Anti-war posters have cropped up across Lebanon expressing objection to the war launched by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon against Israel in support of Hamas in Gaza.
The posters have appeared in regions dominated by opposition parties and some neighborhoods in Beirut.
Tensions have skyrocketed between Hezbollah and Israel in the past two weeks after Israel’s assassination of the Iran-backed party’s top military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold. The party has vowed to response to attack, sparking fears of the eruption of wide scale conflict in Lebanon. Tensions spiraled even further when Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran with Iran blaming Israel.
Lebanon, which is already beleaguered by a crippling economic crisis, would be devastated by a war and the posters are an expression of this.
The posters, which have been hung anonymously, have angered Hezbollah supporters. No one from the civil society groups or opposition has claimed that they have put them up.
Regardless of who is behind them, a leading member of the opposition told Asharq Al-Awsat that the posters reflect the position of the “vast majority of the people, regardless of their sect and affiliations.”
“The people being killed in the Israeli operations are sacrifices at the altar of the Iranian agenda, not the liberation of Jerusalem or defense of Palestine,” he said on condition of anonymity.
“It is natural for voices of opposition to rise more and more. It is the voice of everyone who rejects the choices taken by Hezbollah” and dragging Lebanon towards war, he continued.
“Even the Shiite community, which used to forgive all of Hezbollah’s mistakes” is beginning to show unease and dissent after the party led to the destruction of their homes, killing of their sons and their displacement, he added.
They are beginning to realize the emptiness of the party’s claims that it alone can protect them and Lebanon, he remarked.
No one in Lebanon will argue against enmity to Israel and championing Palestine, which is the Arab and Muslims worlds’ number one cause, but there is real division over Hezbollah’s monopoly over the decision to take the country to war.
“Why Lebanon alone?” wondered the opposition member. “Why has [Hezbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah exempt Iran and Syria from the responsibility of joining the war against Israel? How is it possible that Lebanon alone is the open arena to settle Iranian scores with the United States and the West?”
The opposition member lamented the massive losses incurred by the tourism sector in Lebanon as a result of the latest tensions, noting that the government, which is operating in a caretaker capacity, “has shed its responsibility towards the Lebanese people, their interests and future.”
On the other side of the divide, a source close to Hezbollah told Asharq Al-Awsat that “it is no secret” who is behind the anti-war campaign and “claims that the party wants war and is dragging the country towards destruction.”
Israeli media has caught on to the campaign, seeing it as a means to exert pressure on Hezbollah from within Lebanon, angering the party’s supporters.
The source said the campaign “serves - deliberately or not - the enemy, which harbors ill intentions towards Lebanon and its people.”
The campaign has gained a lot of traction on social media in Lebanon.
Saydet el-Jabal Gathering member, former MP Fares Soaid agreed that the overwhelming majority of the people oppose the war, “because they naturally oppose war and violence.”
In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, he stressed that the people will not be forced into Hezbollah’s agenda. At the same time, the anti-war slogans will not deter the party from heading to war. Rather, the unity of the Lebanese people will.
Moreover, he noted that Hezbollah “is seeking to achieve Iran’s interest in Lebanon and unfortunately, no camp in Lebanon is stepping up against it and voicing its commitment to the Taif Accord and Arab and international legitimacy.”
Many agree that Hezbollah derives its power from the weakness of its rivals and their political differences.
Soaid offered the best example of this. He noted that Christian parties are now preoccupying themselves with parliamentary elections that are two years away, while the real focus should be on settlements that will shape the region.
“Lebanon’s problem lies in a camp that is planning on tying it completely to the dangerous Iranian agenda, and we are addressing this issue with posters that will not alter the situation on the ground or Iran and Hezbollah’s intentions,” he stated.
