Southern town of Rmeich troubled by tensions

Several residents in the southern town of Rmeish described how the Green Without Borders organization, which some link to Hezbollah, bulldozed vast tracts of land, removed trees, built structures, and dug with heavy equipment in forests belonging to the Rmeish people.

According to Hanna el-Amil, one of the landowners, "our people paid the price very expensive during the Ottoman period; they paid their blood'."

LBCI went along with one of the owners to the disputed lands, which are owned by multiple parties, where the organization set up the tent and where both sides met.

However, LBCI did not record the meeting out of respect for their request. But the speech opened with a resident of Rmeish telling the organization's youth, "The Israelis did not do to us what you are doing by destroying our land."

One of the young men of Green Without Borders responded by accusing him of inciting and pointing out that they had obtained permission to enter the property from one of the landowners.

 

The convergence of viewpoints brought the meeting to a quiet conclusion. But how does "Green Without Borders" defend itself? Before beginning their job, did they obtain the landowners' permission?

Ali Dakdouki, Mukhtar of Aita al-Chaab, explained that the Israelis had entered Lebanese territory, covering an area of 15,000 square meters and that neither UNIFIL nor state security was present. He said that the only ones on the scene were the organization's young members, who had brought the Israeli back to the basic borders of Palestine.

El-Amil also emphasized that "this is our land, which we inherited from our dads and grandfathers, and we will safeguard it at all costs, as well as our commitment to maintaining good neighborly relations."

Entering the land in Rmeish was justified by deterring a new Israeli attack... But the question is, "Does anyone have the right to dispose of land without the owners' permission? How can this dispute be settled without reaching what you do not praise?"

De Gaulle Aboutass, a well-known personality in the area, said he "thanks the land's owners for their conscious attitude in which they refused to aggravate the issue."

As a result, the parties involved will attempt to settle this dispute at a meeting that will take place on Saturday night in the residence of one of the town's personalities. So, will the efforts succeed?