{"id":10813,"date":"2012-07-13T14:15:29","date_gmt":"2012-07-13T21:15:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/?p=10813"},"modified":"2012-07-13T14:15:29","modified_gmt":"2012-07-13T21:15:29","slug":"lebanon-hashish-growers-and-the-government-face-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/?p=10813","title":{"rendered":"Lebanon Hashish Growers and the Government Face Off"},"content":{"rendered":"

Despite the security preparations, hashish growers in the Bekaa are optimistic about the season. <\/em><\/p>\n

Lebanon: Hashish Growers and the Government Face Off<\/strong>
\nBy: Rameh Hamieh – 13 July, 2012 – Al Akhbar<\/p>\n

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\n(Photo: Alia Haju)<\/p>\n

It is hard to predict how this year\u2019s planned destruction of the hashish crop in the Bekaa will play out.<\/p>\n

The farmers insist on confronting any such attempt, and the security forces are \u201cdetermined\u201d to destroy the cannabis crop.<\/p>\n

While the security forces continue with their preparations \u2013 which include communicating with the owners of agricultural tractors as well as coordinating with the leadership of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and the Internal Security Forces (ISF) \u2013 hashish growers are adamant that they will \u201cprotect their livelihood.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fighting the coming invasion is the farmers\u2019 last resort after the state deserted them by \u201cabandoning any attempt to address agricultural problems, support traditional crops, and compensate losses resulting from natural disasters or any downturn in agricultural production in light of the Syrian crisis,\u201d according to one farmer.<\/p>\n

Despite the security preparations, hashish growers in the Bekaa are optimistic that the season \u201cwill pan out just like I see you and you see me,\u201d says Abu Ali, as he checks the irrigation of his cannabis field and the stems which have grown over 70cm.<\/p>\n

A written statement warned that the farmers \u201cwill deal with the hired workers as enemies, because they are conspiring against people from their area for a little bit of money.\u201d
\nAs he rubs the green leaf in his hand and smells its strong scent, this 50-something-year old man says that he bases his conclusion on the overall security situation in the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cLawlessness is everywhere and they don\u2019t dare confront anyone, so why should we be any different? Are we lesser mortals?\u201d he asks, adding: \u201cThey should feel for us a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abu Ali does not hide the fact that many farmers \u201csowed their land \u2013 no matter how small \u2013 with cannabis seeds, because they are convinced the season will pan out,\u201d pointing out that large areas \u201cfor as far as your eyes can see have been planted in Baalbek-Hermel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hanna, a resident of a village in west Baalbek, says the responsibility \u201cfalls on the shoulders of the Lebanese state and some of its security agencies.\u201d<\/p>\n

He accuses these agencies of intimating to farmers that \u201cno one will touch the hashish. Then they scouted the planted areas, took pictures of them from airplanes, and sent them to international institutions to collect funds in order to destroy them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hanna asks political and party leaders to intervene to prevent the destruction operation this year. He refuses to believe that \u201cthe decision to destroy the hashish crop was taken by the security forces alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tractor owners, who are brought in to uproot the cannabis fields, have not been spared from the threats made by farmers. …more<\/a><\/p>\n

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Despite the security preparations, hashish growers in the Bekaa are optimistic about the season. Lebanon: Hashish Growers and the Government Face Off By: Rameh Hamieh – 13 July, 2012 – Al Akhbar (Photo: Alia Haju) It is hard to predict how this year\u2019s planned destruction of the hashish crop in the Bekaa will play out. more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[247],"tags":[3195],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10813"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10813"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10813\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10816,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10813\/revisions\/10816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}