By Nohad Topalian | 2024-10-04

BEIRUT -- Though it was impossible to avoid televised footage of Hizbullah supporters mourning party leader Hassan Nasrallah, killed in a September 27 air strike in Beirut's southern suburb, many in Lebanon remained dry-eyed.

In contrast to the public outpouring of emotion from Hizbullah's base, many Lebanese expressed in private, or on social media, that Nasrallah's death was both warranted and welcome.

The widow of political activist Lokman Slim, who was assassinated by Hizbullah, wrote him a message on Facebook after Nasrallah's death was announced.

"I wish I could tell you," she said.

"Why should I be sad for him?" asked Tony Monem of Elissar in the northern Metn district.

"Was he sad about what his hegemony over the levers of the Lebanese state and the violation of Lebanon's sovereignty brought us to for the sake of his Iranian mentor?" he asked Al-Fassel.

"Did he have mercy on the youth he misled and sent to die for nothing in Syria, and today by supporting [Hamas] and dragging Lebanon into a devastating war?"

"I do not find a reason that merits sympathizing with his killing, as he killed Lebanon, its economy, politics and judiciary," he said, noting Nasrallah's actions "destroyed the south and the Bekaa and displaced hundreds of thousands."

Nasrallah's death "was accompanied by conflicting and disparate feelings among the Lebanese, despite his stature and influence on political life in Lebanon for more than 30 years," political analyst Clovis Choueifat told Al-Fassel.

Many Lebanese were not sad, he said, because of Nasrallah's role in internal disputes, and his commissioning of many political assassinations, including the 2005 killing of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.

'A new dawn for Lebanon'

Choueifat noted that Nasrallah dragged Lebanon "into a heinous and destructive war after destroying Lebanon's relations with its Arab neighbors and the international community."

"For all of this, the majority of the Lebanese did not consider his death a loss for them but rather a new dawn for Lebanon," he said.

Most Lebanese do not grieve for Nasrallah, south Lebanon resident Rima Baalbeki told Al-Fassel, using a pseudonym to protect her safety.

"The Lebanese will not forget Hizbullah and Nasrallah's violation of Lebanon's sovereignty and its subjugation to Iran, and the assassination of everyone who opposed his project," she said.

"We all know that Hizbullah and Nasrallah caused the collapse of the state politically and economically, and are disrupting state institutions and the election of a president," she said.

"Nasrallah linked Lebanon's fate to the interests of Iran, which let him down, so his fate was death," she said.