June Monday 05-2000:

Introduction

Lebanon reiterated asserting that the implementation of UN Resolution 425 must include several areas still under "Israeli" control. "Any failure to fulfill these legitimate demands will constitute a violation of the withdrawal, and thus, will leave the door open for the resistance to continue its activities", a senior Lebanese political source said.

In the meantime, more than thousand Lebanese demonstrated against "Israel" Sunday throwing stones and iron rods at the "Israeli" troops along the Lebanese-Palestinian borders.

However, Ghobeiri Mayor Mohammad Said Khansa said on Sunday that an abandoned "Israeli" tank would be placed in one of the town's squares to ensure that "the humiliating "Israeli" retreat is remembered forever".

Lebanon: Resistance will continue if "Israeli" violations remained…(1)

"Lebanese officials re-affirmed their commitment to the full implementation of Resolution 425. A senior political source said that implementation must include the areas still under "Israeli" control: the south of Rmeish and areas facing the "Israeli" villages of Masqav Am and Metulla. Also, "Israel" will have to evacuate positions from the Mount Hermon hills falling within Lebanese territory.
The source said there was no ambiguity surrounding this border, since it separates Lebanon from Syria and not Lebanon from "Israel".
Also, the issue of the Shibaa Farms will be addressed separately, the source said. Although these farms are Lebanese, Beirut has agreed to deal with this issue in separate fashion, as suggested by Larsen.
Lebanon and Syria will submit a written document to the Security Council asserting that there is no conflict between them on the farms’ identity, in a sign that Beirut is showing full cooperation with the UN.
"Israel"’s withdrawal should also extend to equipment and infrastructure installed to help the "Israelis" steal Lebanese water, the source said. “Any failure to fulfill these legitimate demands will constitute a violation of the withdrawal, rendering it incomplete, and as such, will leave the door open for the resistance to continue its activities,” the source said.
He added that Beirut rejected UN suggestions of a “withdrawal line” that would be as close as possible to the internationally recognized border without totally conforming to it. The UN delegation had tried to persuade Lebanon that it could later retrieve the small areas left under "Israeli" control, the source said.
By doing so, UN officials were ignoring the fact that neither UN Resolution 425 nor UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s report on the pullout mentioned a withdrawal line, only the border laid down in 1923 and confirmed in the Armistice Agreement of 1949.
The source said "Israel" claimed it had no copy of the agreement. During their meetings with Lebanese officials, the UN staff also said they had lost their copy of the agreement in a “flood.” Lebanon presented its own copy to the UN delegation, asking that it be adopted, the source added.
While Beirut has sought to demonstrate considerable cooperation with the UN team, Lebanese officials were surprised by the attitude of the UN delegation, which appeared to be negotiating with Lebanon on "Israel"’s behalf.
On the ground, international news agencies quoted witnesses who reported seeing "Israelis" moving the fence back toward the "Israeli" side near Metulla. “It’s clear that "Israel" has left all of the interior of Lebanon and now we’re nearing the final stage,” said one UN official. “I hope we’re within sight of at least ending the cartographers’ work … They’ve done in a week what normally takes months.”
A UN source was quoted as warning that “if Lebanon disagrees with the lines established by the UN, UNIFIL, whose mandate expires July 15, may have to withdraw.”
Last week, the National News Agency quoted “official sources” as saying that the team had asked Lebanon to renounce its claim to land in the border’s central sector.
Speaker Nabih Berri on Saturday said that Lebanon “won’t allow any problem to break out between the UN and it,” brushing aside speculations that Syria was opposed to deploying the army in the South.
“"Israel" is used to lobbying international support for its viewpoints,” he said. “But this
time it won’t succeed,” he told Monte Carlo Radio. “Once the UN finishes verifying the "Israeli" pullout, we’ll see if we need to send troops to the South,” he added, urging the government to “explain this more clearly to the people to avoid misunderstandings.”

Anti-"Israeli" demonstrations on Lebanese border…(2)

"More than a thousand Lebanese demonstrated against "Israel" Sunday throwing stones across the border, an AFP correspondent reported.

The demonstrators included a large number of women dressed in black waving flags of both Hizbullah, which spearheaded the resistance against the "Israeli" occupation, and Amal movement.

The "Israeli" military, under strict orders to avoid any escalation of trouble did not respond, according to a military source.

The largest demonstration was at Fatima gate, near the "Israeli" border town of Metulla, with another near the "Israeli" coastal village of Zarit.

In both cases the Lebanese came right up to the barbed wire fencing but made no attempt to cross.

The stone throwing incidents began right after the "Israelis" pullout of southern Lebanon.

Four young people, three Lebanese and a Palestinian, were wounded in the leg by gunshot wounds and grenade shrapnel when they were throwing stones.

Following the incident, parts of the border were declared "closed military zones," out of bounds to journalists, as the authorities considered the presence of the press was encouraging demonstrations.

Judicial officials at odds over SLA man’s bail…(3)

collaborators 
Chief Military Prosecutor Nasri Lahoud has appealed Chief Military Investigating Magistrate Riad Talih’s decision to release a former member of the South Lebanon Army on bail, issuing an arrest warrant for the man.
Talih released Mohammed Mehdi on bail after learning that he had worked for SLA’s “Civil Administration,” where he was responsible for giving people permits to enter "Israel".
He had not entered the Jewish state since 1980.
Mehdi worked in Naqoura under the supervision of an "Israeli" officer who went by the nickname “Zuheir.”
Meanwhile, Lahoud accused 76 SLA members who surrendered to judicial authorities of fighting alongside "Israel" and providing the Jewish state with intelligence information.
One of the accused, Georgette Tawileh, was the chief warden at the women’s section of the notorious Khiam detention center.

"Israeli" tank to become  monument in Ghobeiri…(4)

Ghobeiri Mayor Mohammed Said Khansa said on Sunday that an abandoned "Israeli" tank would be placed in one of the town’s squares to ensure that “the humiliating ("Israeli") retreat is remembered forever.”
A statement issued by the municipality indicated that the square, located off the airport road, would be renamed Resistance Square.
Khansa said the Interior Ministry and other government departments had granted the municipality permission to proceed with its plans for the tank, which was taken by Hizbullah.
Khansa, who is an official with Hizbullah, said the monument would be set up “soon.”
He also announced that the municipality would give seven Ghobeiri residents who were liberated from Khiam last month LL5 million each “as a modest contribution to help them in this difficult economic period and in appreciation of their suffering.”

Sojod returns to resistance, destruction, and hope…(5)

They refused to collaborate and they paid the price. Nothing ­ not one building, not one wall ­ remained of the once-picturesque village of Sojod.
In the aftermath of "Israel"’s withdrawal from the South, silence reigned as those who used to live in Sojod approached the rubble that once made up their village. Shocked, they looked around trying to establish where their stone houses had been.
They knew that a fig tree once stood in the village square, so the hunt began. They found it, albeit withered, but it was their first landmark. Slowly, others emerged. A walnut tree that could only have been the residence of the Nassereddine family; a deep well from which 97-year old Hassan Nassereddine used to water the cherry tree behind his house.
One family could not find their father, 90-year-old Ali Nassereddine. He was later found weeping on top of the rubble that was once his home.
“I built this house with my own hands,” he cried. “I carried the rocks on my shoulders. I chiseled them one by one. I’m too old to do it again.”
In time, the depression gave way to optimism, and a sense of pride prevailed.
“We were the only occupied village who refused to let its young men join the "Israeli"-allied militia,” said Hassan Nassereddine, recalling the events that led to Sojod’s complete destruction. “It was December 1983. I was tending my garden. Three "Israelis" came and told me to prepare coffee and they sat under my cherry tree. I got them coffee, fruit, everything. They asked for the mukhtar,” he recalled.
The entire village appeared and listened intently as the "Israelis" asked for five young men to join the militia.
“We said no,” said Hassan. “We flatly refused.”
About a month later, the "Israeli" agents showed up early in the morning.
“They stormed into our houses and ordered us to the square,” he said. “They grabbed me by the neck and looted our houses. They took everything.”
In the square, villagers stood by helplessly. Many were in their night clothes. One woman was taking a shower when militiamen barged in on her and dragged her outside. Villagers wrapped her in bed sheets.
“They forced us onto tractor carts and told us to leave,” said Hassan. “We never came back.”
But three families stayed behind. It is unclear whether the militia knew of their presence at the time. Nevertheless, a few days later, the collaborators returned and began shooting at the remaining residents who fled to the hills.
As Alia Onaissy, then 23, ran carrying her two infants while pregnant with the third, she stepped on a land mine. Her left leg was blown off. Arab Salim villagers heard her screams and carried her to safety.
Limping on her wooden leg, it was hard at first to return to her village, especially since her destroyed home was surrounded by mines. “But I can’t remain a refugee all my life, going from one house to the other, finding affordable rent,” she said. “It’s time I came home.”
Onaissy and her family had pitched a tent where her home once stood. The smell of frying potatoes on an open fire filled the area. As soon as the school term ends, she plans to move into the tent with her family.
Others were doing the same.
“Tonight,” Hassan declared to his family, “I’m sleeping here. There may be wild pigs or snakes, but I don’t care. I’m setting up a tent next to my home.”
Eagerly, he led the way to the rubble that was once a nine-room stone house. He had already started trimming some overgrown shrubs and created a seating area by laying a wooden plank on some rocks. Nearby, a tent lay in its bag. Hassan began to make a small clearing to pitch it. Close by, his relative Leila Nassereddine arranged some supplies in her own tent.
“I’ve already brought coffee, tea, and whatnot,” she said. “If we have to live in a tent, that’s what we’ll do until somehow we can rebuild our village.”
Slowly, people made their way through the mine-strewn rubble. Hizbullah fighters, who had located and detonated some mines, labeled a few safe passages. Red ribbons marked dangerous areas and signs warned people of their location. A lot of work remained for the resistance fighters who set up their own tents in the square. Some were turned into shaded seating areas for visiting villagers who were offered tea and coffee, and some were used as sleeping areas for the fighters. Ironically, the sleeping tent bore Hebrew writing ­ residue of the withdrawing "Israeli" Army.
Sojod has special significance for Hizbullah. It was a favorite infiltration point and claimed the lives of 213 fighters. It was here that Hadi Nasrallah, the son of Hizbullah secretary-general Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, was martyred in 1998. It was also where, half a year ago, seven fighters were caught infiltrating the zone and were bombarded by "Israeli" planes as they took cover in the rubble. All were killed. With its strategic location overlooking areas stretching north of the former occupation zone, Sojod became a key military area.
“They planted land mines everywhere,” a Hizbullah fighter said. “But we had special engineers who went ahead and guided us through the hills when we were on a mission.”
Just beyond the village lay the Sojod position, which had long terrorized villages below. It is actually the burial place of a Jewish prophet named Sojod.
“Jews would come here every April and spend a few days visiting the burial place,” recalled Hassan Nassereddine. “They then built a fire in the square and danced some traditional dances. Afterward, they would scoop up some ashes and put them into napkins. It was some sort of tradition. How could they allow their own people to destroy their prophet’s burial ground? I don’t understand.”
With determination considered typically southern, those returning are already planning how to rebuild their village.
“Every house must have a garden,” said Aql Shabani, 58. “And hopefully we can build them in stone again. Look at Metulla or Manara. The villages seem organized. So can ours.”
Easier said than done. Returning residents are fully aware that the compensation to be offered by the Council of the South will barely be enough to rebuild their village.
“We need more help,” said Shabani. “And we deserve it. Had we given up just one young man to the militia, our village wouldn’t have been destroyed.”

Over the barbed wire, Palestinians exchange rings…(6)

" Under the watchful eyes of "Israeli" soldiers, three young Palestinian men offered engagement rings through the barbed wire fence to their new fiancées on the other side of the "Israel"-Lebanon border on Sunday.

Some 5,000 people -- both refugees in Lebanon and Arabs living in "Israel" -- assembled on the two sides of the fence and applauded.

Khaled Rabah, 22, is from the Palestinian refugee camp of Bourj Shamali, some 20 kilometers (12 miles) away from the border. He handed over a gold engagement ring to his 20-year-old financee, Zahra Fadl of Dhaisheh, whose Arab family stayed in "Israel" after the Jewish state's creation in 1948.

"I am very happy today because I just got engaged with a young woman who stayed with her people in our homeland," Khaled said. "I really hope I can be with her soon in "Israel"."

Khaled, an agricultural worker, admits having glimpsed his financee May 24, the day the last "Israeli" soldier left Lebanon and he went for the first time to Douhaira.

Thousands of Palestinian refugees and "Israeli" Arabs usually meet each day at the border, where they can shake hands or even kiss.

But the couples could not embrace after exchanging rings. The "Israeli" army put up barbed wire along the border Saturday, preventing any physical contact among Palestinians.

"We talked and agreed to meet Sunday, with our relatives, to get engaged," said Khaled, a dreamlike look in his eyes. "We will get married as soon as we can."

His young financee, clad in jeans and a blue T-shirt, received permission to approach Khaled. She exchanged with him a smile, a few winks of the eye and -- one can only guess -- words of love.

After three hours, Zahra raised her hand to say goodbye, raised back her shiny black hair and went off, turning back for one more look.

Khaled, captivated, said goodbye, smiled and then walked away from the border until Zahra could no longer be seen.

An "Israeli" soldier, an assault rifle on his shoulder-band, looked at the scene and smiled.

In the same place, the "Israeli" soldiers watched over two other engagements, both between refugees in Lebanon and Arab "Israeli" women.

Another new development has arisen with the end of the buffer zone.

"Israeli" Arabs hand "Israeli" soldiers stacks of US dollars and jewelry to hand them over to relatives who are refugees on the other side. Some 350,000 Palestinians live in Lebanon, where they cannot work; nearly half of them live in one of 13 miserable refugee camps.

Only one incident broke the harmony of the day. For nearly an hour, some 20 young Palestinians threw rocks at them, shouting out "Arab Palestine."

The "Israeli" army fired smoke grenades in the air. The demonstrators left.

Footnotes:

1- The Daily Star, 5-6-2000.

2- AFP, 4-6-2000.

3- The Daily Star, 5-6-2000.

4- Same source.

5- Same source.