The Border

There are two kinds of borders. First there are the fluid ones. You can cross these simply by showing your passport and answering a few questions. They serve merely as established demarcation lines between two neighbouring countries. They are often taken for granted. Like the 49th parallel. Then, there are the impenetrable ones. Heavily reinforced and surveyed, they are meant to separate, isolate and antagonize. I have always imagine the latter as a wide strip of bare land flanked by high fences (and sometimes walls), watchtowers and soldiers constantly patrolling it. The border between Lebanon and Israel defies that image.

It is not bare, but splendidly green. Olive trees, cultivated fields, untouched meadows create a magnificent patchwork when seen from atop. The rich brown tint of the earth reveals its fertility. These lush shades of green brutally clash with the parched mountains in the background and serve as a frontier between Lebanon and Syria. Whereas the Middle East is mostly arid, this border region is an oasis, a pot of gold. You are forced to recognize why it has been fought over for decades; some trying to retain while others try to conquer it. Yet it does not justify the massacres that have been committed with those goals in mind.

The countries are not distant from each other, but provocatively close. From the ramparts of Beaufort castle, you can distinguish South Lebanon, the Golan Heights, the Chebaa Farms and the Israeli “golden finger”. When you look towards the latter, you easily discern a small hill circled by seemingly similar houses. It is the Jewish settlement of Metulla. Once you manage to tear yourself away from Beaufort and head to the small town of Kafr Kila, you realize that what separates those two enemies are a fence, a dirt road and another fence. From the foot of the Lebanese barrier, you can spot the Israeli military positions while right behind you a group of locals are discussing. Lebanese and Israelis are within insults reach.

Visiting the “liberated territories” – a reference to the fact that they were occupied by the Israeli army from 1982 to 2000 – and its important sites: Beaufort Castle (mostly known as Chkif Arnoun in Lebanon), the Khiam prison (where the Israeli forces interned and tortured Lebaneses and which they heavily bombed during the summer 2006 to erase the evidence), the Fatima gate (in the border village of Kafr Kila) is poignant. After such a tour the news stories and the textbooks analysis will no longer be abstract. Each time the area is evoked it will be associated with a landscape, people and moments. The silent, capable and patient cab driver which drove us around. Michel, the army guard dressed as a civilian which helped us ease through the permission process and offered us some of the delicious fruits that grow in the military base courtyard named Akidene. The guide at the Khiam prison who told us of the horrors he lived and witnessed while interned there through mimes and who offered me a rose from the bush that grew amidst the rumbles. The Hezbollah flags and posters that adorn every lamppost. The crowd in Kafr Kila surrounding two dead sheep while a man mounted a decorated horse on the other side of the road (we unfortunately could not understand what it all meant). The group of school children running through the underground labyrinths of Beaufort. But mostly, I will remember the luxurious splendour of the border area and the proximity of the enemies. Two reasons why peace may take a while to prevail.