Thought some of you might find this an interesting intersection of politics
and geography . . .

Becky

-----Original Message-----
Subject:	Mapping Lebanon Becomes Political

Mapping Lebanon Becomes Political
.c The Associated Press
By LAURA KING

METULLA, Israel (AP) - Sweat dripping from the end of his nose as he labored
under a blazing midday sun, Moshe Bar craned his neck and squinted, trying
to sight a straight line along the new fence he was helping to build between
Israel and Lebanon.
"Good fences, good neighbors," he shouted over the din of a portable
generator, sounding more like New England poet Robert Frost than a
rough-hewn Israeli building contractor.
In the Middle East, though, neighbors have never found it a simple matter to
draw a dividing line between them.
Since the last Israeli troops and tanks rolled out of southern Lebanon on
May 24, defining the new frontier between the two countries has become an
exercise not only in geography, but geopolitics.
Using yellowed maps and satellite technology, U.N. cartographers have been
redefining the colonial-era frontier that meanders from the Mediterranean
coast to the foothills of the Golan Heights, slicing its way through stony
hills, bisecting backyards, halving orchards, even dividing a village.
U.N. verification of Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon, expected within a
matter of days, hinges on agreement that the Israelis have fallen back to
the internationally recognized border - drawn in 1923 by Britain, which
administered then-Palestine, and France, which had dominion over what are
now Syria and Lebanon.
As the modern-day mapmakers have gone about their task, defining the 50-mile
frontier with splashes of paint and stone markers, conflicting claims have
bubbled to the surface.
Geographers say some ambiguities stem from the simple fact that human beings
leave their mark on the landscape - they build roads, change the direction
of watersheds, fill in riverbeds, plow away hilltops, eradicate landmarks.
"It becomes a question of translating the map of then to the reality of
today - a physical reality that in some areas has changed," said Amnon
Kartin, a professor of geography at Tel Aviv University.
Such questions involve mainly small parcels of land. But bigger regional
disputes also have come into play.
Syria, which effectively runs Lebanon, has been a dominant force in
discussions about the border. The Syrians initially demanded that the United
Nations not verify Israel's withdrawal unless it ceded to Lebanon a strip of
land in the foothills of the Golan Heights known as the Chebaa farms.
Israel, backed by the United Nations, says the territory is irrelevant to
its border with Lebanon, because it was won from Syria in the 1967 Middle
East war.
This week, pressed by a U.N. envoy, Syria grudgingly agreed to accept the
U.N. position - but the Damascus government made clear it would continue to
seek sovereignty over Chebaa either for itself or Lebanon.
Also unresolved is the fate of the Israeli border village of Ghajar. Its
1,800 people, who are mainly Alawites, a fringe Muslim sect, were dismayed
to learn that according to the 1923 border, part of their community
apparently lies in Lebanon.
"It doesn't make sense, my sister in one country and I in another," said
Adel Shimali, a 41-year-old Ghajar resident, who showed the family's
crumbling and creased original land deeds, dating to Ottoman times.
In recent days, tensions have also surfaced between Lebanon and the United
Nations over the demarcation. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency
reported a charged atmosphere in closed-door talks this week between
Lebanese officials and U.N. cartographers, with the Lebanese raising
accusations of pro-Israel bias on the United Nations' part.
Israel's army is still grappling with the problem of how to defend the new
border. After its incursions into Lebanon in 1978 and 1982, Israel altered
the border based on military considerations.
When Israeli troops occupied southern Lebanon, they could seize strategic
hilltops as they pleased. With the new demarcation line, though, the army
finds itself occupying low ground at some points along the border.
Heavy Israeli troop reinforcements are in place, although mainly staying out
of sight to avoid inflaming tensions. At the Israeli border community of
Mishgav Am, a lone 20-year-old soldier named Amir patrolled the frontier
fence.
"Yes, I'm all alone, but if anything happens, my friends will be here in a
minute," he said, waving his hand-held radio.
The new fence - nearly finished in some areas, still under construction in
others - will have an array of high-tech defenses, including motion sensors.
That's not enough to satisfy some residents, who pressed for Israel to keep
a narrow buffer zone of a few hundred yards after the withdrawal rather than
reverting to the international border.
"We are very, very vulnerable to infiltration attacks," said Ron Hazan, a
former security chief for the northern communities' regional council.
Israeli leaders, though, said keeping even a small slice of Lebanese
territory would have scuttled any chances for U.N. verification of the
withdrawal.
In the days immediately following Israel's pullout, there was a free-for-all
on both sides of the frontier, with people from either side - some armed,
many angry - able to walk right up to the border fence.
After a few flare-ups of violence, both sides - Israeli troops on the one
side, Hezbollah guerrillas and Lebanese police on the other - are now
restricting movement along the frontier.
That may bring an end to the daily reunions of Palestinians in Israel with
relatives in Lebanon. Separated by a pair of fences and a narrow strip of no
man's land, relatives who have not seen one another for years toss fruit and
flowers back and forth and exchange shouted greetings.
"I'm so happy," said Omar Khassem, who lives in Israel. On the other side of
the fence, pressing against the barbed wire, were his uncle and aunt, who
live in a refugee camp in Lebanon. Both were crying.
"I can't touch them," said Khassem, holding up his small son, Said, for his
relatives to see. "But I can hold them in my heart."
AP-NY-06-02-00 1511EDT
Copyright 2000 The Associated Press. 


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