Occupied Shibaa landowners cling to hope of recovering Farms

Source: AFP, 23-9-2006
SHIBAA, Lebanon: The elderly still remember their olive groves, grapevines and fig trees in the lush mountains facing the Southern Lebanese village of Shibaa. Their dream is to free their farmlands from "Israeli" occupation. The younger villagers are just as adamant.
"We hope to regain our land, it is our soul," says Jamal Nabaa, a 34-year-old beekeeper.
Nabaa`s hives are outside the village, dangerously close to the volatile mountainous (occupied) Shibaa Farms border region now under "Israeli" control.
He was born after 1967, when the "Israeli" Army occupied the Farms, an area of about 20 square kilometers, but feels the loss of the territory as acutely as his elders.
Shibaa residents often stand on mountain ridges to gaze across the valley at their land. They still hold the ownership titles, which they keep in a safe place.
"When I was born, we owned land in the (occupied) Shibaa Farms. We planted wheat and prickly pears. We had sheep," says Afife Nassayef, a 70-year-old woman wearing a black veil.
"Then one day, the `Israelis` came while we were picking olives. We ran away," she adds.
She never went back to her land in the (occupied) Shibaa Farms which - as is the case for half the residents of the village - had been the main source of income for her family.
The territory lies where the Lebanese, Syrian, and "Israeli" borders converge. The Jewish (Zionist) state captured the area since the 1967 Middle East war, and it is now claimed by Beirut with Damascus` consent.
"Israeli" troops have retained control of the area since their withdrawal from most of South Lebanon in May 2000 after 22 years of occupation, and the Farms have remained the flashpoint for cross-border fighting since then.
After "Israel's" withdrawal from most of the South in 2000, Hizbullah established a foothold in the region and demanded that the Jewish (Zionist) state withdraw from (occupied) Shibaa Farms.
"It is a regional problem. It is the history of the Palestinians, Syria, Lebanon, and `Israel`," says Shibaa Mayor Omar Zuheiri.
"If the United Nations wants to find a solution to the problem of Hizbullah, it should find one for the Farms," he says.
The United Nations is expected to draft a proposal on Lebanon`s borders in the area.
"It may help resolve the issue," says Zuheiri.
He adds, however, that "the armed struggle for the liberation of the occupied territories is a right. If there is no diplomatic solution, we will have no other choice."