Maroun al-Ras, is a village in southern Lebanon where the Israeli border can be touched at a glance. Here in 2006 the war had destroyed almost everything, the country was occupied by Israel precisely because it was Hezbollah's stronghold and launch point for missile attacks. Today the area is completely rebuilt and on a hill overlooking the wide valley below one can "peer" almost into the houses of the historic enemy; right here was built a large amusement park with various facilities reserved for games and refreshments where families, especially at weekends, love to take refuge to spend hours looking over the border and dreaming of "occupied Palestine". An attraction that attracts visitors from all over Lebanon and on which, together with the Lebanese flag, the Iranian flag flies, in fact the park is also called Iran Garden from the name of the country that financed the construction dedicated to the martyrs of Maroun Al- Ras. We have come this far to admire the panorama and interview a Hezbollah guard who currently deals with the protection and security of the park, he prefers to remain anonymous and asks us not to be taken back, he tells us about his history and his memories of a war still too close to be forgotten.
The inhabitants of Maroun al-Ras proudly challenge their fate every day, because between the two contenders there has never been a declared peace but only a ceasefire monitored by the presence of UN troops. The border is only an unofficial demarcation line in which Israel has withdrawn and where too often it happens to see troops maneuvering, or reconnaissance flights to the limit (and even beyond) that cross the agreed spaces. Perhaps also for this reason the loudspeakers of the park make the music of the Resistance resound on the valley and the flags fly on all the roads to remember that this is an inviolable territory on which all are ready to shed their blood to defend it.
