Hizbullah supporters fume over barbs at funeral, `This is not acceptable. Do we ever insult patriarch Sfeir?`

Source: Daily Star, 25-11-2006
BEIRUT: It was business as usual Friday in the capital`s southern suburbs, where angry Hizbullah supporters blocked off the airport road Thursday night in response to speeches made by March (Feb.) 14 leaders during late Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel`s funeral. Many of the slogans shouted by thousands of supporters gathered in Martyrs Square in Downtown Beirut Thursday were directed at the opposition and its leaders, including Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.
Hours after the demonstration ended, Hizbullah supporters angered by insults hurled at the resistance leader blocked off the highway leading to the airport. However, the crowd was quickly dispersed after Nasrallah made a statement on Al-Manar television ordering his supporters to return home.
Several residents of the southern suburbs told The Daily Star on Friday that they were saddened by the murder of the late industry minister, but nearly all expressed lingering anger over the insulting tone of Thursday`s demonstration.
"The demonstration was weak," said Hassan, owner of a clothing store near Haret Hreik.
"They had a much lower turnout than last year, which shows their support has dwindled, and some of them were being demeaning and insulting," he added. "If they are allowed to hold demonstrations then so are we, especially when they accuse Syria and Iran and Hizbullah of being connected to the assassination."
"We have a right to defend our integrity and the fact that we had nothing to do with it," he added.
Abed Houdrous, owner of a currency exchange in the same area, agreed. "We are against all political assassinations, and if the situation in the country at the moment wasn`t so sensitive, then we would`ve gone to the funeral to pay our respects to Sheikh Pierre Gemayel," Houdrous said.
"But they turned the funeral into a political demonstration," he added, referring to the March 14 Forces. "This shows that the government allows demonstrations to occur, so we are allowed to hold one ourselves if we wish. It was their right, so therefore it is our right."
Houdrous said the incident Thursday night was necessary to relay a message.
"The protest on the airport road was completely justified, and it was not violent - we don`t condone violence in anything we do. When someone insults the sayyed it is disrespectful, above all else because he is a religious figure," he said.
"The only reason why actions such as blocking the road or burning tires are necessary is because otherwise the others will not realize the extent of the offense they caused, and will just keep on repeating it. This is not acceptable. Do we ever insult Patriarch Sfeir?" he added.
Cigarette vendor Nouha Abdullah said Thursday`s demonstration showed the differences between the two sides of the current political divide.
"People were justified to protest the insults against Sayyed Hassan. He is a respectable religious figure and said nothing untoward about the assassination or the demonstration on Thursday," she said.
"This only goes to show that the March 14th Forces cannot control their crowd, and the vulgarity that comes out of their mouths," she added.
Asked his opinion of Nasrallah`s near-immediate order to his supporters to lift the blockade and return to their homes, Roueiss fruit-vendor Ali Hussein said that Nasrallah "doesn`t want the March 14th to have any excuse to accuse Hizbullah of stirring tensions."
"What [Nasrallah] was saying was right, and wise," he added. "We will have our day in the streets, and it will be peaceful and controlled."