/official put them on the Syrian side of the border on the map he was drawing. The fact that they are now occupied by Israel certainly contributed to Syria's willingness to correct that historical mistake.

That's how I would sum up the Shebaa Farms issue.