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Elder of Ziyon has a series of observations on the funeral, with 50,000 participants, of Hassan Nasrallah, the late, and for the civilized world unlamented, leader of Hezbollah. The state of Lebanon was hardly in evidence at the funeral — no Lebanese flags, no mention of the country of Lebanon, no playing of the Lebanese national anthem — but Israel was. The Jewish state reminded everyone of its powerful presence in the IAF planes flying overhead, whose sonic booms could be heard all over Beirut. More of Elder of Ziyon’s notes on the funeral can be found here: “Anecdotes from Nasrallah’s funeral,” Elder of Ziyon, February 23, 2025:

Here are some random bits of interesting information around Hassan Nasrallah’s funeral today.

IDF Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee wrote  a message to Lebanon on X:

Today is the funeral of Hassan Nasrallah , and his environment is in mourning… But let us stop for a moment and ask: What is the mourning for? For the man who turned Lebanon into a failed state? For the one who sold your future to Iran’s interests? For the one who destroyed the economy, fragmented the people, and involved the country in futile wars? Since Nasrallah took over the leadership of Hezbollah, Lebanon has witnessed nothing but collapse. Lebanon was taken hostage by the “Islamic Revolution” project… It does not matter if the people go hungry, or the country is plunged into darkness, or the future is lost, as long as his agenda continues. To all those mourning him today… Are you really sad for him? Or are you refusing to face the truth?

He also noted that there were no Lebanese flags to be seen in the massive stadium funeral.

Question! Where is the Lebanese flag in the Camille Chamoun stadium, the man during whose reign the only known flag was the Lebanese flag?

????Every time, #Hezbollah proves that it is not part of Lebanon, but rather an independent entity with loyalty that goes beyond its borders. His last funeral was not just a farewell, but a show of influence and the imposition of its own identity, as the Lebanese flags disappeared and were replaced by the party’s banners and Iran’s militias, as if the state had never existed.

Not only was the Lebanese flag nowhere in evidence at Nasrallah’s funeral, but the Hezbollah flag — a sectarian flag representing many, but by no means all, of the Lebanese Shi’a (and representing none of the country’s Christians or Sunni Muslims), was everywhere to be seen. And so were flags of Iran, the puppet-master that manipulates Hezbollah for its own ends. The Lebanese state was present only in some army units who were there to supplement Hezbollah forces in maintaining order during the funeral.

????But the glaring paradox? The party did not find a place to bury its leaders Nasrallah and Safieddine except in the city founded by President Camille Chamoun, the man during whose reign the only known flag was the Lebanese flag, and no foreign flags were raised over Beirut. So how did Beirut, which was the capital of sovereignty, turn into a square where the flags of a party that openly declares its affiliation with Iran are raised, while the flag that is supposed to protect everyone is absent?

Naharnet writes:

Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem said the group would keep following the path of slain chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Sunday during a televised speech broadcast at his massive funeral on the outskirts of Beirut.

“We will uphold trust and walk on this path, we will uphold your will,” Qassem said referring to Nasrallah, adding: “you are still with us: your… path and struggle live within us” and “I am loyal to the legacy Nasrallah”.

If he is so brave, why didn’t he show up in person?

Ever since he succeeded Nasrallah’s successor, Hashem Safieddine, whom the IDF had also killed, Naim Qassem has been in hiding. He does not appear in public, and he did not do so even for the funeral, but made a television appearance instead. Another sign of how frightened Hezbollah’s leaders remain at the prospect of being reached by the long arm of Israel’s military.

One party that did appear in person was the IDF:

Lebanese state media reported Sunday Israeli planes flying at a very low altitude over Beirut, with AFP journalists hearing the rumbling noise while tens of thousands attended Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s funeral near the capital.

“The hostile warplanes flew at low altitude over the skies of Beirut and its suburbs,” the National News Agency said….

Those Israeli warplanes flew low over Beirut during the funeral to remind Hezbollah that Israel — the country responsible for the death of the “martyr” Hassan Nasrallah — still rules the skies over Lebanon and is ready, if Hezbollah continues to violate its commitments under the ceasefire in southern Lebanon, to treat the ceasefire as null and void, and to renew its devastating attacks on Hezbollah, not just south of the Litani River but in Beirut and the Bekaa Valley.

Five days before the funeral, Hamas officials spoke of there being “hundreds of thousands of participants.” Three days before the funeral, they had reduced that estimated number to 80,000. On the day of the funeral, February 23, there were only 50,000 attendees. But a good time was had by all, as they celebrated what the Italians call the “vita, morte, e miracoli” (life, death, and miracles) of a man who did more to ruin Lebanon, economically, physically, and morally, than anyone else in the country’s modern history.