Lebanese stunned

Hezbollah chief castigates cell phones, son on Instagram

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah recently preached about the dangers of smartphones, but now his son is causing astonishment with Instagram videos.

(Bild: APA/AFP/ANWAR AMRO)

Because he posted videos on Instagram shortly after his father had preached about the dangers of smartphones, a son of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has caused astonishment in Lebanon. Mohammad Mahdi Nasrallah posted two videos on a previously inconspicuous account for the first time this week. A Hezbollah spokeswoman confirmed the authenticity of the account and the videos.

In the videos, Nasrallah's son, who clearly resembles his father, is shown studying religious texts and explains what he actually has in mind with the account. He wanted to convey religious and cultural content to a young audience in a simple way, he said. Many Lebanese were taken aback by his father's previous words.

Bury it, put it in an iron box and lock it away for a week, two weeks, a month.

Hisbollah-Chef Hassan Nasrallah geißelte kürzlich Smartphones bei einer Rede vor Anhängern als „Agenten“ Israels.

Just a few weeks ago, he had apparently called for cell phone abstinence. "Bury it, put it in an iron box and lock it away for a week, two weeks, a month," Hassan Nasrallah called on Hezbollah supporters and fighters in the south of the country during a speech in February. The background to this is that, in Nasrallah's opinion, Israel uses cell phones as "agents" to spy on its opponents in Lebanon, locate them and eliminate them with targeted air strikes.

"You ask me, where is the agent? I tell you that the cell phone in your hand, in the hands of your wives and children is the agent," Nasrallah said at the time. However, the Hezbollah spokeswoman did not see this as a contradiction to the social media activities of the Nasrallah offspring in an interview with dpa. The message was primarily directed at the fighters, not the general population, she explained.