Resignation of a Télé-Liban journalist: Fadlallah calls on the channel to reconsider its decision on wearing the veil

BEIRUT - The Shiite cleric Ali Fadlallah condemned, on Saturday, the decision by the television channel Télé-Liban to prevent women from wearing the veil on screen, calling on the institution to "reconsider its decision," reports the state-run National News Agency (NNA) without specifying on what occasion the dignitary made these remarks.

The state channel prevented journalist Zeinab Yassine, who wears the veil, from joining the broadcast permanently, after covering news in the field during the war, before the cease-fire on Nov. 27, 2024. The journalist, who was however invited to continue her initial activity within the social media division and away from the broadcast, preferred to resign.

Ali Fadlallah, who denounced "an attack on the fundamental values of the Lebanese entity, particularly respect for diversity and human freedom," argued that Télé-Liban's decision "offended religious specifics, the principle of the equality of Lebanese in rights and duties, and their right to express their religious commitment." "The hijab is not a religious symbol but a duty and an obligation," he insisted. "This unjust decision will lead to the exclusion of many talents and represents a threat to coexistence and human values," added the cleric.

The dignitary, in this context, called for respect for religious and human diversity in Lebanon, emphasizing the necessity to "send a message to the world about the ability of religions to coexist and to present a civilized image of them."