As this country teeters on the edge of a sectarianist abyss, there is one small area that has managed to immunise itself against any potential internal explosion – despite seemingly having all the necessary ingredients to ignite.

 

Shebaa, a largely Sunni town of 25,000 people on the south-eastern tip of Lebanon, is perched approximately 1,500 metres above sea level, and spread across two steep, rocky mountainsides overlooking a bubbling stream. On one side, it shares a border with Syria. On the other, it shares a border with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. To add yet another complexity, the Shebaa Farms, fields of arable farmland adjacent to Shebaa and owned by Lebanese residents of the town, remain under Israeli occupation.

 

And unlike other border Sunni towns here, such as Majdal Anjar in the north of Lebanon and Arsal in the Bekaa Valley, Shebaa has an eclectic mix of opposing political and religious factions. It also has to deal with an influx of Syrian refugees flowing in over the border. Yet none of these complexities have brought the town into confrontations either with its neighbours, or between townsfolk themselves. [Link]