BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Interior Ministry contacted Hezbollah officials on Thursday to intervene after plans to project an image of former party chief Hassan Nasrallah onto a prominent Beirut landmark sparked outrage among lawmakers, a senior political source told Arab News.
The initiative was part of events planned to mark the first anniversary of the deaths of Nasrallah and Hashem Safieddine, both former secretaries-general of the group, who were killed during the war with Israel.
Ali Daher, head of Hezbollah’s media activities unit, announced that the commemorations would include illuminating Raouche Rock, a landmark off the coast of Beirut, on Sept. 25 with the images of Nasrallah and Safieddine.
However, the announcement sparked a wave of discontent and protests among a group of Beirut MPs, who recalled a history of political and security disputes between Beirut and Hezbollah, and unanimously agreed that the Raouche Rock “must not be used in partisan contexts.”
The controversy was further fueled by the fact that Hezbollah had not obtained approval from the Beirut Governorate, the municipality, or any relevant official authority before proceeding with plans involving one of the capital’s key landmarks.
“Communications intensified on Thursday to pre-empt any escalation of Hezbollah’s move, with the interior minister directly engaging the group’s leadership to resolve the issue,” an official political source told Arab News.
Hezbollah MP Amin Sherri, who is also an MP for Beirut, confirmed that this communication had taken place.
He told Arab News: “It was just an idea that was floated, and I do not think that such an activity requires the approval of the capital’s governor or its municipality. Perhaps it just needs prior notice.”
Sherri questioned whether the commemoration of former president Bachir Gemayel’s assassination in Ashrafieh Square last week, or recent religious ceremonies held along the Ain El Mraiseh corniche, had obtained prior approval from authorities.
Beirut MP Waddah Sadek described plans to project images of the former Hezbollah leaders as “unacceptable from every perspective.”
“They are not official figures, and their pictures are being displayed in a city where most residents reject their policies,” Sadek said, noting that some Lebanese accuse them of involvement in the killing of their leader, Rafic Hariri.
“What is worse is that Hezbollah, which warns in its speeches against sliding into civil war, never misses an occasion to provoke the residents of the capital,” Sadek added.
He told Arab News that his opposing stance reflects that of Beirut’s residents, who saw this activity as “a provocation, which could have been avoided by proposing another location to hold the event.”
Beirut MP Nadim Gemayel said the Raouche Rock “is not an advertising billboard for any political party,” nor “a canvas” for symbolic displays that undermine Beirut’s identity. Rather, he said, it is public property and belongs to all the Lebanese people.
“Imposing Hezbollah’s symbols on the seafront is an exclusion of the Lebanese voice, especially the people of Beirut who reject the idea of weapons and domination.
“Beirut refuses to be reduced to one sect or political project.”
Tripoli MP Ashraf Rifi, who previously served as minister of justice from 2014 to 2016 and as director general of the Internal Security Forces from 2005 to 2013, voiced his “categorical rejection of any attempt to use the Raouche Rock to promote slogans or positions rejected by the capital’s residents and unrepresentative of its identity.”
He said that Raouche Rock “is not only a natural landmark, but also the face of Beirut and Lebanon and a unifying national symbol in which all Lebanese take pride.”
“It is not a platform for unacceptable sectarianism,” he said.
Beirut MP and Lebanese Forces member Ghassan Hasbini said that the Raouche Rock should be draped “only in the nation’s colors and not in any other slogan.”
Beirut MP Nabil Badr said the landmark is a reflection of Beirut and Lebanon, and should not turn into a platform for hanging political pictures.
Beirut MP and Islamic Group member Imad Al-Hout said Beirut needs steps that unify the Lebanese instead of initiatives that deepen the division.
Meanwhile, Beirut MP Fouad Makhzoumi described the move as “provocative and unauthorized.”
However, Qassem Qassir, political writer with expertise in Islamic movements and close ties to Hezbollah, described the state of provocation that accompanied Hezbollah’s proposal as “a case of politicians exploiting a non-existent issue.”
Qassir told Arab News: “people in Beirut welcomed their brothers fleeing from the southern suburb and the south into their homes during the last Israeli war, and I don’t think they will object to the hanging of pictures, for just a few minutes, of two leaders who are no longer with us.”
Hezbollah is facing mounting pressure to hand over its weapons to the Lebanese army amid broad Lebanese support for the government’s decision to restrict weapons to the state’s authority.
The group said it was reorganizing its internal structure and working to restore its partisan capacity following the significant blow it sustained during last year’s war with Israel.
Recent reports in Lebanese media indicated that the privileges previously granted to Hezbollah officials and Palestinian factions have been suspended after a decision by Lebanon’s security and military authorities.
They reported that the use of facilitation cards issued by Hezbollah’s Security Committee — which previously granted holders freedom of movement and priority access — has been permanently suspended, in line with the cabinet’s decision to restrict weapons exclusively to state institutions.
