Lebanese activists sued, arrested for condemning television’s pro-Israeli bias
Two female Lebanese activists have faced legal proceedings as a result of which they have been arrested for critiquing a Beirut-based television station’s bias in favor of the Israeli regime.
Ghina Ghandour and Sahar Ghaddar, both of whom are based in southern Lebanon, faced the lawsuit and were apprehended after refusing to delete posts they had published on X, former Twitter, in condemnation of the discrimination employed by MTV Lebanon at a time when the country was under escalated deadly Israeli aggression.
Posting on the social media platform on December 11, Ghandour had denounced the station as “a master manipulator of minds [that] has made sowing discord and sectarianism its mission.”
“By silencing dissent and stifling opposing views, it has found a new pastime in gagging free speech,” she had noted.
The activist had, meanwhile, said she was “honored to be targeted by such a morally bankrupt organization,” adding, “Thank you for this badge of honor.”
Less than a week later, Ghaddar took to X, priding herself on standing with Lebanon during the Israeli aggression, and saying “any honorable and free person” would do the same.
“However, MTV took a different stance. Even after the attack ended, the channel continued its attacks on national sentiment,” she stated.
The activist said she had been summoned by the country’s Cyber Crime Bureau on the back of a lawsuit that had been filed by the channel over her stance.
“Believing in the fundamental right to freedom of speech in my country, I will appear before the authorities,” she noted, adding, “The fight for truth and justice will continue, no matter the cost.”
MTV Lebanon has been denounced by many Lebanese activists for its stance in favor of the Israeli regime and against the country’s Hezbollah resistance movement.
The movement has been defending the Lebanese soil and people in the face of decades-long Israeli aggression, including the escalation that began targeting the country last October and lasted until last month, when a ceasefire took effect.
Around 4,000 people were killed during the intensified raids before the truce, which keeps being violated by the regime to deadly effects for the Lebanese people.
Instances of the channel’s bias have been widely cited in its reports and accusations against Hezbollah.
On July 30, MTV Lebanon reporter Nawal Berry and camera operator Dany Tanios were reportedly beaten by a group of men in Beirut’s southern suburb of Dahiyeh, while allegedly reporting on reactions to an Israeli strike that had targeted a senior Hezbollah official in the area.
A day later, the channel published a post on its website, accusing the movement’s supporters of conducting the alleged attack.
The post claimed that the channel had a “problem” with the movement’s supporters, whom it accused of being incapable of tolerating opposing views and being susceptible of resorting to violence, alleging that the group’s backers were “capable of all of these as long as they are stronger than the state.”
In September, the station said the Israeli regime had targeted an alleged Hezbollah-affiliated financial institution, leaving the group in a “financial crisis.”
Later, however, a senior Hezbollah official said the Israeli strikes would have no financial impact on the movement.
“Hezbollah does not receive its allocations from this institution,” he said at the time.
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