On the evening of October 12, 2009, the Lebanese media reported on an explosion in the home of senior Hizbullah official 'Abd Al-Nasser 'Issa, in the village of Teir Felsay, east of Sidon in South Lebanon, and that several people were killed and more were wounded in the blast [1] Some reports stated that what had exploded was a shell stored in 'Issa's home; others said that the blast was at a Hizbullah arms depot, like the Khirbet Silim blast several months previously, in July 2009. [2]
Hizbullah issued an announcement that the incident involved an explosion in 'Issa's home, but denied that anyone had been killed and said that only one person had been wounded. [3]
Following the blast, Lebanese and Arab columnists identified with the March 14 Forces published articles warning against the danger posed by Hizbullah in Lebanon, and criticizing the "disinformation" campaign of the media identified with Hizbullah. In contrast, the Lebanese newspapers identified with Hizbullah published articles expressing pride in Hizbullah's continued amassing of arms, and of its ongoing activity south of the LitaniRiver.
Following are excerpts of articles on the issue:
Al-Sharq Al-Awsat Editor: Hizbullah is Endangering Lebanon
Tariq Alhomayed, editor of the London-based Saudi daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, wrote that the explosion was further evidence of the grave danger that Hizbullah poses to Lebanon, and called for a report on its activities similar to the Goldstone Report: "The explosion in the home of a Hizbullah member again rang the warning bell, and again underlined the grave danger to Lebanon posed by the presence [in Lebanon] of an armed organization with greater capabilities than the [Lebanese] army, that is bigger than the state itself, and that does not obey even government traffic ordinances.
"This incident is so grave because it shows that Hizbullah has no hesitations about putting the wellbeing of innocent Lebanese citizens at risk - because this explosion in South Lebanon reveals that Hizbullah is storing its weapons and missiles inside homes, in the heart of populated neighborhoods...
"We are today at the center of the turmoil [sparked by] the Goldstone Report on Gaza - [and we should ask] why there shouldn't be Arab special reports [like this] telling us about how armed groups [like Hizbullah] use innocent people and residents as a [human] shield in their own private wars, about how they receive funds and weapons, about these parties' connections and agendas, and who [they take orders from]. [This is necessary] whether these activities are being carried out in Lebanon by Hizbullah, in Gaza by Hamas, or in Arab countries where other groups are creating internal rifts!...
"The blast... in Teir Felsay, on the southern bank of the Litani River, is proof of the explosive danger in Lebanon - especially since this explosion was not the only one, but the second of its kind, following the one in July in Khirbet Silim in South Lebanon, which also was in a private arms storehouse belonging to Hizbullah!" [4]
Lebanese Columnist: Hizbullah Threatening Journalists
In a column at nowlebanon.com, which is identified with the March 14 Forces, journalist Muhammad Salam harshly criticized the Hizbullah-affiliated media's disinformation campaign in Lebanon concerning incidents like the Teir Felsay blast, and the intimidation of Lebanese journalists so that they would not report the truth: "There was no explosion in Teir Felsay, in the south; no one was killed, and no homes were damaged. No one was hurt except for [one] man, a Civil Guard member, who choked on smoke that he pretended was from a coal mine that appeared suddenly in a private home!!!
"This is what was reported by the 'Iranian press' in Lebanon about this week's Teir Felsay incident - a profusion of deceptions that... would arouse the dead in the cemeteries to set their tombs on fire and go out to protest against it.
"What is regrettable in all this is that whoever wrote this [garbage] is hiding behind the title of 'journalist,' with the aim of misleading the Lebanese people. We all know the extent of the pressure, threats, and intimidation employed against journalists by the 'party of weapons' [a play on Hizbullah, the 'Party of God'] in the south [of Lebanon] in general and especially in the regions where Hizbullah maintains security authority, and also south of the Litani.
"But this makes the journalist mislead [the public] - by Allah, what a disgrace! A disgrace to the profession and to the members of the profession, and a disgrace to the mercenaries who circulate this deception in the name of the profession..."
Salam called on the "honest and respectable media" in Lebanon to refuse to publish the misleading and false reports disseminated by Hizbullah, and called on the media outside Lebanon that is not being threatened by Hizbullah to disclose the truth. "In this way," he wrote, "the media profession will avenge the disgrace caused to it by the disseminators of this deception - and then [world] public opinion will know that there was an explosion in a missile storehouse [in Teir Felsay] during a [missile]-upgrading procedure, and that five members of a non-Lebanese guard [i.e. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps] were killed in the blast. Then public opinion will know that [Hizbullah] prevented an element that is meant to investigate [i.e. UNIFIL] from reaching the site of the 'ostensible explosion' until six hours later..." [5]
Al-Safir Columnist: It's Naïve to Think There Are No Weapons South of the Litani
Wasef 'Awada, columnist for the Lebanese daily Al-Safir, which is identified with the Lebanese opposition and Hizbullah, wrote that only idiots and the naïve believe that Hizbullah will not continue to arm itself and to operate south of the Litani - but that no one can prove that they are doing so: "...Only the naïve think that the region south of the Litani is free of weapons and ammunition that are not subordinate to the Lebanese army and UNIFIL. Only simpletons would give up their weapons in a region at whose southern border is an army [i.e. the Israeli army] equipped with all types of weaponry and just waiting for an opportunity to bring evil to the south, its residents, its parties, and the members of its resistance, and that will not hesitate to burn Lebanon back into the Stone Age.
"The [situation] is very simple, and doesn't demand great intelligence: Hizbullah is in the region south of the Litani - in every city, town, and village, above ground and deep within the earth, in the schools, universities, and official and private institutions; in the mosques and the Shi'ite religious centers [Hussainiyyat]; in the streets, the homes, the farmsteads, and the fields; and above and underneath the trees.
"This party [Hizbullah] is no ghost that makes an appearance [only] in the dark of night; it is part of the people, the masters of this land: those who till the soil, farmers, clerks, students, businessmen - and it is a rare home in the south that does not have [living in it] a member of this party [Hizbullah].
"Everywhere Hizbullah is present, and there is a need, there is also a resistance [movement], and where there is resistance, there are weapons and ammunition and perhaps more than that. The resistance does not use knives and sticks to fight an enemy armed with the most modern and advanced weapons, on land and sea and in the air - and it is not so desperate as to adopt a policy [of weakness].
"Despite all this... no one in South Lebanon can prove the existence of [Hizbullah's illegal] weapons, because there is almost no open armed resistance presence either south or north of the Litani...
"The residents of the south, more than anyone else, want stability in their region, from Sidon to Al-Naqura and Bint Jbeil, and even Marjayoun and Shab'a - and they aspire to the day when their [Lebanese] army will be capable on its own of ensuring this stability, and guaranteeing it, with honor.
"[But] until that moment comes, they are not willing to abandon the resistance and its weapons - not north of the Litani, and not south of it - and it would be no exaggeration at all to say that Hizbullah did not make this decision on its own." [6]
Al-Akhbar Columnist: Hizbullah Acknowledges That It Is Continuing to Arm Itself
Yahyah Dabouq, columnist for the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar, which is identified with Hizbullah, wrote that Hizbullah is not denying that it is continuing to arm itself and to gather strength: "Israel tried to take advantage of the incident [the blast in Teir Felsay] to the maximum degree, and it even surpassed its [usual] capabilities. It circulated photos of the blast site, taken by its spy planes, showing several young men transferring what Israel claimed were missiles and weapons...
"Israel stuck to its version [of events], continued its incitement, and even filed a complaint with the U.N. Security Council based on these photos. According to Israel, these photos prove yet again that Hizbullah is continuing to arm itself and to build its military capabilities in South Lebanon...
"[But] this is a fact that Hizbullah has never denied. On the contrary, it confirms it, [to the point where] neither Israel nor anyone else needs to prove it..." [7]
Endnotes:
[1] The Lebanese reports on this incident - including an announcement by UNIFIL spokesperson Yasmina Bouziane - acknowledged that the village of Teir Felsay lies south of the Litani, in the area subject to U.N. Resolution 1701, which bans the presence of any arms in South Lebanon except those of the Lebanese army and UNIFIL. However, Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar, which is identified with Hizbullah, and Hizbullah MP Hussein Al-Hajj Hassan, insisted that the village lies north of the Litani. Al-Akhbar (Lebanon), October 13, 2009; Al-Mustaqbal (Lebanon), October 13, 2009, October 14, 2009, Al-Intiqad (Lebanon), October 15, 2009.
[2] On the explosion of the arms depot in Khirbet Silim, see MEMRI Inquiry and Analysis No. No. 547, "In South Lebanon, Tension Increases Between UNIFIL and Hizbullah-Syria-Iran Bloc," September 15, 2009, http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/3666.htm.
[3] Israel stated that the explosion had taken place at a Hizbullah arms depot, and published UAV footage which, it claimed, showed men loading missiles on a truck and clearing them from the site of the explosion. On the following day, Hizbullah's TV channel Al-Manar released its own film, also allegedly shot at the site of the explosion, which showed men loading some furniture and a garage door on a truck. Al-Akhbar (Lebanon) October 15, 2009; Al-Mustaqbal (Lebanon), October 13, 2009.
[4] Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), October 15, 2009.
[5] http://www.nowlebanon.com,October 14, 2009.
[6] Al-Safir (Lebanon), October 15, 2009.
[7] Al-Akhbar (Lebanon) October 19, 2009.
