Growing up in West Beirut in the 1980s, I vividly recall the sudden appearance of massive posters depicting a menacing, scowling figure. The quotes alongside him labeled the United States as the “Great Satan” and Israel as the “Little Satan,” calling for their destruction. This enigmatic man was none other than Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution and founder of the Islamic Republic.
His image was soon adopted by Hezbollah, Iran’s Lebanese proxy, whose name quickly became synonymous with the abduction of Western hostages and terrorist attacks.
Beginning with the 1982 bombings of the US embassy and Marine barracks, Hezbollah’s violent actions culminated for me in the assassination of my friend Lokman Slim in February 2021 – a staunch liberal voice who never accepted Hezbollah’s supposed “transformation.”
The recent war between Israel and Hezbollah, combined with the assassination of Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and the decimation of his top command, has effectively “reset” the party to its original form, or back to its factory setting.