Passersby on a street leading to a polling station in the village of Deir Qanoun al-Naher. (Credit: Matthieu Karam/L'Orient Today)
"We came to vote to protect the land," Massoud Samara, 82, who traveled from Beirut to cast his ballot in the box in his village of Marjayoun, said.Unlike others, who ignored the calls for mobilization made by Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem in the days leading up to the election, the bombs did not deter his determination.While the Israeli army shelled the southern regions on Thursday, May 22, and a hundred municipal councils were elected by default following the withdrawal of competing lists, the inhabitants of the South largely snubbed the ballot boxes on Saturday, on the fourth and final round of the municipal elections."We are viscerally attached to this land, which belongs to us," stated Samara.Oscillating between 25 and 40 percent at the close of the polls at 7 p.m., the participation rate marked a significant...
"We came to vote to protect the land," Massoud Samara, 82, who traveled from Beirut to cast his ballot in the box in his village of Marjayoun, said.Unlike others, who ignored the calls for mobilization made by Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem in the days leading up to the election, the bombs did not deter his determination.While the Israeli army shelled the southern regions on Thursday, May 22, and a hundred municipal councils were elected by default following the withdrawal of competing lists, the inhabitants of the South largely snubbed the ballot boxes on Saturday, on the fourth and final round of the municipal elections."We are viscerally attached to this land, which belongs to us," stated Samara.Oscillating between 25 and 40 percent at the close of the polls at 7 p.m., the participation rate marked a significant...
