Since her election as a representative of Jezzine two years ago, Ghada Ayoub has become one of the most fiercely attacked members of the Lebanese Forces (LF). Some of these attacks exploit her southern constituency amidst the ongoing conflict, dragging her into controversies for which she bears no responsibility. Others use her gender in a patriarchal society as a tool to undermine her.
Not long ago, the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) seized on her comment about “resistance continuing for 1,400 years” to accuse her of targeting Muslims.
Today, the latest controversy centers around her recent statement that the situation in Lebanon reflects “divine justice.”
This remark has provoked a storm of outrage from pro-resistance voices (al-moumana’a), with some going so far as to blame her for the deaths of children and innocent civilians in Israeli airstrikes in the southern suburbs of Beirut and the South. According to these critics, Ghada Ayoub is now responsible for all Lebanon’s tragedies since October 2023, particularly since September 17.
What these critics conveniently overlook—or try to obscure—is the undeniable truth in Ayoub’s words. Yes, it is indeed divine justice when those responsible for the deaths of Lebanese people, whether individually or through mass killings, are now meeting their fate, one by one.
Consider Salim Ayyash, for instance—the individual responsible for the assassination of Rafic Hariri. His demise was a result of divine justice, as the Lebanese State would have never been able to apprehend him—neither now nor at any point in the past.
The assassination of leaders within the Radwan Brigade and Hezbollah’s ranks—who have long inflicted death and destruction in Lebanon—is divine justice. Regrettably, earthly justice has failed to exact vengeance upon them.
Yes, it is divine justice when the very same axis that once dismissed an international court's accusations against Hezbollah as nonsense now celebrates a ruling for the arrest of Netanyahu. The oppressors will ultimately face their reckoning.
Yes, it is divine justice to witness the weapon that entered Beirut, killed civilians on May 7, assassinated dissidents and intellectuals, and was complicit in covering up corruption, stockpiling weapons, and the port double explosion—responsible for the many tragedies Lebanon has endured in recent years—now facing its darkest days. It is losing both manpower and resources, and is being forced into negotiations that demand far more than it was ever willing to concede under pressure.
As for the blood of children and innocents, Ghada Ayoub is in no way responsible. She has borne more than any person should, while there has been no advocate for the blood of the children and innocents lost in the numerous Hezbollah-led assassinations over the years.
If this is not divine justice, then what else could it be?
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