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Hizbullah Slams UNIFIL, Says Patrols in Violation of 1701

Continued border patrols conducted by U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon not only have angered residents but Hizbullah, too.
Hizbullah MP Ali Fayyad slammed UNIFIL, criticizing the patrol operations as "maneuvers."

He told An-Nahar newspaper in remarks published Wednesday that residents were surprised by UNIFIL's "unprecedented" heavy military presence in villages and neighborhoods.

Angry residents on Tuesday blocked Adeisseh-Kfar Kila road in southern Lebanon and hurled stones at a U.N. vehicle in Khirbit Selim to protest passing of UNIFIL patrols.

Considering the peacekeepers' action as "provocative" and "noisy," Fayyad said he also noticed that UNIFIL troops were not accompanied "as usual" by Lebanese army patrols.

He said the move angered residents who expected UNIFIL to deter Israeli forces from kidnapping a Lebanese shepherd a few days ago instead of making all this action in their villages.

Residents, instead, were surprised to see UNIFIL has intensified it military movement within the villages, Fayyad said, adding that this act was "not in line with U.N. Resolution 1701."

Responding to calls made over the loudspeakers, southerners on Tuesday gathered outside Adeisseh's main square, protesting against what they called "maneuvers" by Spanish peacekeepers around their village.

Lebanese troops managed to reopen the road several hours later.

Similar demonstrations took place almost simultaneously in Khirbit Selim where residents gathered in the main square demanding an end to UNFIL patrols inside their village.

At Tibnin-Kfardounine-Bir Salasel road junction, residents took to the streets, hurling stones at an armored vehicle manned by French U.N. troops.

The APC's windshield was shattered and U.N. troops were forced to leave.

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Amela Einat

Amani, the Girl from Rajar

Bnei Brak, Sifriat Poalim/Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 2003.

This is a book about the hope for peace.

The plot is set in Rajar, Israel`s northernmost village, which is located at the meeting-point of the borders of Israel, Lebanon and Syria. Its inhabitants belong to the Alawi sect, most of whom live in Syria.

Amani, the heroine of the story, was born in the back of a car because her parents were not permitted to reach the hospital.

The day Amani`s mother went into labor, terrorists infiltrated the area and a curfew was imposed on the village.

Although Hussein, the new father, was concerned and angry, he decided to name his firstborn daughter "Amani," which means "hope"in Arabic.

Amani`s day-to-day life is tightly bound up with the extraordinary political reality in which her little village finds itself. Her father, the principal of the village school, married a Moslem woman from a village in central Israel because he was unable to find a suitable bride in Rajar.

Siham, the mother, had dreams of becoming a teacher but was unable to fulfill them.

She and her husband entertain hopes that their daughter Amani will acquire an education and fulfill her aspirations.

Amani, a clever and curious girl, has hopes and aspirations of living in a better world, a world of peace and tranquillity.

In such a world she would be able to meet her relatives - most of whom live across the Lebanese border -without fear, and paddle in the river where her father played as a boy, but is inaccessible today due to the security situation.

She would even be able to visit the home of Yossi, the Israeli officer whose platoon is stationed near the village and with whom she has become friends.

Amani can talk to Yossi in her own language since he learned Arabic at school.

He promises Amani that one day he will come and take her down to the river she longs to see, but he is wounded and Amani is unable to visit him in hospital.

Two years go by and Amani is already eight years old, but she has not stopped hoping for a better future. She dreams of becoming a pediatrician in a hospital that will be built on the border of the three countries - Israel, Syria and Lebanon.
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