From 1993 to today: Hezbollah and the politics of protests in Lebanon

Report by Yazbek Wehbe, English adaptation by Karine Keuchkerian

“Street protests” may be common in democratic countries, but in a politically sensitive country like Lebanon, they are far more complicated.

Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem’s remarks on Friday about postponing the idea of demonstrations served as a warning that such protests would occur—but according to the party’s timing.

Since 1993, Hezbollah has taken to the streets under various banners. In September of that year, under the slogan of opposing the Oslo Accords between the Palestinian Authority and Israel, a Hezbollah-organized demonstration on the airport bridge clashed with Lebanese army forces. 

Gunfire during the demonstration resulted in nine casualties among protesters.

In 2006, Hezbollah supporters, along with allies including the Amal Movement, the Free Patriotic Movement, and the Marada Movement, protested against then-Prime Minister Fouad Siniora’s government, demanding its resignation. They staged a sit-in in central Beirut for nearly a year and a half. 

Tensions escalated after the government decided to shut down the party’s private communications network and dismiss the airport security chief, Brigadier General Wafiq Choucair. The party clearly threatened to use the streets to oppose these measures.

Over four days, armed clashes erupted between Hezbollah and its allies and opponents—particularly members of the Progressive Socialist Party and the Future Movement—in Beirut, the north, and the Bekaa. The confrontations left more than 100 casualties and ended with the Doha Agreement.

In 2011, Hezbollah, through a gathering of dozens of young men dressed in black, sent a clear message rejecting the nomination of Saad Hariri to head the government.

When the October 17, 2019, revolution began, supporters of Hezbollah and Amal Movement opposed protesters in Beirut calling for the resignation of the country’s three top leaders, including Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. They repeatedly took to the streets, attacked demonstrators, and destroyed their tents, causing several injuries.

October 14, 2021, was no ordinary day. Hezbollah and Amal Movement supporters descended near the Justice Palace to demand the dismissal of the judicial investigator in the Beirut Port explosion case, Judge Tarek Bitar. On their way back, they clashed with young men from the Ain el-Remmaneh neighborhood affiliated with the Lebanese Forces. 

The Lebanese army intervened. The events resulted in seven casualties among supporters of the Hezbollah-Amal Movement political duo.

Earlier this year, in protest against the suspension of Iranian civil flights to Beirut, Hezbollah supporters took to the streets, organizing motorcycle rallies that reached distant areas of Beirut's southern suburbs and blocking the airport highway. 

The army intervened to clear the road. A similar incident occurred ten days ago after the government decided to place weapons solely under state control. Careful army measures managed to control the movements and prevent clashes or security disruptions.