evidence: When you visit Qasr, leaving Hermel – the last Lebanese area, so they say – 12 kilometers behind, you understand Zuaiter’s statement that the town would be dead were it not for Syria. When traveling along the main road that bisects Qasr, where the houses rest on the two banks, you need to move only 100 meters left to be in Syrian territory, and you would still be in the geographical heart of Qasr. The legal crossing (the Syrian Secretariat) on the border with Qaa is approximately 30 kilometers away from Qasr. [...] Qasr’s relationship with Syria is not just one of adjacent neighbors. Zuaiter says that much of Qasr’s native population is sprawled across more than 15 villages inside Syrian territory: "For example, my family is originally from Hawik in Syria. I was born there, and I came to Qasr 45 years ago after I was appointed a teacher in the public school". Besides Hawik, people registered in Qasr are spread across the towns of Safsafah, Zeita, Aqrabiyah, Fadiliya, Blluza, Wadi Hanna, Maayan, Naba Olas, Matraba, Saqraja, Arjoun, Tell al-Nabi Mando, Joubaniye, Nahriyeh, Diyabiyya, and eastern and western Samaqiyat.