War-weary Lebanese suspect "Israel's" pullout

" "Israeli" missiles have regularly seared Khadija Moussa's village for the past 22 years and every day the elderly woman prays that an earthquake will bury the residents of "Israel" alive. Since "Israel" invaded south Lebanon in 1978, Moussa has lost family and friends in Habboush, one of the hamlets bordering the Middle East's last active warfront. The olive groves and tobacco farms have been scorched while countless homes have been razed in the almost daily barrage of air and artillery fire. Days ago, Moussa's two-month-old great-grandson and 11 relatives were hurt in an air raid. Like many residents of the south, she has seen too much to greet "Israel's" plans to withdraw from Lebanon with anything but suspicion. Prime Minister Ehud Barak, under pressure to quit what many "Israelis" call the south Lebanon "mud", has vowed to pull out by July 7. The pullout dominates talk in the south, where fear of "Israel" runs deep. Many residents believe the Jewish state is setting them up. Others say it will never leave. "We want to live in peace, but do you think "Israel" will let us?" asked Samih Halan, director of Habboush municipality. ""Israel" has never been honest and it has no credibility. How can they expect us to believe that they will no longer kill us?" South Lebanon is the last active Arab-"Israeli" front, where resistance fighters are battling to end "Israel's" occupation. Hundreds of civilians have lost lives and limbs in the conflict, which often spills over to the villages fringing the occupation zone. Last year, 15 children were hurt when mortars struck their school in Arab Salim, a village just outside the zone. "Israel" apologized, but the hatred and mistrust the attack stoked have not diminished -- especially when mortar bombs hit the school again this month. "There will never be peace as long as "Israel" is in the region," said headmaster Afif Noureddine, who bricked up all classroom windows as a precaution against more assaults. "There can never be peace with the Jews. They won't leave us be." Mohammad Farahat, a teacher at the school, said "Israel" would find any pretext to hit Lebanon. "If an "Israeli" anywhere in the world is hurt, they'll strike us. They're like that," he said, morosely sipping black coffee. Further north, within firing range of "Israel's" allied militia, grocer Abdallah Mushawrab in Jarjou adamantly refuses to believe "Israel" will withdraw. "This is a ruse, a game they are playing with us. They wont go." "Israel" has threatened to blitz Lebanon if resistance fighters attack over the border after the withdrawal, but violence seems likely if the pullout is not accompanied by a peace deal. "In "Israel", when our men hit them, they run to bomb shelters. We don't even have those. I am longing for the day this nightmare is over," said Nadia Karambash from her frontline home in Zawtar es-Sharkiya, a sleepy village with roses blooming from every garden. A 1996 accord on rules of engagement in the south bans Lebanese fighters and "Israel" from launching strikes from or on civilian areas".

 Future TV, 17-5-2000.