Shenker Urges Shar’a to Change the Identity of Lebanon’s Shebaa Farms in Preparation for Their Annexation Along with the Golan to Israel

The Arqoub Sons Committee issued a statement responding to remarks by former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State David Schenker regarding the Shebaa Farms, affirming that “the farms are Lebanese land and will remain so.”

The statement asserted that “the Shebaa Farms are owned by their Lebanese proprietors and are not Schenker’s or anyone else’s to give away,” noting that the issue lies not in their identity—which is documented in official land records in the city of Sidon—but rather in Israel’s attempts to annex them along with the Golan Heights.

The committee criticized Schenker’s call for the head of the new Syrian administration, Ahmad Shar’a, to declare the farms Syrian, in order to facilitate their annexation. It also cited reports by the United Nations Secretary-General affirming the Lebanese ownership of the Shebaa Farms based on Security Council Resolutions 425 and 1701.

The committee called on the Lebanese government to respond to the American position and to establish a national body to follow up on the issue of the Shebaa Farms.