A Lebanese man was arrested after he posted a TikTok in which an Israeli flag was displayed, Lebanon’s General Directorate of State Security in the Tyre region said on Monday.
نشر #فيديو مع العلم الاسرائيلي… وتحرّك #لأمن_الدولة! (#فيديو)https://t.co/MdAL5vgU8I@lbstatesecurity pic.twitter.com/v9wPDuFfNr
— Lebanon Debate (@lebanondebate) September 18, 2023
The video, which has since been removed from his account, shows him tilting his head to select the Israeli flag as his “favorite Arab country.”
“Legal action was carried out against him under the supervision of the competent judiciary,” said the General Directorate of State Security.
Lebanese citizens banned from contacting Israelis
Lebanese law bans citizens from contacting or conducting any form of business with Israelis, although some exemptions are made for Christian clerics and families with relatives in Israel.
Last year, Maronite Archbishop of Haifa and the Holy Land Moussa El-Hage was detained in Lebanon after returning from a trip to Israel. Justice Fadi Akiki, who is in charge of the file, told the Lebanese newspaper Annahar at the time that the archbishop was carrying about $460,000, adding that the funds came from people residing in Israel, “the majority of whom work in the interest of the enemy.”
The judge stressed that the money is subject to Lebanese laws concerning everything that enters Lebanon from Israel. “I respect the church, but there is a law that is the boycott of Israel and it is my duty as a judge to implement it,” said Akiki.
Lebanese Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rahi expressed outrage at the incident at the time and demanded that officials stop calling Lebanese citizens living in Israel “agents” and demanded that officials ensure that the archbishop can move between Israel and Lebanon without being detained or searched.
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