With the exception of certain individuals armed with
permits, such as UN officials, Médecins sans
frontière, diplomats, military personnel, foreign
missions, press correspondents, and Red Cross workers,
nobody is allowed to go to Lebanon’s southern frontier.
The last village in the South before one reaches Israeli-occupied
Palestine is Nakoura, lying on a spur of the mountains
of Galilee. Its name comes from a verb meaning to
pierce, to make a hole in some protruding rock, and
is to be found in the Talmud. The Frankish Crusaders
called it The Ladder of Tyre, on account of the narrow
alluvial coastal plain. The site is one of rare beauty
as Nature there is wild and untouched, with rocks
jutting out into the sea and sands of glowing color.
The place should have been of great tourist value
were it not for the political tension and the state
of war between our country and the belligerent Israeli
neighbor. At Nakoura peace and tranquility dominate
the scene, thanks to the presence of the headquarters
of the United Nations forces (UNIFIL) stationed in
the region.
Nakoura is a coastal village in the caza, administrative
region, of Tyre and was occupied by the Israeli aggressor
up to the year 2000. It is some seventy-five miles
from the capital Beirut and about two hundred feet
above sea level. It has a border with Palestine and
touches the village of Mansouri on its north side,
Alma es-Shaab and Tayr Haifa to the east, and the
Mediterranean shoreline to the west. The site is called
Cape Nakoura and also Ras en-Nakoura on account of
rocks and hollows which run out into the sea. There
is plenty of fishing and agricultural activity, but
on the Israeli side the main occupation is tourism.
There is an areas called Em Oumad, Mother of Oumad,
once entirely occupied by the Phoenicians. Excavation
is going ahead slowly. It is supposed that the remains
of a Phoenician port are to be found on the shore,
since the whole coast from Ugarit in the North to
Suez in the South was the home ground of the Phoenicians,
who indeed dominated the whole Mediterranean. The
site has not yet been properly explored, like many
others which should be of interest. Ernest Renan made
a halt here and speaks of the place in his book Mission
en Phénicie, but conducted no exploration.
In the village there is an ancient mosque, a school
and a town hall with all the usual urban infrastructure,
together with fields of crops and very productive
orchards. Peace would make Nakoura a fine tourist
center ... but when is that to be?
Joseph Matar - Translation from the French
by K.J. Mortimer
- Naqoura Beach: >> View
Movie << (2015-06-01)
- Markaz el Labbouneh: >> View
Movie << (2015-06-01)
- Madinat Em-Omad: >> View
Movie << (2015-06-01)
- Madinat Em-Omad: >> View
Movie << (2015-06-01)
