At this moment, the Lebanese government is participating in negotiations that may open the way to peace, greater stability, and the disarmament of Hezbollah. This direction enjoys significant support among Lebanese citizens across sectarian lines.
Yet when we, as citizens, publicly support the same position adopted by our own government, we are threatened and punished.
The pressure comes in two forms.
The first is direct intimidation by Hezbollah supporters and affiliated groups. Journalists and activists may face threats, organized harassment, defamation campaigns, warnings directed at their families, or accusations of treason and collaboration.
For an international audience, such accusations may sound like harsh political rhetoric. In Lebanon, they can be far more dangerous.
The Arabic term is takhwin: branding someone a traitor, an Israeli agent, or a servant of a foreign embassy. In a country where armed groups operate outside the state, such accusations may expose a person to physical violence or even death.
We have seen this before.
The writer and publisher Lokman Slim was a prominent Shiite critic of Hezbollah. He was publicly threatened and accused of betrayal. In February 2021, he was found shot dead in his car in southern Lebanon. His murder remains unsolved.
This is why accusations of treason in Lebanon are never harmless. They can prepare the public to accept violence against the person being targeted.
The second form of pressure is legal harassment.
Complaints are filed, lawyers pursue cases, and security or judicial institutions are used to turn peaceful political speech into a criminal or national-security matter.
This is what happened to me.
I was prosecuted, threatened, sentenced to one month in prison, and ordered to pay one billion Lebanese pounds in damages in a defamation case involving two lawyers. I appealed the ruling.
That case had its own specific legal background, and I do not claim that the formal charge was simply my support for peace or Hezbollah’s disarmament.
But the prison sentence, the financial penalty, the legal expenses, and the threats were real. They sent a message not only to me, but to every journalist and citizen watching: speaking openly can carry a heavy personal cost.
I also faced a search warrant after public statements I made concerning Hezbollah and foreign intervention.
There is also Mahmoud Shuaib, a Shiite activist from southern Lebanon known for opposing Hezbollah and demanding that security authority return to the Lebanese state and army.
His importance lies in the fact that he speaks from within the Shiite community and rejects Hezbollah’s claim to represent every Shiite citizen.
He too has faced accusations, threats, and legal pressure because of his political positions. Even his family was touched by this atmosphere of intimidation when his young daughter was briefly detained while conducting a public-opinion survey.
These cases are not legally identical. But they reveal the same reality.
The Lebanese government is allowed to negotiate. Foreign diplomats are allowed to discuss peace.
Political leaders are allowed to meet.
But Lebanese citizens who publicly support peace, state sovereignty, and Hezbollah’s disarmament may be threatened, prosecuted, financially punished, accused of collaboration, or placed in physical danger.
We are not acting against our government. We are supporting the principle it is supposed to represent: one state, one army, and one authority over war and peace.
We are not calling for war. We are calling for an end to war.
We are not asking foreign powers to dominate Lebanon. We are asking for a foreign-backed militia to stop dominating Lebanon.
This is why the international community must support not only the negotiations themselves, but also the Lebanese citizens defending them publicly.
Disarming Hezbollah is not only necessary for security.
It is necessary to protect political speech. It is necessary so that journalists may investigate without being accused of treason, activists may call for sovereignty without fearing for their families, and citizens may support peace without wondering whether the next telephone call will bring a lawsuit, a security summons, a death threat, or something worse.
HEZBOLLAH’S ISLAND HIDEOUT IS JUST HOURS FROM MIAMI BY DRONE
Peace has real support inside Lebanon.
But that support will remain difficult to see as long as those who express it are threatened, prosecuted, and silenced.
Rami Naim is Beirut Bureau Chief for Jusoor News
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
