Don't miss Baron Bodissey's excellent post on the Shebaa Farms at Gates of Vienna:
We’ve been hearing a lot about the Shebaa Farms lately. This little piece of real estate is Hizbullah’s justification for opposing an Israeli “occupation†of Lebanese territory, and for continued violence against the state of Israel.Shebaa Farms… It makes one think of a bucolic but tragic scene, where Lebanese farmers, plowmen, and shepherds labor under the oppressive yoke of Israeli domination.
Well… Not quite.
The Shebaa farms are in a little salient of Syrian territory, located near the point where Israel, Syria, and Lebanon come together. It’s part of the Golan Heights, a strategic section of mountainous Syrian territory captured by Israel in the Six-Day War and held ever since, awaiting a permanent peace treaty with Syria for disposition.
Like the rest of the Golan Heights, the Shebaa area is important from a military standpoint for its elevation, and Hizbullah would love to drive the Israelis out and occupy it. But it’s not part of Lebanon, and never has been.
The proper disposition of the Shebaa farms is another example of media manipulation and revisionist history as practiced by Hezbollah and their patrons. Bodissey cautions against Israel ceding the land to Lebanon in negotiations, based of course on their track record of giving up "land for peace."
Posted by dan at August 29, 2006 12:43 AM