At Baysarieh and the Palais Bourbon, a Wind of Revolt…
At the very moment that a conference was being held in Paris at the French National Assembly, giving a voice to our free Shiite fellow citizens*, a village in southern Lebanon, perched 180 meters above sea level, was making itself remembered.
On Friday, June 5, a spirit of defiance arose in Baysarieh: a scuffle broke out between local residents - mostly Twelver Shiites and supporters of Nabih Berri - and Hezbollah militants who wanted to install rocket launchers in the middle of the village.
The Lebanese Army had to intervene to separate the opposing sides and restore order. A video captured the collective clash which, in a supreme irony, took place in a street adorned with pistachio-green banners bearing the colors of the Amal Movement!
The incident occurred at the very moment when the Emergency Operations Center of the Ministry of Public Health informed us that Lebanon had suffered 3,558 deaths and 10,870 injuries since March 2, the date on which Hezbollah reignited the fuse, supposedly to avenge the execution of Iran’s Supreme Leader.
Some will say that this is not too high a price to pay for the Iranian support that contributed to the liberation of South Lebanon and to that of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Exasperation Is Spreading
Baysarieh, however, was not the only entity to rear up in protest across the country. At the same time, as though they had coordinated their actions, the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister “mutinied” against Hezbollah’s prevailing narrative. Joseph Aoun told CNN that Iran had no right to use Lebanon as a bargaining chip, that Naim Qassem did not represent Lebanon, and that the only sensible option was negotiation to bring a definitive end to the state of hostility between Lebanon and Israel.
Nawaf Salam, for his part, pushed back by reminding everyone that Lebanon was not a battlefield where others could settle their scores and that the people of the South should not have to pay the price of “calculations over which they have no control.”
Under the circumstances, all that remained was for Speaker Nabih Berri to speak out. Yet we shall draw a veil over his remarks, dictated as they are by the reverential fear that Hezbollah inspires in him. In any case, Baysarieh has already spoken on his behalf, in the name of the Amal Movement and of all Shiites outraged by the absurdity of the continuing fighting and by the monopolization of power by the Iranian-backed militia.
As elsewhere throughout Lebanon, exasperation is spreading and becoming widespread in the face of destruction and population displacement. The seemingly immovable Nabih Berri may refuse to endorse the agreement reached in Washington, but his electoral base no longer appears willing to bear the cost of Naim Qassem’s reckless adventures.
Waiting So Long Before Overturning the Table!
Until recently, Lebanon’s official circles had remained discreet. One had to be careful not to offend the Resistance; it was to be handled with kid gloves. Out of respect and consideration for Hezbollah’s sacrifices, one was not supposed to tarnish its image as a liberator.
But suddenly, a paradigm shift! The narrative is no longer the same. It is as though an “epistemological break” had occurred - that is, a radical change in the way reality is perceived, breaking with the previous discourse and the clichés imposed upon us by the Iranian party and its enforcers. This change alone is a sign of liberation, for over many years the Executive had adopted Hezbollah’s rhetoric as its own.
As a result, our republican state resembled more a Commedia dell’arte performance than a serious polity. Our leaders had become little more than grimacers and actors, laboring to defend the theses of the Party of God - theses they inwardly rejected.
So, to hell with the delicacy that has long surrounded the issue of direct negotiations with Israel. Tensions will evidently rise another notch, and a process of emancipation will begin. It may go so far as to officially compile and publish the list of serial crimes committed by the Party of God.
Thank you, Baysarieh; thank you, Palais Bourbon. The fear that Hezbollah once instilled in its own community, as well as in certain political circles, no longer prevails.
*Conference: “Lebanon Between Peace and War: State Legitimacy and the Role of Civil Society,” French National Assembly, Paris, June 5, 2026. The speakers, who held Hezbollah and the Iranian “holy alliance” responsible for the current catastrophe, called for the restoration of the rule of law.