Hezbollah supporter debacle at Beirut airport causes stir on social media

A week after tensions flared between Hezbollah supporters and Lebanese authorities over a ban on Iranian planes landing in Lebanon amid Israeli threats, a video circulating on social media shows a woman holding a photo of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in the arrival hall of Beirut's airport.

“We did not pay such a high price with our martyrs’ blood for you to order us to leave. It’s not for us to leave, but for each of you who follows orders dictated by the United States and Israel. Leave, emigrate if you don’t like it. This is our country,” the woman, dressed in black, shouts.

In the footage, filmed by someone nearby, the woman accuses another person of trying to stop her from displaying a portrait of former Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah who was killed in a massive Israeli strike on Sept. 27 during the final phase of the war that had lasted more than 15 months.

According to the woman and some online commentators, her remarks were directed at a security agent at the airport who allegedly said: “Lower that portrait or leave.”

“Go ahead, make me leave”

Security sources deny that the woman was ordered to take down the portrait or that she was subjected to any offense. “The scene did not involve the Internal Security Forces,” a well-informed security source said. “At the airport, nothing prevents anyone from expressing their opinion, except in cases of provocation or security breaches.” The Lebanese Army echoed that position. “If the video was indeed filmed at Beirut airport, no member of the Lebanese Army took any action against the woman,” the army’s orientation service said.

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The woman had seemingly just arrived in Lebanon to attend the funerals of Nasrallah and his short-lived successor, Hashem Safieddine, who was killed in early October by an Israeli strike. The ceremony is set to take place in Beirut on Feb. 23 at 1 p.m.

In the video, she holds up the photo of the assassinated leader. “Go ahead, make me leave. I am standing in my country. Whoever wants to prevent me from entering my country, let them come and stop me,” she says. Around her, others, seemingly close to her, chant their allegiance to the slain Hezbollah leader.

On X, opinions are divided. According to the media outlet Al-Modon, airport security services based their intervention on a rule prohibiting partisan displays to maintain security and order. However, Faysal Abdelsater, a journalist close to Hezbollah, sees it differently. “Have some Beirut airport employees sunk so low that they now prohibit Lebanese arriving for the funeral of the nation’s martyr Hassan Nasrallah from displaying his portrait in mourning?” he asked. “Anyone who prevents the carrying of photos of the sayyed [a religious title for Nasrallah] is executing the desires and orders of the Americans and Israelis,” he said.

Since the announcement of Nasrallah's funeral, flights to Beirut have been fully booked with attendees as Lebanon prepares to host one of its biggest funerals in recent history.