Nun’s prayer for Hezbollah shows ‘sharp divisions’

The nun stood in front of a group of young students at a Lebanese Christian school and asked them to pray for the “men of the resistance” in southern Lebanon who she said were defending the country.

The men to whom nun Maya Ziadeh was referring are members of the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah, which has been clashing with Israel across a volatile border for nearly six months, becoming a critical regional player as the IsraelHamas war persists in Gaza.

A video capturing Ziadeh’s comments was widely circulated online earlier this month, outraging some who accused her of brainwashing the children and imposing her political views. Others rallied to her support, commending her stance as courageous and honourable.

The war of words that unfolded highlighted long-standing schisms in Lebanon over Hezbollah, now amplified by the Lebanon-Israel border clashes and by fears that an already crisis-hit Lebanon could be dragged into an all-out war.

“There are sharp (political) divisions over Hezbollah’s weapons,” said Sami Nader, director of the Institute of Political Science at Saint Joseph University of Beirut. And while there’s wide support for the Palestinian cause, he said, there are “differences over the degree of such support and how to provide it.”

Lebanon is home to multiple religious groups. Politically, the presidency is given to a Maronite Christian, the parliament speaker post to a Shiite Muslim and the prime minister’s post to a Sunni Muslim.

Although Hezbollah has alliances with figures from other religious groups, the base of its support lies in the Shiite community, while many Christians and Sunnis accuse the group of hijacking the country. The nun’s speech generated added attention — and for some, furor — in particular because it came from a Christian religious figure.

Ziadeh called for praying for the “children, people and mothers of the south and … for the men of the resistance,” describing those who fail to do so as “traitors,” a characterization that many found troubling, especially given the young age of her audience. Others saw a message of love in her call to pray for the people of southern Lebanon.

Lebanese Christian anti-Hezbollah activist Antonios Tawk criticized Ziadeh on X. He called on the Maronite Catholic Church to act “because our children are being brainwashed.”

Meanwhile, Gebran Bassil, head of the Free Patriotic Movement party, Hezbollah’s main Christian ally, argued online that when Ziadeh called for prayers, “she was implementing the teachings of Jesus.”

Officials with Hezbollah, a Shiite military and political powerhouse in Lebanon, say the group’s crossborder strikes are in support of Gaza and argue they divert some Israeli forces that would otherwise be focused on Hamas in Gaza.

To Hezbollah’s critics in Lebanon, the fighting is a reminder that the group’s weapons constitute “a threat …, not only to internal peace, but because they give Hezbollah a monopoly over war and peace decisions outside state structures,” said Randa Slim, senior fellow at the Washington, D.C.-based Middle East Institute. “These are existential decisions for the Lebanese population and their representatives are not involved in this decisionmaking process.”

What Hezbollah is doing is “destroying Lebanon,” Charles Jabbour, a senior member of the Christian Lebanese Forces party, said during a heated debate on a local TV talk show. “I’m sure that large parts of (Lebanon’s) Shiites, don’t want their homes destroyed or have their children, women and men killed.”

Lina Khatib, an associate fellow at the London-based think tank Chatham House, said even Hezbollah’s allies among the Christians are uncomfortable with its “unilateral decision to spark a fight with Israel,” but that this hasn’t translated into a split between Hezbollah and its main Christian political ally.

Among Lebanese Shiites, who were the group most affected by Israel’s 18-year occupation of south Lebanon ending in 2000, many see Hezbollah’s actions through a different lens.

Houssein Khalil, the Shiite owner of a tourism business, said he believes Hezbollah’s cross-border strikes were necessary, not only to support the Palestinians, but because “when Israel gets done with Gaza … it would have turned to Lebanon,” if Hezbollah hadn’t intervened.

Today, Lebanon is in the grips of an economic crisis. Some fear that, even if the current fighting doesn’t turn into a full-blown war, a state of low-level conflict could become the new normal, further straining the economy and society.

A recent video showing a Lebanese nun calling on her students to pray for Hezbollah fighters drew outrage from critics, while others rallied to her support — highlighting long-standing schisms in the country regarding the militants