Shebaa

Not to be confused with Shebaa farms or Shabaa.

Shebaa (Arabic: شبعا, French: Chebaa) is a town on the south-eastern tip of Lebanon. It has a largely Sunni Muslim population of 25,000 people. It is situated at an altitude of approximately 1,700 m (5,600 ft) above sea level; spread across two steep rocky mountainsides.^[1] It lies adjacent to the contested Shebaa farms—which sit between the town and the Golan Heights.^[2] Before 1967, residents of Shebaa farmed in the disputed Shebaa farms territory.^[3]

Shebaa shown in an early 20th-century German map

Shebaa شبعا
Village
Shebaa, in 1998
Shebaa Location within Lebanon
Coordinates: 33°20′55″N 35°44′55″E
Country	Lebanon
Governorate	Nabatieh Governorate
District	Hasbaya District
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Dialing code	+961

History

Chebaa, in the 1880s^[4]

In 1838, Eli Smith noted Chebaa's population as being Sunni Muslim and Greek Orthodox Christians.^[5]

Following the 1982 Lebanon War, Chebaa became part of the Israel’s security zone with Norwegian soldiers from UNIFIL stationed in the area. On one night in late January 1989, the Israeli backed SLA expelled 40 villagers, ordering them not to return. This brought the total over a period of several months to around 80. In the words of the UNIFIL spokesperson those expelled were “mostly women and children”. There was outrage when a Norbat Colonel compared IDF actions to those of the Nazis.^[6] The town reverted back to Lebanese territory following Israeli withdrawal from South Lebanon in 2000.

As of 2015, the town housed several thousand Syrian refugees.^[7]

Educational establishments

Educational establishments	Chebaa (Hasbaiya) (2005-2006)	Lebanon (2005-2006)
Number of Schools	4	2788
Public School	2	1763
Private School	2	1025
Students schooled in the public schools	435	439905
Students schooled in the private schools	145	471409

References

1. Nour Samaha (2 Jul 2013). "The strange case of Lebanon's Shebaa". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
2. Saady Wiegand (2011). Enduring Territorial Disputes: Strategies of Bargaining, Coercive Diplomacy, and Settlement (illustrated ed.). University of Georgia Press. p. 146. ISBN 9780820337388.
3. Krista Eileen Wiegand (2011). Enduring Territorial Disputes: Strategies of Bargaining, Coercive Diplomacy, and Settlement (illustrated ed.). University of Georgia Press. pp. 157–8. ISBN 9780820337388.
4. Wilson, 1881, vol 2, p. 129
5. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p. 138
6. Middle East International No 346, 17 March 1989, Publishers Lord Mayhew, Dennis Walters MP; Jim Muir p.8
7. Samya Kullab; Ghinwa Obeid (27 Feb 2015). "Shebaa, the town caught in the middle". The Daily Star. Retrieved 12 June 2015.

Bibliography

• Robinson, E.; Smith, E. (1841). Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838. Vol. 3. Boston: Crocker & Brewster.
• Wilson, C.W., ed. (c. 1881). Picturesque Palestine, Sinai and Egypt. Vol. 2. New York: D. Appleton.

External links

• Localliban: Centre de resource sur le developpement local: www.localiban.org