[47686] Lebanon and the 'Resistance' Issue: Between Internal Incitement and Arab Criticism of Hamas and Hezbollah

{"title": "Internal Tension in Lebanon and Arab Criticism of the 'Resistance' Model", "digest": "In the Lebanese arena, [Merging the Arenas | Shachar Kleiman reports on a sharp escalation in incitement against senior state officials, primarily President Joseph Aoun and the Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rahi. According to a report relying on a Lebanese source for the newspaper 'Nidaa al-Watan', the campaign against the leadership is intended to 'divert public attention and disrupt the possibility of direct negotiations with Israel'. As part of the incitement, posters were hung depicting President Aoun with a kippah and tzitzit, alongside the caption: \"Partner to our bloodshed\".\n\nThe Lebanese source, which presents a position sharply critical of the Hezbollah organization, claims that elements identified with the organization are active on social media against anyone who supports sovereign steps, such as collecting illegal weapons or conducting contacts with Israeli ambassadors in Washington. According to the source, this is a dangerous phenomenon that could lead to the destabilization of the country.\n\nIn parallel, Hananel Aviv brings quotes from the 'Al-Madar' program on the 'Asharq News' channel, in which the Shiite-Lebanese journalist Nadim Koteich attacks the concept of 'resistance'. Koteich cites as an example the United Arab Emirates and Morocco, which chose to invest in the economy instead of waging eternal wars over occupied territories.\n\nReferring to Hezbollah, Koteich claimed that the term 'Shebaa Farms' is \"a thing invented for the sake of the existence of 'resistance' to Israel\". In addition, Koteich sharply criticized Hamas, claiming that the lack of civilian infrastructure such as an airport in Gaza is a result of the organization's decisions to sacrifice the population for the benefit of its wartime ideology."}]