Marwaheen residents were among first and last to taste “Israeli” tactics

Source: Daily Star, 12-10-2006
MARWAHEEN: One of the last places at which "Israeli" military forces remained encamped on Lebanese territory in the wake of this summer`s war was in this tiny village overlooking the border. Local residents began to return shortly after the UN-brokered cessation of hostilities took effect on August 14, but the soldiers continued to harass them with sporadic checkpoints until pulling out in the early hours of Oct. 1.
The people of Marwaheen were also among the first Lebanese to experience the tactics employed by a military that has long emphasized what it says is "the purity of Jewish arms."
On July 15, just three days after the war began, the "Israeli" military ordered the evacuation of the village over loudspeakers. A few hours later, a small convoy of cars complied with the order and was promptly attacked by "Israeli" fighter-bombers. Twenty people were killed, among them nine childrren.
In the last few days of their stay in Marwaheen, the "Israelis" occupied a promontory in the village that offers a sweeping view of the countryside on both sides of the frontier. The dirt road leading up to the site is called Sheria al-Shaheed Nizar Ali Saleh - the Street of the Martyr Nizar Ali Saleh - and is marked at its beginning by a metal monument to several Hizbullah men who died fighting the "Israelis" during the 22-year occupation that (mostly) ended in 2000.
The marker was damaged during the most recent round of fighting and was closer to horizontal than vertical when this reporter visited the area about two weeks ago, just a few hours before the "Israeli" unit on the hill was withdrawn. Two "Israeli" flags still fluttered atop an unfinished villa nearby, but the bravado of that act was belied by the behavior of the soldiers at the crest, who were very much on edge.
And well they should have been. There are few constants in places like Marwaheen, but one of them is conflict, and another is resistance. The "Israelis" had to have known they were sitting ducks on that hilltop, they might have known they would be leaving shortly, they must have known they might be ordered to come back one day, and they should have known that more martyrs will be waiting for them.