Can the French-US-drafted ceasefire between Israel and Hizbullah last? Eva Dadrian looks for answers in Lebanon's French press As Israel conducted, under the pretext of "disrupting" arms transfers to Hizbullah, an overnight raid deep into Lebanon's Bekaa Valley 19 July -- the first major incident since a UN- brokered ceasefire came into force -- 50 French troops arrived in Lebanon as reinforcements for UN peacekeepers in the south. Can peace be maintained? And what can UNIFIL, the forces of the United Nations already based in Lebanon, do even if reinforced by the 15,000 troops pledged by, though still not forthcoming from, the international community? Most newspapers in the region have been sceptical of the chances of any successful outcome from UN Security Council resolution 1701. The Lebanese French language L'Orient -- Le Jour, however, has adopted a very different tone, counselling that an opportunity has been laid on the table, and that the Lebanese should stop being so negative: " ... presque maladive cette obstination à douter de tout, à ne voir dans les initiatives positives que des arrière- pensées sournoises," writes Nagib Aoun in his chronicle of 21 August 2006. In fact, the 33-day-long war could be a blessing in disguise, says the article, as from now on no one would anymore accept Israel giving itself the right to intervene in Lebanese territory or Hizbullah creating such tensions that could again lead to mass displacement, death and destruction. "Il n'est plus tolérable que les Israéliens s'arrogent le droit d'intervenir... que le Hizbullah crée des situations à risques... à de nouveaux exodes, à de nouvelles destructions." Security Council Resolution 1701 has created, L'Orient - Le Jour argues, opportunity for Lebanon to assert itself, expel certain skeletons from the cupboard, and start afresh. The Lebanese army, although badly equipped and still inexperienced, has moved into South Lebanon. For the first time in 40 years, the Israeli-Lebanon border will be secured by Lebanese troops. Was this situation possible, L'Orient - Le Jour wonders, only two months ago? Was Hizbullah considering a future without weapons, Aoun asks. Intentionally or not, however, Aoun forgets to mention that Hizbullah has proved not only to be "The best guerrilla force in the world," as recognised by a Lebanese specialist who opposes the militant movement, but also a political force, a party with democratically- elected members sitting in parliament, a charitable organisation as well as an educational and cultural one. Walking the same path, La Revue du Liban, in its editorial of 18 August, also considers the adoption of 1701 to be "a new page opened for Lebanon". This long-dreamed of opportunity begins with the necessity to respect the ceasefire ( sic ), continues with the deployment of the Lebanese army south of the Litani River and ends with the "imposition of the sole authority and legal suzerainty of Lebanon in all aspects, over the integral 10,452 kilometres square of its territory". But for the majority of Lebanese, being Hizbullah supporters or not, the most important element of UN Resolution 1701 is that "political Lebanon, with all its components, has shown a remarkable solidarity, that Lebanon political diplomacy has succeeded, at the international level, to obtain a resolution that preserves the interests and the dignity of Lebanon," concludes La Revue du Liban.
