Hezbollah MP Mohammad Raad during a speech on 25 June 2024. (Credit: Hezbollah press office)
BEIRUT — Hezbollah MP and parliamentary bloc leader Mohammad Raad sparked controversy on social media when he called some Lebanese "reckless" and accused them of caring only about their comfort and relaxation, criticizing them for "going to the beach and nightclubs while the south is under attack."
Raad made these remarks during a memorial service for a Hezbollah member killed in Adsheet (Marjayoun district) on Monday.
"Some of the rumors that have circulated over the past two weeks about withdrawing ambassadors, threats of attacks on Beirut airport.... were promoted by Arab media... and some reckless Lebanese who want to relax, go to nightclubs, and beaches, and live their lives. This selfish individualism is what destroys the interests of nations and societies and is behind these lies, fabrications, and rumors that fill social media," Raad said in his speech.
Lebanese Forces announce MP Pierre Bou Assi responded to Raad on X saying, “You classify Lebanese according to your taste. Who exactly are these vile people you're talking about? If you have the audacity, name them. And who authorized you to defend us outside the state and as representatives of the people? With all due respect, explain to us how you're defending Lebanon and supporting Gaza? All of Lebanon is collapsing due to your policies and your illusory and destructive divine victories. Have you strengthened any economic or social resilience in Lebanon? Do you think your Iranian rockets will feed the people?”
The Lebanese Forces are amongst the fiercest critics of Hezbollah's decision to open a front against Israel on Oct. 8 in "support to the resistance in Gaza."
#بيار_بو_عاصي#القوات_اللبنانية #الجمهورية_القوية #لبنان https://t.co/pcpddEU4kS
— Pierre BouAssi (@PierreBouAssi) June 24, 2024
Journalist Dima Sadek wrote sarcastically: "The weather is nice today. I am thinking of destroying the country while at the beach."French Lebanese social media activist Serge Zarka said on X that the only response to address Raad's comments is “federalism.”
“Those who love the sea and clubs one mile away, and those who love war, death, and destruction a mile away. And everyone lives happily.”
أفضل جواب للنائب #محمد_رعد هو #الفيدرالية.
— Serge Zarka (@SergeZarka) June 26, 2024
يللي بيحبوا البحر و الملاهي بميل و يللي بحبّوا الحرب، الموت، و الدمار بتاني ميل.
و الكل يعيشوا مبسوطين.
??
Journalist Rami Naim said, “We cannot say that all Shiites are honorable because there are some people like Mohammad Raad [among them.]”
ما فينا نقول عن كل الشيعة شرفاء لأنو في متل #محمد_رعد … #بكركي خط أحمر واللعب بالتوازنات رح يرجّع #لبنان ع زمن الحروب الداخلية. شو بعد بدو #حزب_الله ؟ نصيحة فوقو قبل فوات الأوان pic.twitter.com/L1THEc0bEP
— Rami Naim (@NAIMRami) June 25, 2024
Medical doctor and activist Hadi Mourad wrote, “We respect who you lost in the war but calling Lebanese as 'irresponsible' simply because they stay up late in Beirut, accusing them of endangering Lebanon and inviting war, is a misstep added to the list of media blunders undertaken by Raad…. Does attending celebrations truly destroy the country?”
نحترم من فقدت في الحرب يا حاج #محمد_رعد ولكن أن تنعت اللبنانيين ب"النازقين" لمجرّد سهرهم في بيروت وبأنهم يعرّضون لبنان للخطر والحرب فتلك سقطة تضاف إلى سجل السقطات الاعلامية التي يمتهنها الحاج كناطقٍ باسم حزب #ولاية_الفقيه، وهنا نسأل كشيعة لبنانيين: هل أصبحتم مفتين باسم الله… pic.twitter.com/LitmPOGr1L
— Hadi Mourad, MD (@hadimourad1) June 25, 2024
However, others on X defended Raad, arguing that his words were misinterpreted.
"He was portrayed as saying that going to clubs and beaches destroys the nation. In reality, however, he is describing those who are indifferent to the attacks against the South and are mocking us, saying that we are celebrating life while the South is under attack," stated an activist and writer under the username of da2ee2 — insisting that Raad's words were misunderstood.
شوفوا كيف حرّف الإعلام اللي تمويله طحنوني كلام الحاج محمد رعد?
— دقيق (@da2eee2) June 25, 2024
صوروا كلامه إنو الذهاب إلى الملاهي وشواطئ البحار يدمر الوطن بينما هو بالحقيقة عم يوصف اللي آخر همن الجنوب وصرعونا إنو نحن عم نعمل احتفالات وعايشين والجنوب تحت العدوان قال "هذه النفعية الأنانية" تدمر مصالح الأوطان!… pic.twitter.com/fSEQddz6hq
In late November, Raad's son was killed along with other Hezbollah members in an Israeli strike on a house in the village of Beit Yahoun in southern Lebanon.
The name "Mohammad Raad," in Arabic, has been trending on X since Monday shortly after his speech. Many accounts — both attacking and praising the MP — appeared to be newly created.
Since Oct.8, Hezbollah has lost 350 of its members in Lebanon and Syria. The party insists that its almost daily cross-border fire with Israel is in support of Hamas, its Palestinian ally in Gaza. However opponents, most notably Maronite church head Bechara al-Rai, have repeatedly accused Hezbollah of dragging Lebanon into a war.
