Lebanese Sunnis Unwilling To Challenge Hezbollah
Lebanese Sunnis are tapping into deep-rooted feelings of bitterness caused by the suffering of their co-religionists in Syria and directed at the Damascus-backed Lebanese government and Hezbollah. Despite the radicalization, writes Nicholas Blanford, the majority of Sunnis seem unwilling to challenge Hezbollah on the battlefield again anytime soon.
BEIRUT - A "martyr's" portrait of a youthful solemn-faced Ziad Ghalayini gazes down from a two story-tall poster emblazoned across the facade of a small shabby apartment building in a narrow street in Beirut’s Hamra district.
Ziad was just 17 when he was shot dead by a sniper in May 2008 during the brief seizure by Hezbollah and its allies of west Beirut, the takeover being an unprecedented response to the then Lebanese government's decision to shut down Hezbollah's private communications network.
"It was a big disaster for our family," says Hiba Ghalayini, Ziad's mother, with tears trickling down her pale cheeks. "And now I'm worried about my other children if anything else happens."
Ziad was a Sunni and his portrait on the side of his family's building serves as a constant reminder to the local community of what they perceive as past injustice and current disenfranchisement.
