Lebanese Protesters Denounce U.S. Interference

Date: 30 June 2020 - 21:53

News ID: ۸۰۰۹۱

BEIRUT (Dispatches) – Lebanese people have staged a rally to express their resentment at Washington’s interference in their country’s domestic affairs and the latest remarks by the U.S. ambassador to Beirut against the Hezbollah resistance movement.
On Monday, demonstrators converged outside the Foreign Ministry building in the Achrafieh district of Beirut, amid a heavy security presence. The protest rally came at the invitation of national forces and civil society activists, Arabic-language al-Mayadeen television news network reported.
The participants emphasized the significant role Hezbollah plays in Lebanese society.
They said vague positions of some political factions in Lebanon vis-à-vis the United States would not serve Lebanon’s interests, adding that they do not need lectures from U.S. authorities as they have contributed to the economic blockade of Lebanon.
The protesters highlighted that the U.S.’ economic blockade of Lebanon and Syria is simply due to their support for the resistance front.
The protesters also trampled on the photos of the U.S. envoy, Dorothy Shea for her meddlesome remarks.
"We remind the American ambassador [Dorothy Shea] of people’s right to defend their sovereignty,” they said, stressing, "Americans will not be able to impose their wills” on Lebanon as it is a dignified nation that supports resistance.
The protest came at the same time that Shea was summoned to the Lebanese Foreign Ministry, and was meeting with Foreign Minister Nassif Hitti.
Meanwhile, scores of Hezbollah supporters protested on Sunday in Beirut’s southern suburb of Dahieh against the U.S. ambassador to Lebanon for her remarks blaming Hezbollah for the economic crisis in the country.
Also on Saturday, Lebanese judge Mohamad Mazeh in the southern city of Tyre banned local and foreign media outlets in the country from interviewing the U.S. ambassador to Beirut for a year, after Shea told Saudi-owned al-Hadath television news network that Washington has "great concerns” over Hezbollah’s role in the government.
Mazeh said Shea’s comments were meant to incite sectarian strife and threaten social peace.
Hezbollah’s growing popularity in the Arab and Muslim world has been a matter of serious concern for the Zionist regime and its Western allies since the resistance movement shattered the regime’s military’s myth of invincibility during a 33-day military offensive on Lebanon back in the summer of 2006.