The municipality of Faron and the townspeople issued a statement in which they expressed deep concern over what is being circulated in some media and political statements describing the field reality in southern Lebanon, especially with regard to the use of the expression “control by fire” when talking about a number of villages and regions.
The municipality and the people affirmed their full awareness of the sensitivity of the stage and the accuracy of the current circumstances, but in return they stressed their categorical refusal to include the town of Fron within any description such as an “experimental area” or the like, because of the direct negative repercussions that this would have on the people of the town and its civil and humanitarian reality.
The statement warned of the danger of expanding the use of the term “control by fire” to describe large areas of southern Lebanon and the Western Bekaa, considering that this type of expression may lead to dangerous political and media consequences, by establishing facts that are inaccurate or open to interpretation and exploitation, which negatively reflects on the rights of the population and on the description of the real situation in those areas.
The people and municipality of Frun believed that these descriptions might open the door to wrong readings of the field reality, and lead to unfair generalizations affecting entire villages and towns, which requires, according to the statement, a more precise and responsible approach in official and media discourse.
The municipality of Fron and its people called on all concerned parties to be careful in the use of terminology, and to adopt descriptions that reflect the actual reality, far from generalization or expansion of concepts that may carry political or field dimensions with dangerous repercussions.
The statement stressed that “it is not the job of any Lebanese to support the allegations of the enemy’s prime minister and search for justifications or ways out of him, but rather it is necessary to refute them with realistic evidence that requires courage and a high degree of responsibility.”
The position of the municipality of Frun and its people comes in light of the escalation of sensitivity regarding the terminology used to describe the situation in the south, especially after the circulation of expressions related to the “experimental zone” and “control by fire,” at a time when the affected border villages and towns fear that these descriptions will turn into an entry point to establish a new security or political reality at the expense of the population and their rights to return, stability, and normal life.
The statement also reflects increasing local concerns that inaccurate political or media discourse will give Israel additional pretexts to justify its continued military measures or establish field incidents in the south, instead of confronting these allegations with accurate descriptions based on reality and taking into account the sensitivity of the people and their direct interests.
