Hamadeh rejects claims of disrespect toward Nasrallah after home protest

After provoking an outcry among Hezbollah supporters over a statement he made the previous day regarding the controversy surrounding the illumination of the Raouche rocks to mark the anniversary of Hassan Nasrallah’s killing, Joumblattist MP Marwan Hamadeh denied on Saturday that he intended any disrespect toward the former leader of the party.

On Friday, Hamadeh, a member of the Democratic Gathering bloc led by Taymour Joumblatt, commented on the controversy in an interview with Saudi channel al-Hadath. He used the expression, “Les funérailles sont animées, alors que le défunt est un chien” (“The funeral is lively, while the deceased is a dog”) to describe the political situation in the country. The saying, which could be translated as “much ado about nothing” or “a storm in a teacup,” was meant to describe the uproar over Hezbollah’s decision to illuminate the Raouche rocks — a symbolic site on the Beirut coast — with a portrait of Nasrallah, contrary to a ban issued by Beirut governor Marwan Abboud. “The matter did not require such mobilization,” Hamadeh told L’Orient-Le Jour.

According to Hamadeh’s press office, the remarks “were not directed at Hassan Nasrallah personally,” and the MP “regrets that his words were misinterpreted.” In a brief statement published by the official National News Agency (NNA), Hamadeh, who survived an assassination attempt in October 2004, emphasized that he holds “the utmost respect for Lebanon’s martyrs and the martyrs of the resistance.”

However, the expression was widely understood as a direct attack on the former Hezbollah leader, whose supporters are commemorating the first anniversary of his killing in massive Israeli strikes on southern Beirut. Since Friday evening, Hamadeh has faced harsh criticism on social media from Hezbollah supporters, and a protest took place outside his home, during which firecrackers were thrown. His office denied reports of gunfire, which had been circulated by some media outlets.

Après des pétards lancés contre son domicile, Hamadé nie avoir voulu manquer de respect à Nasrallah