Hizballah continues its takeover of Lebanon, targets Christians, says "We are the state"

A couple of troubling stories from Lebanon indicate that Hizballah, already under pressure because of its support for the Syrian regime, is acting to put more parts of Lebanon under its direct control - especially Christian areas.

Here is the story of a journalist who was assaulted and threatened by Hizballah forces:

A day after Hezbollah detained Journalist Hussein Shamas it assaulted at one of its a checkpoints near Galerie Samaan, a mostly Christian area bordering the Hezbollah stronghold of Dhahieh , Al Anwar newspaper journalist Maha al Rifai , who was beaten , cursed and insulted by the Hezbollah elements that were manning the the checkpoint .

This is all under the pretext of special security measures, that the Iranian backed militant group has been conducting in several parts of Lebanon.

Rifai , who was outraged later told her story to the Future TV. They reportedly demanded her car registration and drivers license but refused to give them back to her. When she asked about the reasons behind holding her documents and asked to contact a Lebanese Internal Security Officer she was told :” We are the state …get into your car you animal” and started cursing her .

When she insisted that a Lebanese internal police officer should attend to the matter one of the Hezbollah elements tried to hit her with an electric cane .

Minutes later a member of the Lebanese Internal security ( intelligence branch) arrived and when she threatened to report this to the media the intelligence officer gave her the car documents.

One of the Hezbollah elements then told her : “Don’t you ever think you can come back to the Dhahieh area” and continued to curse her.

Rifai concluded that Hezbollah is undermining Lebanon’s sovereignty and security, restricting freedom of speech and freedom of movement all under the pretext of special security measure following the bomb attacks in its Dhahieh stronghold

Back in 2008 it was revealed that Hizballah was wiretapping the telecommunications networks of Lebanon. Lebanese officials expressed alarm and denounced the action, but they were powerless to stop it.

Now, it appears that Hizballah's wiretapping is accelerating, especially in Christian areas:

Hezbollah is reportedly expanding its telecommunications network into the mostly Christian city Zahleh in the Beqaa region, Voice of Lebanon (100.5) radio reported on Sunday.

VOL noted that Zahleh “is witnessing an armed presence by Hezbollah members, notably in the industrial area [of the town].”

Hezbollah has been at the center of controversy over the years for the weapons it owns as well as its private communications network .

In another development Radio Free Lebanon reported that the Shiite militant party has established a wiretapping network in several towns along Lebanon’s western mountain range. It added that part of the data Hezbollah collects from this network is immediately sent to Iran.

In 2011 Beqaa’s Tarshish residents protested against the installation of Hezbollah’s network in their town using the state’s network infrastructure. MTV station reported back in October 2011 that Hezbollah threatened residents of Tarshish of a repeat of the May 2008 events after they prevented the party members from installing a telecommunications network in the town which is close to Zahle.

Of the three nominally equal Lebanese religious groups of Shiites, Sunnis and Christians, the Christians are by far the weakest. Their members have been fleeing the country for decades. It seems that Hizballah is now targeting any Christian areas near Shiite strongholds in its attempt to cement its hold on Lebanon itself.