Lebanon bids farewell to the Nasrallah era

For a moment, tens of thousands of people in a packed Beirut stadium let out a unified cry.

The coffins of Hassan Nasrallah and Hachem Safieddine, wrapped in Hezbollah’s arresting yellow flag, had appeared.

Men and women broke down in tears, scrambling over each other to spy a better view of the solemn procession.

Not even Israeli fighter jets, who flew menacingly at low altitudes over the funeral, could break the spell. “Death to Israel,” people screamed in unison.

Above all was the sound of one woman, waving a flag bearing Nasrallah’s face.

“Sayyed, o Sayyed,” she cried, using the honorific for black-turbaned Shia scholars descended from the Prophet, like Hezbollah’s slain secretary general.

For days, flights to Beirut have been packed with mourners arriving for the funeral. Hundreds of thousands flocked to the streets for the procession to Camille Chamoun Stadium.

A Lebanese security source told Reuters about a million people attended.

It has taken five months until Hezbollah has been able to lay Nasrallah, the charismatic leader who led the ferocious resistance movement and powerful Shia political party, to rest.

The 64-year-old was killed on 27 September by a devastating volley of Israeli bunker-buster bombs dropped on Beirut’s southern suburbs, where he was attending a meeting deep under ground.

A week later, his cousin and brief successor Safieddine was killed in a similar strike nearby.

Their killings took place as Israel turned a year of border clashes into a devastating bombing campaign and invasion, which was quelled by a ceasefire in late November.

“You focus on funerals – we focus on victories,” crowed Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, as aerial footage of the attacks on residential areas of Beirut were released. 

Nasrallah and Safieddine gained international prominence as leaders of – what was at least – the most powerful non-state armed group in the world.

They were admired and vilified for their enmity and violent opposition to Israel and the United States – as well as loathed by domestic rivals and Syrians who were victims to Hezbollah’s support of Bashar al-Assad.

In Beirut on Sunday, however, many Lebanese expressed a personal connection to Nasrallah, a figure who had dominated the country 

“I felt like Sayyed was Lebanese people’s souls,” said Hoda, an Iranian woman who had flown in from Sweden.

The ceremony was mostly led by little-known figures in the party, who gave speeches and recited poems and prayers. Most of Hezbollah’s senior figures had been recently killed by Israel, too.

Naim Qassem, who is now the party’s secretary general, gave the final address. Previously Hezbollah’s public face, he was now addressing the crowd via video, as Nasrallah had been forced to do for fear of assassination.

‘A Lebanese symbol’

Borne out of Lebanon’s Shia in response to Israel’s 1982 invasion, Hezbollah enjoys strong support within the community.

And though it is opposed by parties that represent other religious communities that make up Lebanon’s sectarian political system, Nasrallah attracted support that crossed confessional lines, largely due to his unflinching resistance against Israel.

Awwad, a Druze man originating from Lebanon’s Chouf mountains, flew from Cyprus to attend the ceremony.

“Today, you have someone named Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, hit by tonnes of bombs for his assassination,” he told Middle East Eye.

“For 40 years, this person has been fighting Israel, the greatest danger on Lebanon. So, he is worth traversing distances just to pay our respects and salute the person who spent his life fighting.”

His feelings were echoed by Raymond, who came from Lebanon’s Christian heartland in the north to pay his respects.

“He is my father and I cried for him more than I will probably cry for my real father when he passes away,” he said.

“We are thanking him, and we wish we could have thanked him in person,” he added. “He is a Lebanese symbol, an Arab symbol, and a symbol for all the nations of the world.”

Hoda, the Iranian woman, said she feels grateful having been able to share this moment with Lebanese people.

“There is no greater day than today,” she said. “Just like Sayyed always stood by us, we have to be here today.”

Nasrallah is seen by his supporters as a liberator, having spearheaded south Lebanon’s liberation from Israeli occupation in 2000 and fought Israel to a standstill in a month-long war in 2006.

At times, his speeches would have the entire country on pause. Televisions across the country broadcast his speeches as Lebanese listened to his verdict on any issue the country, or region, might be facing.

However, Nasrallah was also despised. Political disagreements, foreign adventurism, domestic clashes and Hezbollah’s infamous involvement in Syria’s civil war gave the party several Lebanese enemies.

Despite this, some supporters of the Future Movement, a recently revived Sunni rival party, attended the funeral, decrying the way he was killed by Israel, whom they consider a common enemy.

Nabih Berri, Lebanon’s veteran speaker of parliament and longtime Hezbollah ally, came representing President Joseph Aoun as well.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, whom Hezbollah refused to endorse, asked his public works minister to represent him at the ceremony.

Other Lebanese allies, including the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, had many supporters present.

Iran, which backs Hezbollah militarily and financially, sent its Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi to the event, while several Iraqi politicians and armed group leaders were also in attendance.

Yemen’s Ansar Allah, commonly known as the Houthi movement, sent representatives, while a group of supporters from Tunisia scattered themselves across the stadium, waving pictures of Nasrallah alongside their country’s flag.

“Every person in Lebanon who understands who their enemy is and how you must fight them holds deep respect and appreciation for Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, which is normal to see today,” Awwad, the Druze man, said.

Nasrallah’s death brings a close a 30-year era where he dominated Lebanese and regional politics.

Hezbollah was left badly damaged by its latest war with Israel and the collapse of the Assad government in Syria has cut its supply route to Iran.

Yet, mourners at the funeral expressed hope that the struggle against Israel would continue.

“Society will always, in every stage, give birth to any new kind of resistance. This resistance was not just Hezbollah,” Awwad said.

“We will always see the birth of movements to defend our countries’ interests, regardless of the banner. The banner, the slogan, what we wear or say are details. What matters is what we do.”