SILHOUETTE WINDOW SHADINGS
support from the Christian popula-
I linked their fate to the Israeli enemy,
don, which forms the backbone of the
,-they will be considered traitors by
\
South
Lebanon Army, the Jewish
many of their fellow Lebanese.
state's
militia ally in the region.
Scme 2,500 Lebanese make their
The security zone was created to
living in Israel, about 1,000 of them
protect Israel's northern communities
in Metulla and the neighboring Israeli
from attacks by Hezbollah gunmen.
settlements in the Upper Galilee.
But the continually rising death toll
Without work in Israel, they say,
of
Israeli
soldiers, coupled with peri-
they will starve. As a result, they
odic
Hezbollah
rocket attacks on
ignore the warnings from Beirut not
northern
Israeli
communities, has
to cooperate with the Israelis.
repeatedly
prompted
the question of
The talk of survival seems com-
whether — and how — to end Israel's
pletely incongruous here in Metulla,
involvement in
one of the most
Lebanon.
beautiful spots in
Intimately linked
Israel.
to this debate is
The picturesque
the question of
town lies on a hill
how to deal with
overlooking
Syria, which, with
Lebanon to the
tens of thousands
north and Israel's
of soldiers in
fertile Hula Valley
Lebanon, is the
and the Sea of
undisputed power
Galilee to the south.
— Ehud Neustadt
broker there.
The town has
In 1998 alone,
two main streets and
more than 20
a few side streets —
Israeli soldiers were
all of which are rem-
killed in Lebanon — most of them by
iniscent of villages in Russia and
Hezbollah's latest weapon of choice,
Poland before World War II.
the roadside bomb.
A mixture of antiquated homes and
Among the most vocal opponents
modern villas, the town is surrounded
of
the present policy in Lebanon is an
by fertile fields and orchards.
organization
called the Four Mothers,
The town also has tourist attrac-
a grass-roots group of mothers of
tions — a huge sports arena, with an
Israeli soldiers serving in the security
ice-skating rink and an Olympic-size
zone.
swimming pool that was contributed
Among Israeli politicians, support
by Canada's Jewish community.
for
— and opposition to — the policy
Indeed, Metulla is a peaceful town
in
Lebanon
cuts across party lines.
— except for the Israeli army trucks
Last
year,
Israel approved in princi-
and soldiers that occasionally make
ple
Security
Council
Resolution 425,
their way through here to what is
which calls for an Israeli withdrawal
Israel's last active battlefront.
from southern Lebanon.
Residents like Neustadt, who was
The government of Prime Minister
born and raised here, are concerned
Binyamin
Netanyahu urged Lebanon
that an Israeli withdrawal from
to
enter
negotiations
over the with-
Lebanon may turn this lovely spot
drawal,
an
offer
the
Lebanese
rejected
into a fortified border town.
N
outright.
But he is also concerned for the fate
As the internal Israeli debate rages,
of his workers and their families.
the Lebanese workers continue to
"I hate to think what will happen
worry.
to them if we withdraw. It will be a
"I am very concerned about the
second Sabra and Shatilla," he said,
future,"
said a woman from the
referring to the two refugee camps in
Christian
village of Kleiah, a few miles
Beirut that were the target of a mas-
north
of
the
Israeli-Lebanese border.
sacre by Christian militias during
"Nothing
can happen without the
Israel's war in Lebanon.
approval of Syria. I can only hope for
Israel created the nine-mile-wide
peace with Syria," she said.
security zone in southern Lebanon in
The woman, who has worked for
1985, when most Israeli troops with-
the
past 12 years as a maid in a
drew at the end of that three-year war.
Metulla
home, has no doubt about
Some 55 percent of the buffer
what
she
wants to do if Israeli soldiers
zone's 200,000 residents are Shi'ite
leave the region.
Muslims, 25 percent Christians and
• "If the Israelis decide on withdraw-
10 percent Druse, a sect that is an off-
al, we go out with the soldiers," she
shoot of Islam.
said. II
Israel has gotten the majority of its
"It will be a
second Sabra
and Shatilla"
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Detroit Jewish News
27