Just months after the shameful protests that attempted to burn down the Danish Embassy in Beirut over the portrayal of the prophet Mohammad in a cartoon, irrational religious sensitivity has again lead to a gross overreaction.

Chanting "Here we come Nasrallah," and "with our souls, our blood we redeem you Nasrallah," the guerrilla group's loyalists blocked a main road to Lebanon's sole international airport. Nasrallah then asked his supporters to stop the protest.

The weekly comedy show airs on LBC and is known to poke fun across the entire political spectrum. Thursday marked the first time the actors dared to impersonate Hizbullah leader Nasrallah, sparking the backlash by his loyalists. The show's producer and director, Sharbil Khalil, appeared on television and apologized for the episode, stressing his respect for Nasrallah.

Hundreds of security force officers sealed off roads linking Beirut's southern suburb, Hizbollah's stronghold, with Christian-dominated areas of the capital, while a number of Hizbollah supporters formed a human chain around a nearby church to prevent further escalation.

The protest prompted Nasrallah to grant rare telephone interviews on two television stations, thanking the protesters for their support but urging them to end their demonstration.

Lebanese blogger Abu Kais from Beirut to the Beltway had the following commentary on the incident:

Angry Hizbullah protestors tonight took to the streets in anger, burning tires, blocking roads and harassing traveling cars. Their misdirected anger was in reaction to a usually lame LBC political satire show that portrayed Hassan Nasrallah, Hizbullah’s secretary general as a... fallible human being.

Nasrallah issued a statement urging his worshippers to go back home. The statement thanked "those who expressed their emotions and affection, and who were incensed and angry and took to the streets... I bow before them and appreciate their good feelings. In any case, what happened was unfortunate, and this is a problem that existed in the country for a while, there is no respect for values and statures and emotions... " Nasrallah promised his devotees that Hizbullah will "pursue this case through the proper channels to prevent the repetition of such mistakes that offend values respected by some people in Lebanon."

Mind you all these "good feelings" were absent when people are murdered by Bashar Assad, or when our prime minister is called a slave of a slave by Assad. Trespasses of the kind that afflict other Lebanese and their values are forgiven in Hizbullah ideology.

They are forgiven because Samir Kassir, Rafik Hariri, Gebran Tueni, Bassel Fleihan, George Hawi and the Lebanese soldiers killed by Assad's thugs were not despots or religious figures. Their murder never amounted to a "problem" that required any reaction by Hizbullah.

Nasrallah is divine, any criticism of him is haram, but the rest are batata "halal" for slicing and frying.

Blogger Raja of The Lebanese Bloggers added the following:

I do not see Hassan Nasrallah as my spiritual leader. I see him as a politician - pure and simple: A Politician. I did not force him to become one. He chose that path, and just as a soldier must reconcile himself with death every day he is on the battle field, a politician (and his or her supporters) must reconcile themselves criticism.

I do not see Nasrallah as holy. ... Your attempt to force that aspect of Nasrallah onto me smacks of tyranny, intimidation, bullying and everything that can go wrong in a democratic and plural environment ... You ... need to accept the baggage that comes along with politics.

Literally adding fuel to the fire

Sources: Reuters, Beirut to the Beltway, The Lebanese Bloggers, Ya Libnan
Photo credit: AP, Reuters