Catch 22 On The Shebaa Farms

The Syrians won’t demarcate the Shebaa Farms because of Israeli occupation. The Israelis won’t leave the farms because they are not demarcated, and Hezbollah won’t abandon their weapons because the Shebaa farms are still occupied.

Here’s a question: Wasn’t the entire purpose of “demarcating the Lebanese-Syrian border” — an important item on the agenda of the President’s visit to Damascus — to determine the ownership of the contentious Shebaa farms? 

What good does it do us to demarcate our borders if we skip over the controversial part, the only part that really matters? Besides, what does it take for the process of demarcation anyway? All it takes is a technical team from each country to work together on a map, sign it and hand it over to the United nations. It’s not like you have to send topographers on the ground to measure occupied territories. 

By refusing to demarcate the Shebaa Farms, Syria is proving that it is more interested in keeping this powder keg, a cause célèbre for Hezbollah, than in getting the farms back.