‘Our hearts broke’: Lebanese Christians mourn Hezbollah leader, vow to continue his path

By Hiba Morad

Christians in Lebanon have been saddened by Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s assassination, but the resistance, its leadership, fighters and supporters will continue to grow in strength, says a Lebanese Christian activist and analyst.

Speaking to the Press TV website, Beirut-based Maya el-Khoury said she has no affiliation with any political party and supports the resistance front and the country’s armed forces.

“I have a problem with everyone who does not have a problem with Israel,” Khoury stated, adding that the martyred Lebanese resistance leader was a major symbol of resistance and unity for Lebanon.

Last Friday, Israel dropped tons of US-made bunker-buster bombs on Beirut's southern suburb of Dahiye, which led to the assassination of Sayyed Nasrallah and his associates.

Prominent Christian political leaders in Lebanon paid glowing tributes to the Hezbollah leader.

“The symbol is gone, the legend is born, and the resistance continues,” Sleiman Frangieh, leader of the Lebanese Christian political party Marada, wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Former Lebanese President Michel Aoun, a Christian Maronite and founder of the Free Patriotic Movement party which is allied with Hezbollah, also paid his homage to the fallen leader.

“With the martyrdom of His Eminence the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Lebanon loses a distinguished and honest leader who led the national resistance on the paths of victory and liberation,” he wrote in the statement.

Other Christian leaders and activists also honored the martyred Hezbollah leader while others vowed to retaliate and assured that it would only make the resistance and those part of it stronger in their resolve to take the struggle against the Zionist entity to its logical end.

‘Broken hearts, a great father’

Maya, expressing her love and respect for Sayyed Nasrallah, said he was not an ordinary person but a powerful symbol of resistance and unity in the Arab country and loved and admired by all and sundry.

“He was our loving and caring father, he was the only one to address us directly and feel our pain. He was the one who put Lebanon on the world map, and we saw in him our dignity, pride, strength and value,” she told the Press TV website, struggling to hold back her tears.

“He was committed to his promise and loyal to his people who reciprocated his love, trust and commitment,” she added.

Like other Lebanese Christians, Maya said she was “deeply shocked and saddened” to hear the news of the Hezbollah resistance movement’s assassination by the Israeli regime.

“Our hearts broke to hear the news of his martyrdom. It felt like the day when my own father passed away; I felt broken, weak and I felt like I lost the sense of security I had,” Maya said.

“He was a wise, brave, and dedicated leader who worked hard for the cause and was a symbol of courage in the face of calamities. He led the resistance in the most dire conditions and toughest circumstances. To many, his worldview and intellect was an inspiration,” she said.

Western media outlets falsely claimed that while Shia Muslims in Lebanon were mourning, there was a sense of relief among many in the country's Sunni Muslim and Christian communities.

Christians and Sunni Muslims Press TV website spoke to termed it a “blatant anti-Lebanon propaganda”, which they said it designed to create fissures in the Lebanese multicultural society.

Lebanon’s political, religious, and sectarian milieu is complicated, and the hundreds of thousands of Hezbollah supporters include Shia and Sunni Muslims, Druze as well as Christians, they stressed.

‘Utmost readiness’

Maya said Sayyed Nasrallah’s assassination would make the people more resilient to continue the path he defined for them – the path of resistance against the Zionist entity.

She said the Israeli enemy has always tried to undermine the resistance by creating divisions.

“The resistance indeed lost an important figure, but it is not limited to one person. The spirit and power of the resistance comes from its leadership, people, fighters and supporters who will continue the fight no matter what the challenges,” she told the Press TV website.

She pointed out that after the martyrdom of Sayyed Nasrallah and his associates, the resistance forces in Lebanon launched a barrage of missiles targeting different settlements, military camps and regime soldiers, which shows that the resistance continues to be at its “utmost readiness.”

The martyrdom of leaders does not amount to defeat, it rather means a transmission from one phase to another that requires patience and resilience because victory does not come for free, and the blood of the martyrs is the biggest motive to go forth, Maya explained.

“The resistance today is at its best and the assassination of its leader will make it more determined to continue the battle against the Israeli usurper, and Israel has brought this upon itself,” she added, echoing what many Lebanese people believe that Israel has opened the doors of hell on itself.

Maya told the Press TV website that Lebanon and the resistance have faced multiple challenges throughout history, and every time it has bounced back stronger.

“This is also the case when it comes to the assassination of Sayyed Hassan. We are capable of overcoming this calamity, and the resistance will remain strong like always.”

In the first official speech following the assassination of Sayyed Nasrallah, Hezbollah's Deputy Secretary-General, Sheikh Naim Qassem asserted that the group is fully prepared for future battles, adding that Sayyed Nasrallah will be replaced and that their fight against the regime will continue.

Hearts in denial

The pain and anguish of losing their leader is common between the Lebanese Muslims and Christians.

Dr. Elias Hashem, a Christian poet and academic, told the Press TV website hearts of the people are still in denial, rejecting the news about the assassination of Sayyed Nasrallah.

“Our hearts reject the news due to the strong bond and close relation he built with each and every Lebanese through his speeches, stances, sincere promises, care and love for 30 consecutive years,” he remarked, referring to the people-centric approach of the martyred resistance leader.

“However, the mind accepts the assassination as a fact because Sayyed Hassan was the target no. 1 on the list of Israel and the anti-resistance Western intelligence apparatus. He was the target of the Israeli enemy every second; they wanted to eliminate him badly,” he added.

He said that anyone who watched his televised speeches realized that he was genuine and honest and that he had strong credibility.

Civilians throughout the Middle East, Africa and the West, including Lebanon, Bahrain, Palestine, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Nigeria, Australia, and other countries have risen in protest to condemn the terrorist Israeli assassination of the Secretary-General of the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon.

“This credibility and transparency created a strong confidence in him and whatever he did or said,” the university professor said.

“We can say that the charismatic personality of Sayyed Hassan was one of its kind in terms of the ethics and manners he possessed, his knowledge and wisdom, his honesty and sincerity in practice and his adherence to the path, which we seldom see in other leaders.”

Until his very last breath, and over decades of arduous work, the martyred Lebanese resistance movement leader unwaveringly defended Lebanon's sovereignty and the Palestinian cause.

The Israeli enemy, Hashem said, did eliminate his body, but not his undying soul or timeless spirit.

“If Sayyed Hassan passed away, this does not necessarily mean the resistance died too, he is and will remain to be a thriving legend” he asserted.

An everlasting will and resolve

The resistance is a beacon whose light cannot be put out, Dr. Hashem said, describing the current status of the resistance, dismissing the rhetoric about resistance weakening amid a series of assassinations.

 “An everlasting will and resolve was born to those who believe in righteousness, justice, and the right of the people to determine their own fate,” he told the Press TV website.

“This is true especially when we talk about the resistance and its people whose land has been usurped, live under occupation, and are being subject to genocide as the entire world, allegedly a defender of human rights, watches mutely.”

Resistance movements across the world have been sturdily targeted but it only made them stronger and more resilient, this is because “justice does not die,” he noted.

“Lebanon is used to being at the heart of the storm, and has been for long the country that stands in the face of the storm, paying a high price of blood and destruction for the past 70 years in its war with the occupation to achieve freedom and dignity,” Dr. Hashem said. “We will rise again.”

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