Hezbollah's fight against the Coronavirus: A Display of Power

Hezbollah unveiled its own measures put in place to combat the Covid-19 during a press tour on March 31 in Beirut's southern suburbs. Disinfecting several Lebanese regions, not only its strongholds, was another demonstration of force. These measures were in response to many criticisms that have been targeting Hezbollah since the first patients who got infected in Iran returned to Lebanon. But they were also seen by some observers as "political exploitation" (of the coronavirus crisis) by Hezbollah.

Last week, Hezbollah announced that it had mobilized 1,500 doctors, 3,000 nurses and rescuers, as well as 5,000 healthcare and service workers to fight the pandemic across the country. Raja Zreik, head of the party's civil defense in Beirut, told L'Orient-Le Jour that his party had implemented sanitary measures throughout the country, similar to the ones that were adopted in Beirut's southern suburbs; Hezbollah's main stronghold .

“We have 34 Covid-19 testing centers in the country and 25 ambulances equipped with respirators. We are there to support the state and associations, and we work with the local authorities,” said Zreik, who assured that Hezbollah complies with the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO). "At one point, the Order of Physicians complained about disinfection campaigns we are carrying out, arguing that they are harmful and unscientific. But we are complying with WHO recommendations. We are raising awareness and providing psychological support. People feel reassured this way."

In southern Lebanon, Hezbollah conducted massive disinfection of public places in the market town of Nabatiyeh and its surroundings, as well as in Iqlim al-Tuffah, the coastal Ghazieh village and the suburbs of Sidon city; regions where the party exercises preponderant influence. But it is worth noting that Hezbollah, in coordination with the municipalities of the region, also disinfected last week streets and even some houses in Sidon itself as well as churches and Christian villages at the request of the religious authorities, according to our correspondent Mountasser Abdallah.

Quarantine and "Sanitary Roadblocks"

In the eastern Bekaa region, Hezbollah has imposed quarantine on many people who have recently returned from Iran. "People are not forcibly held in their villages, as some claim, but Hezbollah has asked those who recently returned from Iran to isolate themselves for 14 days," said our correspondent Sarah Abdallah. The returnees are mainly pilgrims, students or families of martyrs who were offered religious trips to Qom by the Shiite party. In the Mount Lebanon district of Byblos (Jbeil), members of Hezbollah have erected "sanitary" roadblocks to quickly measure the temperature of passers-by and carried out disinfection campaigns in Shiite or mixed towns. A number of Christian families disapproved Hezbollah's move, according to Jbail's former MP Fares Souaid.

“Since the crisis, people from the Shiite villages of Jbeil, most of whom live in Beirut's southern suburbs, have returned to the region. In recent days, a car with Hezbollah flags has been touring the villages to give health advice and ask people to stay confined," said Souaid. "These are not parades for sanitary purposes, and anyway they have little effect. It’s a display of power, similar to the display of its political and military power.”

Hezbollah's measures have caused tension in mixed villages where some called on the municipality to conduct disinfection itself. The issue has since been resolved, but Souhaid denounces the "partisan reaction to the epidemic, not only on the part of Hezbollah, but also of other political forces such as the Lebanese Forces, the Kataeb or the Free Patriotic Movement.”

Asked by the OLJ about Hezbollah's health campaign, a political analyst noted that "all of the political forces are now trying to take advantage of the situation, but Hezbollah knows better how to promote its actions.” The analyst, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Hezbollah “knows very well how to benefit from crises to show that it is the strongest and is concerned about the safety of all the people, even if they are not among its supporters." He concluded by saying: "This mise-en-scene (Hezbollah's March 31 press tour in the southern suburbs of Beirut) is meant to say: ‘We are a statelet and can protect you medically, after having protected you militarily against Israel."

(This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour on the 4th of April)