Saturday, January 29, 2005
That's the area along the Lebanon/Israel border that Hizballah claims is part of Lebanon and uses as an excuse to keep up attacks on Israel, saying that Israel is still "occupying" Lebanon. The UN, however, has certified that Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon is complete, and recognizes the Shaba Farms area as actually a part of Syria, making them a subject of future negotiations between Syria and Israel as a part of the Golan Heights. That's not good for these IslamoNazis (The usual "IslamoFascist" doesn't quite seem to cut it with these characters. I use the term with little hyperbole) who would lose a portion of their raison d'etre, or at least a chunk of their respectability with the international brigade of useful idiots, if they were actually to admit that there is no Israeli occupation of Lebanon anymore, and that maybe THEY are the problem.
The UN, including France(!) appears to be saying the right thing these days, as the following article shows. They have not always done the right thing, of course, as when in 2000, Hizballah terrorists, likely disguised in a UN look-alike vehicle, fired guided rockets across the border at a jeep, crossed the border fence, and then attacked and abducted three Israeli soldiers. Soldiers of the UN "Peacekeeping" force, UNIFIL, were actually close enough to videotape the burning jeep and did nothing. The UN then first denied the tape existed, then stonewalled the Israeli government and families for over a year before finally releasing the tape with the terrorists' faces obscured. On the tape, UN peacekeepers could be heard laughing as they watched the operation, one heard to say, "They're screwing the Jews." (source: Tower of Babble, by Dore Gold)
Haaretz: UN rebukes Lebanon over Har Dov:
The document, drafted by France and co-sponsored by the United States, Britain, Denmark and Greece, was adopted unanimously by the 15-member council, although Russia and Algeria as well as Lebanon voiced criticism.
For the first time in years, the Security Council mentioned Secretary-General Kofi Annan's report in May 2000 that verified Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon behind a UN-drawn frontier, called the "blue line." This frontier put the Shaba Farms in Syria.
The resolution said the "continually asserted position" by Beirut was "not compatible" with past council resolutions or reports by Annan. Beirut contends the Shaba Farms are part of Lebanon and still occupied by Israel...
...Without mentioning the Shaba Farms by name, Lebanon's deputy UN ambassador, Ibrahim Assaf, said the council "selectively highlighted passages from the secretary-general's report," and contended that "these elements could have a detrimental effect on peace and security."
But France's envoy Michel Duclos said, "The blue line remains the agreed reference for the international community."
The resolution also said Lebanon should "extend and exercise its sole authority in the south," a reference to the militant group Hezbollah, which dominates the south and exchanges fire with Israel in the Shaba Farms area.
Anne Patterson, the U.S. acting ambassador, told the council that the biggest impediment to peacekeeping was "the continued specter of armed militias in southern Lebanon, coupled with the Lebanese government's unwillingness to assert its sole and effective control over all its territory."
She said that Lebanon's position that the blue line was invalid is not compatible with Security Council resolutions and in any case is no excuse for allowing Hezbollah to engage in violence along and across the blue line."...
