Ghajar
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- For the village in Azerbaijan, see Qacar.
| Ghajar | |
  Ghajar
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| Coordinates: 33°16′22″N 35°37′23″E / 33.27278°N 35.62306°E | |
| Country | Golan Heights/Lebanon |
|---|---|
| Population | |
| - Total | 2,100 |
Ghajar (or al-Ghajar) is an Alawite village on the Hasbani River on the border between Lebanon and the Israeli-controlled area of the Golan Heights. It has a population of 2,000.[1]
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[edit] History
[edit] Early history
The original name of the village was Taranjeh. It was changed to Ghajar by the Kurds who seized it 300 years ago and forced the inhabitants to sell them their land. [2]According to a local legend, the Kurdish governor tried to ride his horse onto the tomb of a local holy man, Sheikh al-Arba'in. The horse refused and the following day a fire broke out, destroying the governor's shield and sword. The Kurds fled in terror.[3]
[edit] Modern era
Prior to the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, Ghajar was considered part of Syria and its residents were counted in the 1960 census. [4] When Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967, Ghajar remained a no-man's land for two and months. The villagers petitioned the Golan's Israeli governor to be annexed to Israel because they saw themselves as part of the Golan Heights. [5] Israel agreed to include Ghajar in its occupied territory and the residents accepted living under Israeli rule.[6] In 1981, most villagers agreed to become Israeli citizens under the Golan Heights Law.
Over the years, the village expanded northward into Lebanese territory, subsuming the Wazzani settlement north of the border.[7]In 2000, when the United Nations drew the Blue Line to determine the final border between Israel and Lebanon following the withdrawal of Israeli troops, the northern half of the village came under Lebanese control and the southern part remained under Israel.[8] Israeli troops returned to the northern half of Ghajar in the 2006 Lebanon War; UN-sponsored negotiations are underway for Israel to again return this to Lebanese control.
Residents on both sides of the village have Israeli citizenship; those in the northern half often hold passports from both Lebanon and Israel.[9] They work and travel freely within Israel, but those living on the Lebanese side have difficulties receiving services from Israel. There is an Israel Defense Forces checkpoint at the entrance to the village, and a fence surrounding the entire village, but no fence or barrier dividing the Israeli and Lebanese sides of the village.
Prior to Israel's reoccupation of northern Ghajar in the 2006 war, Israel claimed that Hezbollah used the Lebanese side of the village as a base to spy on Israel, and Hezbollah had tried to attack Israeli soldiers from the area.[10]
[edit] UNIFIL
Israeli soldiers remain on the Lebanese side of Ghajar despite a December 3, 2006 Israeli cabinet decision to hand it over to UNIFIL. Israel says that the Lebanese army pulled out of a UN-brokered deal in which the Lebanese Army would have protected the vicinity of the northern section of the village, while UNIFIL would deploy security details within the village itself. Since the 2006 Lebanon War, Israel has occupied the entire village; a perimeter fence has been built along the northern edge of the village in Lebanese territory up to 800 meters north of the Blue Line]]. The UN military personnel consisting of UNIFIL Spanish troops and OGL observers patrol the area continuously. [11]
The United Nations issued a 'Report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1701 (2006)', dated 30 October 2007.[12] In the 'Security and liaison arrangements' section of the report, it states;
In this regard, the working paper on the technical procedures for marking the Blue Line is still under consideration and it is hoped that it will be finalized in parallel with the ongoing pilot project to visibly mark the line on the ground. At the same time, discussions on the temporary security arrangements for northern Ghajar remain deadlocked on the issue of the duration of the arrangements. The Force Commander is undertaking bilateral consultations to identify possible approaches to overcome the impasse. The Israel Defense Forces remain in control of the part of the village of Ghajar north of the Blue Line and the small adjacent area inside Lebanese territory, although it does not maintain a permanent military presence there. As of mid-September 2007, the Lebanese Armed Forces patrol the road outside the perimeter fence around this area. As I recalled in my last report (S/2007/392), so long as the Israel Defense Forces remain in northern Ghajar, Israel will not have completed its withdrawal from southern Lebanon in accordance with its obligations under resolution 1701 (2006).
In the 'Observations' section of the report, it further states;
I remain concerned, however, at the inability of either party to find a way forward over the issue of the northern part of the village of Ghajar, which the Israel Defense Forces continues to occupy in violation of its obligations under resolution 1701 (2006). Failure to make progress on this issue could become a source of tension and carry the potential for incidents in the future. I urge both the Lebanese Armed Forces and the Israel Defense Forces to engage with the UNIFIL Force Commander in a constructive manner in order to find a solution to this issue.
On April 17, 2009, the Lebanese paper Daily Star reported the IDF had agreed to withdraw from the northern part of Ghajar at a meeting at Rosh HaNikra.[13] On May 13, the Israeli government suspended talks to await the outcome of the Lebanese Parliamentary elections, fearing a Hezbollah victory.[14]
[edit] References
- ^ Getting rid of Ghajar, Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz
- ^ Getting rid of Ghajar, Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz
- ^ Getting rid of Ghajar, Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz
- ^ http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1084425.html
- ^ http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1084425.html
- ^ Dudu Ben-Tzur's interview with Khatib Jamal, a resident of Ghajar, December 1993. Published in Hebrew in Teva Ha-Dvarim, 2nd issue, February–March 1994 [1].
- ^ A New Fence Is Added to a Border Town Already Split
- ^ Getting rid of Ghajar, Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz
- ^ Ghajar says 'don't fence me in', by Uri Ash, Haaretz
- ^ Kidnap of soldiers in July was Hezbollah's fifth attempt
- ^ Lebanon holding up IDF Ghajar pullout
- ^ UN Security Council document S/2007/641, paragraphs 16 and 71
- ^ http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=101089
- ^ http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1085251.html
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Coordinates: 33°16′22″N 35°37′23″E / 33.27278°N 35.62306°E
