Prominent anti-Hezbollah figure detained by General Security

BEIRUT — Known for being in staunch opposition to Hezbollah, Makram Rabah, lecturer in history at the American University of Beirut (AUB), was questioned on Monday by General Security, taken into custody and then released on bail.

Rabah announced the whole affair himself on Sunday, saying he had been notified a day earlier of a hearing before the Security General's investigations department. "They probably want me to inform them about the meeting of the 'diversion' and 'Axis of Resistance' held last week in Beirut," he wrote sarcastically in a post on X.

The political activist was alluding to the powerlessness of the Lebanese state in the face of actions carried out on its territory by members of the region's "Axis of Resistance" — namely Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis.

Hamas and Houthi officials met in Beirut a few days ago to discuss the "coordination" of their actions against Israel, according to AFP. A Palestinian source added that Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) had also taken part in the meeting.

Hezbollah's decision to open a front against Israel in southern Lebanon with the purpose of relieving the pressure on Gaza is the "diversion" referred to in Rabah's post on X.

On Spotshot, a program broadcast a few days ago by the online platform Lebanon Debate, Rabah said jokingly that he wished "Israel would take over the Litani," claiming that such a move would be preferable to "turning this river into a sewer," which is a reference to the millions of cubic meters of sewage that regularly flow into the Litani river.

'Wedding drones'

Makram Rabah, who was a close friend of the political analyst Lokman Slim, a notorious opponent of Hezbollah who was assassinated in February 2021, also mocked Hezbollah's drones, comparing them to "those used at wedding celebrations," as a way of saying they do not cause major damage.

On the same program, the university lecturer advocated for the idea that disputed territory currently occupied by Israel could be negotiated through "diplomatic means, as in the maritime border agreement with Israel [October 2022].

At the end of the interview, Rabah spoke of Lokman Slim and Samir Kassir, a journalist murdered in 2005, saying, "in the eyes of Hezbollah, we are all traitors."

Rabah was notified of the hearing on the orders of the government commissioner to the military court, Fadi Akiki, a relative of Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri. Rabah showed up for the interrogation session with his lawyer. At the end of the hearing, which began at 9 a.m. and lasted until early afternoon, Judge Akiki ordered General Security not to release the activist until he handed over his cell phone. The activist firmly refused this injunction, knowing that, in any case, he wasn't even carrying it with him.

On leaving the General Security headquarters, Makram Rabah told reporters that "Judge Akiki has proven that the Lebanese justice system and the Lebanese state are under the hegemony of Hezbollah."

"It now appears that the military court is used to repress opponents of this party, as Lokman Slim had declared," Rabah said, claiming hyperbolically that if he had been a Captagon trafficker affiliated with Hezbollah, he would not have been summoned to court. "Zero fear," he repeated three times.

"Taking away a citizen's phone is an infringement of private property," his lawyer Lou'ai Ghandour told L'Orient-Le Jour. "Makram Rabah was questioned by the General Security for comments he had made in a political interview. The hearing therefore had no connection with his telephone."

Ghandour explained that because the investigation did not involve suspicions of Rabah having ties with Israel, the team had maintained a refusal to hand over personal belongings.

When Rabah was released on bail, some of his supporters gathered in front of the General Security building to greet him.

National Bloc Secretary General Michel Helou called for people to join the rally, writing on his X account that "holding activist and friend Makram Rabah for simply refusing to hand over his cell phone is an attack on freedom of expression and the right to privacy."

Later that evening, General Security issued a statement saying it regretted that certain media and Internet users referred to Rabah's summons "in a negative way" and as a "lack of professionalism" in the face of a "judicial inquiry."

'They muzzle free voices'

Racha al-Amir, sister of Lokman Slim, told OLJ that "dictatorships don't like their opponents or humor."

"They muzzle free voices" she said, regretting that "these voices are increasingly silenced by force of arms."

The Lebanese Forces condemned Rabah's summoning, saying in a statement that "it is not in line with freedom of opinion and expression, and constitutes a threat to the nature and role of Lebanon."

Kataeb leader Sami Gemayel expressed his solidarity with the activist in a post on X, writing that "In the past, we confronted a judicial-security system and brought it down."

"Under no circumstances will we allow a return to fabricated files and attacks on freedom of expression," he said.

As for Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) leader Walid Jumblatt, he made a more nuanced statement. "I respect freedom of opinion, but I refuse to be mocked at a time when the open and continuing war against Gaza and Lebanon is at its height," he wrote on X. Rabah, who is Druze, is reputedly close to the PSP.

Internationally, Robert Satloff, Executive Director of the Washington Institute, used a statement on X to condemn "the harassment of Makram Rabah," declaring that "it will not go unnoticed."

This article was originally published in French on L'Orient-Le Jour. Translated to English by Amelia Hankins.