A dangerous border ritual

Ha’aretz 12.7.00

Since the IDF's withdrawal from Lebanon, the border point known as the Fatma Gate has turned into a dangerous tourist zone. Daily, hundreds of Lebanese citizens and tourists from the Arab world show up to conduct what has become a kind of ritual: throwing stones at IDF patrols and lookout points. Among those participating in this rite was Edward Said, the Palestinian intellectual and Columbia University English professor. He, too, expressed himself by throwing a rock.

The IDF has given strict orders to its soldiers not to fire on the stone throwers. Only in extreme cases of self-defense or to prevent actual attempts to cross the border are soldiers allowed to use their weapons, and then only with great care. The IDF's restraint is commendable: It prevents dangerous escalation on the border, which only a month ago was a combat zone. Such restraint is particularly necessary because even if they are protected by Hezbollah, the stone throwers are mostly civilians, not soldiers.

These incidents are taking place because the border between Israel and Lebanon has an unusual status. On the one hand, the stones are being thrown from inside sovereign Lebanese territory. On the other, Lebanon refuses to take steps as the sovereign power in the area to prevent the disturbances. The Lebanese Army has yet to send units to south Lebanon, and it does not rule the border area. Meanwhile, UNIFIL's soldiers are not doing their job, which is to maintain the separation between Israel and Lebanon. The Lebanese government claims that the "Blue Line" border delineated by UN experts is still temporary because of 15 territorial disputes that it expects the IDF to correct.

These are very minor discrepancies, in some cases of only a few meters, but until a final border is drawn, says Beirut, it won't move troops to the south. The UN secretary general's special envoy, Terje Larsen, is now trying to win agreement for a finalization of the border and thus bring the Lebanon episode to a close. But even if there is only a little while to wait until there is an agreement on the border, it is impossible to acquiesce to a situation in which civilian visitors are allowed to turn the area into a showcase for dangerous demonstrations. The tiny disputes over the final border do not free Lebanon of its responsibility for sovereignty over the entire area. That sovereignty means Beirut should use every means possible to make sure the border does not turn into a flash point, just as the Israeli government is doing from its side of the border.

During the war, the Lebanese government knew very well how to prevent civilian traffic from one zone to another, so it surely must know how to do so with the IDF completely out of the area. Lebanon, like Israel, has a supreme interest in keeping the border calm, lest even one incident turns deadly. Beirut must fulfill its obligations - nothing less will do.