Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, in the Parliament, on Aug. 11, 2026. (Credit: Ali Fawaz/Lebanese Parliament)
The commemoration of Amal Movement founder Imam Moussa Sadr’s disappearance in Libya on Aug. 31, 1978, has become the main political and media event of the year for Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. It is an occasion to send messages to both allies and adversaries. This year, too, the speaker's speech will be closely scrutinized from all sides, especially as it comes at a time when the drums of war are beating in southern Lebanon and amid sharp political polarization over direct negotiations with Israel and Hezbollah's disarmament.As in 2024 and 2025, Berri will, due to the Israeli occupation, settle for a speech broadcast on television channels rather than the traditional public ceremony in Nabatieh, an undisputed Berri stronghold. Naturally, he is expected to first dwell on the imam’s case, a few months after the release, in...
The commemoration of Amal Movement founder Imam Moussa Sadr’s disappearance in Libya on Aug. 31, 1978, has become the main political and media event of the year for Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. It is an occasion to send messages to both allies and adversaries. This year, too, the speaker's speech will be closely scrutinized from all sides, especially as it comes at a time when the drums of war are beating in southern Lebanon and amid sharp political polarization over direct negotiations with Israel and Hezbollah's disarmament.As in 2024 and 2025, Berri will, due to the Israeli occupation, settle for a speech broadcast on television channels rather than the traditional public ceremony in Nabatieh, an undisputed Berri stronghold. Naturally, he is expected to first dwell on the imam’s case, a few months after the release,...
