صباح الخير، آسف ان اقول متشائماً للمرة الاولى : “يشهد لبنان تغيّراً خطيراً ليس فقط في الديمغرافيا بل في كل نواحي الحياة …

By Bassam Zaazaa - arabnews.com -- DUBAI: Iran’s national football team have faced ridicule over the large amount of luggage they were carrying shortly after arriving in Beirut for their Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifier match against Lebanon. The team landed at Beirut International Airport on Monday for the match on Thursday. Soon after touching down, images quickly spread on social media of Iranian players, administrators and coaching pushing airport trollies stacks with three or four large travel bags each. The photos were accompanied by a barrage of comments ridiculing the players. Some even suggested the team could be smuggling drones and military equipment to the Iran-backed militia of Hezbollah. Activists, bloggers and media and public figures joined in the frenzy.

One cynical Twitter user posted images in response of opened bags with cash inside and a comment saying the money was being smuggled to Hezbollah. Others tweeted that since Hezbollah controls Lebanon’s borders and airports, the players may have dodged security checks to smuggle military equipment into the country. In a reflection of Lebanon’s political divides, some social media users tweeted their support for the Iranian team and apologized for what they described by “politically motivated tweets.” Some boasted that as Shia Muslims that they would cheer for Iran against their own country during the match at the Rafik Hariri Stadium in Saida. Lebanon are riding high in third place in their World Cup qualifier group after a thrilling 3-2 victory over Syria in October. Iran are the group’s leaders. Renowned Lebanese playwriter and actor, Ziad Itani, criticized the social media campaign against the Iranians and described it as “shameful and disguised” racism. “It is a sports mission accustomed to their special food and training equipment, so there is no need for what happened … we don’t want our national team to face the same,” he said.

by middleeastmonitor.com — The Kuwaiti government has suspended all visas for Lebanese nationals until further notice, local newspaper Al-Qabas said today, as …

طلاب يطردون السفير الاسرائيلي من جامعة بريطانية في حين ان تصرفاتنا وترددنا ادّوا الى طرد بعض سفرائنا من الدول الشقيقة ورحيل بعض …