After it recently claimed that the British Secret Service was behind the Lebanese Revolution and civil unrest in Lebanon, Hezbollah-linked news site Al-Akhbar is at it again.
This time, it is claiming that the United States and Saudi Arabia are financing people in Lebanon to cause civil unrest.
Their theory is that the U.S. and KSA have a shared vision: “Push Lebanon to collapse so we can rebuild it without Hezbollah.” Of course, it is also claiming that it’s for the benefit of Israel.
To Al-Akhbar, this seems to be the only logical reason for the push against the Lebanese politicians and Hezbollah, which has deeply embedded itself in Lebanon’s political affairs and is accused of illicit activities at the international level.
The reality on the ground is that the country has been so messed up with compounded and neglected crises that people are rightfully angry at the ruling politicians, whom they deem having hijacked the country for their self-serving agendas.
And that includes Hezbollah that has been a major player in the ruling body for years.
Corruption has been leading the country to a point of no return and the people are not ignorant to that fact since they are the ones paying the excruciating price; not the politicians.
Unlike what Hezbollah and its affiliated media site assume, the Lebanese people don’t need to be told that the sufferings inflicted upon them by the leaders are unacceptable and must stop.
By nature, people revolt when in suffering, let alone when they are educated enough to know their rights.
It is unfathomable to think they needed to be “financed” by external forces to have the motivation to fight corruption and the system that has failed them enormously.
Hunger, poverty, injustice, abuse of power, stolen money, and crises are all enough motivation for people to revolt.
Logically (or mathematically), if “funding by external forces” was really there, it would have shown in the economy, which, as evident, has been in a disastrous collapse, as well as with the dollar currency, which, as known to all, is at the scarcity level.
The poverty rate has increased exponentially, people’s earnings are stuck in banks, hunger is taking over, people in Beirut can’t even fix their blasted windows and doors, parents can’t even provide for their children studying abroad, businesses are shutting down, and even Christmas decorations have been scarce this year across the country.
So where is the alleged external funding they are accused of receiving to protest? All that has been seen with protesters are Lebanese flags and mostly handmade signs, and tears.
With thousands, maybe millions, of people protesting across the country, the alleged funding should have massively boosted the country’s economy by now, which isn’t the case.
Moreover, it is impossible to believe that the people just won’t protest without some alleged funding when a most horrific blast took the lives of hundreds and injured thousands.
It is totally unacceptable that the Lebanese people get discredited to that point. It is even offensive to them and to the victims and their families.
Al-Akhbar goes on to allege that the “sowing of chaos” will continue taking place through (1) activating NGOs and movements with specific agendas, (2) the imposing of sanctions, and (3) taking advantage of the lack of stability.
One could easily argue that the chaos existed pre-revolution along with corruption and is what triggered the uprising of the people against the chaos in the country’s governance.
That is unless what Al-Akhbar meant by chaos is the leaders losing control of their self-serving agendas and losing their abusive grip on the people.
For who created the real chaos?
Interestingly enough, the noble humanitarian work of local NGOs appears somehow to be as threatening to Hezbollah and the political leaders as the sanctions and the revolution of the people.
These NGOs have stepped up to help the people the government abandoned to their painful sort in the catastrophe of Beirut Blast. They now have become a target of disgraceful defamation by the Hezbollah media.
One could wonder if it is because these NGOs in Lebanon have emerged as a gentle power of support to the people, and the only go-to sources they trust?
The NGOs are not creating chaos, they are working relentlessly in spite of it, to save the people, feed them, heal them, provide them with essentials, shelter them, and rebuild their homes and Beirut.
Worth noting that efforts to de-legitimize the people’s endeavors to claim their rights and the Lebanese Revolution don’t stop at Hezbollah media sites.
The OTV of the Free Patriotic Movement and its media site have done the same, as the party’s leaders are part of the government that has failed Lebanon and the people.
They as well have all too often discredited the people in their rights to fight corruption and those who have crippled their country.