Israel opens its border to Lebanese farmers: "from communication to the media"
Audio 02:31
Farmer Saïd Abbas in front of the barbed wire that marks the border between Lebanon and Israel.
© Noé Pignède / RFI
By: Noé Pignède Follow
3 min
On October 26, the Israeli army announced the opening of the border between the Hebrew state and Lebanon, on the occasion of the olive harvest.
According to the Israeli statement, this gesture was intended to come to the aid of the inhabitants of the country of the cedar, struck by an unprecedented economic crisis.
Advertising
On the outskirts of the village of Bleeda, the olive harvest is drawing to a close.
In this area, where exchanges of fire between the Israeli army and Hezbollah take place regularly, nothing seems to be able to distract farmers from their work these days.
Above their heads, however, Israeli drones regularly fly over the perimeter and on the ground, numerous blue helmet patrols in charge of maintaining peace at the border crisscross the olive groves.
“
Here is the blue line. There is Lebanon, and there is occupied Palestine
. Is the road just down from here Israel? “
Yes… well no! It's Palestine, not Israel!
», Says Mr. Ghazi who works for the municipality of this village, partly located on a disputed territory. With him, we cross the demarcation line drawn by the UN in 2000, after the withdrawal of the Israeli forces which occupied southern Lebanon. Theoretically, therefore, we are in Israel. But the wall that separates the two countries is in fact a few hundred meters lower and it remains impassable.
For Mr. Ghazi, the declaration of the Hebrew state, which affirms that the peasants of his village can cross the border to harvest their olives this year, is propaganda: “
Where are the crossing points?
The borders are closed.
Look for yourself: can you see something open?
A place where you can cross?
It's just communication for the media, nothing more.
If they really opened up, we would go to the other side to get our land back!
"
►
See also
:
On the Lebanese-Israeli border, the olive harvest escapes crises
"
We move freely
"
According to him, as according to an official of the United Nations interim force in Lebanon whom we contacted, the Israeli army is playing with words: the peasants work well on both sides of the blue line which acts as a border, but this tolerance is nothing exceptional: “When
it's olive season, like the rest of the year, we move around freely. No one can stop us
"
from
eClare Mr. Ghazi.
On the other hand, the farmers assure here that no one has been authorized to cross the wall below.
One of them, Tarrab, quips the Israeli army's statement: “
The Israelis are too good!
It's crazy how much they love us!
They are so concerned about the well-being of the Lebanese that when we work here, in our fields, they shoot in the air to frighten us.
"
This farmer admits, however, that he has not faced any intimidation from Israeli forces since the olive harvest began, but assures that the land on the other side of the wall which he claims to own is this year, like the previous ones, which remained inaccessible.
Newsletter
Receive all international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Israel
Lebanon