Beirut – The often fractic press body of Lebanon joined this week for the comments of Tom Barrack, the special envoy of the United States to Syria, who warned journalists against “animal” behavior and told them that “they act civilized.”
Faced with a media scrum during a press conference held on Tuesday in the Lebanese capital of Beirut with a Congress delegation, Barrack went to the podium and peremptoryly told journalists that “they were going to have a different set of rules.”
“The moment this begins to become chaotic, as an animalist, we have gone,” he said. “Do you want to know what is happening? Civilized acting, acting, tolerant, because this is the problem with what is happening in the region.”
Barrack is a real estate investor of Lebanese descent who, together with his duties as Syria, serves as an ambassador of the United States in Türkiye.
It exposes a hollow and condescending mentality that sees the Lebanese not as partners but as 'chusma' that must be disciplined
– Diana Moukalled, Lebanese journalist
Barrack was accompanied by attached envoy Morgan Ortago, Senator Lindsey Graham (RS.C.), Senator Jeanne Shaheen (Dn.H.) and representative Joe Wilson (RS.C.) and is visiting Beirut to press the government to make their plans real to disarm Hezbollah, the militant group militant backed by Iranses.
The mood in the room was not especially strident, but apparently it was not quiet enough for a clearly irritated barracks, who said: “Do you think this is fun for us? Do you think this is economically beneficial for Morgan and I am here, enduring this madness?”
An objective of the press conference was to announce that Israel had no plans to occupy Lebanon and that Saudi and Qatar Arabia were prepared to invest in an economic zone in the south of Lebanon to provide jobs to the old Hezbollah fighters. But for many Lebanese, Barrack's comments took the center of the stage.
The journalists resorted to social networks to excore the barracks for acting as a “19th -century colonial commissioner”, as expressed by an enraged journalist, Hala Jaber.
“It exposes a hollow and condescending mentality that sees the Lebanese not as partners, but as 'chusma' that must be disciplined,” Diana Moukalled wrote, a Lebanese journalist who is a founding partner in the local media Daraj, and added that whoever wants to help the Lebanon must respect the press.
“Insults are not a negotiation tool,” Moukalled wrote. “We are not accessories for a diplomatic show, and anyone who demands that Lebanon becomes a strong state must withstand the questions of their press, regardless of their opinion about it.”
Later on Tuesday, the office of the Lebanese president Joseph Aoun issued an oblique statement that expresses “repentance for the statements made inadvertently of his platform for one of his guests today”, while reaffirming his “total appreciation for all journalists.”
The union of journalists in Lebanon condemned Barrack's comments such as reflecting “a colonial arrogance rooted towards the peoples of the region.”
“We demand that Mr. Barrack issue an official and public apology for his actions towards journalists, and we demand that the United States embassy in Beirut take a position regarding these unacceptable actions with the media,” the statement said. He asked for a boycott of news conferences that involved Barrack until he apologized.
It would not be the first time that Barrack, 78, exhibited a less vision than the region, in a July interview with the New York Times, said the administration had “little patience for the region's resistance to help itself”, but the fury now arrives at a delicate time for US diplomacy in the region. Washington is pressing the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah, hoping that Israel and Lebanon normalize relations.
Hezbollah, which the United States designates a terrorist group, fought against Israel after Hamas attacked on October 7, 2023, in a war that became an Israeli invasion of Lebanon from Lebanon at the end of last year. After a high fire in November, Israel withdrew from most of the south of Lebanon, except for five points on the Lebanese side of the border. Meanwhile, Israel has continued attacks almost a day, that the Israeli army says they are necessary to prevent Hezbollah from reconstituting his arsenal.
This month, the Lebanese Cabinet commissioned the Army to make plans to disarm Hezbollah. The group denounced the decision of the cabinet, saying that it will not give up weapons, while Israel still occupies land and has not fully implemented the high -fire agreement of November. Critics accuse the Lebanese government of being submissive to Washington, and Barrack's diatribe joins their arguments.
“We firmly condemn the logic of American arrogance and its condescension towards our media professionals,” said Ibrahim Musawi, a legislator affiliated with Hezbollah who directs the Committee of Media and Communications of Parliament.
But he also booked a certain anger for the Lebanese government, saying that this was another series in its “national sovereignty cylinder.”
Barrack has not yet commented.
