Hezbollah, Gulf crisis reflecting negatively on all Lebanese and the Shiites in particular

According to an article in Lebanese website Lebanon debate, the crisis between “Hezbollah” and the Gulf countries continues to have negative repercussions on all the Lebanese, and in particular on the Shiite public amid great fear of repercussions that could be reflected on the Shiite community in a number of Gulf countries, especially the United Arab Emirates, which hosts the largest proportion of this community .

In this context, private sources reveal that a series of meetings were held between the “Shiite duo” during the past few days to discuss the possibility of mitigating the negative consequences that could be reflected on the Shiites of Lebanon as a result of the crisis, but Hezbollah’s insistence on proceeding with the escalation led to the failure of these attempts. According to what the sources , the crisis has actually been reflected in a large section of the “moderate” Shiites, who are closer to the “Amal” movement thanHezbollah in terms of their view of the nature and finality of Lebanon, in addition to the concept of the state and citizenship.

The sources reveal that “the abolition of entry visas to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the Lebanese, is beginning to affect the “moderate” section of the Shiites through the tangible decline in their trade and business in some Gulf countries . This was also reflected in the state of restlessness within the Shiite community. Complaints increased in many areas as a result of Hezbollah’s practices, the latest of which is the disclosure of a financing network for it in the State of Kuwait.
According to the sources, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, and a number of his ministers and deputies, had expressed, during the last period, to Hezbollah officials, their fear that the crisis would expand from a “Shiite-Saudi dispute to a Shiite-Gulf dispute and then a Shiite-Arab dispute.” This could turn the Shiite community in Lebanon into a pariah category locally and abroad.

The same sources believe, “In an indirect way, the crisis with the Gulf has created a kind of confusion within the Shiite community in the Gulf , which is already divided against itself because of the Hezbollah’s practices.

The sources point out that ” Berri has tried on several occasions to reach a solution with Saudi Arabia, through international and local diplomatic and political channels, because he realizes that what happened is not in the interest of any Lebanese party, and may lead to increased pressure on the Shiite community in the Gulf states.

According to the sources the differences are largely leaking into the ranks of the two popular bases of the “Shiite duo”, which began to move towards the insistence of some, especially the “Amal” public, not to participate in the upcoming parliamentary elections in order not to vote for the Hezbollah candidates . This situation led to the formation of special committees of the “duo” to soften the atmosphere and bring the views closer, so that the opponents do not exploit these differences in a way that could affect the results at the ballot boxes.

Translated from Arabic/ Lebanon Debate