“As soon as the news came, everyone stopped. People were shaking, crying, shouting and beating their chests. It moves you,” says a volunteer from a local NGO that distributes relief goods at the reception center for the displaced set up in the compound provided by the Ministry of Education in the southeastern Beirut suburb of Dekwaneh.
On Friday, the explosions were so loud here it was as if the schoolyard was being bombed. The news would be heard around the world on Saturday: Hassan Nasrallah is dead. Everyone knows that things have changed.
The Shi’a community is in shock throughout Lebanon. In Beirut, in the southern neighborhoods, but also in the central areas of Bashoura, Zarif or Basta, one could hear the cries and sobs of men, women and children over the loss of a leader, a political, religious and military guide, a guiding light.
It would be extremely reductive to view Nasrallah as merely the head of a militia. The days ahead will be difficult, unpredictable and full of grief and resentment. One could hear slogans like “‘Aysh, ’aysh!” (“He lives, he lives!”) or “Labbayka ya Nasrallah!” (“At your command, Nasrallah!”).
Condolences came from much of the political spectrum in Lebanon: Michel Aoun........