Free Republic

The emergence of the Shaba Farms as a possible item in an agreement authorizing a multinational force for South Lebanon raises a number of issues of which not all the participants in the current negotiations may be aware. They go deep into the question of the very existence of Lebanon as a sovereign state. What are the issues? In the 1923 Anglo-French Demarcation Agreement, which set the borders between the British and French mandates in Palestine, Syria and Lebanon, the area was included in Syria. The maps of the 1949 Israeli-Syrian Armistice Agreements similarly designated the area as Syrian. In...

U.S. asks Israel to consider talks on land By UPI Staff United Press International July 27, 2006 JERUSALEM (UPI) -- U.S. officials have advised Israel to consider a deal that would give the Shaba Farms area, occupied by Israel since 1967, to Lebanon. The issue was broached by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during a meeting Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, The Jerusalem Post reported Thursday. The Post said the Israeli government pushed the idea aside after bitter fighting and Israeli loses Wednesday at Bint Jbail, the Hezbollah capital in Lebanon. When asked about the possibility of...

The UN Security Council has ruled that the controversial Shaba Farms district in northern Israel belongs to Syria, not to Lebanon, Israel radio reported Saturday morning. All 15 Security Council members adopted the draft, which was drafted by the US, France, Britain, Denmark and Greece. The draft concluded that Israel has fully complied with UN Security Council Resolution 425, which obligated Israel to withdraw to the UN-delineated Blue Line. Russia, Algeria and Lebanon criticized the decision. In addition, the Security Council extended the mandate for the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) to remain in Lebanon for an additional six...

Oct. 31, 2003 Eye on the Media: The controversy of Israel By BRET STEPHENS Since when are the Shaba farms "disputed"? According to the United Nations, this uninhabited strip of land – 14 kilometers long and two kilometers deep – falls squarely on the Israeli side of Blue Line dividing Israel from Lebanon. But because the farms are also on the Golan Heights, the UN insists they properly belong to Syria. In the language of news agencies such as Reuters and the Associated Press, that would mean the farms are in "Israeli-occupied" territory. But there's a catch. Syria – which...